Like Australia, the USPS has decided to suspend all carrier operations to New Zealand effective immediately. Once again COVID has been cited as the principal reason for the temporary suspension and no date was give as to when operations will be resumed. So, for the time being, we will not be accepting any orders from New Zealand at least until the USPS has been sufficiently shown evidence that it is once again safe to deliver mail and packages to both the sub continent as well as its nearby neighbor. Further information regarding the decision can be found here.
Trick or Treating for October
As September draws to a close, it made sense for us to pause and provide you with our usual monthly recap in order to keep you abreast of the latest developments affecting our release schedule. Late yesterday, we learned that a new shipment of PMA products are en route to us, which includes, among other things, a 1:72 scale Ho 229 bomber. What makes this model different from the already available Luft-X version is that it is made of diecast metal rather than resin and features a pair of Jumo engines embedded within the aircraft. Its a stunning model and serves as PMA’s first foray into the diecast aviation market. No doubt other schemes will eventually come out as is typical of PMA and we’re hoping other warbirds aren’t too far behind, thus expanding their scope and variety. Also in the shipment is their first 54cm Karl-Gerat Mortar, featuring a longer if slightly narrower barrel designed to shoot a projectile a bit further than the 60cm version. All of the PMA Karl-Gerat mortars have sold extremely well and we currently have the five-man crew in stock, a perfect accompaniment to any of their siege mortars.
Also expected to return to stock are several DeAgostini WWII era warbirds, which continue to sell well despite being created exclusively for the Japanese market. When back ordered merchandise start to trickle back in it oftentimes means that the distributor has also received another batch of new warbirds, although word as yet hasn’t surfaced regarding which new models will soon be available.
The August shipment of Hobby Master products is now expected in early October as is an Air Force 1 shipment, which hopefully contains a number of items that have been out-of-stock for several months running. Both shipments have been adversely affected by the port congestion issues still plaguing our supply chain even though they have been diverted away from the west coast ports and re-routed through Savannah, Georgia. It remains to be seen if the September Hobby Master shipment will likely be pushed back in light of all of the logistical problems arising ahead of the holiday season.
In other news, we still do not have firm release dates for either Forces of Valor or Panzerkampf, two key lines that have both seen their fare share of trouble in 2021. In the case of Forces of Valor, the manufacturer is once again working with a new distributor so any previous deadlines for the arrival of new products went out the window this past summer. Likewise, its difficult to say when Panzerkampf is expected, since the line is stocked by two different distributors neither of which have concrete information to pass along.
The next major Corgi shipment is slated for early October, barring any further delays caused by the port congestion. While several models have already seen the light of day in other parts of the world, it seems to be taking the US market around three to four weeks before they too can boast the availability of these models. Most of the other brands we stock seem to be deeply affected by both logistical issues as well as problems associated with COVID. It remains to be seen when these lines will resume operations to pre-pandemic levels, so its unwise to provide any updates until we feel confident the manufacturers in question can truly hit their marks.
As an aside, we are headed back out to Dallas towards the end of October to take the Dallas crew trick-or-treating, a rite of passage for our two daughters and now our five grandchildren. On a personal basis, I believe a holiday such as this enables both the parent and grandparent to truly bond with their kids, making it a more memorable event for both ends of the family unit. So, we will be closed from October 28th until November 1st, and plan to resume business on the second. We’ve also updated our shipping cutoff dates for the upcoming holiday season, which will no doubt be closely scrutinized in the wake of last year’s shipping issues. Anyway, that’s it for now and Happy Halloween!
Oxford Adds Four New Warbirds to its Frontline Fighters Series
A bit unexpected, Oxford announced its intent to bolster its Frontline Fighter series with four more fighters for early 2022. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, Frontline Fighters is a great way to get into collecting model warbirds if you’re on a shoestring budget. They’re also great gifts, particularly for budding warbirds collectors interested in getting in the the ground floor without busting the bank. While they do not come with either interchangeable landing gear or a pilot figure, they nevertheless go a long towards modeling some of the most iconic aircraft of World War II. Here now the four newest fighters destined to come out in early 2022.
Finally, for those of you holding out hope that some of their earliest models would be re-introduced, we’ve learned that Oxford’s first Me-262 Sturmvogel jet fighter, OXFAC007, has made the cut and is expected to return to battle in early 2022.
Hobby Master Adds More Sharp and Pointy Things to its May Schedule
Apart from a handful of 1:48 scale Messerschmitt Bf-109s and a pair of 1:32 scale Grumman F6F Hellcats, it would appear as if Hobby Master is content to keep releasing jets as part of its overall strategy to maintain equilibrium well into 2022. For May, for instance, even more jets are in the offing according to their latest announcement, with no sign of any inter war era prop-driven aircraft or 1:72 scale ground vehicles anywhere in sight. Even new toolings seem to have slowed down, in favor of adding more familiar aircraft collectors have been requesting over the last several months. This isn’t necessarily a knock against the Company – just an observation that they seem happy of late to maintain a conservative release schedule replete with jets that sell out month-after-month both here and around the globe. Be that as it may, here’s a list of what you can expect to see hit the tarmac this coming May:
Solido Makes a Curtain Call
If you missed out on some of Solido’s recently released 1:48 scale military vehicles, take heart. Apparently sales were brisk enough to warrant a second production run, this time around, each bearing the familiar unit insignia and national markings of the US armed forces. Seven items are expected by the end of the year, including an M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles as well as a 105mm M101A1 howitzer, which as served as the backbone of our artillery branch for the better part of five decades. We’ve opened the pre-order window for each of these new items.
The Forces of Valor Update: “Lest We Forget”
While the timing of the announcement has come under scrutiny on Facebook, Waltersons decided to use the 9/11 backdrop as a means of showing off their latest endeavor: a 1:48 scale USMC AH-1W “Whiskey” Helicopter. Flown by Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267, which was based at Camp Pendleton, California, during March 2012. The low-vis attack helicopter features artwork inspired by the events of 9/11 on the sides of the fuselage, which includes, among other things darkened images of the twin towers and its attendant New York skyline, along with what looks to be a viper coiled for striking, hence its sobriquet.
According to the manufacturer, the USMC helicopter, along with a second chopper that was operated by Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 “Warriors”, are expected to be completed by the tail end of October, although with shipping delays still plaguing our ports, it could be another couple of months before they actually make it to market here in North America. Still, its nice to see the manufacturer is making a concerted effort to get product out the door and into the hands of collectors despite all of the issues facing the global supply chain.
The Forces of Valor Update: Shermans March
Back in late 1864, General William T. Sherman famously marched his Union troops through Georgia in an attempt to cut the Confederate forces in two and, in so doing, sew terror in the South’s populace and devastate its’ logistical network. Waltersons, the new owners of the Forces of Valor brand, is looking to achieve much the same results in the military diecast community with their first group of 1:32 scale M4 Sherman tanks. You may remember that Unimax, the previous owner of the FOV brand, released several M4A3 Sherman tanks several years ago, re-using a single mold over and over again for a variety of replicas. While this strategy certainly reduced manufacturing costs and sped up the release schedule, it was far from perfect, since it meant that collectors were essentially getting a “one-size-fits-all” medium tank that was both historically inaccurate and worse boasted less metal content with each ensuing release.
Waltersons, well aware of the problems facing the original set of Unimax Shermans, have been hard at work revamping the original tooling — by not only increasing the vehicle’s metal content — but by making each of the many Sherman variants truer to form with their historical counterparts. To that end, the Company has made a number of different turrets, guns, adaptives and even suspension systems, all designed to give collectors what they have been politely demanding for almost twenty years. As can be seen in the accompanying photo, each model has been faithfully produced, including, but not limited to, travel locks for the main gun, entrenching utensils, hull and bow machine guns and even opening hatches just like the real things. Its not clear how many Shermans will make it to market by the close of the year given the current congestion issues still plaguing many of our nation’s ports, but suffice it to say that eventually these and other variants are in the works, meaning there will be no shortage of Allied armor set to storm our shores for the foreseeable future.
In other news, the Company has decided to split its 1:700 scale warship line into two segments: one designed to continue its legacy of making full hull capital ships while a separate segment is aimed at the wargaming community who are looking to recreate different naval engagements using waterline ships. Right now, several warships are slated to set sail in early 2022, including reworked versions of the USS Enterprise, the USS Missouri, IJN Yamato and the RN Invincible, and its a good bet that other previously released warships in the FOV armada will be similarly sent to the naval yards for a complete refit.
Finally, although the manufacturer did share with us some images of their 1:32 scale early production Tiger I tanks, they did ask us not to divulge them for now since they are still being worked on for technical accuracy, changes to the road wheels and other important facets of the vehicle endemic to its version. Suffice it to say we will pass along factory approved photos for all the world to see once the Company is satisfied that they have met all of their design goals and feel confident they can deliver a stunning replica that is both heavy in the hand and meticulously researched.
USPS Suspends Service to Australia
While we were away on vacation we learned that the USPS has temporarily but immediately suspended all package service to Australia. According to a USPS blog post, the suspension is due to COVID-19 transportation cancellations and restrictions. Any shipments currently en route to Australia are being turned around and returned to the sender. Its not clear when service will be resumed to Australia and whether or not this suspension will affect other nations going forward. Previously, the USPS suspended service to other nations, among them Malawi, Mayotte and Liberia, as well as Afghanistan although service suspension to and from Afghanistan is largely due to the pull out of US troops and other assets from the country.
You may remember that apart from Canada we temporarily suspended ALL international shipments earlier this summer for different reasons but are willing to explore the issue once again in early 2022 should we feel that the global pandemic has changed for the positive. We apologize for having to take these measures and hopr you understand that some things are beyond our control.
Odds and Ends for September
Earlier today, we listed all of the July Hobby Master products as being in stock even though they are set to arrive early next week. Candidly, they were supposed to arrive this week but Historic Sales ran into some issues stocking the items at their new facility in Georgia. Couple that with the fact that we are going away later this week and were therefore unable to accept inbound deliveries, so we thought it best to simply delay their arrival rather than risk some packages being left at our doorstep and quite possibly snatched up by some would-be porch pirates. To make a long story short, you can order any of the items now listed in the September Arrivals sections but we will ship them out as soon as we return on the 6th.
Other than that, there isn’t much we are expecting in the next week or two, unless something suddenly pops up on the radar that we weren’t aware of. The port congestion issues affecting much of the west coast are still alive and well and are hopefully being dealt with in an expeditious manner otherwise the coming holiday season is going to be chaotic at best.
We did hear that both PMA and Air Force 1 are on the water although no dates of arrival have yet been set. Panzerkampf, Forces of Valor, Corgi, et al are still pretty much up in the air so there is no point in discussing when we can begin to see their arrival dates get updated. We are hoping that after the Labor Day weekend we will have more concrete information to work from and a better sense of what may or may not be ship-able this holiday season. Frankly, in all my years of working in the toy business, in one capacity or another, I don’t remember working with so little information to make an education idea of how to proceed, in large part due to the tumult still affecting the global supply chain. There’s a very good chance that many items originally slated to arrive this year will be delayed until 2022 so it behooves everyone to double-check with us first before pinning your hopes and dreams on a piece of diecast Santa hasn’t included in his holiday run. That’s it for now and enjoy the Labor Day weekend…
New Line: Herpa
We’ve stumbled upon a reliable source of diecast military aircraft that just so happens carries a full line of models from the German firm Herpa. Extremely popular in Europe and established just after World War II, we’ve come to the decision that it makes sense we add them to our growing product portfolio. Since we do not stock civilian airliners, we plan to mainly carry their military hardware, which is still rather extensive in its own right.
After looking over their stock list, they appear to have a wide variety of military aircraft, from the standard-sized 1:72 scale platforms, to a wide array of smaller scale aircraft, no doubt designed to replicate some of the larger military aircraft that have seen service with all the world’s air forces. So, after we return from vacation, we will begin the process of culling the list and adding those items we think will do well to our web site. Keep in mind, we do not anticipate taking delivery of any of their products until the fourth quarter, largely due to the problems still plaguing the global supply chain. So, please be patient if you would like to pre-order anything you see, since it will be several months before they reach American shores.