Forces of Valor

The Forces of Valor Update: Back from the Dead

We’re happy to report that we received a rather large re-stock shipment of Forces of Valor products earlier this week, which is ahead of our upcoming vacation over the Labor Day weekend. Besides the usual convoy of Tiger I and Sherman tanks, is this M24 Chaffee light tank, a vehicle that was out-of-stock for several months running and one that ably does the Chaffee justice. We’ve filled all of our back orders for this item and have a handful left available, just in case you’re looking to snag the WWII version before we head off to parts unknown.

Another vehicle long unavailable is their Sherman tank with deep wading gear, this one used in the Pacific Theatre of Operations towards the end of WWII. Its a stand out vehicle and one that ably replicates its real-life cousin from top-to-bottom. “White 6”, as its known, was attached to the 713th Tank Battalion, then forcibly invading the island of Okinawa in April 1945.

Both versions of the 1:700 scale HMS Invincible sailed into our home waters as did their MH-47G Chinook, a favorite amongst chopper gearheads and a model that had been unavailable for several years. Its a fine specimen and most will agree its perhaps their best take on the unbiquitous Chinook. Again, we believe this one won’t remain in stock for very long despite us ordering what we think is a healthy supply.

Also, now in stock is their eagerly awaited 1:72 scale take on a USMC Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter. Their inaugural “Viper” was attached to Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 “Vengeance” (HMLA-469), which is deployed to Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, California. The chopper comes complete with a full ordnance load out, a pair of pilot figures, opening engine nacelles and everything else you’ve come to expect from this prolific model maker.

With the holidays fast approaching and demand for FOV products continuing to remain strong, all of these models make perfect gifts for that special someone in your life and ideal center pieces for any military-themed vignette. So, whether it be on land, sea or air, both we and Forces of Valor have got you covered and ready to fuel your passion for combat collectibles.

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Forces of Valor Raises Another Ship from the Ocean’s Depths

Looking to complete its pairings of full draught and waterline models, Forces of Valor debuted a single picture of its upcoming waterline version of the US Navy Aircraft Carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-65), to one of their web sites. While additional images are likely forthcoming, it isn’t clear when the warship will actually sail out of Walterson’s home port and into the diecast sea. So, while we will begin accepting pre-orders for it and the full draught version, don’t expect to see either of the two models until 2025. Please understand that we play no role as to when these items will either be produced or made available through their dealer network, so if you have your heart set on either of these releases, make sure you have lots of blood pressure medication on hand until this model joins their diecast fleet.

In other news, our August shipment of mixed Forces of Valor products showed up this morning, unannounced and without any advance notification. Great way to start off the week. Frankly, it is since we have been out-of-stock of many of these items for months on end. So, we’re in the process of going through the shipment, re-listing items as being back in stock on both our web site and our marketplace sites. We expect to begin shipping out these items on Tuesday.

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Product Spotlight: HMS Invincible

As we await the fate of Forces of Valor latest 1:700 scale warship, HMS Invincible, we stumbled upon this manufacturer-created video that was found on YouTube and designed to show off some of the warships’ unique features. Produced and uploaded three months ago, this is the first video Waltersons, the owners of the Forces of Valor line, has posted to the site in almost three years, one we hope will be followed up by other “docu-advertisements”, which are designed to compare and contrast the warship, aircraft or vehicle in question with its smaller namesake. Waltersons has always done a fine job of showing off its models over the years – we just wish they had informed us they had produced and rolled out a new video so that it can be marketed day and date with the release of the product.

Like their other recently released warships, the HMS Invincible comes in two flavors – one a full draught model, the other a waterline replica that can, if necessary, be used for wargaming purposes. The full draught version sits atop a wood-like display plinth, complete with an etched identification label, while the waterline model comes packaged in a vaccu-formed piece of plastic that resembles an ocean in motion. Both versions of the warship are shown in the accompanying video and, as of August 20th, both models are now in stock and ready for immediate shipment.

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The Forces of Valor Update: August

At the risk of sounding like a Pollyanna, it appears as if Waltersons will finally be receiving a shipment of re-stock merchandise by the middle of August. Many of their 1:32 scale tanks and trucks will be returning to the fold, along with a number of 1:700 scale warships. Interestingly, their 1:72 scale MH-47G Chinook is making an encore appearance, having been sold out for a couple of years now.

Apart from their twin 1:700 scale renditions of the HMS Invincible, there doesn’t appear to be anything new in this shipment so its your guess as good as ours as to when the balance of their long-promised new items will show up on our shores. We’ve learned our lesson and not going to speculate about their arrival date, so please bear this in mind if you have your heart and mind set on any of the new items that still appear on their web sites.

We’ll be placing a fairly large order for all of their re-stock merchandise to ensure that they remain in stock for at least through the Labor Day weekend. Mind you we’ll also keep our fingers crossed that they’re still available at the distributor should we need to place a follow-up order. Whether or not they will still be available for the holiday season is up to the manufacturer as demand remains strong even for some of their older items. Its a good problem to have but one they need to fully address going forward.

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Forces of Valor Steps up to the Microphone

After laying low for several months, and still trying to figure out why they are having issues correctly shipping out orders to their retailing network, Waltersons has finally re-surfaced to share some news with us about upcoming projects. Apparently, a large re-stock shipment is expected to reach our shores in July, filled — according to their literature — with all sorts of relatively new items they ran out of earlier this year. According to the manufacturer, the following items will reportedly return-to-stock this summer:

1:32 scale US M24 Chaffee Light Tank

1:32 scale GMC 2-1/2-ton Trucks

1:48 scale USMC Bell AH-1W “Whiskey” Super Cobra Attack Helicopter

1:700 scale US Battleship Missouri (full hull)

1:700 scale German Battleship Bismarck (full hull)

1:32 scale German Initial Production Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E Heavy Tank – Hauptmann Herbert Oehme, “White 100”, schwere Panzerabteilung 502, Leningrad, Russia, February 1943

1:32 scale German Early Production Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E Heavy Tank – Lt. Vermehren, “Alwin”, “121”, 1/schwere Panzerabteilung 501, Panzerarmee Afrika, Tunisia, 1943

1:32 scale German Early Production Sd. Kfz. 181 PzKpfw VI Tiger I Ausf. E Heavy Tank – “Red 100”, schwere Panzerabteilung 505, Kursk, Russia, July 1943

1:32 scale US M4A3(75) Sherman Medium Tank with VVSS Suspension – Training Vehicle, C Company, 10th Tank Battalion, 5th Armored Division, New York, 1943

1:32 scale US M4A3(76)W Sherman Medium Tank with VVSS Suspension – Sgt. Daniel “Buttons” Cardell, “Julia”, 761st Tank Battalion “Black Panthers”, Task Force Rhine, Germany, 1945

1:32 scale US M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo Assault Tank with VVSS Suspension – Lieutenant Charles Boggess, “Cobra King”, C Company, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, Bastogne, Belgium, December 26th, 1944

Also expected are the following new items that have been shown on their web site for well over a year:

1:72 scale USMC AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopter

1:700 scale HMS Invincible aircraft carrier (full hull and waterline)

To be perfectly honest, we will believe all this when we see it, based upon their past performance and mishandling numerous issues. Moreover, nothing was mentioned regarding new product in the pipeline even though we are quickly looking at the back half of 2024 and the all-important holiday season. To be blunt, they’re still having trouble getting their ducks in a row, one year after they acquired Greenlight Collectibles. Moreover, the sales sheet sent to us fails to include information about their upcoming 1:72 scale F4 Phantom II and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, nor does it talk about any of the 1:64 scale military vehicles supposedly hitting the streets. So, if you plan to place orders for any of the items Waltersons says are expected in July, please do so with a grain of salt and understand we have no control over the situation nor do we guarantee that said items will actually materialize this summer. Its been an exercise in frustration that we wish was finally addressed to everyone’s satisfaction

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The Forces of Valor Update: Comes the Destroyer

Hinted at a few years ago, Forces of Valor has finally unveiled details concerning their upcoming 1:32 scale Ferdinand tank destroyer. Like their Sturmtiger rocket assault mortar, the Ferdinand will feature a removable superstructure so that collectors can peer inside the vehicle and even monkey around with the vehicle’s ammunition, its stowage racks and other pertinent details they ordinarily wouldn’t get to see had the superstructure remained in a fixed position. According to their literature, the Ferdinand will come with two crewmen although neither figure was shown in the preview pictures. It also appears as if the vehicle will not come with removable engines that we assumed would come inside the package and have become a hallmark of the series. As a guess, they were omitted to keep the final cost of the item down to below a manageable price point.

On the downside, it seems as though the Ferdinand will come with a hefty price tag – $189.99, well above either of their previously released Sturmtigers or any of their other 1:32 scale armored fighting vehicles. Interestingly, only a couple of hundred vehicles are being built for each major market and, if their information proves correct, is pegged for a late summer release, perhaps in conjunction with several other new products.

At the recently concluded China Hobby Show, the Company also showed off the next Tiger I heavy tank, which we believe will hit the diecast battlefield as early as this summer. We haven’t listed it for pre-sale just yet as we are awaiting details concerning which unit it severed with and if the retail price has gone through a similar uptick in cost. So, for now, we’ve opened the pre-order window for the Ferdinand and will unveil their newest Tiger I as soon as information is passed along to us.

On a completely separate topic, a collector posted an image of a 1:32 scale US M60A1 Patton tank in what we are calling older Unimax packaging that carries the Green Light Collectibles logo on its front exterior facing.

We are assuming that Green Light is bringing back some of the old Unimax favorites as a means of bolstering their line up and will, presumably, offer these vehicles at a lower cost than their traditional Forces of Valor series. We’ve asked the manufacturer for clarification and hope to get an answer back after we return from vacation towards the second week of May.

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The Forces of Valor Update: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

**Forces of Valor’s 1:700 scale Royal Navy Invincible Class Light Aircraft Carrier – HMS Invincible (R05), Falkland Islands, 1982 [Full Hull Version]**

We’re happy to report that our latest shipment from Forces of Valor went off without a hitch. This shipment, as you likely know by now, included all of the newest products that had been originally earmarked for a late 2023 arrival but, for various reasons, was delayed until early February. Their newest M4 Sherman tank — Julia — has already sold out and we are currently awaiting a second delivery so that it can be re-stocked. Unfortunately, the advent of Chinese New Year will likely delay this follow-on shipment until the end of the month, perhaps longer if it takes Waltersons a few days to get back in the saddle after returning from “the Year of the Dragon.” We still have a few pieces left of the other items comprising this shipment but expect them to sell out too if the next shipment has to be delayed until early March.

Thus far we haven’t heard much about several of the newest projects that were hinted at by Waltersons a year or two ago and have now seemingly gone AWOL. I’m speaking about the 1:32 scale Elefant tank destroyer that was purportedly going to be the newest entrant in their Inside Out series. Likewise, the manufacturer briefly indicated that a King Tiger heavy was tank was in the works but little else was mentioned. A 1:32 scale Opel Blitz ambulance decked out in the Afrika Korps motif was supposed to come to fruition this year but seems to have been shunted to the back burner. Instead, the next cache of products — likely slated to arrive in April — looks to include the on-again off-again HMS Invincible aircraft carrier, a 1:72 scale AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter, two F/A-18 Hornets, a pair of F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers and some assorted accessories. Its a good bet that the acquisition of Greenlight Collectibles last year has affected Watersons’ release schedule for its Forces of Valor lines and, quite possibly, resulted in a reapportionment of resources as they grapple with both the FOV line and Greenlight’s own proprietary product lines. We thought that some new products would be shown at the 2024 Nuremberg Toy Fair but our hopes were dashed when we viewed a video of their booth which didn’t show anything new or unexpected.

We know this isn’t what you want to hear in light of all of the recent delays and issues that have cropped up in the wake of the Greenlight Collectibles acquisition and hope that our next installment of the Forces of Valor update will have more exciting news to share with you. Peace out.

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The Forces of Valor Update: The People Have Spoken

**Forces of Valor’s 1:32 Scale US M24 Chaffee Light Tank – Company D, 36th Tank Battalion, 8th Armored Division, Rheinberg, Germany, March 1945**

In the past, we’ve reserved our Forces of Valor updates for discussions on new merchandise either just hitting the air waves or expected imminently. However, given the issues we’ve faced with this manufacturer over the past few months, we thought you might like to know where we stand with them and how it ultimately affects everyone’s orders going forward. On January 25th, we received our re-stock shipment and, apart from one minor problem where they over-shipped us a model kit, all seemed well with little need for immediate follow up. Whew!

We also learned that they are currently moving their Forces of Valor inventory from one public warehouse to another, the latter better situated to receive and ship out orders to the vendor’s clientele. This new warehouse has a proven track record of getting out orders on time and with little incident. As strange as it may sound, however, the new public warehouse is located over 1,000 miles away from their current warehouse in Indiana, a stone’s throw away from Greenlight Collectibles, and originally designed to handle the overflow of inventory resulting from the Greenlight Collectibles purchase before the resulting turmoil. Its not clear if this is a permanent arrangement or one designed to last for just a few months until a more workable strategy has been put into place. At any rate, we’ve placed our order with them for all of the new merchandise they’ve supposedly received and are keeping our fingers crossed that it can be shipped out by the tail end of January so that it arrives at our facility the first week of February.

In regards to new merchandise being announced, the manufacturer has updated their Chinese web site, which now has several new scenic sets, accessories and other product listed and we presume ready for a Spring release. With the Nuremberg Toy Fair right around the corner, we’re hoping that more new items will be added to the site along with reliable release dates we feel confident they can adhere to further down the road.

In the mean time, if you’ve placed a pre-order for the merchandise slated for February, hang in there a little while longer until we can receive and turn around all of the orders we’ve received to date.

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The Forces of Valor Update: We the People

Forces of Valor’s 1:32 scale US M4A3(76)W Sherman Medium Tank with VVSS Suspension – Sgt. Daniel “Buttons” Cardell, “Julia”, 761st Tank Battalion “Black Panthers”, Task Force Rhine, Germany, 1945 [Bonus Ford GAA V-8 Engine]

Waking up every day in the wee hours of the morning becomes a tad disheartening when we go through our emails to determine if our Forces of Valor shipment has, well, shipped. We placed an order with them over two weeks ago and have been sitting on our hands ever since, waiting patiently for a response that never seems to come. Today, we received a short message from Waltersons indicating that our restock order was going out either today, Thursday, or Friday, and that its tracking information would be passed along to us just as soon as the shipment was processed and sent on its way. Frankly, we’ve heard all this before and still no explanation has been provided as to why our shipment has been in hibernation for so long other than to say its sitting at a public warehouse. The manufacturer also went on to say that they are moving their product to a different public warehouse that has promised it can handle their shipments in a more expeditious manner. Bear in mind that the last shipment we received from them was way back in October and it was completely screwed up, with no explanation as to why it was sent out in such a sloppy manner. I’ve gone on record to say that in my 45 years of doing business after graduating college, and wearing multiple hats in the business world from salesman to store manager, buyer to merchandise manager, I have never seen a situation as poorly handled as this, with no communication from the owner as to why we have been placed in this unenviable position for such a long period of time.

As I’ve previously indicated, we will wait and see what this shipment looks like before placing an order with them for all the new merchandise they claim to have ready for dispatch. Paying thousands of dollars up front for an order only to have to chase it down for weeks on end isn’t my idea of ushering in the New Year. I know its not what a lot of you want to hear but we have to protect our investments — even with our suppliers — and be assured that what we order is what we will get despite what the manufacturer says in their communiques. If what they say is true, we should have this shipment by the tail end of January and, at that time, will place an order for their newest merchandise that is supposedly in stock. If they can address that to our satisfaction, then the new merchandise will likely arrive in early February.

Not much has been announced by the manufacturer as to what we can expect for the balance of the year. They’ve made previous product announcements over the years that simply haven’t come true, so having our hopes dashed time and time again isn’t new to us even when we pray things will change. In the seven or so years we’ve been doing business with them, lots of products have been hinted at that never came to fruition, shunted to the back burner for all sorts of reasons. Its become a tedious affair listening to pie-in-the-sky optimism with little to show for it. One the plus side, I’m over my sciatica. Yay! Happy new year!

Update: On Friday, our order has reportedly shipped and tracking information confirms that it is on the road. The delivery date is currently scheduled for Thursday the 25th. Once we inspect the shipment and note any errors we will then submit our order for their new merchandise. Again, we have no way of knowing if the new merchandise will be processed and shipped out on time but we will create a separate blog post to track its progress.

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The Forces of Valor Update: Groundhogs Day?

Ever since we opened in 2000, we believe in being as transparent as possible, sharing as much information with our customers as is possible. Sometimes said information is too sensitive to share publicly so we have to remain mum and keep in mind the considerations of both our clientele as well as our vendors if we are to remain an effective retailer.

In the case of Forces of Valor, its been a mixed bag of late, as we attempt to figure out why product hasn’t been made available here in North America despite our best prodding and pushing to get accurate information direct from the source. Essentially, when Waltersons acquired Greenlight Collectibles back in May, they realized that Greenlight’s facilities were too small to hold both company’s inventory. So, they went out and found a nearby public warehouse to hold the Forces of Valor inventory, at least until they could sort things out in the new year. Unfortunately, they have run into a litany of problems using a public warehouse, which has prevented them from being able to serve their vendors, and, in turn, their customers.

We’ve been told that sometime in February they plan to move both the Greenlight and Waltersons inventory to a new warehouse, although we have no assurances that this plan isn’t fraught with its own perils and pitfalls. Right now, we are still awaiting news concerning a re-stock shipment that will supposedly hit the road shortly. Communication with Waltersons isn’t exactly their strong suit, so getting up-to-date information has become a hit-or-miss proposition. As for their new product that was supposed to become available in October and then December, we’ve been told that the shipment has arrived at the public warehouse, although nothing further has been discussed. At this point, it is entirely possible that their new product may not ship out until February, once they have consolidated their inventory and addressed any issues that the new warehouse may pose. For now, we are listing them in our January upcoming releases section, although its a fair bet that this could slip by yet another month. Mind you we have no hand in the process and no way of getting moved up to the front of the line to receive product as quick as it comes in.

In summation, please be patient and understand that as it currently stands we are working to get and share news with you as it hits the wire. Remember, patience is a virtue, and right now looking at ways to purchase more patience with an Amazon gift card we received this holiday season. In the mean tine, peace out.

Update: As of January 3rd, here’s where we stand with the Forces of Valor series. Our point of contact has indicated that our re-stock order will ship out to us this week, which means it should arrive sometime during the second week of January. They are also claiming that the new merchandise is in stock and ready to be shipped out, however, we have elected to hold off receiving this merchandise until they can demonstrate that they are capable of shipping out an order on time and correctly. Our last shipment, which arrived way back in October, was totally FUBAR and led to all sorts of issues that took weeks to address to our satisfaction. So, we want to see how the re-stock shipment goes before committing our resources, time and energy towards another potential fiasco. I know this isn’t what a great many of you want to hear but when we face a problem of this magnitude we insist that the supplier go back to the drawing board and get things right. Walk before you learn how to run, so-to-speak.

If the re-stock shipment goes as planned and without any hitches, then we will have Forces of Valor release their new product shipment to us, perhaps as early as the second week of January. This means that the new merchandise should reach us before the close of the month. As always, we ask for your patience in this matter and hope you can understand that we need to ensure that Forces of Valor can ship out product in both an expeditious manner and without any additional problems.

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