Corgi’s 1:72 scale USAAC Consolidated Catalina PBY5A Flying Boat – 14-P-5, Patrol Squadron 14 (VP-14), Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, December 7th, 1941 [80th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack]
Now that Hornby has completed its annual inventory, we’ve learned that a sizeable gaggle of diecast warbirds are headed our way. Several are key introductions, such as their first ever Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber and a heavily requested Consolidated PBY Catalina in USAAC markings. We’ve moved the models that are packed up and winging their way to us to our Product en Route section, so make sure you eye them over and select which models you want to pre-order before they arrive towards the end of next week. Some may not get put up for general sale so be forewarned!
To my knowledge, Dragon still has no official distribution arm in North America after they closed up their self-titled shop back in 2021. Candidly, its hard to imagine that a large model maker such as Dragon, who was once the undisputed king of the 1:72 scale pre-assembled market, has pulled out of what has to be their most lucrative market but there you have it folks. Stranger things have happened. Its entirely possible they could be looking to re-establish themselves by forming a partnership with another modelmaking entity but until that time, retailers such as ourselves, are being asked to order direct from their Chinese factory, which, I might add, is too costly and time consuming to undertake.
Happily, they do seem intent to keep their toe in the diecast water by churning out several new vehicles under their Neo Armor banner. While it remains to be seen if these vehicles will ever make it to our shores within a reasonable time frame, we’re holding out hope that someone will eventually step forward and pick up the gauntlet, making these and anything else they plan to produce once again available to the Noth American collector. Anyway, here’s a quick pictorial update as to what’s purportedly being made for 2022.
