Product Announcements

Solido Continues to Mystify

Its now mid-March, a full month after the conclusion to the Nuremberg Toy Fair, and we are still in a quandary concerning french manufacturer, Solido. Last year, they made it public knowledge that they are working with War Master to produce a new range of 1:72 scale diecast military vehicles and, last month, showed off several larger 1:43 scale military vehicles within one of their Toy Fair booths, several of which we have never seen before.

Now, on their web site, they’ve added a new collage of War Master products to their home page, which includes a British Cromwell tank and a Martlet fighter, the British equivalent of the Eastern Aircraft FM-1 Wildcat. That said, no further details concerning either new  issue are contained within their military category page, so for now we assume they are nothing more than teasers with release dates much further out. Likewise, we still aren’t sure if the range will be made available in North America since no distributor has stepped forward yet to indicate they will supply the range. We aren’t sure what this means to collectors but will keep everyone abreast should anything change.

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Panzerkampf Orders its Assault Troops Forward

 

Even though we’re still awaiting the first 1:72 scale tanks from newcomer, Panzerkampf, it appears as if they have lots more armor in the pipeline just itching to find a new home. According to their web site, four more tanks are pretty far along in the development process – so far, in fact, that they even have pictures of the replicas rather than 2-D line art. The four newest showings include what appears to be a WWII-era German Panther Ausf. D medium tank with side armor skirts, Russian T-90MS main battle tank, and a pair of German Leopard armored fighting vehicles: a 2A5 as well as a 2A7. No dates of availability were listed, so they could be a ways of before they hit the street.

Other vehicles seem to be in the works too, most notably a US-built M60A3 Patton tank clad in explosive reactive armor as well as a vehicle we cannot identify. Further details will no doubt surface in the coming weeks.

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Atlas Beefs Up Their Armored Assault

Atlas Editions’ 1:43 scale US T19 halftrack in olive drab

Our distributor reports that ten new 1:43 scale World War II era military vehicles are about to make landfall, along with a restock of their wildly popular World War I era German Ehrhardt Strassenpanzerwagen E-V/4 armored car. The ten vehicles cover a wide range of combatants, theatres of action and vehicle types, so without any further ado, here’s what you can lay your mitts on this March:

ATL2690941 – German Steyr Raupenschlepper Ost (RSO) with Pak 40 Anti-Tank Gun

ATL6690013 – German Sd.Kfz.4/1 Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier

ATL6690014 – British Humber Mk. IV Armored Car

ATL7123106 – US Navy Dodge WC51 6×6 1-1/2 Ton Weapons Carrier

ATL7123107 – German Wurfkorper M F1 50 Stuka zu Fuss Halftrack with Rocket Launchers

ATL7123109 – Soviet GAZ 67B Staff Vehicle

ATL7123110 – US Army T19 Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC)

ATL7123119 – German Opel Blitz 3-Ton Truck – 7.Panzer Division, Eastern Front, 1942

ATL7123120 – Italian Autoblinda AB 41 Armored Car

ATL7123121 – Italian Morris Portee Gun Truck

Priced at just $24.99 apiece, these vehicles are designed to complement several recently introduced military series from the likes of Altaya, Eaglemoss, Schuco, Solido and others and we wouldn’t be surprised if they shared some parts and/or pedigree with a number of them.

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Eaglemoss: A New Month, a New Navy

 

German Kaiserliche Eaglemoss 1:1100 scale Marine Derfflinger Class Battlecruiser – SMS Derfflinger

As the saying goes, March roars in like a lion, and apparently so does the Eaglemoss navy. Four new warships have put to sea and are expected to make our port of call next week, further adding to our growing fleet of World War I/II-era warships. The four new 1:1100 scale warships include the following:

EMGC58 – German Kaiserliche Marine Derfflinger Class Battlecruiser – SMS Derfflinger

EMGC59 – Imperial Japanese Navy Sendai Class Light Cruiser – Sendai

EMGC62 – Imperial Japanese Navy Myoko Class Heavy Cruiser – Nachi

EMGC71 – Imperial Japanese Navy Akizuki Class Destroyer – Akizuki

All four come in their original bookcase format packaging and are bundled with a Japanese-written magazine outlining the history, details and war record of the ship in question. Enjoy!

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Just How Funny Were Hobart’s Funnies?

British Churchill Mk. III Infantry Tank with Deep Wading Devices – 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment, Calgary Regiment, Dieppe, 1942 (1:48 Scale)

As part of the run-up to the D-Day landings on the beaches of Normandy, General Percy Hobart was tasked with creating an unusual array of engineering oddities that could breach the German obstacles that lay in the way of a successful landing. Through trial and error, he came up with a startling array of heavily modified tanks that were designed, among other things, to clear mines, breach obstacles, and wade ashore to provide fire support.

This spring, french manufacturer, Quarter Kit, will pay homage to many of the concoctions he came up with by offering several engineering vehicles derived from the Churchill tank. First off is a British Churchill Mk. III Infantry Tank with a Deep Wading Device (MF48605) that was employed by the 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment, Calgary Regiment, at Dieppe, in 1942, a dress rehearsal of sorts prior to the larger D-Day landings in 1944.

British Churchill Mk. III Infantry Tank with AVRE Mat Layer (Carpet-layer) with Bobbin – 79th Armoured Division, Gold Beach, Normandy, 1944 (1:48 Scale)

Also expected is a British Churchill Mk. III AVRE Tank with 290mm Howitzer used by the highly decorated 79th Armoured Division, at Juno Beach, Normandy, during 1944 (MF48608), which was used to ferry specially trained engineers to the beaches so they could help clear obstacles.

British Churchill Mk. III Infantry Tank with AVRE Fascine Carrier – 79th Armoured Division, Gold Beach, Normandy, 1944 (1:48 Scale)

The 79th also used the British Churchill Mk. III Infantry Tank with AVRE Mat Layer (Carpet-layer) with Bobbin (MF48606) as a means of traversing areas of the beach deemed to unstable for ordinary transport.

British Churchill Mk. III Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) Tank with 290mm Howitzer – 79th Armoured Division, Juno Beach, Normandy, 1944 (1:48 Scale)

Lastly, the 79th also brought along a British Churchill Mk. III Infantry Tank with AVRE Fascine Carrier (MF48607) which could drive up to a ravine then deposit a bundle of fascine in its yaw that would effectively fill in the open space. Look for all four 1:48 scale curiosities to become available in time for the 73rd anniversary of D-Day.  We will post actual vehicles for each replica once they become available.

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Eaglemoss Fires Up the Star Trek Conveyor Belt

 

Eaglemoss Star Trek Federation Nova Class Starship – USS Rhode Island NCC-72701. Comes with a collector magazine

Now that Chinese New Year has slipped into the intergalactic rear view mirror, Eaglemoss Collections has shed light on some of their Star Trek standard issue releases slated for a mid year release. Six starships are pegged to get underway this summer, among them the following:

#EMST0093 – ECS Horizon J-Class Freighter (Shipping May)

#EMST0094 – Suliban Cell Ship (Shipping May)

#EMST0095 – Federation New Orleans Class Starship – USS Kyushu (NCC-65491) (Shipping June)

#EMST0096 – Orion Scout Ship (Shipping June)

#EMST0097 – Federation Academy Flight Trainer (Shipping July)

#EMST0098 – Federation  Nova Class Starship – USS Rhode Island (NCC-72701) (Shipping July)

In related news, we’ve reduced the selling price for each standard sized starship from $24.99 to $21.99, making them even more affordable, particularly when purchasing them en masse.

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Everything Turns Out Ship Shape for DeAgostini

DeAgostini’s 1:1250 scale Warships of the World Collection grows by leaps and bounds this May

These days, there aren’t all that many companies making pre-assembled warships, so when we get news that more scale models are ready to put to sea, we get goose bumps and maybe some scurvy. Eight new 1:1250 WWII-era warships are setting sail this May, including the IJN battleship Kirishima, USS battleship Pennsylvania and USS Saratoga aircraft carrier, along with the Royal Navy’s HMS Anson, HMS King George V, HMS Vanguard, HMS Nelson and HMS Renown. We are currently awaiting photos for each of the replicas but have gone ahead and added them to our product portfolio so you can get your pre-orders submitted ahead of their arrival.

USS Saratoga, one of the earliest aircraft carriers to join the US Navy, makes an encore performance as a member of the DeAgostini navy
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Air Force 1 Chooses the Lightning as Its Next Foray

Air Force 1 starts out the New Year with a 1:48 scale replica of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning interceptor.

Air Force 1 has been relatively mum of late, releasing only a handful of new aircraft types to keep them in the diecast aviation game. Part of the problem are the number of gaffs they seem to make with each new release, either including pilots with blue helmets for every aircraft, era and nation, sloppy typos on their packaging, wrong scales, etc. So, with that in mind, they took the bold step of announcing plans to make a 1:48 scale version of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Currently slated for a May release, their inaugural replica looks to bring to life the mount of famed ace Tommy McGuire, when he was with the 475th Fighter Group then doing battle with the Japanese in the Pacific Theatre of Operations during 1943 (AF10150).

AF1’s replica features optional position landing gear, so it can be displayed in flight or on the ground.

Some pundits have already speculated that the AF1 version looks eerily similar to one once offered by The Franklin Mint, but according to the promotional literature, the AF1 version will feature optional position landing gear, something the Franklin Mint version lacked. Lets keep our finger crossed that the pilots are correctly characterized.

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Hobby Master Hits the Ground Running as the New Year Ends

 

Hobby Master’s latest incarnation of the A-10 Warthog due to arrive in a few days.

With Chinese New Year having now concluded, Hobby Master has bolted out of the gates, unleashing a torrent of new product as well as announcing a bevy of new items for a mid year release. According to one source, those items expected to arrive in both the February and March timeframes have arrived at our distributor and should be shipping out to the dealer network over the next few days.

Add another “Jolly Rogers” F-14 Tomcat to the long list of fleet defense fighters showing up from a number of manufacturers.

Additionally, a number of new items were announced today, covering everything from 1:72 scale jets and prop-driven fighters to several 1:48 scale WWII-era aircraft. We are in the midst of listing all of these new items and hope to have the task completed in the next couple of days.

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For the Love of Tigers

Waltersons Extreme Metal 1:16 scale mid production Tiger I heavy tank, likely to be one of the most sought after military collectibles this holiday season.

“We will attack in staggered formation. First, Lion on the assault, second Panther.”

– Actor Robert Shaw portraying the fictional Colonel Martin Hessler, “Battle of the Bulge”

We waited until today, Valentine’s Day, to throw open the pre-order doors for Walterson’s newest 1:16 scale entrant to its wildly successful Extreme Metal series. Due out later this year, their first introduction picks up where the series left off with Unimax, by offering a mid production Tiger I heavy tank. The mid production version features a revamped cupola with side-swinging hatch as shown in this picture. The mid-production version also boasts the early model road wheels, which proved to be insufficient in dealing with mud during the rainy season. The vehicle does not come with the rear-mounted Feifel air filters that became standard with the release of the late-production Tiger series.

Waltersons has indicated that the retooled tank will come with sprockets and road wheels that are made of diecast metal instead of plastic, thereby enabling smoother operation on flat surfaces. Thus far, it’s not clear which commander and unit will be portrayed, although they have indicated the vehicle will include a fully detailed interior compartment as well as all of the attendant accessories and paraphernalia that have made previous releases such a success in the marketplace. With several of their previous releases commanding in excess of $1,000 or more in the secondary marketplace, this is one introduction you may not want to pass by.

Here are some recent eBay listings showing similar, previously released 1:16 scale Tiger I tanks and their asking prices:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Forces-of-Valor-85504-1-16-German-Tiger-I-Michael-Wittmanns-Final-Battle-/291963215261?hash=item43fa5d1d9d:g:sVYAAOSwHsRYDL71

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-16-FORCES-OF-VALOR-WWII-GERMAN-TIGER-I-MICHAEL-WITTMANN-85204-JUNE-13-1944-222-/142276684103?hash=item212059e947:g:o9oAAOSwj85YM4y3

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Forces-of-Valor-1-16-German-King-Tiger-Sd-Kfz-182-501st-SS-Diecast-Tank-/222404015325?hash=item33c84ff4dd:g:9tEAAOSwTuJYnFwK

And, there’s even one listing for the Maybach engine by itself that came with previously released Tiger I tanks:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-16-Forces-of-Valor-German-Tiger-1-Tank-die-cast-metal-Maybach-HL230-engine-/152431158059?hash=item237d9ae32b:g:6GAAAOSwx6pYnOnq

 

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