Torro Asks, "Do You Like Your Figs Big?"

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Radio-controlled manufacturer, Torro, intends to offer a line of 1:16 scale military figures that can be used with any 1:16 scale military vehicle.  Besides working with Taigen’s range of 1:16 scale radio-controlled tanks, the pre-posed and pre-painted figures will work with Unimax’ Extreme Metal static tanks, or any similar line of 1:16 scale vehicles. Strangely, the figures look eerily similar to Unimax’ out-of-production Extreme Metal figures that were released several years ago. We’re guessing that Unimax licensed or sold the molds to Torro as a means of kicking off the series. Look for the first five figures this October.

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Minichamps 1955 Vincent: You Can Get it in any Color So Long as its Black

MIN122134600

First announced over five years ago, it appears as if Minichamps’ long-promised 1955 Vincent Black Lightning may soon be hitting the road (#MIN122134600). The manufacturer’s web site is currently showing an October release date, although no photo of the 1:12 scale replica has been posted as yet and no one at the Company will confirm or deny if this is a hard-and-fast roll out date.

So here’s where we stand with this hotly anticipated bike if it should show up. For anyone that has already pre-ordered the bike, be it five years ago or yesterday, we will be selling the ride for $144.99 less a 15% sales discount. Our dealer cost has gone up substantially since this bike was first announced half a decade ago, so this is going to be the best we can do in terms of pricing. We will not be offering free UPS ground shipping, since the revised price falls below our free shipping threshold of $140. You can, of course, add other merchandise to your order to clear the threshold, thereby getting free shipping to boot (so long as the ship to address is within the lower 48 States). Now, since many of the pre-orders have aged substantially, we will need anyone truly interested in taking delivery of this item to immediately contact us by phone with their current billing information.

Bear in mind that Minichamps still has not posted any updated release information for their 1948 Vincent Black Lightning with Rollie Free figure, so please do not ask us to hold the 1955 bike until the 1948 bike arrives. Frankly, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the 1955 bike isn’t a mirage given the hot summer we’ve had. So, that’s it in a nutshell and let’s hope it was all worth the wait.

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The Guns of August

GW1001

With a scant year to go before we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, it appears as if one manufacturer had the foresight to capitalize on the occasion. According to our distributor, an AmerCom has crafted a new line of 1:72 scale diecast aircraft that are based upon some of the most iconic planes of the Great War. Two German aircraft comprise the first wave – a Fokker Dr. 1 that was flown by the “Red Baron”, Manfred von Richthofen, and an Albatross D.V that was piloted by WWI ace, Paul Baumer.

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Priced at just $20, these sharp-looking birds feature wire rigging, a display stand and a pilot figure, something you’d come to expect from a more expensive range of military replicas. Look for the first warbirds to touch down in early September.

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Century Wings Continues to Sky Rocket in Value

CW001601

What do you say when you see 1:72 scale Century Wings F-14s commanding $500 or more on ebay and people more than willing to pay the price? Even the recently released VX-9 Vampires, ‘Vandy 1’ (#CW001601), is already going for well in excess of its MSRP, just a week after its debut. When you consider the fact that the global economy is still recovering, that’s saying a lot for a company that seems willing to pump out more of the same year after year.

 

Anyway, we hope more of the F-14s, SR-71s and other aircraft CW has been known to pump out are in the pipeline, since it says a lot for the manufacturer, its products, and impeccable standing within the diecast community.

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Dragon Drives on El Alamein

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The Dragon Armor steam roller seems to have slowed down a tad in recent months, so when we get news that a new armor piece is shipping shortly, we start to get giddy. Rolling out this week is a German Sd. Kfz. 141 PzKpfw III Ausf. N Medium Tank that was attached to schwere Panzer Abteilung 501 of the Deutsches Afrika Korps (#DRA60601), their first Type N Panzer III tank, which bears all the hallmark detail everyone has come to expect from a 1:72 scale Dragon caisson. We are already quite surprised by the number of pre-orders we’ve received for this vehicle, so if you want to jump on board and see if you can claim North Africa from the British 8th Army, then now is the time to fuel up the panzers.

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Marushin Again

MARS028

At long last, some one has convinced Japanese model maker, Marushin, to resume production of their fine line of 1:48 scale military aircraft. Two planes are expected in September, and we hope this will be the first pairing of planes that many have been asking about for a very long time.

 

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At this time, we are expecting a Kate torpedo bomber (#MARS028) and a Zero (#MARS002) and we hope to have further information concerning other aircraft in the not-too-distant future.

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Hobby Master Cracks Open its August Cache

HA3817

It appears as if Hobby Master is back on track with their monthly shipping schedule. Our distributor reports that their August shipment has arrived and is being parceled out to their dealer network. We expect to receive our cache of goodies by the end of next week.

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Bauer Says, “I’ll See you in September”

540K

We’ve learned that Heinrich Bauer’s latest creation, a 1:12 scale replica of a 1:934 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster, is now expected to roll off of the assembly line some time in September (#BAUMB500K). This is easily one of their most ambitious works of art, hand-assembled from over 1,95o separate parts, and no doubt the jewel in any classic car collector’s diecast collection. Keep in mind, these beautiful renditions take time to build and finish, hence the lengthy delay since being first announced way back in April 2011.

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Bauer Says, "I'll See you in September"

540K

We’ve learned that Heinrich Bauer’s latest creation, a 1:12 scale replica of a 1:934 Mercedes-Benz 500K Roadster, is now expected to roll off of the assembly line some time in September (#BAUMB500K). This is easily one of their most ambitious works of art, hand-assembled from over 1,95o separate parts, and no doubt the jewel in any classic car collector’s diecast collection. Keep in mind, these beautiful renditions take time to build and finish, hence the lengthy delay since being first announced way back in April 2011.

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