At one time, Dragon and their Chinese-based specialty arm, Cyber Hobby, ruled the 1:72 scale diecast military space, producing a dazzling array of standard as well as exclusive models that, in some instances, commanded a king’s ransom to purchase outright. When Dragon kicked off their Dragon Armor range with a 1:72 scale rendition of Michael Wittmann’s Tiger tank (DRR60001) almost twenty years ago, Cyber Hobby went the subject one step further, by introducing a bevy of highly coveted variations that included numbered collector cards, etched bases, accessories, display plinths, and special collector tins. Although we are long since sold out of most of these Cyber Hobby exclusives, we’ve left the majority of them up on our web site to give collectors an idea of what was offered and their approximate value based upon after market prices collectors seem willing to pay for these rarities.
Taking a page from their playbook, it would seem as if Cyber Hobby intends to revisit this tried-and-true strategy of offering specially hyped vehicles and, whenever possible, including a “chase” product within the assortment to help spur interest. For the uninitiated, a “chase” vehicle can best be defined as a completely different vehicle included within each master assortment of standard vehicles, a common practice in their Can.Do line of smaller 1:144 scale vehicles. For their upcoming Peoples Liberation Army ZBL-09 Snow Leopard Infantry Fighting Vehicles, the plan calls for the inclusion of a whitewashed United Nations vehicle within a master pack of 20 standard vehicles.
From Dragon’s point-of-view their goal is two-fold: by including one specialty vehicle within the master assortment, the retailer is more than likely going to order an entire case of standard vehicles in order to obtain this specialty vehicle, thereby bumping up the size of their order. And, for the collector, these “chase” vehicles typically command exorbitant prices in the after market, oftentimes many times more than the standard vehicle could ever hope to reach. So, the manufacturer, retailer and collector are all happy with the arrangement, provided interest doesn’t wane for the standard vehicles, and the manufacturer doesn’t run out of the “chase” products.
Judging by the accompanying diagram it would appear as if two of the standard vehicles in this DRR63001 assortment carries a “05-02” identifier while the rest are labeled “05-01”, thereby making the pair a bit less scarce than the other vehicles.
We’re assuming that the Cyber Hobby Snow Leopards will become available in the first quarter, although its not clear if they will be sold exclusively through Cyber Hobby or by Dragon Models USA. We’ll provide more information to everyone once everything gets sorted out and the hyperbole takes its inevitable course.
Note: Interestingly, Cyber Hobby is following a slightly different strategy for their second PZL Snow Leopard Infantry Fighting Vehicle (#DRR63000). Instead of providing a completely different vehicle as the “chase” item, two vehicles in the master carton have been designated as special editions, one boasting a slightly different paint scheme and the second coming with a PLA flag. The remaining nine vehicles in the master carton will come with different numbered identifiers.
