TSM Model Wings’ 1:200 US Navy Northrop F-5E Tiger II Fighter – “MiG-28” [Aggressor Scheme]
From time-to-time we get a little edgy, particularly when a manufacturer shows product at one show then fails to display it a year later at the very same venue. Such is the case with Sunrich Hobby, who, we have found out, owns Taiwan-based TSM Models, a prolific maker of diecast collectibles. At last year’s Nuremberg Toy Fair, TSM had on display several new aircraft toolings that immediately caught the hobby by storm and helped whet the appetite of many a collector. Oddly, at this year’s show, no such aircraft were anywhere to be seen, leaving this pundit in a lurch and immediately speculating that something had gone wrong.
Turns out all is well in Fightertown USA according to our source at Sunrich, with work proceeding smoothly on the models shown at last year’s show as well some they cannot openly discuss for obvious reasons. If you read between the lines, that means they have locked up the Top Gun 2 license, and pretty much cornered the market on Top Gun 2 collectibles well ahead of the film’s 2020 release. We’ve already learned that the now retired F-14 Tomcat will make an encore performance in Top Gun 2, and its a well known topic of conversation that Tom Cruise, reprising his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, has been seen “puttering around” in the F/A-18 Super Hornet, meaning a new aircraft will join the ranks. What hasn’t been confirmed are some of the other aircraft and drones that will likely be featured in the sequel, meaning lots more subjects to be replicated once the film hits the silver screen.
TSM Model Wings” 1:72 Scale Aircraft Carrier Deck Base with Catapult Operator Figure [Base 1]
For now, the Company has confirmed the imminent release of a 1:200 scale MiG-28, a mythical adversarial aircraft featured in the original film, Top Gun. Also in the works is a remake of their popular 1:72 scale flight deck, which will likely see the light of day this summer. So, while Sunrich and TSM Model Wings aren’t actually showing anything in their aircraft line up at Nuremberg this year, that doesn’t necessarily mean the pump hasn’t already been primed and product, scrutinized and approved by Paramount Films, isn’t already in the pipeline.