In our 25 years or so of doing business online, I’ve seen some strange things but I think this one takes the cake. Earlier today Panzerkampf announced that they were planning to bring back their highly successful MH-53 Sea Dragon medium lift helicopter. Priced at just $99.99 a copy, that’s a pretty good bargain considering its track record, size and overall quality. The catch? Well, for some odd reason they plan to offer a squadron’s worth of alternatives to choose from. In the case of their dark blue chopper from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 “Blackhawks”, five different versions will take to the diecast skies this January. Their light blue helo from Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 4 “Black Stallions” will see five versions as well and five birds will put in an appearance with Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Sixteen “Vanguard”. That’s fifteen helos in total, in case you weren’t counting, all expected at the same time.

Why the manufacturer feels the need to make so many different versions is anyone’s guess. Granted, only 100 pieces of each version are being made for an international audience, so they will likely go fast, at least at the wholesale level. At the retail level, that’s a completely different matter. These are big burly choppers that take up a lot of room even for a relatively larger diecast seller that can sell them across a fairly wide number of e-commerce platforms. Whether or not this will become a pattern for Panzerkampf remains to be seen. I, for one, don’t think its a great idea but what do I know. Enjoy!

We’re going to handle the sale of these helicopters a bit differently than in the past. As we run out of a particular model, we will automatically fill each order with a helicopter from the same squadron but with a different identification number. In the case of the “Blackhawks”, if we run out of “White 05”, for example, then we will fill the order with a helicopter from the same squadron but with a different identification number. We will NOT be re-ordering these models after we have exhausted our stock of a particular model. Frankly, they take up a lot of room and tie up a lot of inventory dollars plus we have no way of knowing if Panzerkampf will be applying this strategy to future releases. Please be mindful of this process if you have your heart set on a particular model and supplies at our end start to dwindle.