Never one to disappoint, Eaglemoss today revealed a convention exclusive Star Trek starship that has to be seen to be believed. Available at the upcoming New York Comic Con, which is scheduled to run from October 3rd to the 6th, the “Cloaked Defiant” bears a somewhat crystalline look that attempts to portray the starship as if its was evading detection.
Its not clear if the convention exclusive will be made available to retailers as oftentimes has happened in the past or if it can only be purchased direct from the Show. That said, we’ll take a wait-and-see attitude by holding off listing the ship on our web site until we know for sure.
As we await the formal conclusion to their 1:43 scale armored fighting vehicle range — which is tentatively set for early 2020 — it appears as if Altaya is launching yet another partworks line, this time around focused on an assortment of cars pressed into military service. According to their web site, this new 1:43 scale range will encompass some of the staff cars, off-road trucks and other vehicles that served both the Axis and Allied powers during WWII. Each will come with a magazine (written in french) discussing the vehicle at length. Moreover the line touts the usual bonus vehicles and accessories a subscriber can obtain once they have reached a predetermined number of orders . For now, the line is available in Europe but we have high hopes that it will eventually reach our shores once it too has formally reached its end and Altaya has moved on to something else collectors might covet.
True-to-form, the September cache of Hobby Master products have arrived at our distributor and are now headed our way, come what may. Without further ado, here’s what you can look forward to adding to your diecast arsenal in just a few days time:
DeAgostini’s 1:1250 scale US Navy Essex Class Aircraft Carrier – USS Essex (CV-9) [With Collector Magazine] (1:1250 Scale)
Six more warships are joining the DeAgostini Kriegsschiffe fleet next month, adding more muscle and mass to an already growing naval armada. Here’s what you can add to your diecast flotilla the first week of October:
Its been rather quiet of late with little in the way of product news to share with our valued readership. On the upside, we’ve been contacted by Mr. Axel Hernborg who would like to share his thoughts and opinions on several important museums and historical sites that would likely be of interest to our viewership. So, if you like to get out every once in a while, and would take great pleasure in seeing actual weapons of war as opposed to scale models, we strongly recommend you pay a visit to his website and review his article.
While we were basking in the warm summer sun, Hobby Master took the opportunity drench us with a cold wake up call by announcing a bevy of new products expected this February. The vehicles and aircraft cut across virtually every category, scale and era, so without further ado, here’s what you can look forward to adding to your collection early in 2020:
Atlas Editions’ 1:72 scale German Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Heavy Tank – Michael Wittmannn ‘S04’, 1.SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte ‘LSSAH’, 1943
Even though parent company, De Agostini, shuttered Atlas Editions late last year, that doesn’t seem to prevent them from living on, at least for the time being. While we were away on vacation, we received word that their 1:72 scale Ultimate Tank Collection will finally be brought over to our shores, with six tanks expected by the end of this month. We’ve listed the first wave of vehicles on our web site and, based upon the promotional literature that accompanied the announcement, it would appear as if a great many more vehicles can be expected over the course of the next few months. Priced at just $19.99, these vehicles offer great value for the money and, in certain instances, include vehicles not previously made available to the military collector in any other series.
At a time when the Luftwaffe and RAF were dueling for aerial supremacy over the skies of Northwest Europe, a rather chivalrous mission was undertaken by the RAF at the behest of the Luftwaffe High Command.
Famed ace and double amputee, Wing Commander Douglas Bader, had been forced to bail out from his stricken Spitfire over occupied France on August 9th, 1941. Losing altitude rapidly, Bader jettisoned the cockpit canopy and released his harness pin. According to Bader, the air rushing past the open cockpit started to suck him out, but his prosthetic leg was trapped. Part way out of the cockpit and still attached to his aircraft, Bader fell for some time before he released his parachute, at which point the leg’s retaining strap snapped under the strain and he was pulled free. A Bf 109 flew by some 50 yards away as he neared the ground at around 4,000 feet (1,200 metres).
Corgi’s 1:72 scale RAF Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV Light Bomber – R3843/WV-F, “F for Freddie”, No. 18 Squadron, “Operation Leg”, RAF Watton, Norfolk, August 1941
By all accounts, the Germans initially treated Bader with great respect although that would soon change. Upon hearing of Bader’s plight, General Adolf Galland notified the British of his damaged leg and offered them safe passage to drop off a replacement. Hermann Goring himself gave the green light for the operation. The British responded on August 19th, 1941 with the so-called “Leg Operation” — an RAF bomber was allowed to drop a new prosthetic leg by parachute to St. Omer, a Luftwaffe base in occupied France, as part of Circus 81 involving six Bristol Blenheims and a sizeable fighter escort including 452 Squadron.
The Germans were less impressed when, task done, the bombers proceeded on to their bombing mission to Gosnay Power Station near Bethune, although bad weather prevented the target being attacked. Galland stated in an interview that the aircraft dropped the leg after bombing Galland’s airfield. Galland did not meet Bader again until mid-1945, when he, Gunther Rall and Hans-Ulrich Rudel arrived at RAF Tangmere as prisoners of war. Bader, according to Rall, personally arranged for Rudel, a fellow amputee, to be fitted with an artificial leg.
Look for the Blenheim that dropped the artificial leg some time in September. No word, as yet, if a replica leg will come with the model.
Corgi’s 1:50 scale British Cromwell Mk. IV Tank – “Blenheim”, 2nd Armoured Battalion, Welsh Guards, 6th Guards Armoured Brigade, 1944 (1:50 Scale)
As we gear up for the holiday season, Corgi seems to be hard-at-work harvesting their latest crop of diecast delicacies. Here’s a quick look at what you can expect from the English modelmaker in the month of September:
As an aside, we were curious as to why the inboard panels of each engine cowling and panel forward of the windscreen was painted green instead of the natural metal finish shown throughout the aircraft’s exterior. This appears on both the Corgi B-17 shown here as well as the upcoming B-17 from Air Force 1. Apparently, after the bare metal finish was adopted by the USAAF, it was discovered that the glare from the metal finish forward of the cockpit and on the inboard sides of the engine cowlings was blinding the pilots inside the cockpit. As a result, khaki green shields were repainted on these selected parts.
In October 2018, the Trump administration announced that the US was withdrawing from the Universal Postal Union, a system set up way back in 1874 that was designed to level the playing field for shipping small packages across 192 countries. While the system made sense back then, and helped to standardize rates and other facets of international shipping, it has, in effect, provided certain countries with an unfair advantage over the US. More specifically, US businesses have been hurt by the arrangement since businesses operating out of China have been able to ship to the US at a fraction of the cost for what a US business must pay to ship a similarly-sized package to China. A last minute vote to keep the US in the UPU is scheduled for late September but many feel the effort is futile and that the US will still withdraw from the accord some time this October.
From our standpoint, we welcome the decision for the US to withdraw from the UPU. China was first granted this privilege in 1969 when it was still considered to be a developing nation. Fast forward to 2019 and China has become one of the largest economies in the world, second only to the US. To grant them an unfair advantage at this point in time would be foolhardy and it would come at a time when the US Postal Service continues to report record deficits.
While we recognize that it will cost much more for a US-based consumer to purchase something from China, we feel that the time has come to remove any and all advantages a country such as China has held sway over the US, particularly in light of the failed trade talks between the two countries. If China wants to act responsibly and in good faith then they must abide by the conditions of the US trade representatives and any and all advantages they currently hold over US businesses must be removed in order for fair trade to exist now and in the future.
