Serious collectors are oftentimes all too happy to announce to anyone within earshot just how much money they’ve sunk into their collection. Yet, for some reason, they are equally reluctant to go the extra mile and protect their investment should anything happen to it. Well, now they can and should.
Collectibles Insurance Services is an online insurance company that is more than willing to provide you with an end-to-end protection policy that is designed to meet your needs, whether it be safeguarding your sports card collection or protecting your historical diecast inventory. You can arrange a free quote by calling them at 1 (888) 837-9537 or by visiting their web site at Collectibles Insurance Services.
Corgi’s 1:50 scale US M4A3(76)W Sherman Medium Tank – B Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, 9th Armored Division, Clervaux Castle, Luxembourg, 1944
Originally expected last fall, the balance of Corgi’s Military Legends line of 1:50 scale military vehicles are finally en route to us. Interestingly, Corgi quietly updated two of the product photos – one for the US M3A1 half-track and the other for the Sherman tank. The revised half-track now features bed rolls attached to the front fenders of the vehicle, a gear rack affixed to the rear of the vehicle, and a dustier paint job, giving it a more grizzled, well-worn appearance better suited to a hard-fought WWII battlefield than its predecessor. The Sherman tank, on the other hand, has been completely overhauled. We were expecting a standard M4A3 Sherman tank but it now appears as if we are getting a M4A3(76)W which featured a 76mm main gun and a more bulbous turret. Its not clear why the images were updated so late in the production cycle, but both will certainly sell well despite the mix up.
Other vehicles en route to us include their Tiger I heavy tank, German Sd. Kfz. 7/1 prime mover and Bedford QL supply truck. We should have them in stock during the first week of February and will be completing all of our outbound shipments as soon as they arrive.
Waltersons has been exploring ways to better market its Forces of Valor 1:32 scale military vehicle category and has decided to change things up a bit to better reflect its revised strategy. Essentially, they’ve come up with three separate categories for their military line, all based upon each item’s features, extras and lineage. Here’s how everything will be categorized going forward:
The Legacy and Engine Plus series are actually two series rolled into one. To begin with, the Legacy series represents those vehicles produced by Unimax, the original manufacturer of the line. The Engine Plus series, which is the creation of Waltersons, the new owners of the line, encompasses those vehicles that have been upgraded with a removable engine and fully detailed engine compartment. Other enhancements may have been made, such as updated suspension systems, better weathering and painting, and additional metal components to give each vehicle more heft.
The Inside Out series, as its name implies, emphasizes the intricacy, ingenuity and complexity of the crew compartment found in many of the world’s armored fighting vehicles. As such, these replicas feature fully modeled three-dimensional interiors that are designed to show off some of the incredible detail found within each all-new combat vehicle. Where applicable, each crew station has been accurately modeled, along with ammunition stowage racks, ordnance, weapons and other important gear typically found within a vehicle that heretofore haven’t been correctly replicated by any of the major modelmakers. Presently, its not clear if this sub category will feature removable engines like the Engine Plus series although we’re willing to bet it will.
Like their larger brethren, the new 1:32 scale Extreme Metal series will feature metal tracks, added crewmen, accessories, a simulated wooden crate for stowage and added collectibility, replica munitions, as well as other familiar hallmarks that have made the 1:16 scale series so near and dear to the hearts of collectors worldwide.
To this end, we’ve temporarily taken down many of the new product listings until we have a better sense as to how they will be marketed and priced. It is possible, for instance, that a particular product could fall into multiple categories so we will wait a bit longer until this new marketing strategy has been fully fleshed out since there could still be some changes made to this plan. A similar plan could and will likely be created for their soon-to-debut military aircraft line so we will wait and see how they plan to approach this category in the days ahead.
Beginning last October, PayPal changed the way it handled refunds and order cancellations that are completed with PayPal. Essentially, PayPal is now charging vendors 2.9% of an order’s value plus a 30 cent transaction fee any time a vendor issues a refund or cancels an order. So, a cancelled $100 pre-order would end up costing the vendor $3.20 (2.9% plus .30) even though the vendor was never able to fill the order. While we believe this tactic on the part of PayPal is unfair, we have no choice but to pass along this fee to our customers. We cannot run a business where we are paying our payment processor a fee for a transaction that never took place. So, beginning in January, any order that we cannot fill that was paid via PayPal will be subject to this fee deduction. We are sorry to have to do this and hope everyone understands that as a merchant we are being caught in the middle here and should not have to incur any unnecessary charges that are beyond our control. Please keep this in mind whenever you wish to use PayPal as your payment choice for items that we have not yet received.
Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi A6M2 “Zero” Fighter – 3-116, Saburo Sakai, Tainan Kokutai, Formosa, China, 1940-1941
Several months ago, we wrote how Corgi completely blew it with their soon-to-be-released 1:50 scale Tiger I heavy tank, which is supposed to portray an initial production vehicle that saw action in the Leningrad sector of the Russian Front during late 1942. Instead, they used a late model Tiger I and claimed it was historically accurate. And, lest we forget about the engine cowlings on the Air Force 1 B-17 Flying Fortresses, which are peeled back and exaggerated beyond all explanation. Well, it now appears as if Hobby Master will be facing much the same back lash with their soon to take wing 1:48 scale Mitsubishi Zero that was piloted by the famed IJN naval ace, Saburo Sakai.
While we don’t as yet have the aircraft in our possession, it appears as if the grey exterior paint scheme commonly associated with an IJN Zero has morphed into a sky blue overcoat, thereby giving the model a strange and somewhat eerie appearance that isn’t ugly but ahistorical nonetheless. During the war, its commonly believed that there was no single grey color used by the IJN to paint their aircraft. In fact, after Midway, when the IJN lost four front-line aircraft carriers, many aircraft were forced to deploy to land bases and were therefore repainted with a green top coat to help them blend in with their new surroundings. That said, it appears as if Sakai’s Zero, which was based at Formosa well before the disaster at Midway, falls somewhere in the middle, a failed attempt at getting his model to look like the real thing. A pity really.
We recognize that sometimes its a struggle to get a model painted in the correct colors and to date, Hobby Master usually posts pre-production photos on various forums so that collectors can give the products the once over before giving their nod of approval. In this case, it appears as if this never happened, and the model went into mass production well before anyone could critique it. Frankly, its not a bad model, and some collectors may decide to give it a Code 3 make over, meaning they’ll redress the model to make it more acceptable. Still, it would have been nice if Hobby Master had stuck to their tried-and-true process of letting collectors say yay or nay to the model before it was turned over to the production line thereby avoiding these types of mishaps.
Beginning in January, we are now changing the way in which we accept international orders for pre-ordered and back ordered merchandise. In the past, we have accepted payments made via PayPal and AmazonPay, two payment services that transmits the customer’s payment to the vendor when the order is submitted even though the vendor may not be able to fill the order until a later date. As a result, the customer has, on occasion, believed that they are then entitled to have their order shipped to them in piecemeal fashion as the product comes in, which ends up costing us much more than what was originally billed. This procedure will now end.
Customers located outside of the continental United States must now use a credit card when they attempt to order either pre-ordered or back order merchandise from us. Once the order is submitted, we will then contact the customer to obtain their complete billing information. As merchandise comes in, we will then bill them for each shipment sent out. No exceptions will be made. Should a customer submit an order to us using PayPal or AmazonPay for merchandise that is clearly marked as not being in stock, we will cancel the order, refund their payment and explain this new order acceptance process with them. If the issue continues, we will close out their account with us for refusal to abide by our terms of sale.
To be clear, customers located outside of the continental US may still use either PayPal or Amazon payment to pay for merchandise that is marked as being in-stock.
Air Force 1’s 1:72 scale USAF Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter – 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base [Low-Vis Scheme]
We have great news for all you Joint Strike Fighter fans. A squadron of F-35A Lightning IIs just landed at our distributor without so much as an early alert from the control tower. Our order is now en route to us and should be in stock some time next week. Typically, the AF1 F-35s sell very well at retail and we’ve been out-of-stock of the A version for several months running.
Of the three JSF variants, the A version is flown by the US Air Force. As such, the F-35A is the conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant intended for the USAF and other air forces. It is the smallest, lightest F-35 version and is the only variant equipped with an internal cannon, the GAU-22/A. This 25mm cannon is a development of the GAU-12 carried by the USMC’s AV-8B Harrier II. It is designed for increased effectiveness against ground targets compared to the 20mm M61 Vulcan cannon carried by other USAF fighters. On August 2nd, 2016, the USAF declared the F-35A basic combat ready. The F-35A was scheduled to be fully combat-ready in 2017 with its 3F software upgrade.
A restock shipment isn’t expected until March, meaning this shipment will likely sell out quickly once word spreads of its availability.
A pair of Dragon Armor 1:72 scale ZBL-09 Infantry Fighting Vehicles flanking their upcoming United Nations “chase” vehicle
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.
Each Master carton of Snow Leopards includes twenty standard vehicles and one “chase” vehicle
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.
This week, it would appear as if all we have on our mind is Corgi. Apart from a solitary post regarding new Hobby Master products for the month of June and another covering the return of Skymax Models, it seems as though Corgi has stolen the limelight with us and perhaps with good reason.
Earlier today we learned that Corgi has joined forces with the massively multiplayer online game, World of Tanks, and intends to produce a range of diminutive tanks that you might find in the game. There is no set scale for these vehicles as is the case with their larger brethren found in the Military Legends series. Rather, they are all designed to fit a common one-size-fits-all packaging, much like their Showcase range. In fact, there’s a good chance that this may be a re-branding move on the part of Corgi, intended to leverage the popularity of the game to help propel sales and give the makers of the game and avenue into the diecast market.
This new re-branded range is not to be confused with another World of Tanks range in which all of the vehicles are produced in 1:72 scale and where several are paired to form an adversarial pack such as a T-34 versus a Panther. We are still working to procure this range under a separate working relationship and will share the news once we have something more concrete to go on.
Incidentally, the inclusion of a US-built M48A3 tank, the only post WWII-era vehicle in the series, would suggest that Corgi is preparing to bring back their Vietnam War series as they did with their WWII line. If true, this is certainly welcome news for many collectors, still eager to collect a range that sold out several years ago.
Corgi’s 1:50 scale German Sd. Kfz. 171 PzKpfw V Panther Ausf. D Medium Tank – Panzer Abteilung 2, Panzer Brigade 107, Bamberg, Northern Bavaria, April 1945
At last we’re seeing some movement on the Corgi front. Their long awaited 1:50 scale Panther medium tank (#CC60215) is now on its way to us along with their 1:72 scale Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber (#AA32518), both of which we originally expected towards the end of 2019. The remaining items in their 2019 range for both their Military Legends and Aviation Archives series are tentatively expected towards the end of January, again barring any unforeseen issues. We expect to take delivery of the Panther and Stuka on or around the 21st, so please do not contact us ahead of that date asking about your order or when you can expect to receive it.
Corgi’s 1:72 scale German Junkers Ju-87B-2 Stuka Dive-Bomber – J9+BL, 9./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1, St. Pol, France, November 1940
We will process all of our outstanding orders for both items the moment they arrive and provide everyone with tracking information once the orders are ready to be handed off to our carrier. In the meantime, we thank you for your patience and hope you can wait just a little while longer for these goodies to arrive.
