November 5, 2021

Hobby Master Gets Back on Track and Other News

Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale RAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vb Fighter – Squadron Leader Jan Zumbach, No.303 (Polish) Squadron, Summer 1942 [Kemble Air Show, June 2011]

We’ve got a bit of good news to share with everyone. According to our distributor, both the September and October Hobby Master shipments have made port and should arrive at our distributor on or around November 19th, which means we, in turn, should be receiving our orders before Thanksgiving. This is great news since we should be able to make them available for general sale during the extended Thanksgiving Day weekend.

Moreover, our distributor claims that both the November and December Hobby Master shipments should make port by December 12th and they will likely receive these shipments during the run-up to Christmas. We doubt that these shipments will be available for sale prior to Christmas. They should, however, be in stock by year’s end, unless either adverse weather or trucking delays hamper their arrival. So, it would appear as if future Hobby Master shipments will arrive as advertised, again unless port congestion, adverse weather or trucking issues enters the equation.

We’re not certain if our Forces of Valor shipment, previously advertised as arriving around the end of November/early December, will still make it in time for the holidays since these items are likely included within a different container and on a different cargo ship bound for Savannah. Georgia. We’re still awaiting word from Corgi when their next major shipment is expected, leaving them as the only major supplier whose 4th quarter releases are still up in the air. They are located in Oregon and face their own set of difficulties receiving new shipments.

Solido’s 1:48 scale US M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle – “Nasty Boyz”, Operation Desert Storm, 2001

Our Solido supplier says they are expecting to take delivery of their shipment within two weeks, meaning here too product will be available for general sale for the holidays. Some of our other lines are still up in the air, both figuratively as well as literally, and we will keep everyone abreast of any further developments as they materialize. All in all, hopeful news given what we have seen over the last few months.

Oh, and one last thing. We recognize that a lot of products we had hoped would arrive for the holidays may not make it in time even if Herculean efforts are made throughout the supply chain. Therefore we have brought back our gift certificate, which can be found throughout our Gift Giving Ideas section. Essentially, you can send your love one a gift certificate in any denomination, which can be redeemed before, during or after the holidays, an especially useful tool for anyone still looking to obtain an item that may arrive after December 25th. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us and we will walk you through the process of ordering a gift certificate.

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Tank (Transporters) for the Memories?

Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale US Oshkosh M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter with M1000 Semi-Trailer – Camouflage

Much is being made of the current shortage of truck drivers here in North America, which has helped to create an added bottleneck in getting goods from our clogged ports to the retail network. It therefore comes as no surprise that this added hurdle is now affecting the diecast industry in general and the upcoming Panzerkampf tank transporter set in particular. And if you believe that, there’s a bridge here in New York I can sell you.

In all honesty, when they were first announced last summer, well before the kinks in the global supply chain became apparent, we envisioned these sets would likely retail for around $100, a fair assumption given the fact that most of their similarly scaled military vehicles were retailing for around $35-$40. Turns out we missed the mark by a wide margin. We learned today that they will be pegged at $150 per set and, more importantly, will be available in very limited numbers here and around the world. So, we will honor the price we originally listed for anyone that placed a pre-order with us for either of these sets. That said, we have also updated the price for each set to $150. Frankly, this is still a fair price to pay given the paucity of military vehicles reaching the marketplace and the appeal these sets offer to anyone collecting military diecast memorabilia. Some of you may remember that Sword Models released several different 1:50 scale Oshkosh tank transporter sets several years back, which sold for around $300 or more. Those sets blew out in no time, and now command much higher prices in aftermarket venues such as eBay. In fact, someone is listing a few as we speak and offering them up for $800 apiece.

Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale US Oshkosh M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter with M1000 Semi-Trailer – Desert Scheme

Anyway, we’re sorry to have made this announcement but hope you understand that some things are well beyond our control, hustling tanks from Point A to Point B one of them, even if they are diminutive cousins of the real thing.

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