Please note that we have no hand in either the production nor the distribution of the products we sell. While we may offer advice to several of the model makers we work with so that they have a better understanding of what our clientele may be requesting, our affiliation goes no further and we have no financial stake in any of the companies we deal with. Moreover, anticipated dates of delivery are just that — anticipated. Release dates are subject to change and can oftentimes lag far behind the original intended date of release projected by either the manufacturer or distributor. Vagaries in the supply chain can and, on many occasions, slow the arrival of shipments by lengthy periods of time.
In summation, the companies we work with are relatively small as compared with far larger corporations in the toy industry yet are looking to serve a global if niche marketplace that continues to grow both here and abroad. So, while product may show up in eastern and southern Asia where many of these manufacturers are located, it may and oftentimes can take longer before said product makes it to our shores and is then available for general sale. As a result, it may take us several months (and in certain cases years) before we can fill a pre-order. Please bear this in mind if you have your heart set on a newly introduced item and choose to pay us up front for an order using debit payments such as PayPal or AmazonPay.
We will be closed for business from December 22nd until December 25th. During this period, you may freely place orders through our web site, although they will not be addressed until our return on the 26th. Moreover, any product inquiries or order updates will be responded to upon our return.
Our marketplace sites on Amazon and Walmart will be temporarily shuttered in compliance with their selling guidelines although our marketplace on eBay will be open and operational albeit with the understanding that any orders received will be shipped out upon our return, again in compliance with their venue-specific selling guidelines. As always, we thank you for your patronage and look forward to delivering the highest quality products and service possible. Enjoy Halloween!
When we heard that Panzerkampf had sold through its initial batch of MiG’s we couldn’t believe our ears. Surely a product as successful as the “Farmer-C” was going to be followed up by a new batch of product or, at the very least, even more models that would dazzle the hobby and satisfy the retail trade.
Well, it looks as if our prayers have been answered. According to our distributor, three new models are on the horizon, all expected to hit the streets some time in March. Bear in mind, the upcoming MiG-19PM, better known by the NATO reporting name of “Farmer-E” is a bit different than the original MiG-19S or “Farmer-C” in a very important way. The PM variant had its cannons removed entirely, a bit of a bummer if you like close-in dogfighting, which was typified by air-to-air combat in the Korean conflict. The PM is, however, armed with four Kaliningrad K-5M (NATO: AA-1 “Alkali”)beam-riding missiles, one of the earliest attempts at taking down adversarial aircraft by other means than the traditional gun or cannon.
Beam-riding, also known as Line-Of-Sight Beam Riding (LOSBR), beam guidance or radar beam riding is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. The name refers to the way the missile flies down the guidance beam, which is aimed at the target. It is one of the simplest guidance systems and was widely used on early missile systems, however it had a number of disadvantages for long-range targeting and is now found typically only in short-range roles. This version of the MiG-19 entered production in 1957.
Look for all three versions to beam in this March.
You can’t accuse Militaria Diecast of resting on their laurels. Just a scant few weeks after announcing and shipping out several new 1:43 scale military vehicles comes news that a further five vehicles are in stock and winging their way to their retail network. All five are priced at just $29.99 apiece, so when you consider the size of some of these new introductions, such as the all-new GMC truck with a communications shelter (shown above), their heft and diecast construction, that represents awesome value for the buck.
We’ve placed our initial order with our distributor so the quintet should be in stock and ready for outbound shipment to our customers by the end of next week. Barring any logistical issues, that means they can still make it under the tree in time for Christmas.
Earlier today we were surprised to see that Dragon will be bringing back an old favorite from the diecast graveyard. Marketed under their Cyber Hobby sub brand, DRR63281 is a departure of sorts for this model maker, since it resurrects one of their most popular Dragon Armor subjects that was originally released way back in 2005.
For those of you unfamiliar with this release, it contains a 1:72 scale King Tiger heavy tank that sits atop a circular display plinth which simply says DRAGON across the rim. Additionally, there are seven Fallschirmjager figures in varying poses that can be placed atop the tank to signify that they are being transported into battle. “Yellow 222”, as we’ve come to call it, was a German Sd. Kfz. 182 PzKpfw VI King Tiger Ausf. B Heavy Tank that was attached to schwere Panzerabteilung 501 — an integral part of the “Wacht am Rhein” operation — better known as the Battle of the Bulge Ardennes counteroffensive of December 1944.
For now, we will hold off listing this item on our web site since we aren’t certain if our distributor will be able to obtain this item and in any significant numbers. Moreover, we aren’t able to ascertain its price just yet, considering the vehicles comes bundled with a handsome display base and several pre-painted figures. The original set is listed on our site for $149.99 so its a fair bet this new iteration will retail for quite a bit more.
Finally, we aren’t sure if Dragon plans on re-releasing more previously available dioramas in the near- and long-term and how they will come packaged. Its clear they are trying to differentiate this new set from its predecessor by changing up the base and will more than likely alter the outer packaging to further distinguish the past from the present. Beyond that, we aren’t sure where this line will take us or the hobby down the road and how it will impact the prices of their former releases. As a guess, their next set of releases will involve the King Tiger heavy tank – likely produced in both Ausf. A and B variants — painted in a wide variety of schemes and attached to a great many heavy tank detachments that appeared on both the eastern and western fronts. So, don’t get your hopes dashed if the first few offerings aren’t your cup of tea since there will quite likely a lot scheduled for release on the horizon.
Astute customers may have noticed that our checkout process has changed dramatically over the past couple of weeks thanks in part to an update rolled out by our web hosting solution as well as some follow-up calls from yours truly explaining why the update broke some important features, most notably shipping. In any event, after spending some time on the phone with various technicians, the shipping options are now integrated into one drop down menu and includes all three major carriers we use along with different delivery options.
In hindsight, I’ve learned a long time ago that while technicians are great at performing functions such as rolling out highly technical updates, they need to be reminded of the fact that certain commercially important factors — such as making available differing shipping options — need to be present at checkout, particularly at this time of year when some customers may need to receive their parcels in quicker fashion to avoid holiday-related delays.
Now, on to a separate matter that has mushroomed over the past year or so. We’ve decided that after twenty-five years of doing business in the ether we can no longer accept pre-orders without accepting payment first. In the past, we typically had to contact the customer to obtain their billing information so that we could obtain a new authorization code, which then allowed us to get paid for the transaction. We’ve found that sometimes the customer was unwilling to provide their CC information either by phone or via messaging protocol, so we were, in effect, stuck with laying out money for an item(s) without getting paid. Now, I can understand a customer’s trepidation with giving out their information outside of a secure means of payment but from our vantage point, this issue was becoming problematic and was no longer sustainable from a financial standpoint. So, going forward, customers will be billed at the time their order is being placed not upon the date it is being shipped out. We recognize this could be an issue for some but hope you also understand that we can no longer lay out money for a customer in the hopeful event that we will one day get paid for the transaction. Other dealers may feel differently, so we fully understand if you can no longer place your pre-orders with us.
Its been a frustrating year from any number of standpoints, particularly as it relates to getting in new product that in many cases were announced months ago. Several manufacturers seem to be running into regular delays — oftentimes because of customs checks, manufacturing issues or other supply chain problems — which keeps affecting how and when we can expect to receive their items.
In the case of Panzerstahl, we were notified in August by one distributor that a cache of “previously made” product had been unearthed — presumably sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Asia or Europe — and that they could be expected before the start of the fourth quarter. Well, its now coming up on the end of November and we’re still sitting on our hands waiting to hear when they will be dispatched. We’ve told this distributor time and again that it does us no good if the product gets shipped to us at the end of December, when most online shopping has already wound down.
To make a long story short, we decided this morning to cancel our Panzerstahl order and have focused our attention on those lines that ARE actually expected sometime over the course of the next two weeks so they can make it to shoppers before Santa takes wing. Again, I have no idea why its taken this distributor so long to get in product that was made, packaged and sitting in inventory well over a decade ago looking for a nice new home. There’s only so many excuses I can listen to before I have to put on my big boy britches and call them out for not living up to their end of the bargain. Its one thing to get everyone’s hopes up — its another to drop the ball in spectacular fashion.
We apologize for not receiving said product and hope you understand that some things are simply beyond our abilities to properly address. Any orders we may have received to date for this line will naturally be cancelled and the listings will have a block in place to prevent any added orders from coming in.
Earlier today we learned that Militaria Diecast received and is now shipping out seven new 1:43 scale diecast military vehicles to their retail netowrk. Composed of diecast metal and offering great value for the price, we expect to receive their latest batch of soft-skinned military vehicles by the middle of the month, making them perfect holiday gifts. Perhaps the most notable new introductions include this Sd. Kfz. 9 18-tom FAMO prime mover (shown above) and its accompanying tank transporter (shown below), both painted in an early war field grey scheme.
All seven have been listed to our web site under the November New Additions section and the pre-order window is now open.
The LGM-35 Sentinel, also known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), is a future American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM) currently in the early stages of development. It is slated to replace all 450 Minuteman II missiles from 2029 through 2075. The Minuteman missiles are currently stationed in North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Nebraska.
In 2020, the Department of the Air Force awarded defense contractor Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion sole-source contract for development of the LGM-35 after Boeing withdrew its proposal. Northrop Grumman’s subcontractors on the LGM-35 include Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Bechtel, Honeywell, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Parsons, Textron, and others.
On January 19th, 2024, the USAF announced that the program’s costs had risen to over $125 billion—37% above the initial $95.3 billion budget—and its deployment would be delayed by two years. A revised cost estimate released by the Department of Defense on July 8th, 2024, put total program acquisition costs for the Sentinel program at $140.9 billion.
The United States Air Force plans to procure 634 Sentinel missiles, plus an additional 25 missiles to support development and testing, to enable the deployment of 400 missiles. According to the Air Force, the program also includes modernizing “450 silos and more than 600 facilities across almost 40,000 square miles”
Several months ago, the National Interest published an article discussing the Sentinel ICBM initiative, outlining the impact the updated missile program will have on our national defense, as well as cost overruns and slipping milestones the program has faced since inception. They also point out that not only are new missiles being developed but so too is the infrastructure, which in most cases date back to the Cold War and the use of old analog technology. According to the National Interest, “the program plans to produce over 600 new missiles, upgrade or construct hundreds of facilities, and lay nearly 8,000 miles of new, underground fiber optic cabling for command and control. This massive enterprise spans 40,000 square miles and involves six states. Assumptions were made during early cost estimates that some of the facilities currently in use could be refurbished and reused to save money and time, which has compounded the cost overruns.”
While Congress will have to review the escalating costs of the program, its doubtful they will cut or even cancel the Sentinel since it makes up the all-important land leg of our nuclear triad system — a defensive strategy that has been in effect for over seventy years. The other two legs of our nuclear triad strategy involves long-range bombers flown to the target from deep within the continental US and submarine-based missiles that are submerged and moved about the oceans to help them avoid detection. The three systems are designed to work in concert with one another should an adversary hack or destroy our missiles with a massive first strike. As such, its unlikely the DoD will revamp what has become the bedrock of our offensive ICBM system, one that is meant to deter an adversary from launching their own missiles at the continental US.
Its no secret that China has sought to bring the island-nation of Taiwan to heel and eventually back into the fold of the Communist-led mainland. The crisis began way back in 1949 when then ruler Chang Kai-Shek and his Nationalist Army were forced to flee the mainland by the pursuing Chinese Communist Army once they realized that they could no longer defeat the Communist forces under the control of Mao Tse-Tung.
The situation remained in stasis for the past 75 years largely because the Communists weren’t strong enough to attempt a forcible invasion of Taiwan. Over the last few years, however, as the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has continued to gain strength through an unprecedented build up of both its sub-surface and surface assets, the Chinese have gone on record to indicate that it will take back the island, by force if necessary. With this goal in mind, they have gone so far as to acquire a former Soviet-built aircraft carrier from Ukraine in 2012, all in an effort to learn the basics of naval aviation. Since then, the PLAN has steadily developed its own nascent force of home-grown aircraft carriers, first by funding, building and launching the Shandong class of steam-driven carriers and now a more sophisticated class of carriers, capable of launching aircraft through a cutting edge Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), and known simply as the Fujian.
Recently, two YouTube analysts took up the issue of the soon-to-be-deployed Fujian and how it both compares and contrasts with the more robust Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers the US has been building and launching over the last few years. The results of their analysis are sobering, even for the most ardent critics, who have repeatedly warned the West of the growing influence the PLAN has been exerting in the Western Pacific. While both analyses are lengthy, we invite you to watch the accompanying videos to form your own impression of what we could be up against should a shooting war erupt in the not-too-distant future.
In our 25 years or so of doing business online, I’ve seen some strange things but I think this one takes the cake. Earlier today Panzerkampf announced that they were planning to bring back their highly successful MH-53 Sea Dragon medium lift helicopter. Priced at just $99.99 a copy, that’s a pretty good bargain considering its track record, size and overall quality. The catch? Well, for some odd reason they plan to offer a squadron’s worth of alternatives to choose from. In the case of their dark blue chopper from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 “Blackhawks”, five different versions will take to the diecast skies this January. Their light blue helo from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 4 “Black Stallions” will see five versions as well and five birds will put in an appearance with Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Sixteen “Vanguard”. That’s fifteen helos in total, in case you weren’t counting, all expected at the same time.
Why the manufacturer feels the need to make so many different versions is anyone’s guess. Granted, only 100 pieces of each version are being made for an international audience, so they will likely go fast, at least at the wholesale level. At the retail level, that’s a completely different matter. These are big burly choppers that take up a lot of room even for a relatively larger diecast seller that can sell them across a fairly wide number of e-commerce platforms. Whether or not this will become a pattern for Panzerkampf remains to be seen. I, for one, don’t think its a great idea but what do I know. Enjoy!
We’re going to handle the sale of these helicopters a bit differently than in the past. As we run out of a particular model, we will automatically fill each order with a helicopter from the same squadron but with a different identification number. In the case of the “Blackhawks”, if we run out of “White 05”, for example, then we will fill the order with a helicopter from the same squadron but with a different identification number. We will NOT be re-ordering these models after we have exhausted our stock of a particular model. Frankly, they take up a lot of room and tie up a lot of inventory dollars plus we have no way of knowing if Panzerkampf will be applying this strategy to future releases. Please be mindful of this process if you have your heart set on a particular model and supplies at our end start to dwindle.
Military World has posted an intriguing yet informative video discussing BAE’s Atlas unmanned combat system. Atlas, which stands for Autonomous Tactical Light Armour System (ATLAS) Collaborative Combat Variant (CCV), could well become one of the first unmanned combat systems to be fielded by a major combatant, although no nation has yet to sign on to the program. Interestingly, it doesn’t appear as if Australia, where the Atlas is being developed, will serve with the Australian Army. This could change should the Atlas prove its worth against and alongside crewed combat systems.
While Atlas is being created to operate without a crew, nor is it intended to ferry troops into battle like a traditional infantry fighting vehicle, it is being designed from the ground up with a “man in the loop”, meaning a human operator must first identify enemy troops, drones and aircraft within range of the vehicle before firing, thereby reducing the likelihood of fratricide. Its not clear if Atlas will eventually see service with Ukrainian forces in their war against Russia, thereby giving the system a chance to prove its value alongside a myriad of crewed combat systems.
For more information on Atlas, visit the manufacturer’s web site at BAE Systems.
