[Captain Eddie]

Is the bio on Hartmann by Tolliver and Constable? I have that one, great book.

I just finished an autobiography by Gunther Rall, who was, of course, in JG 52 when Hartmann was assigned to it. He had what I would call some rather harsh words for Erich in some ways, stating, in so many words, that he would not be a very good leader, and then, after the war, when they were both part of the new Luftwaffe, he did not like what Erich had to say about the F 104.

I kind of bristled at his comments...but, he may be correct on these points. Nonetheless, Erich seemed to be a straight-up kind of a guy to me. Not everyone is certainly a born leader.

[slammer400]

Originally Posted by hworth18

The Franklin Mint Bf-109 isn't the best, but it is okay.. It has a few issues like an undersized canopy and rear stablizers located too high, but as I said, its okay.. IMHO, Corgis 1/32 Bf-109G Hartmann is far superior, but finding one can be tough at a decent price..

I wouldn't have noticed until you mentioned, but you are right, they do seem high.

How about the corgi 1:72 in the same plane, pretty accurate?

Thanks for the help.

[hworth18]

Originally Posted by slammer400

I wouldn't have noticed until you mentioned, but you are right, they do seem high.

How about the corgi 1:72 in the same plane, pretty accurate?

Thanks for the help.

Corgi doesn't make a Hartmann in 1/72, only 1/32..

Here is a link to Tricatus' site (our Corgi referrence bible), but as I said previously, it is far superior with the only real flaw being the rake of the landing gear is not quite right, but it is definitely something that can be lived with..


http://www.tricatus.co.uk/AA34904.htm

[mikeb1958]

The folks from the Brown Truck delivered 3 boxes of various die-casts from 3 different companies two days ago on my front patio. The largest box was from TFM. The Flying Mule has superb packing and I have never had a crushed box or damaged model from them since I have been purchasing them in almost 2 years now. Plently of plastic peanuts and the items are placed in the box perfectly to avoid any damage. Their prices are alittle on the high side but their customer service is great. Nice large invoice with all the items listed, as should be with any order. Shipping costs are good, with orders totaling over $100.00 are shipped free. With todays costs on new releases, there would not be very many to reach the $100.00 mark. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
I also purchase from Dragonxchange on eBay. A fast shipper with well packaged items. Also alittle on the high side but he runs specials as well as "Buy it Now's" (BINs) and regular auction listings. Shipping might be alittle on the high side as well but does discount shipping costs on mulitple items purchased. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
I also have purchased many items from Les at starshipwings. Another ebay seller. Prices are pretty good overall and he has a large sellection, though not as many as the dragonxchange by any means, but does have some nice items. Packaging is always great with the items each wrapped in bubble-wrap. Shipping is alittle slower than the above seller and shipping is alittle on the high-side but the customer service is great with emails and shipping tacking numbers to track the item (if needed). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
Another 'good-guy' on eBay is James Turner from jts-collectibles. Just like drangonxchange, never had a problem and he also inspects each item before shipping out and writes his initials on the plastic wrap with date. Quality Control if you would. Plently of the plastic peanuts to use over again is very nice. A nice invoie is always included. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
On ebay another 'good-guy' is choate76 and you can get some great buys from him. Looks like he ends up with extra "Tuesday Morning" stock but at very fair prices. Very limited stock selection but if you need them, here is the place. Another fast shipper and well packager too with a nice invoice. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
As for here on the forum, I have purchased from one of our old buddies and now a Adminisrator, Mr Harry hworth18. Super prices and very easy to work with. Fast shipping with discounted shipping for multiple items with lost of emails about your order and whatever. Super customer service. AAA++++. Packaged like they are supposed to be in the shipping box. Very nicely done. He does NOT overcharge and nail you on shipping like alot do, especially like some of those eBayer guys. Very fair shipping prices! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
The only other guy I have purchased from is from our brother in-arms, so to speak... Louie. Very friendly and great to work with. His love of the die-casts is like the rest of us, if not moreso. I picked up my purchase from him in person, since he lives close to my brother and fairly close to me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
Another forum member that listed some mouth-watering goodies last week is skysurfer808. The package for 4 hard to find Corgi 'goodies' are on their way from Hawaii by Priority mail and should be here today or Monday hopefully. Good emails (IMs), very fair prices and combines shipping costs as well. Haven't seen the items yet but I am sure they are packaged nicely due to the almost around the world flight to Florida from Hawaii. UPDATE JUST NOW: The box was just delivered by the USPS Priority Mail. Super fast shipping and seems faster even that of state-side orders even. The shipping box has been abused alittle, not by skysurfers808's fault at all, but by the mail itself, probably due to its larger size. The shipping box is one of those "Ready Post" boxes they are sell at all the Post Offices in town. Nice study shipping boxes overall. The inside packing material was the peanuts, newspaper and white-foam sheets, with pleanty as not to hear a rattle from the box when picked up. Very nice job overall with only one slightly-damaged box from the Corgi Mosquito (AA32803) box. Can't say if this was from the PO or not or just a very old box. I beleive that skysurfer808 said all the boxes are in decent shape but some older ones might have alittle box problems. Not a real big deal at all to me and of course all the parts are there as is expected. A very pleasent transaction overall and would buy again with no worries of course. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED overall.
Just got my first (and probably ONLY order in) 2 days ago from Burbank's House of Hobbies. Not real happy at all and disapointed. The packaging was very lean to say the least with no plastic wrap over the more delicate items (Dragon/Corgi boxes). Just some styifoam peanuts to fill in some of the gaps, which there wasn't many of them at all. Needed 3x that number I would think with this size order. The packing box used was one of those very cheap boxes that items from China are shipped in. Very flimsly so-called cardboard box and if used as a shipping box crushes very easily, as has happened here. Most, if not all the aircraft boxes inside were crushed from most if not all the sides, Even the Dragon Armor boxes! Luckly none of the Dragon Armor plastic boxes were broken, amazing actually. But the cardboard boxes the dragon armor comes in was crushed on both sides. Go figure! Very strange acually! The worst box that was damaged was the new Rudel Stuka JU-87D (T6+AD) with the large bomb underneath the center with 2 small bombs under each wing. The box was badly crushed and the tail of the plane was broken. I think part of the problem overall was the box they used to ship and lack of packing material inside. Plus the folks at the BROWN TRUCK looks like they didn't help out any at all. I think they had some free-time during lunch or a break and used this box as a soccer ball. Horrible and I probably should of called a reported a claim as a damaged box overall. The UPS typical "drop off and run" as the time I got to the door, the truck was a haulin' butt down the road so I didn't get to talk with the driver of course. So a combo of shabby packaging over all and helped by maybe a bad day at UPS, wasn't a good day for me with this expericance. No broken- down invoice was included, just a very small cash register tape with a credit-card sales receipt stapled to the back. Total was $86.00 here for my first time. Will think twice before ordering from them again. NOT RECOMMENDED overall.
The same day the above order came in, another box was from Badcattoys. Another first-time order from them for me. This was a pretty good size order for my first time dealing with these folks. Over $126.00 total. Alot better packaging that the above order, but still could of been done better. No plastic wrapping over the items, just the plastic peanuts that weren't spared like the above order either. The shipping box was of better quality and not one of those "you need to throw away before it gets used again "so called" Chinese cardboard boxes, like used in the above order. Better quality-control overall than the above item as well. All the items made it safely except for the new cool German 12.8 Selbstharhlrafette by Easy Model in 1/72 scale (MRC-36263). The gun was broken off at its base and was floating around inside the plastic case (a case similar to Dragon Armor's). Looks like it will be repairable with some glue but still... That was the most expensive item in that order and it was broken. Maybe could of been packaged with alittle more care and it could of maybe been avoided, The main shipping box was crsuhed on one side, probably from the same folks from the Brown Truck company. Guess they used this box for soccor secondly after the above one worn out, but didn't have time to finish their game, probably due to time. Thank God! A nice large invoice was included and was very happy overall with that. Not like the above order again. So, overall I would probably order from these folks again but would ask them to do alittle better packaging this time. So a second chance from them would be needed to see if that would be the last time or not for me. So at this time all I can say is SLIGHTLY RECOMMENDED overall.

Sooooooooooooo...hope this helps out some from my buying experiance!!!

[CLLCTR5]

I liked it so much...I (partially) bought the company! hightowercollectibles.com

[mikeb1958]

Wow! Did I write all of that?????

[SKUNKY]

Originally Posted by mikeb1958

Wow! Did I write all of that?????

Mikey, you're overdoing the Twinkies again, aren't ya, bud?...

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by SKUNKY

Mikey, you're overdoing the Twinkies again, aren't ya, bud?...

Just wait till this evening when its "Mexican food night" here at home and we start making those mouth-waterin' Margaritas! Yummy! So of course I had to write this now.

[mustangdriver]

I am stuck at work in the tower, have a drink for me pal.

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by mustangdriver

I am stuck at work in the tower, have a drink for me pal.

Will do mustangdriver! Might even have a extra one (or two) for the rest of our guys here on the forum as well!