Forces of Valor’s 1:700 scale Royal Navy Invincible Class Light Aircraft Carrier – HMS Invincible (R05), Falkland Islands, 1982 [Full Hull Version]
It was forty years ago when the Royal Navy was forced to steam thousands of miles away into the South Atlantic in an effort to liberate the British territory known as the Falkands Islands — a relatively small chain of islands off the South American coast that was claimed and forcibly seized by Argentina. The Malvinas, as the Argentinians called them, were unexpectedly occupied in 1982 as a means of diverting political attention away from failed domestic policies at home and an attempt at galvanizing a nation beset by all manner of turmoil.
To celebrate their achievement, Forces of Valor plans on relaunching one of the key warships involved in the conflict — the HMS Invincible, a medium-sized aircraft carrier that proved instrumental in providing air support for the Royal Marines. Thus far, the manufacturer has released this lone picture of the warship, and haven’t as yet indicated its retail price or expected date of delivery. Nevertheless, we’ll keep an eye on this new release and update our site once information is passed along.
In other news, we’ve been told by our distributor that the September shipment of Forces of Valor product has been pushed back until October. As a guess, they are still awaiting some items to be completed so they can fill a container. We aren’t sure if this will the last container from FOV for the 2022 calendar year based upon performance to date. Moreover, we do not know if several items, such as their recently announced waterline version of the Yamato, will be repackaged for their English-speaking audience, or if it will be solely available in Japan. Lots of speculation at this point and little to go by.
Dragon Neo Armor’s upcoming 1:72 scale US M103A2 Heavy Tank with Reliability Improved Selected Equipment (RISE) IR/White Light Spotlight
Earlier today, Dragon announced two more new vehicles that will join their Neo Dragon Armor line. The newest of the new are both M103A2 heavy tanks, immensely powerful vehicles that served our country well if for a short period of time during the Cold War. While Dragon is indicating that these vehicles will be available in September we will more than likely stock them towards the end of this year.
Which brings me to the real purpose of this post. When Dragon Models USA closed their doors last year, it created a void in the marketplace whereby product was still being made by Dragon Models but not being stocked by any distributor here in North America. We had the opportunity to import the line ourselves but declined because we are unable to store that much new product to make it worth our while. A month or so ago, one distributor did decide to step up to the plate and will be importing the Neo Dragon Armor range into North America. Because they must purchase the product in larger lots so they can fill a container, we fully expect that it could be some time before they are able to fill each new container with the latest product. More likely, they will be bringing in merchandise once per quarter, based, in large part, upon what is ready in Asia at the time they are placing their order. Of course, should the manufacturer decide to delay the release of new product, then this will have a detrimental effect on when the latest new items will actually reach our shores. Hopefully this won’t occur too often but I thought you might want to take notice of this should there be extended delays from here on out.
For those of you residing in the UK, we thought you might like to know that the Bovington Museum is holding a model show on September 10th. We’re not certain if diecast collectibles will be on sale but the idea that these types of shows are back is enough to get this would-be attendee happy as a clam. For more information, visit the South West Model Show. And, for those of you that already plan to attend, have fun!
Bandit, wearing her characteristic “lion cut” doo. Two months later, and you would never know she had a hair cut because her coat grew in as fast as bamboo. Rest in Peace baby. You will be sorely missed.
It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce the untimely passing of our second dog, Bandit. Like our first dog, Cookie, Bandit was a pure bred Pomeranian that ran the roost, so-to-speak, tugging at my heart the moment I first laid eyes on her as a pup some nine years ago. While some might disagree with the way I let dogs take over our lives, I also like to remind them that their only requirement is to love and be loved.
We got Bandit roughly nine months after the passing of Cookie, largely as a way of dealing with Cookie’s passing and the hole she left in our hearts. My youngest daughter, April, accompanied me after first seeing her photo online and wondering if she would be a good fit for our family. When we arrived at the puppy store, we noticed that they had all of the puppies in a see-through enclosure located in the middle of the store, where potential buyers could see them interact with other breeds. “Happy”, as she was known by her online photo, was sitting atop a scrum of other puppies, proclaiming, in dog-speak that she was king of the hill. We decided to bring her home and, as is our family tradition, let April rename her Bandit, since she was stealing everyone’s socks and hiding them under the bed.
Unlike Cookie, Bandit passed away at only 9 years of age, succumbing, according to the the vet, from fluid in one of her lungs and quite possibly suffering a stroke. She passed away on Friday afternoon and its taken me this long to find the composure and wherewithal to actually comment on her death. Like Cookie, we hope you had a good life with us and hope we can see and play with one another once again in the hereafter. Rest in Peace baby
Armored Fighting Vehicles of WWII 1:43 scale US M26 Pershing Heavy Tank – “Alles Kaputt”, 2nd Armored Division, Cologne, Germany, April 1945
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for several delayed shipments, it would appear as if lots of new product will finally be rolling in by month’s end. From AFVs of WWII, you can look forward to nabbing no less than nine new 1:43 scale tanks, thereby substantially enlarging your collection of mid-sized combat vehicles. The nine new vehicles include some heavily asked for favorites such as a Panzer IV medium tank, M26 Pershing and even a ponderous Matila infantry support tank. We’ve move the nine new vehicles to our Product en Route section, even though they are slated to hit the highway on Monday.
The same distributor who stocks the AFV line says that several new Panzerkampf tanks are right behind the AFV shipment, the most important of which is their 1:72 scale M1A1 Abrams painted up in a NATO standard woodland camouflage scheme. Its an important release since it pairs up quite nicely with their NATO standard M1070 heavy equipment transporter. So, we’ll be kneep deep in armored fighting vehicles by week’s end and will work tirelessly to get out all of the pre-orders over the next weekend.
In other news, our principal distributor says that both the June and July Hobby Master shipments are scheduled to arrive at their facility in Atlanta this week. Quite likely the July shipment will be received first then the June container. Strange? Not really. In this day and age there really is no rhyme or reason why this sort of hodge-podgery [sic] is happening — basically it all comes down to when customs gives the go-ahead for a container to hit the road. Furthermore, Hobby Master products, which are produced in Bangladesh rather than mainland China, takes a bit longer to transit both the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They then have to navigate through the Panama Canal rather than land at any of the west coast ports because their port of entry is in Savannah, Georgia, which is closer to their ultimate destination in Atlanta. So, its also entirely possible that one ship could arrive before the other, making forecasting for their arrival that much more difficult to determine.
Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USN Douglas A-1H Skyraider Attack Aircraft – VA-176 “Thunderbolts”, USS Intrepid (CV-11), 1966
Moreover, with lots of holiday shipments beginning to arrive for many of the big box retailers (Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, etc.), we’ll take these shipments any which way they come just as long as they arrive within time for us to actually promote and sell the product for the upcoming holiday season.
Many of the remaining manufacturers seem to be in limbo there is really no point in discussing them at present. As far as our move to southwest Florida goes, our newly built house is still progressing, albeit well behind schedule. Without cabinetry and countertops its a shell at present, so there’s no point in discussing when we will actually take possession of the home until we have a clearer idea as to when the missing components will arrive and get installed.
Note: We will begin processing any pre-orders we’ve thus far received for the AFV line beginning this week. As always, we would greatly appreciate it if you could refrain from contacting us about your order. If we keep our head down and concentrate we can get everything out within a couple of days. Interruptions always slows down this process. The Panzerkampf shipment will then be addressed once we have a better idea as to its arrival time.
We decided to end our Dog Days of Summer sale one week earlier than originally indicated in order to make some administrative adjustments and prepare for our annual Labor Day Sale. Considering the sale began on July 7th, I don’t think anyone is going to quibble about the shortened length of time we set for the sale. In the future we will do our best to make these announcements before the sale needs to be cut short.
Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale US M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank with TUSK I Survival Kit – 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored Division
In a surprise announcement, Panzerkampf plans on shipping out several 1:72 scale military models this month. We had all but given up hope that anything would materialize from them given the issues still affecting the West Coast ports and their persistent delays. That said, several armored fighting vehicles should be rolling in next week, including their highly coveted M1A1 Abrams tank painted in a NATO woodland camouflage scheme and sporting the TUSK I survival kit. Its an important release because it pairs well with their recently released M1070 tank transporter that is painted in the same tri-color camouflage scheme. Also expected is a M1A2 Abrams donning a desert scheme and clad in the TUSK I kit as well as a pair of new M42 Duster anti-aircraft vehicles we’ve had advertised on our site for months on end but couldn’t quite pin down as far as release dates go. We strongly recommend submitting your orders for these vehicles as soon as possible since its very possible these will sell out quickly and may not be available for general sale once word spreads.
Forces of Valor’s 1:32 scale US M4(105) Sherman Medium Tank with VVSS Suspension and Deep Wading Gear – 713th Tank Battalion, Okinawa, April-June 1945 [Bonus Continental (Wright) R-975, Radial 9 Engine]
Deep wading or deep fording is a technique used by some heavy semi-amphibious vehicles to traverse water that is several meters deep – the vehicle drives on the riverbed/lakebed/seabed and uses screens or a pipe (a snorkel) that reaches above the water surface for an air supply. The technique has been used by armored military vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel carriers. Deep fording generally implies driving through water of such a depth that the vehicle is mostly or entirely submerged by the water, sometimes to several times the height of the vehicle itself, as well as a sealed crew compartment, complete with air supply for the crew. This makes it different from the less extreme “wading” done by many off-road vehicles which are simply fitted with a snorkel that is higher than the normal engine air intake, roughly level with the top of the cab. In these cases, the crew compartment is not watertight, and the snorkel provides air only for the engine. Thus maximum height is limited by the crew’s need to breathe, and very rarely completely submerges the vehicle.
In contrast, lighter, true-amphibious vehicles that float on the water surface are not limited by the depth of the water.
Although Duplex Drive allowed landing craft to release tanks farther from shore, the alternative deep wading gear permitted a tank to drive partially or completely underwater on the sea floor rather than swim. Deep wading Churchills took part in the 1942 Dieppe raid, and also operated during the D-Day assault. These tanks were given waterproofed hulls and air intake and exhaust trunking to allow them to come ashore from shallow water. Tall ducts extended from the engine deck to above the turret top and they needed to stay above water. The front duct was the air intake for the engine and crew compartment, the rear duct vented the exhaust. This device saw use in many amphibious operations, it was also used on light tanks and tank destroyers. The US had similar devices for trucks and jeeps.
The Germans gave their Tiger tank a long snorkel, essentially a long tube on the commander’s hatch that allowed it to wade through up to four metres of water, as well as rubber gaskets on all openings. This was necessary because the large tank was too heavy for most bridges in Europe and Russia at the time, meaning that they had to be able to deep ford across rivers when a bridge was not available. The Tiger was the first tank to come with deep fording ability as designed, although the earlier Tauchpanzer, a modification of the Panzer III and Panzer IV, was designed to drive on the sea-bed, part of the German preparations for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain in 1941. A long, flexible rubber hose with a floating buoy on the end supplied the engine and crew with air and gave the waterproofed tank a maximum diving depth of 15 metres (49 ft) making it an extreme example of a wading tank. They were also extremely unpopular with their crew, because they were in danger of breaking down in deep water and drowning the crew. Since the crew was unable to see where they were going, direction was given by means of radio and a spotter on the surface. The Germans eventually converted 168 Panzer IIIs and 42 Panzer IVs into Tauchpanzers, although they were never used for their intended purpose in the end.
The Pacific Theatre of Operations had its own set of unique obstacles and consequential techniques aimed at overcoming the challenges posed by forcible entry by sea. Though the Marine Corps was accustomed to landing individual tanks using LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized), it profited from massive landing operations to combat test an alternative innovation: the pontoon-based T6 flotation device which allowed a Sherman’s main gun to be used as it swam to shore.
As detailed in Oscar Gilbert’s Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific, two platoons in each battalion combat-tested the bulky system, which proved more seaworthy than the ill-fated Sherman Duplex Drive amphibious tanks at Normandy, but not necessarily more useful as it took the Shermans five hours to swim ten miles to shore.
“The lead tank of the 1st Tank Battalion detachment, commanded by Sergeant D.I. Bahde, immediately ran afoul of a passing destroyer. Unable to speed up, slow down, or steer adequately, the tank plowed inexorably toward the ship, which refused to give way. The tank crashed into the side of the ship, achieving the dubious honor of being the only tank ever to ram a ship at sea.“
But it wasn’t long before Marine tankers were soon heavily engaged with the nearly 100,000 Japanese soldiers and conscripted civilians defending the island.
By then the Marine tankers had perfected a “corkscrew and blow torch” in which they plastered a sector of the battlefield with main gunfire, before tanks with hull-mounted auxiliary flamethrowers rooted out the survivors.
Riflemen covered tanks from behind to ward of suicide assaults and the tankers even called down air-bursting artillery to spray shrapnel over their own turrets for added protection. Some Marine Shermans sported arrays of M2A1 anti-personnel mines on their hulls which could be remotely detonated as a last-ditch defensive measure.
Thanks to these tactics and the open terrain, Marine tank losses to close assaults were reduced to nil, contrary to the fortunes of less-experienced Army tank units.
Look for Forces of Valor’s latest M4 Sherman tank, equipped with both deep wading gear and a flamethrower, to storm ashore later this year.
On Monday, our distributor released product information pertaining to Hobby Master’s latest spate of aircraft models. What piqued our interest wasn’t so much the new models slated for a mid 2023 release. Rather, what caught our eye was this single sentence that appeared in the body of the announcement’s cover letter. “In the coming days, we will announce an assortment of fully licensed US Navy replicas.” As part of the announcement, they also indicated that one of their upcoming F/A-18 Hornets, one clad in a US Navy Blue Angels aerobatics squadron scheme, was being upped in price, meaning that any additional aircraft models paying homage to the Blue Angels would likely carry a “licensed by the US Navy” logo emblazoned on its packaging. Or the sentence could mean something else entirely.
With Top Gun: Maverick continuing to do exceptionally well at the box office its plausible to presume that Hobby Master has or is about to lock up the coveted Top Gun license, otherwise why claim an assortment of aircraft will be announced instead of a lone Blue Angels model. If true, collectors can likely expect to see a wide range of aircraft models based on not only the 2022 film but quite likely the original flick. Done right, and with a wide range of accessories to support them, running the gamut from aircraft revetments to action figures, its quite possible that Hobby Master may have pulled off quite the coup, ponying up the big bucks for what many believe is an evergreen license that will continue to sell well for years to come. We don’t want to jump the gun and claim that all manner of Top Gun merchandise is in the works even if we’d love to shout it out from the mountaintop depicted in the film. What I will do, however, is watch for further announcements in the days and weeks ahead and update our blog post with any further developments just as soon as they’re passed along.
Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Russian Pantsir S1 Self-Propelled Air Defense System – Russo-Ukrainian War 2022
When it comes to collecting diecast military vehicles, particularly modern era weaponry, air defense systems are oftentimes considered to be one of those bantamweight divisions that routinely takes a back seat to the main event draw — tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Let’s face it, air defense systems aren’t quite as sexy or well known as the “heavies” of contemporary mobile warfare, oftentimes loitering in the rear areas guarding key positions or routes of advance and therefore far from the fighting where the cameras are rolling.
So, when Panzerkampf decided to model the Russian-built Pantsir S-1 air defense system earlier this year, collectors instantly took note, clearly intrigued by a system they may have seen in the media but wondered what purpose they served and why they were caught up in the conflict miles behind the front lines.
The Pantsir (Russian: “Carapace”) missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Starting with the Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) as the first version, it is produced by KBP Instrument Design Bureau of Tula, Russia.
The Pantsir-S1 was designed to provide point air defense of military, industrial and administrative installations against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and UAVs; and to provide additional protection to air defense units against enemy air attacks employing precision munitions, especially at low to extremely low altitudes.
The first finished version was completed in 1995 with the 1L36 radar, later another was designed. It is a short to medium range ground-based air defense system, wheeled, tracked or stationary with two to three operators. Its air defense consists of automatic anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles with radar or optical target-tracking and radio-command guidance.
The manufacturer claims that their Pantsir has already entered production and may have as many as six different vehicles in the works, largely with different camouflage patterns. So, together with Dragon’s revamped Neo Dragon Armor vehicles and other Panzerkampf “heavies”, it appears as if collectors will have lots to choose from this holiday season, at least as far as modern warfare is concerned. Incidentally, no cost has yet to be established for this item so we are unable to accept any pre-orders. We will update our site once we have a better idea as to how to price this item as well as their expected arrival dates.
According to our principal distributor, the May Hobby Master shipment is expected to pull in to their facility sometime around the middle of next week. Its quite possible the follow-on June and July shipments could be right behind it, meaning lots of new Hobby Master models to go through by the middle to tail end of the month. As always, we would very much appreciate it if you could hold your inquiries for a couple of weeks until we’ve gone through everything and made our initial shipments. At that point, we’ll field any questions you might have as it relates to Hobby Master.
The next AFVs of WWII shipment is also expected this month, although no firm date has been established yet since the shipment is still mired at its port of call. The distributor is working in earnest to free up the shipment so here again we would be very thankful if you hold off any inquiries until these items are marked as being received and have already been shipped out.
In other news, we are finally onboarded with Walmart so for the next week or so will begin listing items that are approved for sale on the Walmart marketplace site. If they permit us to open a storefront, then we will point our Contact Us page right to our Motor Pool storefront. After Walmart has been seeded with a good assortment of product, we will then turn our attention to Target, and hopefully get them set up before the start of the holiday season. We will put our plans to launch our VR store on hold until 2023, since we still have our move to Florida on hold. Presently, it looks as if the move will occur in the beginning of the year since there doesn’t seem to be much progress with the build.
That’s about it for now. If anything else occurs to me this weekend then I’ll update this blog post and pass along any news that crosses my desk. Ta ta!
Update: So, we’re finally up-and-running on Walmart, after some trial-and-error work and a good bit of finessing with the powers that be. Right now, we’ve launched just a handful of items to test the system and see how their marketplace works relative to other similar marketplace sites. Once we feel confident that we understand everything and can perform up to their lofty standards, we will slowly increase our product portfolio size, which must first be reviewed by Walmart so that everything is in compliance with their code of conduct. Items such as German tanks featuring Maltese crosses or German aircraft with swastikas on their tail may not pass muster unless we can somehow demonstrate that these are simply artifacts of war that bear no political leanings. Anyway, just thought you might like to check out our presence on the world’s largest retailer site. Next stop Target then one other viable candidate, before we start to explore our VR options in 2023.
