Product Announcements

DeAgostini Gets Ship Shape for May

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Admittedly, its been a little slow of late when it comes to announcing new products. So, when DeAgostini announced that a new squadron of 1:1250 scale warships were due to make port in May, we instantly sat up and took notice. Three new warships are scheduled to set sail, including the Kriegsmarine’s Bismarck as well as His Majesty’s Prince of Wales and Hood. Priced at just $21.99 apiece, these warships have been selling like hotcakes, and go a long way towards proving collectors are interested in diecast that sailed the high seas as much as they are interested in military vehicles and combat aircraft.

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ModelCollect’s May Day Parade

 

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April showers may bring May flowers but this year, they could also be helping to sprout T-14 Armata tanks. First debuted to the public last year at the Moscow Victory Day Parade on May 9th, the T-14 Armata tank represents the latest generation of armored fighting vehicle put forward by the resurgent Russian “Bear”, combining speed, mobility, firepower and armament into one combat platform.

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We’ve known for some time that ModelCollect had a model kit of the Armata on the drawing board, but now we’ve learned that they have a pair of pre-assembled versions of the Armata being cranked out by their arms industry. Two versions will be offered, one in the standard green scheme bearing the new Russian Ground Forces emblem (AS72046), and a second painted in a desert sand scheme (AS72047). We’re hoping both versions will be available by May 9th, no doubt to celebrate the 2016 Victory Day Parade. With nine new vehicle types shown to the public at last year’s parade, its entirely possible that ModelCollect could also be working on replicas of these vehicles too, particularly the T-15 Infantry Fighting Vehicle, which is designed to replace their aging BMP fleet.

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Hobby Master Shows Us Their July Fireworks

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While several products have now been delayed until July, Hobby Master did reveal detail concerning several new warplanes also expected that month. Among them are the first MiG 23M Flogger, which was announced previously but never assigned a firm price (HA5301). We’ve learned that its coming in at just $99.99, thereby making it affordable and a key release for 2016.

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Also slated for July is a 1:48 scale replica of a P-47 Thunderbolt flown by a member of the Tuskegee Airmen (HA8454), a third example of their 1:72 scale F-14 Tomcat (HA5203), and a F/A-18C Hornet flown by VFA-25 “Fist of the Fleet” (HA3528).

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Clearance Pricing on Many Air Force 1 Models

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It started with their suite of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and now its moved on to other aircraft types and even some ground vehicles. Our distributor has acknowledged that they have reduced the pricing on many Air Force 1 SKUs, no doubt to clear out some inventory, many of which are the Chinese aircraft, helicopters and tanks they still have in stock. Here’s a list of what’s being reduced in price:

SKU                   Description                 Old Price                      New Price

AF100034         1:72 J-8B Fighter              $52.99                           $49.99

AF100036         1:48 J-5 Fighter                $67.99                           $49.99

AF100037         1:48 J-6 Fighter               $113.99                          $89.99

AF100039        1:1444 H-6K Bomber        $66.99                           $49.99

AF100040       1:72 J10A Fighter              $39.99                           $34.99

AF100044       1:48 J-10Fighter                $99.99                           $79.99

AF100045       1:72 J-11B Fighter             $62.99                           $49.99

AF100048       1:72 J-15 Fighter               $52.99                           $49.99

AF100053       1:72 J-16 Fighter               $62.99                           $49.99

AF100066      1:72 JH-7 Bomber              $79.99                           $59.99

AF100069      1:48 Z-9 Helicopter             $89.99                           $69.99

AF100072     1:48 Z-10 Helicopter            $89.99                           $69.99

AF100080     1:48 Z-19 Helicopter            $99.99                           $69.99

AF100081     1:48 AC313 Helicopter        $99.99                           $69.99

AF100109     1:35 ZTZ-98 Tank               $99.99                            $69.99

AF100110     1:35 ZTZ-99 Tank                $99.99                           $69.99

AF100113     1:72 Helicopter                   $62.99                           $49.99

In some instances the savings are rather substantial, making them excellent value for the money, particularly with several important holidays coming up. As before, these items are offered on a first come first served basis and when inventory is depleted we do not expect them to return to stock.

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DeAgostini Opens the World up to the Land of the Rising Sun

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Originally designed squarely for the Japanese market, DeAgostini is now expanding its reaches by offering its recently released modern era Japanese military series to other global markets. The series contains both 1:72 scale ground vehicles as well as 1:250 scale aircraft, which covers just about every aspect of warfighting on today’s battlefield, from self-propelled mortars and howitzers to AWACs aircraft.

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All of these new introductions have been listed in their respective section on our web site and we expect to take delivery in early March.

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New Line: Arsenal

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Over the past few years, Russia has made steady progress in the diecast military space, preferring to follow a partwork approach to gaining market share. Partworks typically involve making a large run of closely related products, which are oftentimes accompanied by a full-color magazine or booklet that describes each subject in detail. One of our distributors has been able to lay claim to inventory from the latest partwork manufacturer, Arsenal, which has set its sights on producing a wide array of 1:72 scale World War II era vehicles. While we won’t be able to offer any printed matter with this initial shipment, we are happy to report that many of the subject vehicles have not been made available by any other manufacturer that we know of, thus making them unique and highly collectible in their own right. The downside is that the label that appears on the etched base for each vehicle appears in Russian Cyrillic as opposed to English. Well, what did you expect, darling? These products are coming to us from Mother Russia!

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Wings of the Great War Keeps ‘Em Flying

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Thus far, Wings of the Great War have created a steady diet of World War I era aircraft plus a smattering of tanks to keep the ground pounders happy. We learned yesterday that three more planes are “in the wings”, so-to-speak, including a Halberstadt CL.II Escort Fighter/Ground Attack Aircraft (#WW11201), a Fokker D.VII fighter flown by the legendary Ernst Udet (#11401) and a third Albatros D.Va fighter (#WW14003).

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To help them cross no man’s land, the German Army is fielding a captured Mark IV male tank, festooned with the Imperial Cross (#WW10206). Interestingly, it was captured Mark IV tanks that became the most numerous tank in the German Army, which were turned against their British makers after being abandoned in battle for mechanical reasons.

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All of the new introductions have been added to our online catalog and we expect to take delivery some time in April.

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New Line: Bronco Models

 

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Best known for their range of unassembled plastic models, Bronco Models is sticking their toe in the diecast pool by releasing their first ever fully assembled warbird. Their first offering is a 1:48 scale P-40C Kittyhawk, decked out in the livery of the American Volunteer Group, which was operating in eastern China prior to the US entry in WWII. According to sources, the replica will be composed of both diecast metal and plastic parts, although the display stand will be made of rigid plastic.

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No word as yet if the aircraft will feature movable parts and retractable landing gear, despite being scheduled for a March release. We hope to get clearer information about this proposed model and the extent to which they are committed to the pre-assembled market.

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Calibre Wings Barrel Rolls onto Center Stage

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What better way to throw your hat in the ring and enter the diecast aviation market than with a set of aerobatic aircraft? Newcomer Caliber Wings plans to do just that when it releases its first diecast aircraft for the North American market – a set of six, 1:144 scale F-16C Fighting Falcons painted in the blood red livery of the Republic of Singapore’s Black Knights aerobatic squadron. According to their literature, only 500 sets are being produced, packaged in a very attractive display box that permits viewing of all six aircraft as well as their technical specifications.

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Each comes with its own display stand, making this set truly unique and a conversation piece in its own right.

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Minichamps Re-enlists in the Military, Sort Of

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At the Nuremberg Toy Fair, Minichamps announced two new military vehicles for release later this year. Before everyone gets excited, we just wanted to point out that both vehicles are being offered in 1:18 scale and secondly both are based upon post-World War II vehicles. The first is a Bundeswehr 1957 Jagdwagen while the second is an upscaled version of their previously released 1955-1968 DKW Munga.

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Thus far we don’t know their cost and given their history, it could be quite some time before they actually materialize. So, we’re on the fence about bringing in these soft-skinned vehicles, when we recognize our clientele would prefer 1:35 scale tanks from WWII. Anyway, we’d appreciate whatever feedback you could provide us concerning interest before we take the next step and consider adding them to our product portfolio..

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