32x cold steel Pz IIIs How rare? and....

[Cabe]

Hi all,
New guy, first post (love the forum here)
well.....
I walked into my local Die Cast warehouse (literally a warehouse, they give me a box cutter to shop)
I have been mainly a FoV collector, but with the release of the 21stC Marder(s), Hetzer and 38t I took the plunge and started buying what I liked, not so much collect other than buy the eye candy. And finding a hetzer or either Marder has been futile.

Well as I was in there I spotted one I had not seen on the shelves, but I also didn't start paying attention until last year.
There was a 21stC Jagdpanther with a really nice camo on it.
I had it in my hands knowing I couldn't spend much and that even one was going to hurt.
Then I spotted a 21stC Pz III with a dark scorched grau base. Dusty grey. I picked it up knowing I couldn't afford it.
It had the usual (tired of seeing this guy) German officer figure and thankfully a driver instead of "hollerin guy". I really liked the tank and having jus got my 38t, I wanted more light tanks so i was fretting over which to get when I saw another Pz III. This one was a European Gray and was weathered as well.
First thing that caught my eye was the Panzer CO and driver.... they had DAK uniforms on and the tank was not a DAK unit. I was saying this out loud when I noticed the other PzIII I had found first had a Afrika Korps palm on the front of the tank where I could not see it at first.
I was excited to find a DAK tank, but the crew were in the wrong box, they were switch. I couldn't get my DAK tank and crew because the crew was assigned by COs at 21st Century to the Eastern Front in summer khaki and olive short sleeve tunics. while the European Tankers were locked inside the DAK tank box ready to fight the summer heat in their wool grey great coats.

Seeing my dilemma the guy said "You can have both for $40 and no tax, is that cool?" I said "heck yeah."
Well I get them in the car and remember to check the date on the bottom of the box.....2003.
I didn't know that 21stC was doing the camo and weathering so well back then.
But anyway, how rare are these tanks? They both have the same model number but different marking/looks. But have incorrect crew.
I can tell by searching the net that they are OOP of course. But the 2 different markings and incorrect crew? Is that common?

I am glad to have found them as FoV doesn't have any DAK units.
They are still in the box as I am making sure I don't have something off the wall here.
I would love to take them out and get a better look at them.
I will include pics or a link to some in a few minutes.

[MG-42]

[+] > " Hi " ,.. and Willkommen to zee Board here ! *


[+] > Good find , I have a couple of these myself. ... A couple a yrs. ago , the WAL* MART 's in my area were saturated w/ them. * ... Now of course they are all gone.


Mitch v MG

[Cabe]

[
here they are both have same number on UPC code

[Cabe]

well,
for starters (and here come the PMs)
these were not the only ones. There was a bunch more of at least one version if not both.

oh and Hi all, thanks for the welcome and advice.


how rare is the jagpanther?

[MG-42]

[+] > Yep ! ... These are exactly the same ones I have + a rare camo'd Eastern Front Panzer III Ausf. L *


Mitch v MG

[MG-42]

[+] > Had one in Grey though , too. *


Mitch v MG

[Jagdpanther]

I have that DAK one above they really are nice. Just remembered my local miniature shop has 1 left I believe I may just have to get.

[olifant]

Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately I don't think you have found the holy grail of Pz IIIs as these were all over the place years ago. They are only rare from being out of production. If you are looking to cash in someday, hold onto them and hope for the best. My personal feeling is I buy them because I like them and want them displayed, but to each their own.

You are lucky to have such a die-cast warehouse. Help keep them in business!

Mitch, which paint scheme are you calling the easter front? Is that the green/panzergelb camo pattern? That is probably my favorite mark III.

[MG-42]

[+] > Yep ! ... Overall Dunkelgelb w/ grün lines painted on it. *

[+] > I found it in Dayton on clearance for $11.00 bucks too ! *


Mitch v MG

[Cabe]

Oh no. on no no no I take all mine out of thier boxes. I am not a kid scratching at the plastic window between me and my toy. These all come out and on display (Proof below) And what's more I will probably end up altering a few of them with weathering and muds rust ect.
I buy extra "Action series Fov to do repaints on.
The only reason I kept these in a box is because if they were worth 2 or 3 times more than I paid for them then I would try them out on ebay. I know where to get more if I needed to replace these 2

[Rowsdower]

Holy crap I wish I had room for display cases like those!

[olifant]

Cabe, I am really liking your set up! Nice cases and nice lighting too! Guys, I think based on his photos we should teach Cabe the secret handshake!

Someday I am going to build something to keep the dust off and show off my stuff in a more glamorous manner than bookshelves. Somehow I would rather spend my $$ on more models though.

[MG-42]

Someday I am going to build something to keep the dust off and show off my stuff in a more glamorous manner than bookshelves. Somehow I would rather spend my $$ on more models though.

>>> Well , if you got it , flaunt it ! *


Mitch v MG

[Cabe]

go to Ikea and get the "Deltof" display case, it is $57 (US)
the lights are an extra $10 or so.
You can easily great a display wall as you can afford it or have room over time. The separate cases allow, if need arises, you to break them up to place individually in other areas if you ever lose your continuous wall space when you move etc.

They are what you see to the left and right of my monster display and they are excellent

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10011055

you can check craigslist time to time and find a cheap one as well as on ebay, but they guys selling them new on ebay mark them up %100


[/url]

[tmanthegreat]

Wonderful setups

I purchased the S1 Panzer IIID (the weathered DAK version) at Wal Mart as part of the initial run of the Cold Steel vehicles. It actually came with the DAK figures, unlike the version pictured above, which went to the small retailers. Recently - this past September - I purchased the gray #232 version from the online vendor, www.fetcotoysoldiers.com. He still had some for the regular retail price, but has now sold out. I was surprised to find them there and they were much cheaper than on ebay

The Panzer IIIL also tends to pop up from time to time. There is a weathered gray version and a DAK version in solid tan. The DAK version was still out at Wal Mart until earlier this year. The L version, however, has some inaccuracies, especially on the front glacis.

Still they are great tanks, and the Panzer IIID does indeed go very well with the 21c Panzer 38T and the Panzer IVD!

[General custer]

Great collection Cabe!



Only have this Panzer III, dunno if you know this version with long 50mm gun ?

[Jagdpanther]

Welcome cabe and nice collection!

[ostketten]

go to Ikea and get the "Deltof" display case, it is $57 (US)

Oh yeah... I will definitely be checking out Ikea, thanks for the intel.

Now...Where on earth did you get that "monster" case you were talking about...?? I absolutely must get one...or something similar...

[Cabe]

Hi all,
sorry wasn't getting reply notifications.

first off no I don't have the Pz III L or J long barrel. I have not seen that one and would like to get my hands on it.

I guess, having been a F0V collector (I used to get 21st C. planes and 1 gray Tiger at 1:18 , but gave up due to space restrictions) I am not too familiar with the product lines.
what is the detailed line? Is cold steel the super detailed version like the Fov Enthusiast vs. Action series?

Also regarding the Pz III's....why the heck did they give me crew members when there is no way to put the guys in the tank?
The room below the turret hatch comes up to the guys knees and the other hatches open to a .5" deep square indention. No place to put one of the guys, let alone 2. Do you guys suggest cutting the tanks or men to gt them in the tank? I see no other way. Both of them have feet that are not level and angle down as if they were not made to stand up flat footed.

I regards to my monster display case, Ebay ebay ebay.
I set up a several "favorite searches"to be emailed to me every day with the closest to my location as default sort. I used keywords like, glass display, glass curio, display case, glass case, etc and they do pop up. Sometimes super cheap. You can get a really nice one for $70- $300 and they NEVER ship so you save on shipping but need a vehicle to pick them up or some tools and an inventive mind to remember how they go back together.

This one I have is roughly 7 feet square and almost 2 feet deep (the longest display plate is , I think, 13 inches for forces of valor so aim for that) just to be sure that is the shelf depth because they may be measuring some decorative cap or base and the display area is only 10 or 11 inches deep which would suck.
This one kept showing up and not selling in Albuquerque NM and I am in Dallas. It would have been rough sight unseen on how to pick it up. He said it didn't come apart, so I just salivate don it for a few weeks until I did research on freight movers who will pick things up for you when they are passing through town on the way back or to your town on a haul for extra cash. I got some guys in Dallas to do it. I got the case for @$300 and the shipping for $300 which was a steal. But more than I wanted to pay. But it got here,slightly ok the broke the glass on top and lost parts (replaced). I had no way to get it upstairs and had to take it apart which I did and reassembled it after moving it bit by bit up the narrow stairway It is a beast, and it did cost me. It was also hard wired for store use, so I got out my dad's brain and online help site on electrical work to rewire it, turn out all i needed to do was put a plug on it, cost me a $1.50, 15 minutes and a very tense " switching on ceremony". But it lit up great. Bought some full spectrum bulbs and an xmas light remote control wall plug and now I can turn it on from anywhere in the house (and off).

But beyond the initial buyers remorse it is a head turner and I am proud of it. It would cost about $4,000 new or a couple of $k's at a local auction used. So regardless of my finances and how it hit me at first it was and still is a very good purchase. I store my paints and unopened boxes in the doors below and have so much room, wow, then if I ever made my own bases with terrain on them I (or ditch bases altogether, I would have miles of space to work with.
So yeah, Ebay and the cost of freight.
there are several website where you post what you need moved and then the most you want to pay and people bid or make offers to move it for you. There is also Craigslist.com, I posted what I needed moved and I got a ton of people responding that do this with their truck and trailer for a living, just don't pay over $400, I had quotes as high as $1500 which was a joke.
Happy hunting, it took me 3-4 months to finally decide and pay for one that I wanted. I didn't want to be upset with my purchase.
After the initial "oh my lord, what I have bought here" I am glad to say that passed quickly and now I just laugh when I see it n the room. Visitor realize I am serious about collecting and are stunned by the presentation. But they all knew I was big on ww2 vehicles and planes because of my artwork and arts hows over the years. The girlfriend was supportive, especially when the huge tank of a case centralized my collection, got about 40+ tanks off the dresser, makeup vanity and her small bedroom dresser as well.

[AlloySkull]

That looks incredible. Very elegant. I think my mom would finally approve of my collection if I had a display case. I was just pondering... A custom built one. The glass would cost so much. That is a lot of glass... The wood, not so bad.

[Cabe]

here is one on ebay, Australia
figures tank mismatched

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultimate-Soldier-Ge ... dZViewItem

[ostketten]

In regards to my monster display case, Ebay ebay ebay

Thanks for the info, I'll keep an eye out at ebay and craiglist for something on a local pickup. $600 total is still not a bad deal for the one you've got, which is GINORMOUS...I've been looking for a big one like that, which was probably a retail store display case of some type. On the subject of Ikea...in addition to the smaller Detlof cases like you have (which are very nice btw) they also offer a Birch finished display case for around $380... http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116877 It's not the cheapest thing going, but Ikea stuff is always good quality, and this is a nice piece of furniture in addition to being a great display case, it's not as humongous as your "monster" case but is still quite large at nearly 4 ft. wide, 16 inches deep, and over 6 ft. tall, and should serve the needs of most collectors quite well.