About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Saturday, July 25, 2020

K&M is for Wild Republic

When I covered the space figures here I called them K&M (Wild Republic), but these days most of the output is branded to Wild Republic, the space figures however still carry the K&M marking on the base.

This US firm was founded as K&M (after the owners children) by G.B. Pillai in 1979 and for many years was best known for soft toys of a more realistic (if very fluffy) nature than your average pink rabbit or blue squirrel!

Vinyl animals followed, aimed at museum and safari-park gift-shops and then, after an opportunity to go into retailing itself (presented at/with the Vienna Zoo) was taken-up, the company increased its range of lines to equip that kind of emporium. The result was that sets of 'heritage' figures (and astronauts) joined the catalogue, and there's nothing more heritage than knights!

The parent is now K&M International with offices in at least 8 countries, including - interestingly given current geopolitics - China AND India. In the US it's a 'd-b-a' (doing business as) what in the UK would be T/A (trading as); Wild Republic.

#16656; 165401-A; 22862 Mini Knight; 8 Pieces; 9 Pieces; Collectable Figures; Hui Zhou; K&M; K&M Figures; K&M Knights; K&M-BFL-2018; Medieval Nature Tube; Mini Polybag; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Toob; Victory & Valour; Wild Republic; Wild Republic V&V;
There are two sets, a better set with figures around the 70mm (16656 Medieval Nature Tube) made for them in or by a Hui Zhou of/from China and a smaller set (22862 Mini Knight Polybag) from the Victory & Valour (UK spelling) line, credited to Shantou, which consists of duplicates of four of the larger poses, reduced to a 60mm range.

Peter Evans kindly sent these to the Blog a while ago, and explained that the smaller header-bag had had two-each of the four poses, one-each of whom were detached to another detail before the parcel left for SSW's command centre!

#16656; 165401-A; 22862 Mini Knight; 8 Pieces; 9 Pieces; Collectable Figures; Hui Zhou; K&M; K&M Figures; K&M Knights; K&M-BFL-2018; Medieval Nature Tube; Mini Polybag; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Toob; Victory & Valour; Wild Republic; Wild Republic V&V;
The larger set, I think a slightly darker-blue chain-mace chap has been in one of the Charity shop purchases, while Chris sent the kneeling archer in his last parcel for the Blog, again there are shade-variations with a lighter bow and darker mail.

The falconer is rather nice and a bit different, I can only think of the Starlux pageboy chap, off the top of my head (and Exin's 30mm mounted, poncy-looking Prince type), but I seem to recall someone did a whole line-up of them in Plastic Warrior magazine a while back?

#16656; 165401-A; 22862 Mini Knight; 8 Pieces; 9 Pieces; Collectable Figures; Hui Zhou; K&M; K&M Figures; K&M Knights; K&M-BFL-2018; Medieval Nature Tube; Mini Polybag; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Toob; Victory & Valour; Wild Republic; Wild Republic V&V;
I've said before I'm no expert on armour, but I think it's fair to say you get three early types and one 'high Tudor' tournament type, who looks (in the 70-mil set) as if he should glow in the dark, but it's just a pearlescent polymer.

As you can also see the scale is not constant within the two sets, the yellow guy matches the smaller ones better than his own mob, while 'her majesty' is heading toward 80mm, without the crown! I think the black chap has also turned-up before, but whether from Peter, Chris or charity I don't know; by the time I get them all together they'll need a whole tub to themselves!

#16656; 165401-A; 22862 Mini Knight; 8 Pieces; 9 Pieces; Collectable Figures; Hui Zhou; K&M; K&M Figures; K&M Knights; K&M-BFL-2018; Medieval Nature Tube; Mini Polybag; Small Scale World; smallscaleworld.blogspot.com; Toob; Victory & Valour; Wild Republic; Wild Republic V&V;
Backs of the other five bigger ones, and a group showing how the kneeling archer can also be used with the smaller set, it's not a brilliant photograph, but I was concentrating on getting them all still standing-up!

Cheers Peter, a brief overview, but we'll return to them in future comparisons I'm sure.

2 comments:

Andy B said...

I love the "Mediaeval Nature" tube label- not sure what the Mediaeval nature is, looks pretty nasty judging by all the swords...

Hugh Walter said...

There's definitely a hidden joke in there Andy; if the books are to be believed, the 'nature' of medievals was a great deal of butchery and mayhem!

H