As July draws to a close and the back half of the summer slowly slips into view, we thought it best to discuss things as we see them for the balance of the summer and, quite possibly, the balance of the year. To begin with, COVID in the US seems to rearing its ugly head once again, largely due to a lot of people refusing to get vaccinated. I’m going to stay out of the politicizing of the virus, and how both sides of our political spectrum seems to be addressing the issue from rather different standpoints, but suffice it to say I think everyone should get vaccinated. The benefits far outweigh the risks associated with a vaccine developed in record time. Moreover, this country will never fully get back on its feet until and unless we have properly dealt with this pandemic once and for all.

That said, COVID continues to have a dramatic impact on the global supply chain, be it the manufacture of goods in east and southern Asia, port congestion due to the huge influx of consumer goods swamping our ports of entry, and the way in which we have learned to cope with the pandemic for a second year running. Some diecast manufacturers seem to be fairing rather well during this hiatus, continuing to bang out goods in the face of a growing list of unforeseen problems. For instance, Hobby Master seems to be back on track, now that their long delayed May shipment has been finally unloaded and sent out to its distribution network. Their July shipment is still expected the first week of August and, unless something happens to upset the apple cart, it appears as if the balance of their 2021 release schedule should arrive on time and hopefully intact.

Corgi is also doing well, cranking out its fair share of military vehicles and aircraft as originally planned. We haven’t heard of any further delays to their release schedule, although they did notify us recently that they plan to increase prices by 10% on August 1st. As a result, we will be forced to raise prices accordingly, so if you are looking to pre-order any of their second half releases, we strongly recommend you do so now before the price increase goes into effect.

And then there are the rest of the pack of manufacturers we sell, who have, for the most part, been adversely affected by the global pandemic far out of proportion to their size. Some, such as Modelcollect, seem to have abandoned making any more pre-assembled models at least for the foreseeable future, preferring instead to stick with the making of model kits. We’re not certain if they ever plan to return to making pre-assembled diecast products, perhaps getting a better idea as we head into 2022. Others, such as Panzerkampf, seem to be stuck in neutral, announcing a bevy of new products over the last year or so that never seem to make it to market. We still have high hopes that these products will make it to our shores sooner rather than later, but the fact remains that we are still unable to get any clear cut information as to when to expect them.

The balance of the lines we stock have also been affected by the slowdown in the logistical chain, forced, in many instances, to deal with higher material and labor costs, not to mention the huge increase in prices for trans-oceanic shipping. We hope that this problem will eventually subside once the upcoming holiday rush has run its course but its anyone’s guess as to when the issue will be put to bed for good. So, as always, we appreciate both your business and patience as we and everyone else in the business of providing quality diecast collectibles struggle to keep our ships afloat amidst the raging COVID storm. Remember, every little bit helps so do your part by keeping abreast of the latest information and supporting your favorite sources.