January 13, 2015

Unimax Studies War No More?

UNI80098

According to a post on the Diecast Hangar Pub forum, a prominent UK distributor is indicating that Unimax, the makers of the Forces of Valor range of military vehicles, aircraft and warships, are throwing in the towel and calling it quits, at least as far as military diecast is concerned. They claim that the manufacturer has cancelled all of their upcoming projects slated for 2015, instead of postponing them indefinitely as had been rumored. Recently, Unimax had closed their North American distribution arm and sold off all of their inventory to a US distributor.

If true, this marks a particularly sad state of affairs for collectors, who were expecting a number of key items for several months running. Moreover, the departure of another long time stalwart in the diecast military space represents a nod to some of the manufacturers who have gained market share either by offering untapped subject matter, cheaper items, other scales, or a combination of all three mitigating factors.

Please note that we have yet to confirm these findings with our North American distributor so the information provided could still be sketchy. For further information, please review this thread:

http://tdhp.fr.yuku.com/topic/19329/Re-FOV-items-Cancelled-totally?page=-1#.VLUoOXsYNM4

Update: In early January, our distributor informed us that the list of product originally slated for release was nixed by the manufacturer in favor of a new group of items. It is now February, with the Nuremberg Toy Fair behind us, and we are of the opinion that Unimax has withdrawn from the marketplace, perhaps permanently. We hope it isn’t true but at this point fear the worst.

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Dragon Surges with the Panther D

DRR60596

First announced over two years ago, the very first 1:72 scale Panther Ausf. D medium tank is finally en route to us and expected shortly. We expect them to sell out quickly since this is a key introduction many collectors have been waiting eons to drive into battle.

Panther Compilation

No longer content to sit on their laurels, the manufacturer is also showing the fourth iteration of this popular warhorse on their site, which is pegged with a March release date. While its refreshing to see so many versions to choose from, we can’t help but wonder if this is a sound strategy since it floods the market with a wide array of choices in a short period of time. (Shown from left to right: #DRR60645, DRR60683 and DRR60684)

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