Whispers

Air Power Aplenty Flies in this June

“Showtime 100”, perhaps the most celebrated F-4 Phantom II fighter-bomber to have ever served with the US military across all active branches, is now available from Air Commander in 1:72 scale form

Thus far, its been an eventful month, as we continue to list all sorts of wonderful new products from a variety of manufacturers. On the other side of the ledger, we’ve also been bombarded with a number of key introductions that cut across all eras, liveries and manufacturers. So, without any further ado, here’s a short list of some of the newest pieces of air power now available for shipping for Father’s Day:

Calibre Wings

CA721401 US Navy Grumman F-14B Tomcat Fleet Defense Fighter – VF-103 “Jolly Rogers”, Last Flight (1:72 Scale)

CA721402 US Navy Grumman F-14A Tomcat Fleet Defense Fighter – “100” VF-1 “Wolf Pack”, USS Enterprise (CVN-65), Operation Frequent Wind, 1974 (1:72 Scale)

Calibre WIngs’ first pair of Grumman F-14 Fleet Defenders touches down in June

Corgi

AA38408 – RAF Bristol Blenheim Mk. I Light Bomber – L6739 (G-BPIV), The Imperial War Museum, Duxford Airfield, 2015 (1:72 Scale)

AA35313 – USAAC North American B-25B Mitchell Medium Bomber – 40-2249, “Hari Kari-er,” Doolittle Raid, USS Hornet (CV-8), April 18th, 1942 (1:72 Scale)

AA33715 – German Heinkel He-111H-6 Torpedo Bomber – 1H+BB, I./Kampgeschwader 26, Bardufoss Airfield, Norway, July 5th, 1942 (1:72 Scale)

AA28101 – USAAF Curtiss P-40B Warhawk Fighter – 160/15P, 2nd Lt. George Welch, 47th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group, Wheeler Field, Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941 [75th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Attack Commemorative Packaging] (1:72 Scale)

AA34811 – RNZAF Vickers Wellington Mk. IC Medium Bomber – R1162 / AA-Y, “Y for Yorker”, No.75 (NZ) Squadron, RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, 1941 (1:72 Scale)

Bombs away! Corgi’s RNZAF Vickers Wellington Mk. IC Medium Bomber – R1162 / AA-Y, “Y for Yorker”, No.75 (NZ) Squadron, RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, 1941

Luft-X

LUFT005 – German Messerschmitt Me 329 Fighter (1:72 Scale)

A German Messerschmitt Me 329 Fighter from Luft-X

Air Commander

AC1007 – US Navy McDonnell F-4J Phantom II Fighter-Bomber – “Showtime 100”, Lt. Randy “Duke” Cunningham and Lt. JG. William “Irish” Driscoll, VF-96 “Fighting Falcons”, USS Constellation (CV-64), Vietnam, 1972 (1:72 Scale)

Solido

SOL7200001 – German Heinkel He 219A-7 “Uhu” Night Fighter – 2./Nachjagdgeschwader G1, G9+FK, Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow, Holland, 1944 (1:72 Scale)

SOL7200002 – Imperial Japanese Navy Nakajima A6M2-N “Rufe” Interceptor Fighter Seaplane – 951st Flying Group, JA-101, Ibusuki, Japan, 1944 (1:72 Scale)

Solido’s German Heinkel He 219A-7 “Uhu” Night Fighter – 2./Nachjagdgeschwader G1, G9+FK, Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow, Holland, 1944

Hobby Master

HA5207 – US Navy Grumman F-14A Tomcat Fleet Defense Fighter – “MIG Killer”, VF-32 “Fighting Swordsmen”, USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-67), Gulf of Sidra Incident, 1989 [Low-Vis Scheme] (1:72 Scale)

HA5210 – US Navy Grumman F-14A Block 85 Tomcat Fleet Defense Fighter – 159625, VF-2 “Bounty Hunters”, USS Enterprise (CVN-65), 1976 (1:72 Scale)

HA5103 – RAAF Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet Strike Fighter – No. 1 Squadron, Operation Okra, Al Minhad Air Base, United Arab Emirates, 2014 [Low-Vis Scheme] (1:72 Scale)

HA4906 – US Navy Lockheed S-3A Viking Anti-Submarine Aircraft – VS-24 “Scouts,” 1978 (1:72 Scale)

HA5304 – Syrian Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS “Flogger-E” Fighter – “F-4E Killer”, Captain Ali al-Masry, al-Mazzah AB, Damascus, Syria, April 19th, 1974 (1:72 Scale)

HA4409 – USAF Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter – 16th Weapons Squadron “Tomahawks”, 57th Wing, 2015 [Low-Vis Scheme] (1:72 Scale)

Hobby Master’s latest take on a USAF Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter – 16th Weapons Squadron “Tomahawks”, 57th Wing, Nellis AFB, Nevada, 2015
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Forces of Valor: The June Update

While the bulk of the first wave of 1:32 scale vehicles are upgraded retreads from the Unimax series, the first new vehicle collectors can expect is a German Sturmtiger assault mortar. Blue areas on the vehicle indicate where metal is being used to replicate the vehicle rather than plastic, thereby returning the series to its earliest roots

Waltersons was gracious enough to post the current status of their 1:32 scale military vehicle line on Facebook. Rather than share snippets of information with our customers, we thought it made more sense to simply copy and paste their text verbatim, so you can draw your own conclusions as to when their first vehicles are expected:

Sorry for the late update everyone! It has been 4 months since we began the preparation of the battleships series, and all 8 ships are now in production line, started fulfilling all the export orders. Meanwhile our team has begun working on the 1/32 scale tank series and the 1/72 scale modern fighter aircrafts series, the first few 1/32 scale tanks rolling out will be the following:

1) 88mm Flak gun with 5 figurines (German grey)
2) 88mm Flak gun with 8 figurines including Desert Fox (Desert yellow)
3) Sherman Firefly Vc. with full engine details enhancement
4) Jagdpanther Early production with full engine details enhancement
5) JagdTiger w/ Henschel wheels with full engine details enhancement & couple open hatches
6) German Tiger I Late production w/ many new parts & engine details
7) German Tiger I Mid production w/ many new parts & engine details
8) Soviet T-34-85 w/ new hull, road wheels, tracks etc…
9) German Elefant w/ zimmerit, not so much changes except colour enhancement because the original Unimax version was well done.

See below pictures from our SturmTiger development, reference were taken from actual sturmtiger @ Munster Museum Germany. We are putting more machines & tool makers in shop floor to expedite the development. That being said, the SturmTiger should be available in 2017 Q4. We heard so much about FOV fans wanted, and we will go back to basic, areas highlighted in blue will be made by METAL!! Tons of metal, tons of steel, long live the FOV slogan 🙂

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June Swoon? Think Again Fellow Collectors…

Corgi’s 1:72 scale RNZAF Vickers Wellington Mk. IC Medium Bomber – R1162 / AA-Y, “Y for Yorker”, No.75 (NZ) Squadron, RAF Feltwell, Norfolk, 1941 is still on track for a June fly-in

Its the first day of June and we’ve already been bombarded with loads of new product announcements and updates. Besides getting word that the first Solido shipment is on its way to us, we’ve learned that Hobby Master has quite a spate of new products expected for the holiday season, covering everything from a Su-35S Flanker to new MiG-23s Floggers, and best of all their intent to climb back into the armored vehicle turret. Even Corgi provided us with an updated schedule, which looks pretty promising this summer, and Oxford announced their wares for the coming year.

The latest Hobby Master A-10 Warthog is pegged for an October ship

We’ve posted everything new to our web site, along with the most current shipping schedule, which could still fluctuate based on changes to the manufacturers’ release calendar.

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New Flat Rate Shipping Pricing

Every six months, we regularly review our costs of doing business, which continue to rise for all manner of reason. Beginning June 1st, we are increasing our flat rate shipping cost to $9.95 from $4.95 for net orders totaling at least $25 or more. While we regret having to make this change, the fact remains that shipping costs continue to escalate for all the major carriers, especially for shipments we must send across the country to the west coast. When taken in conjunction with other promotional offers we may be running, we oftentimes end up barely breaking even on such shipments. As always, it pays to consolidate orders to help defray such shipping costs, particularly for less expensive items.

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Company of Heroes Comes to Life

Company of Heroes anyone?

If you’re an avid gamer like I am, and a huge fan of Company of Heroes like, well, I am, then you may find the accompanying news a bit on the incredible side. Fellow devotees of the real-time strategy game went so far as to model one of the featured maps of the game, right down to the buildings, terrain and road net. Modeled in 1:48 scale, the folks at B+B Models expressed their love for the game by breathing life into the Angoville Farms map, including adding troops and vehicles so they could portray a mock battle. You can see the fruits of their labor here: http://www.companyofheroes.com/blog/2017/05/25/coh-10th-anniversary-angoville-farms

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Reconnaissance in Force

Its Fleet Week here in New York City although the Merchant Marine seems to be bowing out of the festivities and sadly hasn’t offloaded anything new for the holiday. In fact, a number of items that were slated for a late May release have been pushed back into the first week of June, largely due to logistical delays connected with the Memorial Day holiday weekend. These include the first shipment of Solido 1:72 scale military vehicles and aircraft, Air Commander’s “Showtime 100” Phantom II fighter-bomber (AC1007), and the next Luft-X aircraft — a German Messerschmitt Me 329 Fighter (LUFT005). The first pair of Dragon Armor 1:72 scale PzKpfw IV Ausf. D medium tanks have been pushed back into June, although this may likely slip even further since no firm ship date was offered by Dragon. Calibre Wings’ inaugural pair of F-14 Tomcats have also slipped slightly, now likely rescheduled for a mid-June fly-in.

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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

 

Our new Live Chat feature connects you with a live representative during normal business hours

As David Bowie once lamented in his hit song, “Changes”, we’re making a few improvements to our business model that are all aimed at making our shopping experience better and faster, plus more in tune with present e-commerce trends. For starters, we re-implemented our Live Chat feature, which can be found in the lower right hand portion of the screen. So, you can now talk to a live representative during normal business hours as well as during our expanded business hours throughout the busy holiday season.

Pitney Bowes SendPro system enables us to compare rates for all three major US carriers

Second, we have switched from Stamps.com to Pitney Bowes’ SendPro system, which enables us to compare rates across the three major carriers (USPS, FedEx and UPS) in real-time. Based upon the weight of the parcel and the shipping destination, it is now entirely possible we may be using either FedEx or UPS as opposed to relying completely on the USPS for our outbound shipping needs.

The Live Chat features can be brought up on a desktop, tablet or mobile device as seen here

Third, Volusion, our e-commerce platform that hosts The Motor Pool site, is and plans to make some important changes in its next major roll out that will seamlessly permit us to host listings on all of the major marketplace sites (Ebay, Amazon and Walmart, to name a few) and maintain a simple-to-use stock balancing software system that is aimed at keeping our in-stock positions correct and up-to-date across all retail channels. We will discuss this at greater length as we become more familiar and comfortable with this new functionality.

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Dear Dad: Your Special Day is June 18th

 

Ditch the dreary ties and steer clear of the sweater rack. Dad deserves better, and we have the best gifts in mind — something from the heart squarely aimed at his heart. We have loads of terrific gift-giving ideas that cover every budget and conceivable interest, plus we can ship you these special memorabilia well before Father’s Day this June 18th. So why not take a look at our online selection or better yet feel free to give us a call and we’ll suggest something that will guarantee to put a smile on his face and make this Father’s Day a truly memorable event!

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Happy Mother’s Day

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all those fabulous moms out there that continue to do their utmost to make our lives wonderful! Wish we could celebrate them year round!

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Forces of Valor: O’ Captain My Captain

Earlier today we learned that we won’t have on-hand any of the new Forces of Valor warships for Father’s Day. Bummer, right? On the positive side, all eight warships reworked by the Walterson’s crew, which were expected this summer, are being “shipped” together, no doubt to save on “shipping” costs, and should be available for general sale in early July, barring any other unforeseen issues. Puns aside, we apologize for the delay but still believe that all those lucky recipients slated to receive these fine new replicas will be just as thrilled even if they have to wait a few more weeks to add them to their desktop fleet.

In related news, we are also going to tack on another 30 days to the anticipated release of their first grouping of 1:32 scale military vehicles, meaning they will likely start to appear some time in August. We recognize that the manufacturer has a lot of irons in the fire, so-to-speak, and think that our original forecast for a July release may have been a bit too optimistic. If anything further changes, we will update our site accordingly.

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