Product Announcements

Air Force 1 Spends a Night at the Museum

AF10140

Some times a company pivots when you least expect it. With their eagerly awaited 1:72 scale Boeing B-17 bomber just a month away, and little else on the docket for the forseeable future, Air Force 1 Model Company announced their intent to create a brand new series of military miniatures in conjunction with the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Dubbed simply as their Smithsonian Series, plans call for an initial batch of five aircraft to be produced, all in differing scales and, naturally enough, based upon aircraft they’ve previously researched and produced in much larger, standard formats.

AF10137

The five aircraft include a B-25 Mitchell bomber, B-29 Superfortress, SR-71 Blackbird, P-61 Black Widow and a MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.  Look for the quintet to arrive some time in July.

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Eaglemoss Pushes its Star Trek Franchise into New Frontiers

Eaglemoss Star Trek The Graphic Novel Collection

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Eaglemoss, the maker of the wildly popular Star Trek Starships Collection partworks series, intends to bring out an entire library of Star Trek-related graphic novels. According to the Trek Collective web site, “The fortnightly series will deliver a hardcover editions of comics drawn from the entire fifty year history of Star Trek comic publishing. The books will feature spine-art building up a single image, plus new introductory texts:

With this collection you can revisit all the classic characters and incredible art from the STAR TREK comic archives. Every edition has a specially-commissioned introduction to provide context to the story. Every book contains a number of collected comics and a bonus reprint of one of the comic archive’s classic stories.”

No word as yet who will distribute the perfect bound graphic novels here in North America. Page counts, pricing, exact content and delivery dates are also in the ether, so for now, all we can do is drool over the photos posted and hope they boldly go sooner, rather than later, before the next feature film and CBS-owned TV-series hits the large and small screens. Live long and prosper.

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Altaya Counterattacks

ALT0049

One of our suppliers has managed to unearth a huge cache of Altaya 1:72 scale military vehicles, several of which we either have never had before or have sold out for some time. We’ve posted many of the new ones to our site and have reactivated those items that look to make an encore performance. All of the vehicles are expected in May. Priced at just $14.99 apiece, you simply cannot go wrong with any of these selections.

ALT0065

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Dragon Returns to the Eastern Front

DRR60453

Never one to say no to a good panzer, Dragon marked its return to the WWII battlefields of the eastern front with two renditions of a mid production PzKpfw IV Ausf. H medium tank. Expected in June, neither tank seems to have specific unit markings, but that doesn’t mean they still aren’t going to be widely accepted into the diecast armor ranks.

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Featuring turret girdles and schurzen side armor skirts, both DRR60453 and DRR60654 have been posted to our web site.

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Eaglemoss States, “It’s Time to Kill”

Eaglemoss Watches

We’ve been quietly watching from the sidelines as Eaglemoss’ Military Watch collection continues to gather momentum, tantalizing customers world over with classic time pieces from around the globe. Inspired by the foremost military forces from the early twentieth century onwards, we are now happy to report that we will be stocking a select group of watches, just in time for Father’s Day. Priced at just $19.99, each time piece features Japanese quartz movement and are water resistant, although we dare say a watch this handsome may be better off in a curio cabinet than out in harm’s way. Eleven time pieces are expected by the end of the month — including three special edition releases — and, if sales are strong, expect to strap on a bunch of other time keepers very soon. Enjoy!

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Solido Returns to the Fold

famo-trailer

There’s an age-old proverb that states what comes around, goes around. In the case of french manufacturer, Solido, it now appears as if they are once again entering the fray by offering a new line of diecast military vehicle and aircraft. When we first started out some sixteen years ago, Solido was one of the dominant players in the military space, offering a steady diet of 1:43/1:50 scale soft-skinned military vehicles and tanks that came in different patterns and schemes. Many were even used as the basis for the after market builders at Tank Museum and Gaso.Line, an excellent testament to their strength, durability and workmanship even to this day. As the years ticked by, however, Solido slowly withdrew from the military scene although you can still find some of their products on eBay and elsewhere.

Fast forward to 2016. Instead of rehashing these tired old molds that few might take an interest in, Solido has apparently entered into a partnership agreement with War Master, maker of a fine line of 1:72 scale military vehicles and aircraft that were themselves reinvigorated from a previously developed line of IXO Models molds. Anyway, to cut to the chase, they have quietly put together a brand new range of military vehicles and aircraft that will start reaching the market place some time this summer. What will happen to the War Master brand is anyone’s guess at this point, seeing as how it may make more sense for them to crank out greater numbers of product under the Solido marque than under the War Master label. It’s unclear if the new Solido range will come with limited edition packaging, like their War Master counterparts, which has greatly contributed to their success in the market place. We will keep you posted as more information is passed along.

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Hobby Master Fires Up their Production Machine

HA5002

We were beginning to wonder what happened to Hobby Master in the wake of February’s Chinese New Year. Turns out, they had several projects in the offing, all slated for an August release. Among them are their second portrayal of the Grumman EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft (HA5002), two eagerly awaited F-111 Aardvark Strike Aircraft (HA 3017 and HA3018), an Iranian F-14 Tomcat (HA5205), all-new 1:48 scale P-51B Mustang (HA8508) and another take on their 1:72 scale M48A3 Patton tank (HG5508).

HA3018

All of these items along with several others have now been posted to our web site and we are now accepting pre-orders for them.

HA4507

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Century Wings Celebrates A Decade of Diecast Delicacies

Century Wings F-14 Image

On their web site, Century Wings recently announced plans to build a special edition F-14 Tomcat that celebrates their tenth anniversary of diecast modelmaking. To no one’s surprise, they have elected to produce another 1:72 scale VF-84 “Jolly Rogers” warbird to commemorate the event, this time around boasting:

  • Magnet attachment gear
  • With flap down wing for landing style
  • 2 Arresting hook parts ( Normal style and Hook Down Style)
  • Fully opened jet nozzle
  • Special design package

No images or production numbers have yet been provided, nor has a definitive date of release been given. For more information on the announcement, you can visit their News Page.

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DeAgostini Bellows, “Yo-Ho, It’s a Pirate’s Life For Me”

DASS86-2

We close out the week with a rather intriguing product announcement – this May, we will be carrying our first ever set of Age of Sail warships. While not necessarily built-to-scale and crafted instead to accommodate a one-size-fits-all packaging, these fascinating replicas are nevertheless designed to bring the Age of Sail to life, smaller cousins, if you will, of some of the DeAgostini/Model Space warships you can build in weekly installments. These ships are already fully built, composed of plastic, yet offer such subtle details as cloth sails, wooden masts, and customized name plates. Priced at just $21.99 apiece, you can see why collectors are already singing swashbuckling songs in their honor!

DASS13

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New Line: Zvezda

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When a long time model maker decides to enter the pre-assembled vehicle space, you would expect them to replicate what they do best, at least at the outset. Russian plastic kit maker, Zvezda, recently made a surprise announcement by doing just that, with plans to offer a pair of pre-built 1:72 scale models based upon their Russian heritage. Expected in April, the company’s initial offerings will comprise a Russian T-90S main battle tank along with a TOS-1A Multiple Rocket Launch System, both painted in torrid southern Asian camouflage schemes.

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There’s already a rather wide array of competitive models to choose from, some fashioned in diecast metal, so it will be interesting to see how these vehicles fare in the market place. Th saving grace for Zvezda is that these models are being produced in cooperation with “URAL-VAGONZAVOD”, the manufacturer of the actual weapons systems, and aimed originally for the Russian market place, as can be seen by the Russian Cyrillic markings adorning the packaging.

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