Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale German Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 “Emil” Fighter – Oblt. Hans Schmoller-Haldy, 3.Jagdgruppe 88 “The Condor Legion”, Spanish Civil War, March 1939
While the Company continues to shuffle around some of its previous introductions, and beef up many of its strongest categories, Hobby Master took time away from their busy schedule to announce their late summer lineup. Although no new toolings were debuted, there were a number of notable new offerings, including their first ever subject from the Spanish Civil War: a Messerschmitt Bf-109E3 attached to the Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion. Designed to test the mettle of Goring’s young air force, the Condor Legion would go on to play a key role in the war between the Republican and Communist forces dueling for control over Spain from 1936 to 1939.
Here’s the rest of what you can expect to see when the summer draws to a close and everyone climbs back into their cockpit, er, returns to work:
No stranger to YouTube, Calibre Wings has posted yet another instructional video to their YouTube account, this time offering a close-up look at their latest F-14 Fleet Defense Fighter. Based upon a Tomcat flown at the NFS/NSAWC, the latest release should appeal to both Top Gun fans as well as F-14 enthusiasts, striking a chord with both communities along with diecast aficionados. Enjoy!
As we await notification that our distributor has received the first batch of 1:32 scale Sturmtigers, Forces of Valor released a new instructional video to their YouTube account, this time taking a closer look at their soon-to-be released trio of 1:48 scale AH-1W Whiskey attack helicopters. Although the video seems to have been created for their Asian consumers, viewers can nevertheless get the gist of how to remove the helicopter from its base then put together its various components. The first three helicopters to come out are based upon ROCAF machines; USMC versions are expected to roll out some time this spring.
In other news, the manufacturer has begun talking up their range of 1:32 scale Sherman tanks, which has been languishing on their drawing boards for over two years. The Company claims that each of the new Shermans will boast features and components typically found in their larger 1:16 scale Extreme Metal series, thus making them heavier in the hand and ultimately more realistic for the diehard FOV collector. To that end, the manufacturer has produced a short video that focuses on the removable engine located in the rear of the vehicle, and will likely follow up this video with additional clips showing off some of the other detail. They have mused that the first vehicles will street this spring, right around the same time as the first Tiger Is are expected. Hope they’re right!
Incidentally, we noticed another pair of Sherman tanks were announced on the FOV website, although no images were posted for either model. This brings the total number of new Shermans to eleven. No doubt there are other versions in the works, possibly as many as three vehicles for each type of Sherman tank being introduced. That’s a lot of Sherman tanks although this probably comes as no surprise since it would seem as if this is their strategy going forward.
One final note. While it appears as if the tempo of operations has finally improved at the manufacturer’s end, and they are now posting anticipated release dates on Facebook and elsewhere, this does not mean it will be in our hands and ready for shipment to our customers at the same time as they are forecasting. Generally, it can take upwards of a month to transit the Pacific Ocean, clear customs and get offloaded from a container ship. Afterwards, the goods must then be shipped to our distributor, who, in this case, is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. After they review the shipment, it can then take another week or so before it reaches us here in New York thereby enabling us to finally ship out said product to our customers. So, please bear this in mind when they indicate that their first 1:32 scale Tiger I will be completed some time in April. From our standpoint, we are expecting to take delivery of the item around the end of May, fully six weeks after the item was “finished” at the manufacturer’s facility.
As we await the arrival of their eagerly anticipated trio of M1 Abrams tanks and their pair of two-piece M1070 tank transporter sets, Panzerkampf made the decision to release several 1:72 scale tanks replicas that had been languishing in the wings for several months running. Among the notable introductions is a British A39 Tortoise heavy tank painted in a snakelike, three-tone camouflage scheme as well as the ponderous WWI-era A7V clad in a multi-colored camouflage pattern. All five new introductions are currently on the road to us and should be in stock by the middle of March. Panzers vor!
Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale German Sturmpanzerwagen A7V Infantry Support Tank – CamouflagePanzerkampf’s 1:72 scale British A39 Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank – CamouflagePanzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Russian T-15 Armata Heavy Infantry Fighting Vehicle – CamouflagePanzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Chinese Peoples Liberation Army ZTZ99A Main Battle Tank – “235”, Desert CamouflagePanzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Soviet Object 279 Heavy Tank – Striped
For the last couple of years, its been a bit of a hit or miss situation with Dragon, who seems to have made a flurry of new product announcements then goes eerily silent for extended periods of time as everyone waits to hear further word. One of their most sought after Neo Dragon Armor releases in modern memory was their US M1128 Mobile Gun System (DRR63007), which sold out quickly and was unavailable for re-order. That said, we learned recently that the manufacturer has unearthed a cache of these vehicles. This is certainly good news for the collector, who, in many instances, has been waiting for the second version of the M1128 to come out to help complete their set of modern era vehicles. We have a number of these vehicles winging their way to us, which should be ready for sale in early March. We strongly recommend re-ordering these vehicles ahead of their arrival to be guaranteed a shot at owning one of these sleekly designed combat vehicles.
We’ve had great success with our free shipping business model on Amazon and have therefore decided to adopt a similar model for eBay, at least in the short term. Beginning on February 21st, 2021, all of our eBay listings now offer free domestic shipping. Thus far we’ve only adjusted the prices on a handful of lower-priced items to at least partially cover the cost of shipping around the nation. Frankly, there’s probably enough margin in some of the higher-priced items to cover the cost of ground shipping so its the lower priced items that we need to watch carefully and, in some instances, may need to adjust their prices since the dollar margin isn’t all that great.
We will soon be offering FedEx for both domestic as well as international shipments likely beginning in early March, so please don’t be a bit surprised if your next shipment is brought to you by the folks “that positively have to get it to you” by any and all means necessary. Again, we’ll be keeping a careful eye on this facet of our operation, particularly for larger packages that need to travel across several shipping zones.
While much of China is celebrating their New Year, Waltersons decided to post a video of their soon-to-be-released 1:32 scale Sturmtiger assault mortar. A cinematic tour de force, the 2-1/2 minute video shows off the Sturmtiger in all of its exquisite detail, both inside and out, thereby cementing its position as the preeminent maker of pre-assembled, large scale diecast military vehicles.
We are still anticipating taking delivery of the first batch of Stumtigers some time in March, so there is still time to place your pre-order. No word as yet as to when the other two Sturmtigers in the three-vehicle series are expected to be released.
AFV’s of WWII 1:43 scale German Sd. Kfz. 186 Jagdpanzer VI Jagdtiger Heavy Tank Destroyer with Henschel Turret – “211”, schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 512, Germany, 1945
Even though they are well behind schedule, our distributor claims that the first four vehicles in the AFVs of WWII series are still pegged for a March release. We’re pretty jazzed about this lineup, largely because there aren’t very many high quality 1:43 scale military vehicles on the market today, particularly when it comes to armored fighting vehicles. To help communicate our enthusiasm, and hopefully get you to order more of the vehicles when they finally roll in at a more predictable rate, we’ve decided to lower the price of the Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyer (#AFV00004) to just $24.99, a whopping $10 off the regular price for each of the other vehicles in the series. Frankly, that’s a huge savings and brings the item well below the price of some of the smaller 1:72 scale vehicles we also offer. Heck, you can buy several and give one to a friend at that price!
Our hope is that once you see the detail, heft and fabulous affordability of the range, that you’ll want to collect more, provided, of course, you are willing to wait for the entire series to make it to market. If you’ve already pre-ordered this particular vehicle then we will adjust your invoice to reflect this introductory price once the vehicles start to ship out. If you haven’t, well then you’re getting in on the ground floor of one of the most highly sought after series released in recent memory. These are incredible finds and certainly well worth your time collecting. Panzers vor!
Hobby Master’s 1:48 scale Finnish Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 “Gustav” Fighter – “White 0”, Ilmari Juutilainen, MT-451, 1/LeLv34, June 1944
Even as we begin packing up the February Hobby Master releases that showed up this week, we’re already looking ahead to the summer when the latest flock of warbirds materializes. That said, here’s a quick-and-dirty at what you can expect to set off for the wild blue yonder this coming July:
German Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 “Gustav” Fighter – “Yellow 6”, Ofw. Alfred Surau, 9./Jagdgeschwader 3 “Udet”, Germany, September 1943 (1:48 Scale)German McDonnell RF-4E Phantom II Reconnaissance Aircraft – “Norm 83A”, 35+67, Aufklarungsgeschwader 52, Leck, Germany, 1992 (1:72 Scale)
Based upon some preliminary discussions, it appears as if we will be adding FedEx to our list of outbound carrier options. According to our sales person, FedEx is looking to get more aggressive within the e-commerce space, particularly since it has grown exponentially in the wake of the pandemic. An official Zoom presentation is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, so if we like what we hear and the terms are amenable, we will enable the FedEx API on our web site so that our customers can now compare shipping rates across all three major carriers. Keep in mind that we will still be the final arbiter when deciding upon which carrier to use based upon shipping costs, the value of the package and other mitigating factors.
FedEx is also looking to garner more international shipments, although it remains to be seen if they are indeed competitive with the USPS and can provide viable last-mile delivery confirmation to ensure that a parcel arrives at its ultimate destination to everyone’s satisfaction.
In the past, February has typically been a retrenching month for us as well as the industry at-large, where the manufacturer’s show off many of their new products for the coming year. Since the customary toy fairs have been dispensed with in 2021, much of this information is being passed along through the Internet, so some of this new product information is a bit spotty at best, in some instances devoid of any imagery. We will update new product introductions as soon as imagery is provided.
Looking back, 2020 was our strongest year to date, and we anticipate much the same spike in business for the balance of 2021. Its difficult to say if this trend will continue well into the outer years but all signs thus far are pointing to a robust recovery, which should propel our own business trajectory for at least the foreseeable future. That’s it for now. We’ll be taking a few days off towards the end of this month largely to scout out a new location in Florida for both our business and home. Wish us luck.
