Diecast 72 - Latest News/Updates

A brief summary of the Nuremberg Toy Fair held last week has been added and can be found here.

The latest Panzer Collection release has been added; Stug IV.

The Hobby Master page will be updated over the next day or two with their latest announcements as well.

If anyone is attending the Nuremberg Toy Fair this week, will you please send us an email.

We've been in contact with the folks at Panzerstahl and they have several upcoming AFV's that should be very popular with collectors; Wirbelwind, Ostwind, and more Panzer IV variants. Pictures have been added for most and more will be added as they come available. There will also be a collection of all plastic Bundeswehr (German Federal Defense Force) vehicles in the near future. Stay tuned for more information.

The latest Panzer Collection release has been added; Opel Blitz.

Two upcoming Easy Model AFV's have been added; 35094 & 35095 (Strv-103 MBT).

A new manufacturer has been added to the website; Panzerstahl. Panzerstahl is a company out of Germany and manufactures die cast tanks in 1/72 scale. So far they have three Panzer IV variants. Each tank is made of die cast metal with some plastic parts and comes in a plastic display case. More information will be added as it becomes available.

The latest Panzer Collection release has been added; Flakpanzer 38(t) Gepard.

New pre-production pictures have been added for Hobby Master HG4202 (Willys MB Jeep with armor shields).

A new and upcoming Panzer IV has been added to the Dragon Armor page; DRR60271. Also a new and upcoming Elefant has been added to the Dragon Value Plus Series page; DRR62013.

Three new and upcoming Hobby Master vehicles have just been added; HG3807 (M8), HG3907 (German cargo truck), HG4202 (Willys MB jeep with armored shields).

The latest Panzer Collection release has been added; FH18 105mm Howitzer.

Two new pages have been added to the website; Assault Force and Bravo Team. They're both made by Unimax which also manufactures Forces of Valor. They're identical to each other in every way but the name, due to marketing purposes. In the U.S., Bravo Team is a Target store exclusive, but can also be found at Toys R Us and other retail stores as Assault Force. In most other countries, they're sold as Bravo Team.

These AFV's have been said to be closer to 1/76 scale than 1/72 scale. They're also made of all plastic and are less detailed than their Forces of Valor cousins. Several comparison pictures of them have been added to the Comparisons page courtesy of Eric Yin.

Hobby Master has really been at the top of the list when it comes to listening to their customers and releasing vehicles that are not only asked for, but not made any where else in 1/72 die cast. Pictures have been added to the following; HG3608 & HG3609 (M24 Chaffee), HG3806 & HG3808 (M8), HG3906 (German cargo truck), HG4002 (British Quad Gun Tractor with 25 pdr. gun), HG4101 (Marder III), HG4201 (Willys jeep).

The Easy Model page has been updated with two new upcoming releases; 35026 & 35027 (T-55).

The Panzer Collection page has been updated with the most recent releases.

Altaya/DeAgostini has sent us an updated list of the first 50 releases in the Panzer Collection.

Determined to stay at the front of the pack, Hobby Master announces the much sought after Willys MB Jeep (HG4201). The following have also had pictures added; HG3312, HG3607, HG3608, HG3804, HG3805, HG3806, HG3808, HG3905, HG4001, HG4002.

For those in the USA that would like to purchase tanks from the Combat Tanks Collection, the website is DeAgostini USA.

The Easy Model page has been updated with several new upcoming releases; 35022 & 35033 (T-54), 35054 & 35055 (M2A2 Bradley), 36159 & 36160 (Char B1).

A new Panzer IV Ausf. F2(G) has been announced and added on the Dragon Armor page (DRR60088), as well as several upcoming tanks from the Dragon Value line; DRR62010, DRR62011, DRR62012.

More breaking news from Altaya in France, a new collection has just been started; Armored Vehicles. Information is still coming in about this new collection and will be announced as it becomes available. For now there are pictures and listings of the first 8 releases.

In addition, the latest releases from the Panzer Collection have been updated.

We are behind getting all of the latest releases updated from Hobby Master, Easy Model and Dragon Armor, but they're on the way.

Breaking news for those collectors located in North America. The Combat Tanks Collection will be available in the USA very, very soon (presumably Canada as well). There's been talk of this for the last year or two, but I've seen the website for US customers and the online checkout process and this is the real deal. The tanks will retail at $19.95 each and shipping is $5 on any order. There will also be a special if you buy two, you get the third for free. Even the special edition Famo halftrack with trailer will be available at $34.95. The new website should go public very soon and an announcement will be made here as soon as it does. Check back for more details.

In other news, there will be additional pictures added to the Panzer Collection this weekend, as well as the latest on upcoming Easy Model and Hobby Master releases.

Hobby Master steps ahead of the competition with their upcoming vehicle/gun combination; British Quad Gun Tractor with 25 pdr. gun (HG4001). Not to mention their other three upcoming releases; HG3109 (Centaur I), HG3805 (M20) and HG3905 (German cargo truck)

The latest release in the Panzer Collection has been added; 250/9.

One new upcoming release has been added to the Dragon Value Plus Series page; DRR62009.

The three latest releases have been added to the Panzer Collection page; Tiger, Hummel & Krupp with Pak 35/36.

Several new and upcoming releases have been added to the Hobby Master page; HG3205, HG3311, HG3409, HG3507, HG3704, HG3804, HG3904.

One new Dragon Armor release has been added (DRR 60085) and a picture added to another (DRR60394).

Four new upcoming releases have been added to the Dragon Value Plus Series page; DRR62005, DRR62006, DRR62007, DRR62008.

Several upcoming releases have been added to the Easy Models page; 35020-35021 (T-54), 36145-36147 (Stug III), 35028-35030 (M1A1).

The Easy Model 2009/2010 catalog has been added.

Two upcoming Hobby Master releases have been added; HG3010 (KV-1) & HG3408 (M-10 Duckbill).

Another upcoming Panzer IV has been added to the Dragon Armor page; DRR 60084 (Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf. F1).

The descriptions have been updated and new pictures added on the Dragon Armor page for; DRR 60095 & DRR 60101. They're both part of the Five Star Collectibles series. If someone has 60095, 60096, or 60101 and could scan the back of the box to be shown here, please send an email.

The Altaya/DeAgostini Panzer Collection page has been updated with a picture of their latest release; Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. F (Sd.Kfz.121), 21.Pz.Div.

Lastly, the Easy Models 2009/2010 catalog has been scanned and should be added to the website over the weekend.

Pictures have been updated on the Dragon Armor Value Plus page; DRR 62003 & DRR 62004.

The Altaya/DeAgostini Panzer Collection page has been updated with a picture of their latest release; 88mm Flak 37.

A new picture has been added to the Dragon Armor page; DRR 60395 (so far it's only available in Asia). Usually updates to the Dragon Armor page aren't announced as they're updated as information becomes available. However given the limited market availability, items like this are an exception.

The Hobby Master page has been updated with pictures of their latest upcoming release; HG3107, HG3108, HG3309, HG3310, HG3606, HG3703, HG3903 (a new German truck).

A new section has been created for F-Toys, a company that makes motorized tanks in 1/72 scale.

Last but not least, the Easy Models 2009/2010 catalog arrived several weeks ago and will appear on the website very soon.

Dragon Models recently announced a new range of AFV's, the Dragon Armor Value Plus series. This new series of tanks promises the quality you expect, at a wallet friendly price. The primary difference between the original series and the Value Plus series is the packaging. The Value Plus series will come packaged in an open window display box rather than the clear acrylic display case the original series included. The first four releases have been added to this new section of the website. The manufacturers suggested retail price is $16.95.

The Altaya/DeAgostini Panzer Collection page has been updated with pictures of their latest two releases; Sd.Kfz. 222 & Panzer IV L/70.

The Forces of Valor page has been updated, mostly missing pictures but also the few known upcoming releases for 2009; GMC 2 1/2 ton truck, Panther Ausf. G medium tank, Elefant tank destroyer.

The Hobby Master page has also been updated with pictures of all current and upcoming releases, several that had been missing up until now.

The Altaya/DeAgostini Panzer Collection page has been updated with more pictures as well as a complete listing of the first 39 of 60 releases.

Lastly, the Altaya/DeAgostini Combat Tanks Collection page has been updated with several missing pictures. Any remaining broken picture links should be fixed soon.

The Easy Models page has been updated with 5 upcoming releases: 2 German Brummbars (36120-36121) & 3 French Char B1 tanks (36156-36158).

Hobby Master strikes again with two new soon to be announced future offerings; German Opel Blitz and a German fuel truck (HG3901 & HG3902). Pictures of both taken from their booth at the 2009 Nuremberg Toy Fair have been posted to the Hobby Master page. Expected date of release is the end of April. As a side note there are a few missing pictures on the Hobby Master page which should be fixed shortly.

Segments of the Easy Models 2009 catalog have been posted to the Easy Models catalog page. More pictures should be added shortly.

The Altaya pages are currently being reworked due to the huge interest in the collections. The Panzer Collection page is now complete, with the others to follow soon. The Panzer III and 251/1 halftrack have been photographed and should be updated in the next day or two.

More updates are on the way...

The Dragon Armor page has been updated with the latest upcoming releases. This page is usually updated weekly even if it's not reported as news.

Pictures of more upcoming Easy Models tanks have been added; Stug IV 36129-36131 and the already released Brummbar 36117-36119.

The Altaya page has been updated to include more of the upcoming Panzer Collection releases. This collection is now being released in Spain and Portugal in addition to France and will include a total of 60 WWII German AFV's. Several pictures of the latest releases will be updated to the website soon.

The original Altaya collection has also expanded from 50 to 60 releases and has been updated as well. The additional 10 releases were re-paints with different markings or nationalities. This page has several pictures not included, so will be a primary focus for updates in the near future.

The Dragon Armor page has been updated with the latest upcoming releases, including their first Panzer IV (DRR60187)!

The Hobby Master page has been partially updated with their latest product announcements; M8 and M20 recon cars. The pictures are of an early prototype and will change before the initial release. The other upcoming releases will be updated shortly.

Pictures of 5 more upcoming Jagdtigers have been added to the Easy Models page; 36112-36116.

Pictures of the latest release in the Panzer Collection by Altaya have been added (bottom of the page); Sd. Kfz. 250/5, Afrika Korps.

Pictures of 3 upcoming Jagdtigers and 7 Jagdpanzer have been added to the Easy Models page; 36105-36108, 36122-36128.

The Dragon Armor page has been updated to include all current and future releases as of yesterday. You may notice the increase of diorama bases used for some of the most recent and upcoming AFV's, they are previously released models mounted to a new diorama base. You may also notice some model numbers not available everywhere, it seems Dragon will release some versions only to certain parts of the world (for now). Several examples include; DRR 60340, DRR 60351, DRR 60372, DRR 60380, DRR 60385, and DRR 60388. There are a few more so far exclusive to the UK also now updated on the website.

Also added to the Dragon Armor page; DRR 60095 and DRR 60096. These tanks were only released at US military PX stores. If anyone has any more information not already listed or pictures of the packaging or actual tanks, please contact me.

Pictures showing one of the latest releases from the Altaya "Panzer" series have been added to the Altaya Gallery; Sd.Kfz. 7/1 Flakvierling with Sd.Ah 51 Trailer. Due to the frequent emails asking about the Altaya range and increase in website traffic to that page, more attention will be focused there over the next couple weeks. Pictures of their other releases from the "Panzer" series will be posted shortly.

Pictures of 4 upcoming Jagdtigers have been added to the Easy Models page; 36105-36108. Several upcoming Jagdpanzers have also been listed with pictures to come soon; 36122-36128.

Pictures of the 6 upcoming King Tigers have been added to the Easy Models page, 36294-36299.

It's been quite some time since a proper update, a little now with more to come. There have been some problems with the website loading lately. This problem should be resolved soon and was an unfortunate negative side effect while switching servers.

The Easy Models page has been updated with several new Tiger I tanks, several King Tiger II tanks (pictures soon), several captured German KV-1 tanks, and a modern military transport.

The Dragon Models page has been updated with the latest releases.

The Hobby Master page has also been updated with future releases (French M-10 & M24 Chaffee), more pictures to be added to the gallery soon.

The Collectors Corner has been updated with more information on the going rates of popular diecast AFV's.

The War Room has been updated.

There have been several emails recently asking about the prices on some of the more rare and discontinued diecast AFV's out there. In response to this increased interest, a new section has been created; The Collectors Corner. This page should be updated monthly and will show the going rates for some of the more "in demand" diecast AFV's. More data is currently being collected and should be included within the next week.

New pictures have been added to the Altaya Gallery; Cromwell & Paladin.

New pictures have been added to the Dragon Armor Gallery; 60289 (Tiger I) and 60290 (Tiger I).

New pre-production pictures have been added to the Hobby Master Gallery; HG3203 (Pershing)

New pictures have been added to the Easy Models page; 36100-36104 (Sturmtiger).

New pictures have been added to the Comparisons page; Dragon Armor and Easy Models T-34.

New pictures have been added to the Dragon Armor Gallery; DRR60115, DRR60125, DRR60194, DRR60197, DRR60232.

New pictures have been added to the Dragon Armor Gallery; DRR60038, DRR60165, DRR60166, DRR60184, DRR60222, DRR60224, DRR60227, DRR60308, DRR60312, DRR60334, DRR60341, DRR60342, DRR60346, DRR60347, DRR60352. Most of the dioramas will only have a frontal picture due to the majority of them lacking any detail on the back. The tanks that come with these dioramas are repeats from earlier releases and will have pictures from various angles (at some point).

New pre-production pictures have been added to the Hobby Master Gallery; HG3303 (T-55), HG3401 (M-10), HG3501 (Centurion).

Happy New Year from Diecast 72! As we look ahead through 2008, we have alot planned. Without giving too much away, there will be new galleries with plenty of eye candy as well as new tutorials. Existing galleries will be given special attention as well as many more comparison pictures. There were well over 100,000 unique visitors to Diecast 72 in 2007, all here specifically for 1/72 diecast AFV's. Thank you to all those that contributed to the site as well as all the positive feedback received daily.

There have been some problems with the host server where Diecast 72 is stored being hacked in to which causes some pages to be redirected. If it continues, there may be some downtime as the website is switched to another host. Should that happen, it will be announced ahead of time.

A sneak peak of what we're working on now.

Pictures have been added to the Dragon Armor Gallery of DRR60009; Panther G.

Pre-production pictures have been added to the Hobby Master Gallery of two upcoming KV-2 releases; HG3006, HG3007.

More sets of pictures added to the Dragon Armor Gallery; DRR60083, DRR60129, DRR60259, DRR60321.

Several new sets of pictures added to the Dragon Armor Gallery; DRR60260, DRR60267, DRR60281, DRR60285.

A new Gallery has been created for Admiral Toys with pictures of a Panzer III L. Pictures of the Panzer III H and newly released Panzer III M are on the way.

A new Gallery has also been created for Forces of Valor with pictures of the Dragon Wagon added. More pictures of the Dragon Wagon as well as all other releases are on the way soon too!

New pictures have been added to the Altaya Gallery; T-72.

Pre-production pictures of two more upcoming releases from Hobby Master have been added to the Gallery; KV-1 and Pershing (HG3005, HG3202).

A new section has been added to the website, Dragon Duplicates. This page will list duplicate tanks re-released by Dragon under different model #'s. Thanks Tim R.!

More pictures have been added to the Easy Models Gallery; JS3 and T-34/85.

Alot more pictures on the way...

New pictures have been added to the Altaya Gallery; Bradley, Leclerc and Leopard.

Pre-production pictures of another upcoming T-55A from Hobby Master have been added to the Gallery as well as upcoming releases to the product listing page; M-10 and Centurion.

New pictures have been added to the Dragon Gallery; Dragon Expo USA and Dragon Expo Europe releases (60318, 60320) - Thanks Daran James!

Pictures have been added to the Easy Models page of upcoming Tiger I tanks; 36212-36216. A new Gallery has been created and pictures of 5 Jagdpanthers have been added to start off with. Lots more Easy Models pictures to come soon.

More pictures have been added to the Altaya Gallery; IS-2 and Type 61.

A new set of comparison pictures have been added to the Comparisons page; Dragon Armor and Forces of Valor LCM3. It's worth mentioning that you can buy two versions of the Forces of Valor LCM3, weathered and non-weathered. You can buy the slightly more expensive weathered version from traditional hobby shops and online vendors. You can buy the slightly less expensive non-weathered version from Target or Toys R Us stores. The Forces of Valor version shown in the comparison pictures is the non-weathered version.

A few new pictures have been added to the Dragon Gallery page; DRR60060 and DRR60258. Many more to follow.

A picture of the Dragon Expo 07 exclusive has been added to the Dragon Ltd. Ed. page; DRR60320. There are a few broken links on this page which will be cleaned up in the next day or so.

Pre-production pictures of upcoming Hobby Master releases have been added to the Hobby Master Gallery; Pershing and T-55A.

Several new pictures have been added to the Easy Models page showing more KV1's to be released in the near future.

A new picture has been added to the Forces of Valor page showing one of their more recent 1/72 figure sets; German SS Cavalry Division, # 83091.

The diecast Chart was updated last month and should be up to date with the exception of anything announced in the last month or so. If you're not familiar with what this is, you can view a list of past, present, and future 1/72 diecast tanks and who manufacturers each one. All conveniently categorized by nationality.

Several new pictures have been added to the Altaya Gallery.

New pictures have been added of a T-54 B in the Altaya Gallery.

Pictures have been added to the front home page slideshow with several future Dragon Armor releases.

Several new pictures have been added to the Easy Models page showing their upcoming Tiger I tanks and BTR-80's.

Pre-production pictures of another upcoming KV-2 (HG3004) from Hobby Master have been added to the Hobby Master Gallery.

New pictures have been added to the Altaya and Altaya Gallery pages showing a LAV-25.

The War Room has been updated with future Dragon Armor and Hobby Master releases.

Pre-production pictures of the upcoming Hobby Master HG3104 Cromwell have been added to the Hobby Master gallery.

In an effort to provide as much information as possible on 1/72 scale diecast tanks, two new galleries have been created; the Dragon Armor gallery and the Altaya gallery. The main purpose of these galleries is to show various angles of the different tanks. There are at least 400+ more pictures to be added over the next month or two as time permits. Pictures will be added almost daily until they're all up.

An excellent review of the Forces of Valor LCM3 Landing Craft by Tristan S. has been added to the Reviews page.

The War Room has been updated with future Hobby Master releases.

The Easy Models page has been redone including pictures of several new releases. You can turn the thumbnails on and off now as well.

The latest release from Altaya was added; British Matilda.

The War Room has just been updated with future releases.

Pictures of the latest Altaya release has been added, a British Grant tank.

A new section has just been created, the Hobby Master Gallery. A few more pictures still need to be added showing the front and rear of each tank, but should be up shortly.

The Hobby Master page was also updated with a floating link that goes directly to the manufacturers website. These floating links may be added to other sections of the website as well.

The Easy Models 2007/2008 catalog has just been added.

New pictures have been posted to the War Room.

Altayas most recent release has been added, an Italian M13/40.

As the website continues to grow, you may notice small changes to the various pages. One such recent change involves taking thumbnail pictures from the Dragon Armor and Altaya pages so that when you first enter the page, you only see a listing of all releases. The option to turn on or off the thumbnails is at the top and makes it easy to open just the basic listings for those with slower connections.

Several new pictures have been updated on the Altaya page showing the vehicles from various angles (Abrams, M48, Sherman, King Tiger, T-34). A new section has also been added showing the differences between the M48 released in Poland and the M48 released in Spain. There are slight variances on markings and paint schemes between the different series.

Pictures have been added to the Easy Models page showing 3 of their new T-34 tanks.

The War Room has been updated.

The Forces of Valor page has been updated with new releases and several pictures.

Another update in the War Room with upcoming Easy Models releases.

New pictures have been posted showing upcoming releases from Hobby Master.

The War Room has been updated with pictures and info on Forces of Valor and Hobby Master.

A new page has been added to the Dragon Armor section. This page lists all limited edition releases as well as pictures of the packaging.

The 1997 CDC Armour catalog has been completely added to the CDC Armour page. Additional pictures of the individual vehicles will be added shortly.

More pictures have been added to the Altaya/IXO page.

Lastly, the Forces of Valor 2007 catalog is out and the releases are listed in the War Room.

The website has been changed slightly to make it easier to navigate. The most noticeable changes include the News/Updates and War Room pages being combined under the News section as well as a new Features section that includes a new Chart page, the Comparisons page and Reviews page. You may need to refresh your browser in order to view the new changes.

Diecast 72 will accept reviews from collectors to be included on the Reviews page. If you would like to submit a review, just send an email which can be found on the Contact page.

More pictures have been added to the Comparisons page. This includes Corgi & Easy Models Sherman comparisons and a Dragon Armor & Forces of Valor SdKfz 251/1 D Halftrack comparison.

Another feature has been added to the website, a Chart listing past and present 1/72 diecast tanks and which company or companies made them. Future releases for the most part have been left off but will be added once they're released. All variants of any specific type of tank are listed together as one category.

There is now a Reviews page at the bottom of the manufacturers listing. The first review added is for an Altaya & Dragon Armor King Tiger tank.

More pictures added to the Comparisons page. This time it's comparing a Matchbox and Dragon Armor T-34.

Another new feature has been added. The Diecast 1/72 newsletter keeps you informed on site updates and special announcements. It won't generate much email traffic and you can unsubscribe at any time. Click here

Dragon has announced a new range of 1/72 Humvees in their Can.Do range. Pictures have been added to the Can.Do page.

The Easy Models page has been updated with pictures of their newly released US Shermans, German Sturer Emil and modern British Challenger II tanks.

New pictures on the Comparisons page have been added comparing the Corgi and Forces of Valor US halftracks.

A new search feature has been added to the Home page to better explore the site.

The Comparisons page has been completely redone. It's now better organized and easier to navigate. Several new comparison pictures have been added and more are on the way.

The Easy Models/IXO page has also been completely redone. This range is sold under the name "Altaya" in Spain and has recently been released in France under the same name too. They're both the same except for the Tiger I tank which has a new paint scheme for the French market and a limited edition jeep which is also available for the French market. This range of vehicles will soon be available in the US under the name "IXO".

Several pictures of Admiral Toys prototypes added to the War Room.

The Corgi page has been updated with pictures of a Stuart light tank recently released in 1/72 scale.

More pictures have been added to the Aoshima/Skynet page.

Two new pictures have been added to the Forces of Valor page. They pushed back the date to announce their 2007 lineup, but did unveil two new releases; Tiger I & Tiger II tank, both with new paint schemes.

Below is information about the new Model Hangar II forum. The new forum is currently being worked on and will officially be located at http://www.themodelhangar.com. Until it's completely updated and ready to go, the temporary website for the forum will be http://www.thedigitalimage.org/vb/index.php.

The "Model Hangar" forum is no more, but the good news is there's now The Model Hangar II forum. The new link is added to the links page. There have been several emails asking about a forum for Diecast 1/72. If you are interested in one, contact Diecast 1/72. If there is enough interest, then it's a possibility. Until then, The Model Hangar II forum is a great place to discuss diecast tanks and aircraft.

A new section has been added to the website; the War Room. Here you will find the latest information about your favorite 1:72 diecast armor companies. This will be different than the news page which will have information regarding the latest additions to the website.

Another new section has been added to the manufacturers listing; Hobby Master. Hobby Master plans to start a new range of 1:72 armor in 2007. The Hobby Master Collector website has also been added to the links page.

Three new pictures added to the comparisons page; 2 comparing a Matchbox and Dragon Armor Sherman and 1 comparing a Dragon Armor and Forces of Valor figure. More comparison pictures on the way.

A new link to Mikes Diecast Tanks has been added to to the links page.

Thanks to Philip, the 1997 CDC Armour catalog is slowly being added to the CDC Armour page.

Last but not least, Eric L. I tried to reply to your email but keep getting it returned as undeliverable.