Dissecting Diecast: Keeping a Web Site Current

One of my biggest pet peeves as both a retailer and collector is when a diecast manufacturer neglects to update their web site. Don’t even get me started why some companies fail to have an Internet presence at all. That, in 2017, is highly inexcusable and inexplicable, something that can be built for possibly a few hundred dollars by a professional if they don’t have the expertise in-house. When new tooling costs upwards of $250,000 or more to create, that’s a drop in the fiscal bucket, no matter how you slice it

No, what bothers me to no end is when a manufacturer goes the extra mile and obviously plunks down big bucks to create their virtual storefront, only to let it languish in Internet purgatory for months on end with a nary a word said. If we had to break it down, web sites are, without question, the cheapest form of communicating with one’s audience, able to put a public face on their merchandise and direction for all the world to see at any time of day. Its easier to update than sending out monthly mailings, and its cheaper than having someone call a vendor to keep them informed about what’s going on. Yet several key model makers seem to overlook this vehicle on a regular basis, either not realizing how important the site is to existing and new viewers, not caring, or perhaps lacking the technical expertise to update it themselves without calling in a professional. Trust me, it isn’t that hard, and once you learn the nuances, can be refreshingly simple and enjoyable to maintain. C’mon guys. Some of you are missing the boat by not keeping your web site current, and its something that could be addressed and fixed in the blink of an eye.

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The American International Toy Fair

The American International Toy Fair is scheduled to throw open its doors this weekend and we will be attending the Show on Sunday. Frankly, the Show is a but pale glimmer compared to previous years, with few pertinent manufacturers exhibiting and little to crow about in terms of new items. Many manufacturers either cannot afford to exhibit or have nothing to display, so it doesn’t make sense for them to spend precious resources away from home where they can just as easily do business on the web or through a phone call. Still, we hold out hope, because new manufacturers occasionally do pop up making the day trip worthwhile. If anything of note does cross our path, we will certainly share the information with everyone concerned.

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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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Anatomy of War: What Will Replace the A-10?

The Stavatti SM-28 or SM-29 could provide the answer towards replacing the aging A-10 Warthog

The venerable A-10 has formed the backbone of USAF CAS operations for over four decades, and Congress, in a recent vote of confidence, wants to extend its life expectancy by at least another four years. Which leads to the question: what will eventually replace the Warthog when the coffers run dry? Minnesota start-up, Stavatti, thinks it has the answer, with its low maintenance Machete ground attack aircraft. Offered up in two versions – the SM-28 would be propeller-driven while the SM-29 would boast a single jet engine – the Machete would, according to designers, still be wrapped around the GAU-8 30-millimeter Gatling gun, which spits out a stream of uranium depleted slugs to destroy ground targets, along with multiple hard points enabling it to carry all sorts of air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions. For more information on this potential A-10 replacement, take a stroll over to this site: https://warisboring.com/this-weird-little-company-wants-to-build-the-next-a-10-bdfc0bda2b15#.cnvnsudak

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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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Eaglemoss Boldly Goes into 2017

Federation Springfield Class Starship USS Chekov (NCC-57302), which is scheduled to boldly go later in 2017

At long last, Eaglemoss Collections has shed light on some of their upcoming standard starships destined for release in 2017. The following ships have now been added to the range and scheduled to arrive in staggered shipments over the course of the year:

101. Bajoran Antares Class Freighter

102. Klingon D5 Battle Cruiser

103. Vidian Warship

104. Federation Galaxy Class Starship – USS Jenolan (NCC-2010)

105. Smuggler’s Ship

106. Kazon Warship

107. Klingon Attack Bird-of-Prey (Wings Down)

108. Federation Cheyenne Class Starships – USS Ahwahnee (NCC-71620)

109. Borg Queen’s Vessel

110. Federation Springfield Class Starship – USS Chekhov (NCC-57302)

111. Captain Proton’s Rocket Ship

112. Federation Nebula Class Starship – USS Phoenix NCC65420

113. Lokirrim Fighter

114. Federation Challenger Class Starship – USS Buran (NCC-57580)

115. Tellarite Cruiser

As usual, the lineup is skewed towards Federation starships, which have thus far proven to be the most popular choices among collectors. A smattering of new races have been added, including the Tellarites and Vidians, along with some rather obscure ships, such as an unnamed smuggler’s skiff and Captain Proton’s rocket ship, which resembles something from a Buck Rogers saga. Of note is the USS Chekov, no doubt paying homage to Anton Yelchin, the actor portraying Pavel Chekov in the NuTrek series of feature films, who lost his life in a freak accident in 2016. We anticipate news concerning the rest of the Star Trek Starships series shortly.

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Anatomy of War: Military Aircraft Markings

Every so often we come across some helpful information on the web that might be of use to both historians and collectors alike as they delve ever deeper into our hobby. One such topic is military aircraft markings, always a fascinating segment of the air war over Europe and how it evolved over the course of time. The Calgary Mosquito Society recently posted an intriguing video on YouTube that discusses some of the markings and insignia used by both the Allies and Axis powers on different parts of their aircraft. Enjoy!

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Films in Focus: Land of Mine

Every so often we get snake bitten by a new film that seemingly comes out of nowhere, one that deserves mention since it sheds light on some of the lesser known aspects of World War II that few care to recall. A play on words, Land of Mine is an award-winning foreign film that tells the tale of a post-war Europe, where two thousand German soldiers turned prisoners were forced to remove, by hand, several million land mines that were sewn into the Danish beaches to prevent a seaborne invasion. Many of the German soldiers were actually young boys in the flower of their youth, called upon to clean up the mess that their older brethren had caused during the occupation of Denmark. For more information on the film, Wikipedia discusses their tale in greater detail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Mine

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Luft-X Turns Dreams Into Reality

Luft-X all-new 1:72 scale Haunebu 1 “flying saucer” takes to the skies this May.

We’ve all seen the documentaries and read the books concerning some of the incredible Wunderwaffe projects the German military planners were working on towards the end of the war. Some projects were nothing more than conjecture in nature, while others pointed to the usage of advanced technology that was still in its infancy yet seemed to hold promise as war-winning weapons.

One such project was the attempt to create a “flying saucer”, employing non-traditional propulsion and radical shapes to overcome some of the hurdles designers faced when building new platforms. The Haunebu 1, as it was known, was the first example of this, which attempted to demonstrate the supposed advantages of utilizing a circular, bell-shaped model over the more commonly excepted cigar-shaped designs using wings for lift and control surfaces for maneuver.

Haunebu 1 with its landing gear retracted

Luft-X is paying deference to this radical approach to flying with its upcoming 1:72 scale Haunebu 1 flying saucer, tentatively scheduled for a May liftoff (LUFT010). Composed of resin, this highly-secretive replica boasts three ball-shaped turrets embedded in the base of the aircraft, accurate markings and insignia and all the hallmark features and detail we’ve come to expect from this exciting series. Astute collectors will note that neither LUFT008 nor LUFT009 have thus far been announced by the manufacturer, meaning two more additions to the Luft-X series aren’t far behind.

Top down view of the upcoming Haunebu 1 flying saucer. The underside features three ball turret gun emplacements
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