November 22, 2019

What Goes Up Must Come Down

Forces of Valor’s 1:32 scale German Sd. Kfz. 186 Jagdpanzer VI Jagdtiger Heavy Tank Destroyer with Henschel Suspension – Kampfgruppe Goggler, 3/schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Germany, 1945 [Bonus Maybach V-12 HL 230 P30 Engine]

Forces of Valor has formally announced plans to revise their pricing structure for their 1:32 scale military vehicle line beginning in early 2020. Essentially, smaller scale vehicles, such as their jeep and zundapp, will carry a MAP of $69.99. Medium sized vehicles, which includes the Sherman tanks and other similarly-sized items, will be pegged at $79.99, while the larger vehicles, including their upcoming Jagdpanther, Jagdtiger and Tiger tanks, will sell for $89.99. These increases are designed to cover the costs associated with upgrading all of the existing molds to the revised specifications, the inclusion of larger display bases as well as the creation of new toolings for some of the vehicles expected to appear in 2020. As an aside, we will honor the price of any pre-orders that have already been submitted to us for the larger sized vehicles.

Dragon’s 1:72 scale US M1296 Dragoon Armored Personnel Carrier

In other news, Dragon has set the retail price of its upcoming 1:72 scale Stryker family of military vehicles at $29.99, $10 less than what we originally had them listed for. Here again, we will honor the new lower price and refund any differences due for those individuals that may have pre-paid for these vehicles. Refunds will be issued at the time of shipping, which is now expected to occur in January.

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Anatomy of War: Nuclear Drones

It isn’t often we pen a blog post about the latest advancements in the world’s arsenals. If we did, we’d end up writing about something every day and never get around to discussing some of the coolest pieces of diecast hardware coming to market. Recently, however, we were caught off guard by an article posted by The National Interest, which happens to do an excellent job of covering all of the world’s latest developments in the military sector.

According to a November 7th posting, Russia is preparing to reconfigure an Oscar II class submarine that would enable it to launch a flotilla of nuclear-powered drones. According to Russian state media, which oftentimes likes to boast about some of their latest military breakthroughs in the hopes of intimidating the West, “the Russian Navy is on track to deploy up to 32 of its “Poseidon” thermonuclear drones across four submarines.

Poseidon is an underwater drone weapon, armed with a 2-megaton nuclear or conventional payload that can be detonated “thousands of feet” below the surface. This is meant to generate a radioactive tsunami capable of destroying coastal cities and other infrastructure several kilometers inland.

Poseidon can remain submerged at up to one kilometer, travels at a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour, and is programmed to execute three-dimensional evasive maneuvers in response to interception attempts.”

We’ll leave it up to you to determine if this latest development should be a cause of worry and consternation for Western war planners who are once again grappling with a Cold War foe determined to flex its muscles in the increasingly more dangerous 21st Century world. For more information on the Poseidon, pay a visit to The National Interest.

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