Air Force 1 has been relatively mum of late, releasing only a handful of new aircraft types to keep them in the diecast aviation game. Part of the problem are the number of gaffs they seem to make with each new release, either including pilots with blue helmets for every aircraft, era and nation, sloppy typos on their packaging, wrong scales, etc. So, with that in mind, they took the bold step of announcing plans to make a 1:48 scale version of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Currently slated for a May release, their inaugural replica looks to bring to life the mount of famed ace Tommy McGuire, when he was with the 475th Fighter Group then doing battle with the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre of Operations during 1943 (AF10150).
Some pundits have already speculated that the AF1 version looks eerily similar to one once offered by The Franklin Mint, but according to the promotional literature, the AF1 version will feature optional position landing gear, something the Franklin Mint version lacked. Lets keep our finger crossed that the pilots are correctly characterized.