April 2014 – The Motor Pool

Eaglemoss Claims, “The Russians Are Coming!”

With their first batch of 1:43 scale military vehicles now rolling on to the diecast battlefield, it was just a matter of time before the Company launched a new offensive on the 1:72 scale front. According to our distributor, their first wave of Russian tanks are slated for a May appearance, and cover everything from pre-WWII designs to modern era main battle tanks.

Costing a measly $11.99 apiece, and offering subjects no one else has gotten around to replicate, their new line boasts tremendous workmanship at entry-level pricing.

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Unimax’ Osprey Sprouts Wings

Unimax, the maker of the wildly popular Forces of Valor brand, shared new imagery for their upcoming MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft (#UNI85121). The new pix clearly show some of the features built into this stunning warbird, which include a pilot figure, drop down rear ramp, rotatable engine nacelles and more.

The MV-22 is slated for a June landing, and will no doubt be followed up with more new toolings, on the ground, at sea and in the air.

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Bauer’s Bold New Bugatti

German model maker, Heinrich Bauer, has just announced their latest high-end replica, a 1:12 scale take on the 1934 Bugatti Atalante Type 57SC touring car. Expected later in the year, the Atalante marks a return to the world famous stable of cars that were produced by Italian car maker, Bugatti, back in the 1930s, and features all of the hallmark detail, appointments and workmanship that has become the cornerstone of their premium line.

Price at an eye-popping $2,200, the Atalante isn’t for the feint of heart, and like its brethren releases, is designed to appeal to the high-end collector.

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Discontinuation of the Easy Model Line

Effective immediately, we are phasing out our entire range of Easy Model merchandise. Any remaining stock qualifies for a 25% discount off of the advertised price. Be advised that we will not be ordering any additional stock, so anything listed as Special Order does not qualify for this discount. Likewise, this is a first come first served sale, so it is entirely possibly that we could run out of select items quickly. To place an order for this line and qualify for this discount, please call us at (718) 465-3292 during normal business hours and we will review our in-stock position with you. Again, please do not ask us to order something that we no longer have available since this is a liquidation sale.

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Oxford to Resume Operations While Model Power Folds

Earlier this year, Oxford Diecast decided to set up its own distribution channel in North America, looking to gain more market share, improve margins and hopefully garner added relevance among the North American collector market. We’re happy to report that they now seem to be ready to resume operations, with many of their most sought after military vehicles and aircraft expected shortly.

On the other hand, long time model maker and train enthusiast, Model Power, posted on their web site that they are ceasing operations immediately, after being in business for nearly 50 years. For those of you unfamiliar with Model Power, they’ve been making their Postage Stamp series of military aircraft for several years running, offering up subjects no one else had the gumption to tackle. Its sad to see another manufacturer close up shop and particularly difficult when its a business “right down the road” from ours in Farmingdale, NY. We wish them the best and hope this isn’t the last we’ve heard from this three-generation operation.

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Amercom Inbound

The first of two Amercom shipments are now headed our way and should be arriving shortly. Because of the breadth and depth of the range, we decided to accept delivery of their helicopters first, and then their military vehicles second.

So, please bear with us as we take delivery of these two shipments. We will do our utmost to turn around any orders for these products as quickly as possible.

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2014: A Look Ahead

For those of you who have known us from the beginning, every so often we get the urge to tear down everything we’ve built and start again, so that we can serve our clientele better than before. With technology continuing to evolve, particularly in the area of e-commerce, and design inspirations pushing us forward, we’ve decided to begin the arduous process of creating our next rev of The Motor Pool. Currently, we hope to launch the new site sometime this summer, once we feel comfortable that we’ve worked out all of the bugs that inevitably creep into the design process and are fully able to move our existing files to the new service.

Some of the new features we plan to roll out are a more stylized home page, fully integrated blog, better search functionality, a more streamlined order processing and fulfillment system, videos, mobile optimization including a responsive template, more captivating product and category pages, and a variety of back office enhancements that will improve the customer and administrator experience.

We will certainly post more information once we are further along in the development of the new site, including snap shots of the work in progress, and rest assured you can still peruse our product portfolio, order merchandise and check your records on our existing site. We’re still here to serve your diecast needs.

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The US Navy Looks to the Future

Several important developments came to the fore this past week, among them two fundamental changes to the way in which the US Navy plans to fight and protect the seven seas in the 21st Century. First off, the inaugural stealth destroyer, DDG-1000 USS Zumwalt, is currently undergoing rigorous testing by the US Navy and its creator, the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. Scheduled to join the fleet in 2016, the Zumwalt employs a stealthy design, boasts fewer crew members, and is much more capable than its predecessors in helping to defend US interests.

More information concerning the Zumwalt class of destroyers can be found here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/u-s-navy-new-uss-zumwalt-prepare-battle-report-article-1.1743213

Also undergoing testing is a rail gun, which is currently fitted aboard the Joint High-Speed Vessel USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3). The rail gun is an especially important change in anti-aircraft defense measures, since it would allow surface vessels to once again sail closer to land masses and no longer fear potent anti-ship missile systems currently deployed by a number of nations. It could also defeat saturation-based air-to-ship missile attacks out to a distance of 100 miles that was accepted as a sound fundamental plan-of-action by certain countries. Its not clear if the rail gun can be retrofitted to the current fleet of US naval vessels and perhaps replace aging systems such as the radar guided Phalanx CIWS gatling gun, which fires 20mm shells out to a range of a mile or so.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/us-navy-unveils-rail-gun-that-fires-at-seven-times-speed-of-sound/story-fnjwpv39-1226878052463

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Discontinuation of The Collectors Showcase Line

Effective immediately, we are phasing out our entire range of The Collectors Showcase merchandise. Any remaining stock qualifies for a 25% discount off of the advertised price. Be advised that we will not be ordering any additional stock, so anything listed as Special Order does not qualify for this discount. Likewise, this is a first come first served sale, so it is entirely possibly that we could run out of select items quickly. To place an order for this line and qualify for this discount, please call us at (718) 465-3292 during normal business hours and we will review our in-stock position with you. Again, please do not ask us to order something that we no longer have available since this is a liquidation sale.

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War Master Back on Track?

It appears as if War Master has selected a new distributor for its North American operation, which is why their most recent pair of scheduled shipments have been inexplicably delayed. At this point, its not clear if their supposed June cache, which is already available elsewhere in the world, will ever make it to our shores, given the lack of information currently available. What is known is that their new distributor has announced plans for an all-new platoon of armored vehicles to roll out this May, which will be supplemented by an IJN Aichi B7A2 Ryusei “Grace” attack aircraft.

All of the ground vehicles look especially pleasing this go round, covering a multitude of eras, nations and types of weapons employed. For WWII buffs, a German 88mm FLaK gun will be offered, this time still attached to its wheel assemblies. Moving forward in time, War Master has developed an Israeli M51 Isherman tank, an upgunned version of the original Sherman that was used in the Yom Kippur War. Also expected is a US M48 A3 Patton tank, which saw action in Vietnam, and a M163 A1 Vulcan Air Defense System, which saw yeoman service during the Panama Crisis of 1981. All five new products have been listed on our site, and we hope to have clearer imagery some time soon.

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