April news

Welcome to the April newsletter.
The March London show is over and it really feels as if spring is in the air! It was great to see alot of you at the show last weekend and thank you for making it another busy one for us. The First legion crusaders went down very well as did Johns Sudan and WW1 plane ranges.

Onto April. This is a very busy month for new releases with John Jenkins, First legion and Collectors Showcase all shipping lots of new goodies.

John Jenkins April releases

Before we detail this months releases a reminder that this is the last month you can get Johns figures at these prices- the range goes up by 10% from May 1st.
A real head turner this month is the release for the 1812 range- the British limber and horses. The set below is made from the limber (BCHLIMB-01 for £35) and 3 sets of horses (1 x BCHLIMB-02 and 1 x BCHLIMB-03 for £50 a set)
The whole set comes to £185 which is great value for such a wonderful piece but if you are short of space you can cut down on the horses to make it a four horse team and then will come in at just £135.

The Knights of the Skies range is again added to this month with ACE-03- Fokker DR1,Jasta 7,May 1918 flown by Lt Josef Jacobs. This black DR1 will sit comfotably next to your red DR1.We are sure it will prove just as popular as the other planes in the series. It is still only £130 so you have no excuse!
There is also a new pilot- ACE-01P. It is the Red Baron along with his dog and a crew member helping him into his boots.This is a £50 set and although available now for pre order won't be with us until May.

The new Tichonderoga range is expanded this month with the incredibly popular Grenadiers of the 42nd regiment of foot. Last months release of them sold so quickly that we had run out for the show! TIC-022 is a very dynamic set and will go very well with the rgular line figures of the regiment and are still great value at only £50 for the set of two.

The Spanish Civil War range sees the addition of more hardware- COND-01(423). This is the third tank in the range- it is another Panzer 1A but with a different number on it's turret so you can creat your own troop of German tanks. This range has been engineered so the models are light and easy to display in troop size displays with no damger of anything collapsing under their weight!

The Quebec range sees the addition of a single French officer for the Languedoc regiment. QF-23. At only £20 is this the figure to dip your toe into John's collections and see if you like what you find! The collectors who have been loyal to this range of course it is a must buy to add to your Quebec dioramas and displays.He is a good looking figure in his white uniform and will be one to catch the eye in any display.

The collectors club sees the the announcement of club set 8- Capt Robert Stewart and wounded horse.This set is on preview until the 15th April so contact Mark for details if you are a club member as only club members can buy club sets.Club set 7,Red Jacket, chief of the Senecas is now on pre order until the 15th April.

First legion April releases

April is a big month of releases for First Legion with over 30 codes shipping by the end of the month.

The most exciting release, we think, is the first of the Mamluks, the enemy of the Crusaders. The first release is of 12 foot figures. They include warriors, standards and leaders and they look as spectacular as the Crusaders.Their codes are CRU026 to CRU037and they range in price from £50 to £120. We can't wait to see photographs of them alongside the Crusaders.The highlight of the month will be when we have these little beauties in our hands!

Another colourful release is another 10 codes of Napoleonic Gordon Highlanders.These extra codes allow you to creat the famous squares at Waterloo. Along with the other 13 codes you now have standard bearers, officers and musicians. All these new codes are £55 but you can see just where the money has been spent.

First legion finish off their April releases with a substantial increase in their World War Two Africa korp range.There are two versions of the PZIII tank, the difference being the different units they belong to. There are also 6 figures- 2 crew for the tanks and 4 marching infantrymen. The quality is again breath taking and if you saw the SDKFZ 232 armoured car on our stand at the London show you will know how great the armoured vehicles look.

Finally, to finish off the First legion section, something we don't normally do, but would like to highlight a new Napoleonic unit that should go on pre order this month but shipped in May- Sharpe and his 95th Rifles- more details as
we get them.

Collectors Showcase April releases

The Collectors Showcase have exceeded all expectations this month with the release of a wonderful set of British Napoleonic Royal Horse artilleryThe complete set includes a gun and various crew which look great but the real show stopper is the limber- the set comes with 4 charging horses with 2 riders and the caisson and is a wonderfully dynamic piece. You also have the option of adding another pair of horses to take it up to a six horse team. I think you can tell Mark and David really like this set.

World War Two isn't forgotten with the release of an 88mm gun and prime mover along with extra crew, riders and limber wheels. The set comes in Normandy and winter colour schemes. The gun is £130 and the prime mover £140 so they make a great set to add to any World War Two collection.

Finally,the last releases this month is an American Civil War set- the 5th New York Zouarves. The complete release includes 6 sets making up a unit of 12 unique figures. Another good looking set from Collectors Showcase and a must for anyone interested in the early part of the Civil war.

That is it for April. I hope you agree with us that it is a busy (some may say expensive) month for the collector. We hope you enjoy the newsletter and find it useful. Any comments about improving it gratefully accepted.