[Epapazian]

The way that the latest series of Altaya's 1:144 series of bombers, seaplanes and transports of WW II is being distributed and the significant improvement in quality leads me to speculate that this company plans to design this and future product lines to cater to collectors, in addition to fulfilling the promotional needs of European publishers. The latter will probably provide the initial financial cushion that Altaya needs to cover its basic costs, however the collectors' market, much of which is clamoring for more diversity in manufacturers' offerings, looms as a major source of new profit potential.

The key, of course, is quality, and after examining Altaya's B-17G and FW-200 first hand, it looks like Altaya has come a long way in this department. Not that the models are perfect, mind you. The B-17 had issues with some of its machine guns, painted side windows and misaligned stripes, and the FW-200 had a few similar problems , plus minor gap flaws. Yet, all in all, these models are really quite decent, and readily "corrected"----if one is willing to make a modest effort. The published list of Altaya 1:144 warbirds includes many very interesting planes---the SM-79, Betty, JU-290, Emily, Mavis, and many others, as well as a few really far out selections. What's next? My guess is a new line of WW II and beyond fighters and attack planes in 1:100nd scale for 2009, including many that I personally am very interested in---the MC-202, P-36, MS-406, Yak-3 Mig-15, IL-2m, SB2C, Oscar, Tony, Val, Kate, etc. If I am right on this we will soon have diecasts diversity coming out of our ears and at fairly reasonable prices.