September 2026

The Art of War: Boeing Wins the F/A-XX Contract

Late on Tuesday, the Pentagon announced that Boeing had won the contract to build the Navy’s sixth-generation fighter, currently known as the F/A-XX. Images of the aircraft still haven’t been release to the public nor its complete set of features. Its a safe bet that the F/A-XX will share some features with Boeing’s F-47 stealth fighter that is being built for the Air Force. Beyond that, we’re still in the dark about its capabilities or when it will enter full scale production. Its unlikely that a Marine Corps variant with VSTOL capabilities will be produced.

Like the F-47, no actual photos of the plane were released, although this somewhat blurred image was put out by Boeing. While the aircraft will no doubt share some capabilities with their F-47, the lack of canards seems to point to a clean sheet re-design, with more rugged landing gear, likely a larger airframe and other seaborne capabilities typically found in an embarked aircraft.

Interestingly, no official designation was assigned to the US Navy’s upcoming F/A-XX. When the US Air Force’s sixth generation fighter was announced at The White House by President Trump, the project immediately shed its original designation of NGAD – Next Generation Air Dominance – fighter, in favor of F-47, although no name was mentioned and details regarding its capabilities were carefully guarded and kept hush-hush. Its not clear how long the US Navy’s F/A-XX has been flying or even where so a lot of details have yet to emerge.

Share This:

Ebay’s 20% Off Countdown to the Holidays Sale!

This year we’ve decided to take advantage of eBay’s “Countdown to the Holidays” event, which runs from October 5th through the 11th. During that time frame you can save a whopping 20% off the price of any item we’re listing on eBay. That’s a substantial savings because most (not all) of the items we sell on eBay come with free shipping to destinations within the Continental US. Oversized and exceptionally heavy items are usually shipped at a nominal $10 cost, far below what it does cost us to ship out an item. Bear in mind that this is a first come, first served sale. We do not and will not hold merchandise and this promotion cannot be combined with any other promotions we may also be running.

eBay has set a maximum discount of up to $500 per customer with two uses per coupon. So, if you plan to make multiple purchases, please be aware that we cannot increase this usage or discount limit. Moreover, please be aware that we do not retroactively enter sales discounts if you forget to apply the coupon code so please make sure you enter it correctly at the time you check out. Also, there are no longer any restrictions concerning which lines may or may not qualify for this discount.

This sale begins on Monday, October 5th, and ends midnight, Sunday, October 11th, 2026. Maximum discount of up to $500 with two uses per coupon allowed. Please be aware that we do not retroactively enter sales discounts if you forget to apply the coupon code so please make sure you enter it correctly at the time you check out. Also, there are no longer any restrictions concerning which lines may or may not qualify for this discount.

Please enter discount code ” COUNTDOWN20” in the coupon box of eBay’s shopping cart just prior to final checkout to ensure that the discount has been applied. Note: This is a first come, first served sale. We do not and will not hold merchandise.

Share This:

Films in Focus: Jimmy

While he was best known as one of Hollywood’s leading actors, Jimmy Stewart was also a bomber pilot, who never shirked from his responsibility of serving as an airman in World War II. Jimmy, as its called, is an upcoming biopic that examines his life in the USAAF as well as the run up to his decision to enlist and serve his country.

Stewart commanded a Consolidated B-24H Liberator heavy bomber that was nicknamed “Male Call”, which was attached to the 453rd Bombardment Group, then deployed to RAF Old Buckenham, England, 1944. After the war, Stewart returned to the United States in early fall of 1945. He continued to play a role in reserve of the Army after the war and was also one of the 12 founders of the Air Force Association in October 1945. Stewart eventually transferred to the reserves of the United States Air Force after the Army Air Forces split from the Army in 1947. During active-duty periods, he served with the Strategic Air Command and completed transition training as a pilot on the B-47 and B-52.

Although little is known about the script, Jimmy Stewart is played by KJ Apa and the script is written by Justin Strawhand. Look for Jimmy to debut this November.

Share This:

Tales of Transparency: This and That for September

Over the Labor Day weekend, we experienced some technical troubles with our web site that prevented customers from placing items in their shopping cart and submitting orders. After speaking with the folks at Volusion, our web-hosting solution, they informed us that the issue arose from the use of AmazonPay, and that the solution was to eliminate AmazonPay from our list of payment options. Frankly, we don’t receive all that many orders paid through AmazonPay so we made the decision to remove it from our payment options. We apologize if you planned to use AmazonPay as your means of payment and hope you have alternative means of payment if you wish to place an order with us.

In other news, we’re in the process of marrying up orders submitted for various Forces of Valor products with what came in and hope to have the first batch of outbound shipments in the hands of our couriers late Wednesday afternoon. Tracking numbers will be provided once a shipment is ready for transport so hang in there as we do our utmost to get everything out the door in this shortened week.

With the holidays fast approaching, we’ve updated our Calendar of Events page so that it now reflects the cutoff dates for various means of delivery from the three major carriers. This year, Christmas eve falls on a Thursday, so we have the luxury of having almost an entire week to get goods into the hands of our customers prior to Christmas Day. Needless to say last minute shipments will have to go out via expedited shipping, so please be aware of the costs and potential hazards of ordering product at the last minute. That said, we continually stress the importance of ordering early to both get the best selection of product available and have it delivered in time for the holidays.

Share This:

The Art of War: The Sturmtiger

Typically, our Art of War section examines some of the latest combat platforms under development or soon-to-be-fielded, thereby giving our readership the ability to see and hear about some of the latest weapons reaching the battlefield. Occasionally, we stumble upon some interesting videos on YouTube that discuss weapons from a bygone era, largely if they are available in scale form on our web site.

In the case of World War II, we came across this excellent expose produced by Blue Paw Print that discusses the inimitable German Sturmtiger (Assault Tiger) that was developed towards the end of the Second World War and intended to destroy bunkers and even buildings with one shot using rocket-propelled munitions.

We currently have the Forces of Valor 1:32 scale Sturmtiger in stock, although quantities of both versions are running exceptionally low and there’s no telling when or if either of these replicas will be re-released. Enjoy!

Share This:

Films in Focus: Band of Brothers Legacy

Easy Company is storming HBO‘s shores once more.

On Sept. 9, HBO Max will release the documentary Band of Brothers: Legacy in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the iconic HBO miniseries. Band of Brothers premiered on Sept. 9, 2001 — two days prior to the 9/11 attacks on America.

Band of Brothers: Legacy aims to provide “an intimate look at the series’ production and enduring impact,” per HBO Max, serving as “a tribute to the groundbreaking series that helped preserve the story of Easy Company and deepened public appreciation for the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation.”

It sure did. The Legacy documentary features new interviews with series stars Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Michael Cudlitz, Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret.), David Schwimmer and more. They’ll provide “personal reflections and behind-the-scenes stories,” the streamer says, revisiting “the experience of making the series and explore its lasting cultural resonance.” Band of Brothers: Legacy will also include never-before-seen archival footage and photographs of Easy Company and World War II.

Band of Brothers: Legacy hails from Tom Hanks’ Playtone; Hanks produced the original series and starred in its fifth episode. The doc is directed by former Green Beret Chase Millsap, executive produced by Hanks and Gary Goetzman and produced by Kirk Saduski, Richard Arlook and Sean Mullin. Spencer Millsap was director of photography and editor.

There was already a Band of Brothers documentary — sort of — on HBO and from Hanks. We Stand Alone: The Men of Easy Company premiered as a companion to the scripted series. The feature-length on-camera oral history of Easy Company featured interviews from living veterans of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. (Courtesy: The Hollywood Reporter)

Share This: