We’ve learned that the August cache of Hobby Master products has arrived at our distributor so we should have them in stock by week’s end, barring any unforeseen issues. Here’s what’s headed our way:
Hobby Master Hits the Dusty August Trail
Tales of Transparency: A Look Ahead for The Motor Pool
Ordinarily we offer our annual look ahead towards year’s end, after the dust has settled down, we’ve had a chance to catch our breath and generally get a better sense of where we have ended up come the post-holiday season. This year, however, we decided to change things up a bit by sharing our plans for the coming year several months earlier.
For starters, we’ve decided to launch a lengthy, multi-issue print ad campaign beginning with the December issue of World War II magazine. This is where things started for us almost two decades ago so we decided to both return to our roots and expand our customer base by reaching out to those magazine subscribers that may not be aware of our store or the lines we stock. As such, the first print ad will cover the re-launch of Corgi’s Military Legends series and will be picked up again in the January issue of Military History magazine. As the series expands, we will likely run follow-on ads covering some of Corgi’s latest offerings.
Next up, we will be moving our storefront to Shopify, a Canadian-based e-commerce solution that offers greater flexibility than our current web hosting solution provides. Our plans are to move over all of our current product, customer and order records to the new service so we can provide a seamless migration that will not impact sales and/or the customer experience which has proven to be so vital to our existence. We will likely run both sites concurrently for at least a month to ensure all of our records have been successfully migrated to the new platform. Look for the transition to occur in the first quarter of 2020.
By moving over to Shopify, we will also be able to offer true multi-channel support across all of the marketplace sites we now operate on as well as those planned to come online in 2020. This will include satellite sites on both Target+ and the resurgent Toys “R” Us, and could include others still on the drawing board that have yet to be finalized. Presently, we must operate each channel independently, which creates a bit of a problem maintaining correct inventory levels across all platforms. Its a bit like trying to keep several plates on sticks spinning freely instead of of watching them crash to the ground for lack of attention. By moving to Shopify, everything will be “under one hood” thereby preventing instances where we could, theoretically, outsell an item or make available inventory on one channel and not on another. Shopify provides real-time inventory updates that are designed to prevent these types of occurrences from ever happening.
Going deeper in inventory to support multiple retail channels also means we cannot go quite as broad. As a result, several lines are being cut and/or phased out so that we can make room for additional stock. In most cases, the lines we are shedding were either experimental categories that never quite took off or ranges that are under-performing largely for lack of support at either the manufacturer or distributor level. For instance, the Eaglemoss Warships of the World line has run its course, no longer in vogue due principally to the unavailability of certain models.
Additionally, Shopify has fully integrated additional payment gateways that we currently are unable to offer such as ApplePay and Venmo, along with Apple’s newly launched credit card. As more and more payment gateways come online, this will prove essential for a growing business to thrive in a digital world.
So, that’s pretty much it for now but we’ll keep you posted should anything else change. As always, we look forward to serving your needs in the diecast military space. Have a wonderful year.
Anatomy of War: Spinning Up The US Space Command
According to Defense News, the Pentagon will stand up the US Space Command on August 29th, making it the fifth combatant command within the US defense hierarchy. “Upon its standup, SPACECOM head Gen. Jay Raymond will inherit 87 units, covering “missile warning, satellite operations, space control and space support,” said Gen. Joe Dunford, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . Raymond has previously said he expects to start with about 642 personnel pulled from U.S. Strategic Command. Army Lt. Gen. James Dickinson has been nominated to become the deputy commander.”
Its not clear what types of weaponry will be attached to the new command or the exact units subordinate to it. Aircraft such as the Lockheed-Martin SR-72 are likely components thereby giving the command near real-time intelligence gathering and active response capability. The SR-72 is an American hypersonic UAV concept intended for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It is also believed that the platform will be weaponized with advanced hypersonic missiles still in development, thereby giving the command the ability to strike targets anywhere in the world within two hours of an attack order.
According to the article, Space Command will start with a nominal strength of 642 personnel pulled from Strategic Command, but will likely grow in size and strength as additional assets are placed under its command.
At this stage, it isn’t clear if the US Space Command will be a participatory command of sorts enabling certain allied nations — who may be unable or unwilling to create a similar command – be granted certain rights and/or protection gleaned from this enhanced surveillance and response system. Canada, for instance, long a member of NORAD, will likely fall under the umbrella protection of the US Space Command as a means of guarding the entire North American continent against a quick strike attack.
Mattel and Paramount Feel the Need for Speed
Toymaker Mattel has inked a global deal with Paramount Pictures to produce a line of diecast toys, aircraft, playsets and other pertinent products based upon the upcoming film, Top Gun: Maverick. The agreement also covers the original film, Top Gun, which came out in the mid 1980s.
According to NBC, which broke the news back on July 26th, the line will be available ahead of the film’s debut, which is currently set for June 26th, 2020. Its not clear if this is an exclusive agreement, thereby shutting out TSM Model Wings from making or selling any Top Gun-related diecast products. TSM has held a licensing deal with Paramount for some time and, as of last week, still maintains that they will be producing a range of diecast aircraft based upon both films.
Are You Sure that’s a Tiger in Your Tank?
Recently, Corgi talked up the release of their 1:50 scale military vehicle series on Facebook, showing photos of the packaging as well as other pertinent material from their marketing department. One forum goer responded that the Tiger shown in the promotional material did not properly represent the vehicle in question. According to the sales literature, the tank being offered is an initial production Tiger I Ausf. H, one of 100 vehicles that comprised the first batch of tanks to reach the battlefield in late 1942.
We took a closer look at the image and, lo and behold, the critic was right. Not only does the tank shown sport steel road wheels, a feature commonplace among some of the late model Tigers and designed to prevent mud from building up between the wheels. But it didn’t end there. The initial production Tiger did not come with armored side skirts as shown on the Corgi tank. Furthermore, the initial production Tiger came with side-mounted storage boxes attached to the turret, which is clearly absent on the Corgi replica.
Corgi’s Tiger is slated to come out in December so they still have a few months to correct these issues by either building an initial production Tiger — not likely to happen this late in the game — or going with a late model vehicle that perhaps saw action towards the latter stages of the war. This would require different packaging, an altogether different camouflage scheme, and, of course, different markings and insignia. While its great to see Corgi make a return to the diecast battlefield, we hope they’re doing their due diligence by matching up historical records with the right vehicle being portrayed.
Air Force 1 Takes Aim at the Holiday Season
With the all-important holiday season fast approaching, Air Force 1 announced the impending arrival of three new models for the aviation community. No surprises here considering the range of aircraft already available in the extensive Air Force 1 arsenal.
Of particular note are a pair of B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, the aircraft most closely associated with the 8th Air Force’s daylight bombing campaign over Europe during the middle and late stages of WWII. “Swamp Fire” (AF10110B) is a B-17 that was attached to the 524th Bombardment Squadron, 379th Bombardment Group, then deployed to Europe from 1944-45. As such it wears the iconic olive drab scheme most collectors and aviation buffs remember when considering the exploits of the US 8th Air Force. “Miss Conduct” (AF10110C), on the other hand, comes in a shiny, natural metallic finish, which was more commonly associated with aircraft that flew with the 481st Bombardment Squadron, 100th Bombardment Group. These aircraft were lighter in weight than an aircraft clad in olive drab paint, and could attain slightly higher speeds since there was less drag.
Lastly, the Company has decided to bring back their Pak FA mold by reintroducing it as a Suhkoi Su-57 stealth fighter (AF11011A). Perhaps tearing a page out of today’s headlines, the Su-57 represents Russia’s next generation of front line fighter and was recently given the go ahead by the Russian government to go into full production. While it isn’t quite as capable as either the Lockheed F-22 or F-35 it might one day go against, its still a formidable aircraft, particularly when paired with some of the latest generation of Russian weaponry it is designed to carry.
Anatomy of War: The MiG-41?
I have to admit that prior to today I’ve never heard of a web site called Air Recognition, which purports that Russia has given the go-ahead towards producing the MiG-41. Previously known as the PAK DP, the MiG-41, according to the article, “will be able to fly into space,” said Ilia Tarassenko, CEO of the Russian aircraft manufacturer Mikoyan-Gourevitch (MiG) during a news conference broadcast by Reuters.
Tarasenko stated that “the aircraft will use new types of weapons, will be created with new stealth technologies, can carry a large volume of weapons and will operate at a very large intercept radius.”
“In addition to flying at very high altitude, claims Air Recognition, “the MiG-41 will be able to shoot down hypersonic missiles according to the former commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Viktor Bondarev. It will be the fastest plane in his class, he says. The device could even be autonomous or be remotely piloted like a drone.”
We’ll do some digging to determine if this is a hoax or couched in fact, especially since it comes on the heels of Russia giving the go ahead to the Su-57, previously known as the PAK FA. If true, this could be a game changer since it sounds more like a sixth generation jet fighter looking to outpace several competing designs put forward by a handful of Western nations.
Modelcollect Fires Off Another Rocket Salvo
Modelcollect is one of those companies that seems to enjoy identifying a particular niche in the marketplace then grinding out as many subjects as possible until they either tire or become infatuated with another untapped market segment. In the case of mobile rocket launchers, the Company showed off four more pre-built models this week, two covering the Chinese-built PHL03 Multiple Launch Rocket System — essentially a copy of the Russian-built “Smerch” — and two more based on the Russian “SA-10 Grumble” system. Here now the latest entrants in their growing “scoot-and-shoot” category:
AS72148 – Russian S-300 (“SA-10 Grumble”) with 5P85SE Missile Launcher (1:72 Scale)
AS72150 – Chinese Peoples Liberation Army PHL03 Multiple Launch Rocket System (1:72 Scale)
The Toy Industry: “Saved by the Bell”
Earlier today, the US government decided to delay the imposition of tariffs on Chinese made toys which were supposed to go into effect on September 1st by pushing back the date to December 15th. A reprieve of sorts, manufacturers, distributors and retailers will therefore not feel the sting of an added 10% price hike, which could have had a serious impact on sales this coming holiday season. The industry and consumers were saved by the bell until both sides can come to a mutually beneficial trade agreement.
The Toy Industry had this to say about the postponement: “The Toy Association – the not-for-profit trade association representing the toy, game, and youth entertainment product businesses that drive the annual $28 billion American toy market and are leaders around the world – lauded the Trump administration’s decision to delay imposing a 10 percent tariff on most toys as a welcome reprieve for the toy industry going into the holiday season.”
Hobby Master Lays Out Their Winter Wonderland for January
Never one to disappoint, particularly around the chilly wintry days of January, Hobby Master laid out what’s on tap for the first month of the new decade:
HA4209 – RAF Douglas Boston Mk.IV Light Attack Bomber – BZ405, No.88 Squadron, 1944 (1:72 Scale)