Every so often, we’re forced to sit on the fence about a new line that may or may not do well with our collecting audience. Yesterday, we learned about a new range of large 1:24 scale unpainted figures and vehicles from Atlas Editions. What makes this line questionable for us is the fact that they come unpainted, are all based upon World War I subjects, and all focus on the french army. On the plus side, they are relatively inexpensive, given their size and heft. The vehicle seen here sells for only $29.99, while most of the two-figure sets can be sold for as little as $14.99. Each even comes with a certificate of authenticity as can be seen in the accompanying photograph, and attractive packaging to boot. If you’ll notice, the tank tracks and wheels are molded to the body, which means these vehicles are really designed to sit in a curio cabinet than on a wargaming battlefield. For now, we’ll take a wait and see attitude since they aren’t due to arrive for a few months but we’d love to hear your opinion concerning the range, which covers some 24 SKUs and even a wooden display base with a felt top.
Its now mid-March, a full month after the conclusion to the Nuremberg Toy Fair, and we are still in a quandary concerning french manufacturer, Solido. Last year, they made it public knowledge that they are working with War Master to produce a new range of 1:72 scale diecast military vehicles and, last month, showed off several larger 1:43 scale military vehicles within one of their Toy Fair booths, several of which we have never seen before.
Now, on their web site, they’ve added a new collage of War Master products to their home page, which includes a British Cromwell tank and a Martlet fighter, the British equivalent of the Eastern Aircraft FM-1 Wildcat. That said, no further details concerning either new issue are contained within their military category page, so for now we assume they are nothing more than teasers with release dates much further out. Likewise, we still aren’t sure if the range will be made available in North America since no distributor has stepped forward yet to indicate they will supply the range. We aren’t sure what this means to collectors but will keep everyone abreast should anything change.
Shortly, Microsoft plans on releasing Windows 10 Creators Update, which looks to take the operating system to the next level. One feature heavily touted is Paint 3-D, which enables users to merge 3-D content with stylized 2-D images. After we gain some familiarity with this app, we plan to gradually migrate all of our new product images to this new standard, which will hopefully give customers a better understanding and appreciation of each item. Stay tuned for further details.
Even though we’re still awaiting the first 1:72 scale tanks from newcomer, Panzerkampf, it appears as if they have lots more armor in the pipeline just itching to find a new home. According to their web site, four more tanks are pretty far along in the development process – so far, in fact, that they even have pictures of the replicas rather than 2-D line art. The four newest showings include what appears to be a WWII-era German Panther Ausf. D medium tank with side armor skirts, Russian T-90MS main battle tank, and a pair of German Leopard armored fighting vehicles: a 2A5 as well as a 2A7. No dates of availability were listed, so they could be a ways of before they hit the street.
Other vehicles seem to be in the works too, most notably a US-built M60A3 Patton tank clad in explosive reactive armor as well as a vehicle we cannot identify. Further details will no doubt surface in the coming weeks.
IJN super battleship Yamato, flag ship of the post-Midway Japanese navy
“Yamato was simply built to stand up to and utterly outclass any conceivable American or British opponent by sheer weight of gunfire and elephant-like armor. As such, hers is a sort of ‘brute force’ approach to protection. Her armor layout isn’t the most efficient, but she has a lot of armor, so it doesn’t really matter.”
– Jon Parshall, historian and author of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
This April, we expect to take delivery of the first of several redeveloped warships from Waltersons, the new owners of the Forces of Valor brand. As such, we thought it made sense to preface their release with a little history of each warship and their relative importance in naval history. To kick things off, we look at the Imperial Japanese Navy’s super battleship Yamato.
The Chrysanthemum Seal, effectively the Imperial Seal of Japan, which was placed prominently on the bow of the IJN Yamato
The Forces of Valor rendition of the famed warship portrays her during Operation Ten-Go, a fateful and last ditch effort by the IJN to thwart the US landings at the island of Okinawa towards the end of the war. Operation Ten-Go was a Japanese naval operation plan that consisted of four likely scenarios. Its first scenario, Operation Heaven One (or Ten-ichi-gō天一号) became the last major Japanesenavaloperation in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The resulting engagement is also known as the Battle of the East China Sea.
In April 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato (the heaviest battleship in the world), along with nine other Japanese warships, embarked from Japan on a deliberate suicide attack upon Allied forces engaged in the Battle of Okinawa. The Japanese force was attacked, stopped, and almost destroyed by United Statescarrier-borne aircraft before reaching Okinawa. Yamato and five other Japanese warships were sunk.
The battle demonstrated U.S. air supremacy in the Pacific theater by this stage in the war and the vulnerability of surface ships without air cover to aerial attack. The battle also exhibited Japan’s willingness to sacrifice entire ships, even the pride of its fleet, in desperate kamikaze attacks aimed at slowing the Allied advance on the Japanese home islands. This extremism reportedly contributed to the US decision to employ nuclear weapons against the Japanese.
Every so often I get the bug to write about something, particularly if it happens to apply to a facet of the diecast industry at-large, or a specific company that we deal with. Recently, we conducted an interview with Noel Lee, the owner and operator of Calibre Wings, who gave us valuable insight into his operation. We’ve also been in contact with several other manufacturers, one being Waltersons, the new owners of the Forces of Valor brand. They have graciously agreed to sit down with us as well, which, in-and-of-itself, is important since the Forces of Valor brand means a lot of things to a lot of people. So, keep your eyes peeled for our next interview, which should appear some where around the end of this month and just prior to the release of their first static models.
It’s been awhile since we last conducted an interview, much less one with a company responsible for producing some of the collectibles we enjoy. Back in December, we were fortunate enough to sit down with Noel Lee, the owner and Director of Operations of Calibre Wings, a relative newcomer in the diecast aviation market. At that time, their most anticipated product being hyped was a pair of 1:72 scale Grumman F-14 Tomcats, originally due out for the holidays, but delayed due to a series of production issues. Now, with many of the teething problems rectified and product ready to be shipped out to their global distribution network, we share their thoughts on the hobby and unique struggle to get product to market. You can find the interview here: http://www.themotorpool.net/Manufacturer-Interviews-s/2496.htm
Women may live by the creed, “eat, pray, love”, made famous by the bestselling novel and film which advocates adopting a spiritual existence, but guys think a bit differently in today’s day and age, particularly after a hard day at the office. Drivetanks,com, a Texas-based firm, offers would-be Brad Pitt tank commanders, not only the chance to drive a WWII-era tank across a predetermined course, but also the opportunity to fire its guns. The drive over private property requires you to meander up and down hills, ford shallow streams and negotiate brush-filled terrain all the while as an “enemy” takes aim and attempts to lay waste to your tank with mock shells and bullets. For an added cost, you can fire back at them, using any of the tank’s machine guns or even its main gun, making the ranch the only place on earth where a civilian can take out his or her wrath with real heavy duty ordnance. As this CNN reporter found out, you can also experience other forms of combat, including barbecuing a wooden target with a flame thrower, or trashing a wave of enemy soldiers with a bipod mounted machine gun. http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/02/travel/driving-tanks-for-fun/index.html?sr=fbCNN030217driving-tanks-for-fun0139PMVODtopLink&linkId=35044073
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Atlas Editions’ 1:43 scale US T19 halftrack in olive drab
Our distributor reports that ten new 1:43 scale World War II era military vehicles are about to make landfall, along with a restock of their wildly popular World War I era German Ehrhardt Strassenpanzerwagen E-V/4 armored car. The ten vehicles cover a wide range of combatants, theatres of action and vehicle types, so without any further ado, here’s what you can lay your mitts on this March:
ATL2690941 – German Steyr Raupenschlepper Ost (RSO) with Pak 40 Anti-Tank Gun
ATL6690013 – German Sd.Kfz.4/1 Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier
ATL6690014 – British Humber Mk. IV Armored Car
ATL7123106 – US Navy Dodge WC51 6×6 1-1/2 Ton Weapons Carrier
ATL7123107 – German Wurfkorper M F1 50 Stuka zu Fuss Halftrack with Rocket Launchers
ATL7123109 – Soviet GAZ 67B Staff Vehicle
ATL7123110 – US Army T19 Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC)
ATL7123119 – German Opel Blitz 3-Ton Truck – 7.Panzer Division, Eastern Front, 1942
ATL7123120 – Italian Autoblinda AB 41 Armored Car
ATL7123121 – Italian Morris Portee Gun Truck
Priced at just $24.99 apiece, these vehicles are designed to complement several recently introduced military series from the likes of Altaya, Eaglemoss, Schuco, Solido and others and we wouldn’t be surprised if they shared some parts and/or pedigree with a number of them.
USS Enterprise (CVN-65), complete with its own embarked air wing and display plinth
Every so often, we speak with the manufacturer directly to get a sense of what collectors can expect in the coming months. We’ve been particularly keen on finding out how Walterson’s, the new owners of the Forces of Valor brand, plans to pick up where its former owner, Unimax, left off. We’ve already seen some evidence of where they are headed with the receipt of their four 1:24 scale radio controlled tanks, which will be augmented by several dozen new vehicles as we move further down the road.
IJN super battleship Yamato, flag ship of the post-Midway Japanese navy
In the case of their 1:32 static military vehicles and 1:700 scale warships, what some consider to be the cornerstone of their business, we’re starting to get a sense of how Walterson’s plans to proceed in 2017, and likely how they will handle themselves and each individual sub brand for the foreseeable future. Several legacy warships are expected this April, among them the USS Arizona, USS Missouri, USS Enterprise, and IJN Yamato, with several new molds not too far behind. In a previous blog post, we discussed how they have improved both the outer and inner packaging for each warship, thereby making it easier for the collector to remove and display their models, and take pride in their purchase. Yesterday, we received several images for each of the upcoming warships, demonstrating the newly-designed display plinth, name plate and repainted workmanship.
Iowa Class battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), currently berthed behind the USS Arizona Memorial, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
In regard to their 1:32 scale static vehicle line, many of the vehicles will not only feature better weathering, painting and, where needed, corrected improvements to bring them up to their correct historical standards, but will also come with more “useful” bonus pieces instead of the standard fare accoutrements that seemed to have no correlation and or redundancy with the vehicle in question. For instance, with their first Tiger I tank, the vehicle will come with a stand-alone Maybach engine, while the Sherman Firefly will be bundled with a Chrysler V-12 engine. Other vehicles might come with similarly conceived extras instead of “wine bottles, cats and road signs”, perhaps including transparent cutaways, vehicle crews or other more critical extras that should enhance the overall product and demonstrate they are listening to the consumer.
USN Pennsylvania Class USS Arizona (BB-39), decked out in its pre-war paint scheme and glory
Perhaps, most importantly, Walterson’s has moved into their own manufacturing facility, which reduces the overall cost for each product rather than having to subcontract each product to a third party manufacturer, which would build, assemble and paint their products with little in the way of quality assurance. Moreover, Walterson’s has a dedicated team of graphic designers and engineers devoted to each individual sub brand, thereby ensuring consistency across the entire spectrum of their product portfolio and guaranteeing a more uniform approach towards bringing new product to market. We expect big things from this Company and thus far they haven’t disappointed.
