February 1, 2017

Forces of Valor Hits the Ground Running at Toy Fair

For several weeks, Waltersons, the new owners of the Forces of Valor brand, has been hinting at what they plan to release in 2017. From radio controlled military vehicles to warships, battle tanks to dioramas, the proud new caretakers of the multi-faceted Forces of Valor range is approaching things from a bride’s perspective, offering something old, borrowed and blue to whet the appetite of collectors world over.

In terms of old, several legacy molds were shown to the public at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, including a reworked 1:32 scale Tiger I heavy tank that “borrows” from its Extreme Metal range in that a separate tank engine will be included as an added bonus. As for blue, their highly coveted warships range now comes in handsome new packaging that makes the ship look as if its cutting through the surf to join up with its brethren.

While some of the old favorites were on display, it appears as if the PLAN Liaoning aircraft carrier was also in the booth, meaning it is likely just a month or so away from an actual launch. We hope to have final pricing concerning all of the new warships coming to market and will likely receive an update in May concerning the Company’s new 1:16 scale Extreme Metal Tiger tank, 1:72 scale military vehicles and multi-scaled fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

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Dissecting Diecast: Solido Keeps Us Guessing in 2017

Last month, as part of our preview of what to expect in 2017, we alluded to the fact that French manufacturer, Solido, was planning on getting back into the military game in a “big” way. By “big”, we weren’t necessarily referring to the fact that they intended to offer a large number of SKUS – rather, by introducing both a 1:72 scale range of military vehicles and aircraft repurposed from the War Master line up, along with larger, reworked 1:43 scale military vehicles originally made by Eaglemoss. In fact, the banner image on their Facebook page even showed several former Eaglemoss vehicles as part of their 2017 vehicle lineup to bolster this claim. However, when we paid a visit to their Facebook page earlier today, their Nuremberg Toy Fair booth didn’t include any Eaglemoss vehicles at all, but rather several 1:43 scale vehicles that we haven’t seen before, including both a German and US tank transporter, King Tiger heavy tank, and what looks like a modern era US AFV sitting atop the US tank transporter.

Currently, we are awaiting further information concerning this intriguing development, which will no doubt help to reignite interest in the 1:43-1:50 scale segment of our hobby.

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Calibre Wings Straddles the “Fence” and Provides a First Look at Their Upcoming Su-24 Attack Aircraft

Despite running into some manufacturing issues which has delayed the released of their first pair of F-14 Tomcats, Calibre Wings used the Nuremberg Toy Fair to show off their next tooling: a Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer all weather attack aircraft. Initially, two planes are being planned for an end-of-year release: one based upon a Ukranian Su-24MR and a second, and likely more popular, Su-24M variant flown by a Russian squadron.

Thus far, neither version is being shown in their markings and insignia, although the prototype was displayed with its ordnance and some of its characteristic features, among them variable geometry swing wings and opening cockpit.

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