October 25, 2016

Third Party Payment Options

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We recently resolved a problem we encountered accepting payments through Amazon (Checkout with Amazon) so all systems are green for go this holiday season. Likewise, PayPal has been operating smoothly of late, although payment notifications were slow to be sent out this past weekend as the Company worked to resolve some latency issues they were facing as well as a Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDOS) by a malfeasant operator yet to be identified.

The benefits of using either payment method in lieu of a credit card to complete an online transaction are clear cut. First, neither company provides the merchant with the customer’s credit card or banking information and instead stores it through their own secure and encrypted payment system. So, there is no need for the merchant to contact the customer and review their billing information with them should an order need to be processed outside the customary 30-day payment window. Likewise, there is no need for the merchant to require that the billing and shipping address match, since both payment systems provide the merchant with payment protection in case the situation warrants. The downside is that the customer is remitting funds to the merchant ahead of the transaction being completed. Ordinarily, this isn’t a problem if the item(s) in question on the order are all in stock and can be shipped out immediately. It can cause some consternation for the customer if the order cannot be shipped out for whatever reason (the order contains either back ordered or pre-ordered merchandise), so it can appear as if the merchant has accepted the funds without showing anything for it. Please keep all of this in mind when determining which payment option you wish to use when placing an online order.

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Product Spotlight: The Hornet Gets Super

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“Victory”

– VF-103 radio callsign

Announced several months ago, Hobby Master’s first ever F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter has slowly edged its way from the drawing board to the production line in an effort to get the first bird out the door by year’s end. Their inaugural offering is based upon a US Navy Boeing F/A-18F that served with VFA-103 “Jolly Rogers,” then embarked upon the USS Eisenhower (CVN-69) in 2012 (HA5102).

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By all accounts, collectors are quite happy with the way the first model looks, particularly since it bears the insignia of the illustrious “Jolly Rogers”, one of the most sought after squadrons among aviation enthusiasts. Hobby Master has pegged this model with a tentative release date of December, so we are hoping, perhaps against all hope, that it may still make it in time to be nestled under the Christmas tree, if Santa busts a move. We will post further information as soon as it reaches us.

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Strike Fighter Squadron 103 (VFA-103), nicknamed the Jolly Rogers is an aviation unit of the United States Navy established in 1952. VFA-103 flies the F/A-18F Super Hornet and is based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia (USA). The squadron’s radio callsign is Victory and it is assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seven.

The original VF-103 squadron insignia was a cloverleaf, and the aircraft tailfins had a horizontal yellow arrow outlined in black. Later a stylized aircraft darting through the leaf was added, along with a baseball bat. The baseball stemmed from an early skipper who often carried one with him. In 1991, VF-103’s aircraft used the squadron insignia for tail-art, in place of the bold arrow. When the Sluggers became the Jolly Rogers they adopted the famous white skull-and-crossbones.

The Jolly Rogers have always displayed some of the most recognizable squadron markings in the world: sinister white skull-and-crossbones on all-black tails, with gold bands wrapped around the tip of the tail fins, and black bands with gold chevrons (known as vagabonds strips from the Crusader days of VF-84 (1955-95)) run down the sides of the forward fuselage.

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Film in Focus: USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage

Occasionally, a movie slips by us that we never expected, and USS Indianapolis is just that flick. Based upon the real-life exploits of the US Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis, the film traces the final voyage of the ship towards the end of WWII, from its successful mission to take components for the atomic bomb to a forward operating base, to its sinking at the hands of a Japanese sub, and the ignominious fate thereafter. Starring Nicholas Cage as Captain McVay, the commander of the USS Indianapolis, look for the film to reach theaters around the middle of November.

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