August 29, 2019 – The Motor Pool

Corgi’s Harvest Moon

Corgi’s 1:50 scale British Cromwell Mk. IV Tank – “Blenheim”, 2nd Armoured Battalion, Welsh Guards, 6th Guards Armoured Brigade, 1944 (1:50 Scale)

As we gear up for the holiday season, Corgi seems to be hard-at-work harvesting their latest crop of diecast delicacies. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect from the English modelmaker in the month of September:

For the ground pounders:

#CC60418 – US M3A1 Half-Track – 41st Armored Infantry, 2nd Armored Division, Normandy, 1944 (1:50 Scale)

#CC60309 – British RAF Bedford QL Supply Truck – RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force, 84 Group, Gold Beach, Normandy, 1944 (1:50 Scale)

#CC60013 – German Krauss-Maffei Sd. Kfz. 7/1 8-Ton Semi-Tracked Personnel Carrier/Prime Mover – Unidentified Unit, Deutsches Afrika Korps, Tunisia, May 1943 (1:50 Scale)

#CC60613 – British Cromwell Mk. IV Tank – “Blenheim”, 2nd Armoured Battalion, Welsh Guards, 6th Guards Armoured Brigade, 1944 (1:50 Scale)

#CC60112 – British Churchill Mk. III Infantry Tank – 6th Scots Guards Tank Brigade, Italy, 1943 (1:50 Scale)

For our aviation enthusiasts:

Corgi’s 1:72 scale USAAF Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Heavy Bomber – “Flak Eater”, 364th Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group, RAF Chelveston, England, August 1944

#AA37908 – French SPAD XIII Fighter – S7000, Rene Fonck, Escadrille 103, Autumn 1918 (1:48 Scale)

#AA37809 – German Albatros D.V Fighter – 2059/17, Manfred von Richthofen, Jagdgeschwader 1, Marckebeke, Late August 1917 (1:48 Scale)

#AA36614 – USAAF Lockheed F-5E-2 Lightning Photo Recon Plane – 43-28619 “Rita/Ruth”, 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Group, Eighth Air Force, Mount Farm Airfield, August 1944 [75th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion] (1:72 Scale)

#AA38409 RAF Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV Light Bomber – R3843/WV-F, “F for Freddie”, No. 18 Squadron, “Operation Leg”, August 1941 (1:72 Scale)

#AA36909 – German Junkers Ju 52/3m Tri-Motor Transport – D-2600 “Immelmann II”, Adolf Hitler’s Personal Transport Aircraft, Berlin Tempelhof Airport, circa 1936 (1:72 Scale)

#AA33318 – USAAF Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Heavy Bomber – “Flak Eater”, 364th Bomb Squadron, 305th Bomb Group, RAF Chelveston, England, August 1944 (1:72 Scale)

As an aside, we were curious as to why the inboard panels of each engine cowling and panel forward of the windscreen was painted green instead of the natural metal finish shown throughout the aircraft’s exterior. This appears on both the Corgi B-17 shown here as well as the upcoming B-17 from Air Force 1. Apparently, after the bare metal finish was adopted by the USAAF, it was discovered that the glare from the metal finish forward of the cockpit and on the inboard sides of the engine cowlings was blinding the pilots inside the cockpit. As a result, khaki green shields were repainted on these selected parts.

Tales of Transparency: Withdrawal from the Universal Postal Union

In October 2018, the Trump administration announced that the US was withdrawing from the Universal Postal Union, a system set up way back in 1874 that was designed to level the playing field for shipping small packages across 192 countries. While the system made sense back then, and helped to standardize rates and other facets of international shipping, it has, in effect, provided certain countries with an unfair advantage over the US. More specifically, US businesses have been hurt by the arrangement since businesses operating out of China have been able to ship to the US at a fraction of the cost for what a US business must pay to ship a similarly-sized package to China. A last minute vote to keep the US in the UPU is scheduled for late September but many feel the effort is futile and that the US will still withdraw from the accord some time this October.

From our standpoint, we welcome the decision for the US to withdraw from the UPU. China was first granted this privilege in 1969 when it was still considered to be a developing nation. Fast forward to 2019 and China has become one of the largest economies in the world, second only to the US. To grant them an unfair advantage at this point in time would be foolhardy and it would come at a time when the US Postal Service continues to report record deficits.

While we recognize that it will cost much more for a US-based consumer to purchase something from China, we feel that the time has come to remove any and all advantages a country such as China has held sway over the US, particularly in light of the failed trade talks between the two countries. If China wants to act responsibly and in good faith then they must abide by the conditions of the US trade representatives and any and all advantages they currently hold over US businesses must be removed in order for fair trade to exist now and in the future.

Whose Top of the Heap?

We’ve pretty much given up on the Top Gun: Maverick line of military aircraft and accessories that was supposedly coming out from TSM Model Wings. The film is slated to debut on June 26th, 2020, so we would have thought that any new products based on the film would already be in the pipeline. Likewise, the Company doesn’t seem to be making any aircraft or accessories connected with the original film, which tells us they can no longer do so. They haven’t officially said anything as yet, but sometimes silence speaks louder than words.

Furthermore, with the announcement on July 26th that Mattel had inked a deal with Paramount, the producers of the Top Gun franchise, we are assuming that Mattel now has complete merchandising rights to both films and will likely begin showing new product for both films at the upcoming Toy Fair held in early February. While Mattel intends to produce a full range of Top-Gun-related products including toys, figures and playsets, it isn’t clear if they will address the high-end collectible market which has sustained TSM Model Wings for the past several years.

We have therefore decided to remove any product that had been announced by TSM Model Wings almost two years ago at Toy Fair and show only those items we still have in stock. We hope TSM still retains some merchandising rights and can continue producing Top Gun-related merchandise but right now we have our doubts and must act accordingly.