Please be advised that we have given our designer the go-ahead to update our home page which we alluded to earlier this year. The update will likely be implemented and undergo rigorous testing over the next 24-72 hours. During this time frame, all of the internal links will be tested to ensure they are working properly and point to the correct destinations. None of the category landing pages or product pages will be affected by this update. You may experience some issues viewing our web site and/or placing orders during this time frame so we would appreciate it if you could bear with us until the home page has been updated.
Solido Hops Back in the Saddle Again
According to a recent post by a member of the Model Hangar III forum, Solido plans on re-entering the military market, this time around with a range of 1:48 scale diecast military vehicles. Certainly welcome news, the scale, nevertheless, seems a bit odd for them since they started out years ago in the 1:43/1:50 scale regime and, in recent years, switched over to the more lucrative 1:72 scale category. If the accompanying illustration is correct, six modern era vehicles are expected, although dates of availability, like everything else these days, are still up in the air. As a guess, these will likely show up for the all-important fourth quarter although its not certain if our present Solido distributor will actually stock these vehicles or defer to another entity.
In related news, Solido plans on offering these vehicles as a bundle with a flat-bed rail car, thus catering to the model railroad enthusiast. Its not clear if these vehicles are produced in conjunction with War Master, who had previously supplied Solido with a wide range of 1:72 scale military vehicles, aircraft and helicopters. Its conceivable that War Master has now entered the larger scale military market since there hasn’t been any further indication that they are remaining a player in the 1:72 scale market. Time will tell when we get official word from whomever plans on offering these products in the North American market.
The Forces of Valor Update: Is that a Tiger in Your Tank?
A number of you have pre-ordered some of the upcoming 1:32 scale Tiger I heavy tanks from Forces of Valor. Please be advised that the manufacturer has made several changes to the names and descriptions for each of the vehicles over the past week or so, and could be making further changes as we get closer to their actual release date. In fact, according to a recent blog post on Facebook, the manufacturer plans on offering as many as 20 different Tiger I tanks at some point in time, which means several haven’t even been announced just yet and others seem to be in a state of flux as to which vehicle and unit they plan to represent. Obviously we will post images for each vehicle once they are passed along to us but for now, we would appreciate it if you review each vehicle as they now stand and notify us of any changes you wish to make for pre-orders already submitted. Panzer Vorwärts!
Panzerkampf Dabbles in the Arcane
With most of the major combat vehicles having been spoken for as scale replicas, it made sense for Panzerkampf to dabble in the more obscure subjects to gain greater traction in the diecast ranks. Earlier today, we noticed plans to come out with a pair of Soviet KV-3 heavy tanks, a vehicle that never made it onto the battlefield due to the surprise German invasion of Russia in June 1941. Although two prototypes were developed, the factory building the vehicles had to be quickly packed up and relocated east of the Urals otherwise it would have fallen into the hands of advancing Wehrmacht forces.
While poking around the web, we also noticed that Panzerkampf has another KV tank up its sleeve, one which is likely due out after the KV-3: the ubiquitous KV-220 heavy tank. The KV-220 (otherwise known as KV-220-2, T-220, Object 220, or just 220 in factory documents) was proposed in 1940 as a replacement for the KV-1 that was already considered inadequate by the Red Army. Another vehicle, the T-150, was meant to have a 700 hp engine while the KV-220 was to be served with an 850 hp engine, but problems were encountered in building such powerful engines. As a result, both the KV-220 and T-150 didn’t meet the Red Army’s expectations, and bets were hedged on the KV-3, 4 or 5 as the Red Army’s heavy tank for the years to come. The Nazi invasion changed all that, so plans were overhauled in a hurry to meet the threat.
We’re going to assume that the KV-3 tanks will become available some time this summer, with the elongated KV-220 showing up in the fall.
In other news, the manufacturer is looking to become a serious player in the military aircraft space with its announcement that it plans to offer two versions of the Dassault Rafale B fighter jet. The Dassault Rafale (literally meaning “gust of wind”, and “burst of fire” in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air superiority, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, ground support, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions. The Rafale is referred to as an “omnirole” aircraft by Dassault. Like the Rafale, dates of availability are still up in the air.
Tales of Transparency: Memorial Day Snippets
As we head into the all-important Memorial Day weekend, I thought we’d share some items with you that, while undeserving of their own separate news story, still needs a short mention nonetheless.
For openers, we’re still awaiting delivery of several Neo Dragon Armor items. These were originally scheduled to arrive this week but have been held up in customs for routine inspection. Dragon has been good about keeping us informed whenever this happens and will no doubt let us know when they have been finally cleared for shipment. I guess good things come to those that wait.
We’ve received a number of new items as we head into the weekend, including the May shipment of Hobby Master aircraft and another cache of DeAgostini Kriegsschiffe warships. There isn’t much more we anticipate coming in this month unless, of course, we stumble upon a surprise announcement that throws us into a tizzy.
While not completely worthy of a full FOV update, Waltersons, nevertheless, posted an image for their upcoming Jagdtiger with Porsche suspension. This is the second 1:32 scale Jagdtiger to be released; the first being a tank destroyer mounted atop the more common Henschel suspension. Other FOV updates included information concerning their mid-production Tiger I tanks. We’ve posted preliminary images on our web site based upon some research we conducted. Obviously, product photos will be added once they are uploaded to the FOV web site.
Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, things are finally settling down here in New York. We’re based in the borough of Queens, the hardest hit county in the entire nation. For a time, all we heard were ambulance sirens wailing up and down the thoroughfare where we are based, even late at night when sirens are typically muted to let everyone sleep. It was a tad disheartening, knowing that many of our neighbors were likely being transported to nearby hospitals sorely in need of medical attention. In any event, many retail establishments are scheduled to re-open shortly, which will help to mitigate the collateral effects caused by the pandemic. We’ve been through 9/11, Hurricane Sandy and now the opening salvo of the COVID-19 pandemic, which could come back to haunt us later this year unless measures are put in place to roll back its effect.
That’s it for now. As always, have a happy and healthy weekend and most of all, stay safe. Oh, and don’t forget that Father’s Day is just around the corner.
Hobby Master Jump Starts our May Arrivals
Like a dead car battery waiting for a boost from a passerby, we’ve been lollygagging around our diecast garage for the past several weeks waiting for anything new to arrive. Well, I can happily report that the May shipment of Hobby Master products are now on their way to us, which includes, among other things, an F-16 painted in an adversarial “ghost scheme” designed to mimic some of the latest aircraft rolling off the Russian assembly line. Unfortunately, all of the “ghost scheme” F-16s have already been spoken for so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that Hobby Master gets around to releasing a second version of this popular scheme sometime in the not-too-distant future. Here now the list of aircraft expected to arrive by the end of this week:
Still no word as to when HA5008, a 1:72 scale US Navy Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft – 160432, VMAQ-2 “Death Jesters”, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, is expected to arrive since its reportedly making the trek to our distributor via air mail as opposed to surface transport. Could be May or it could be delayed til June.
Panzerkampf Begins its Summer Offensive
We’ve been watching Panzerkampf’s web site for several months running and were growing concerned because there seemed to be no movement one way or the other. The site seemed unfinished with lots of products we had never seen shown in different configurations. Earlier this week, we noticed that the site was finally updated, which included pictures of some of their upcoming projects. Other items were removed or quite possibly hidden from view, meaning they are likely due out later in the year once things settle down and they have a better feel for what they can get out within the calendar year.
So, we invite you to take a look at our revamped Panzerkampf military vehicle section. We’re currently awaiting word as to when several of the items marked as pre-ordered will actually come to fruition, no doubt pushed back because of the pandemic. Right now, we are forecasting a summer release although this could change once more solid information has been passed along by our distributor.
The Return of Corgi’s Showcase Series
When we first started out twenty years ago, Corgi offered a line of affordable “fit-to-box” replicas which, for all intents and purposes, were aimed at first-time collectors, young adults and history buffs with a passing interest in diecast collectibles. While they weren’t built to any set scale, hence the “fit-to-box” moniker, they were, nevertheless, quite successful at retail and went a long way towards bringing new blood into the hobby that might not otherwise give it a second thought.
Earlier this week, we decided to bring back the series thanks, in part, to the upcoming feature film Top Gun Maverick of which two sets are based. Priced at just $19.99 per set and due out this autumn, each of these two-ship packs are ideal stocking stuffers that both rekindle a passion for the hobby as well as helping to renew interest in historic aviation. Five sets are being offered and the pre-order window for each is now open.
DeAgostini Sorties Six More Warships to Join Their Growing Fleet
Yesterday we learned that six more 1:1250 scale warships will join DeAgostini’s ever-expanding Kriegssschiffe warships series. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, it’s primary focus are the German warships that saw service throughout the twentieth century, from King Wilhlem II’s Kaiserlichte Marine up to the present day Bundesmarine. A handful of warships from other nations are also included in the mix although the series is heavily skewed towards German surface ships. Most of the warships come bundled with a German language magazine chock full of full-color photos and other pertinent data aimed at describing each ship in greater detail.
So, without further ado, here are the six warships expected to make port some time in May:
DAKS12 – German Kriegsmarine Bismarck Class Battleship – DKM Tirpitz (1:1250 Scale)
DAKS31 – German Kaiserliche Marine Moltke Class Batttlecruiser – SMS Moltke (1:1250 Scale)
DAKS37 – German Kaiserliche Marine Konig Class Batttleship – SMS Markgraf (1:1250 Scale)
DAKS46 – German Kaiserliche Marine Helgoland Class Batttleship – SMS Helgoland (1:1250 Scale)
DAKS56 – German Kriegsmarine Type 1934A Destroyer – Z5 Paul Jacobi (1:1250 Scale)
DAKS59 – German Bundesmarine Lutjens Class Destroyer – Lutjens (1:1250 Scale)
Tales of Transparency: Line Discontinuance
Until we have evidence to the contrary, we are now presuming that AF-X, Luft-X and Wings of the Great War are no longer being made and have therefore been discontinued by our distributor. Any orders that have been submitted to us thus far for the pair of pre-ordered Wings of the Great War aircraft (WW19002 and WW11004) we were expecting along with any items marked as back ordered will now be cancelled. If our distributor has concrete proof that these lines will be continued then we will re-open the ordering window again and update our site accordingly.