Airpower Over Da Hood

Bettina got some nice pics this past week. I wish I could post more but it is what it is and I'm glad to have the time just to do this. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Renwal XB-52

Geez folks, I'd love to hang around and talk a whole lot about this toy but it's the weekend and things are about to get busy so we'll pretty much just leave it as a photo essay. I will say that die-cast toys, like those made by Tootsietoy, have been popular for decades but it is unusual to see aircraft made in such a  large size as this one and the F-84-6 that was posted the other day. There are no maker's marks but both pieces were attributed to Renwal by different sellers. Should I find out differently I will definitely post a correction. This bird measures 6 3/4" (17.14cm) L X 8" (20.32cm) wingspan x 2 1/2" (6.35cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

China (Unknown Mfr) Diecast B-52 Stratofortress

Here's a nifty little diecast B-52 to help round out the USAF planes collection. I bought it precisely because it is not a highly detailed scale fidelity model but rather is obviously a toy. The B-52 is one of my favorite real life aircraft and we see them flying over the house from time-to-time as evidenced by Bettina's photos. The toy has a friction motor with two huge wheels in front and two much smaller ones in the back (I told you it was just a toy hahahaha) and measures 7 1/2" (19.05cm) L x 8 3/8" (21.27cm) wingspan x 1 5/8" (4.12cm) H. Unlike several recent acquisitions of toy USAF planes made in China, this one does not have lights or sound. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

China - Diecast B-52

The B-52 is a jet powered, long range bomber which saw its maiden flight in 1952! 1952! That's just 49 years after the Wright Brothers first flew their little bi-plane and here it still flying 65 years later! The design is older than me - not by much though hahahahaha, I do like these big, bad, lumbering beasts and as you can see by Bettina's photos below, we see them here every so often flying right over the house. The photos are un-cropped and un-edited.

When I started collecting toys I began buying vintage tin-litho and plastic USAF aircraft and thought that would be it for me. However, of late it became apparent that if I wanted a representative sampling of USAF aircraft then 'vintage' was not always possible mostly because of costs or availability or simply because there are much newer aircraft in the inventory and they're certainly not old enough to be classified as 'vintage'. There are in fact some vintage B-52 toys out there but not that many it seems. Marx made a nice plastic one for their Strategic Air Command playset but they are very hard to find and pricey when you do. Soooo, the next best option is to find a modern era toy. Today's market has gone bat-shit crazy over high priced 'limited edition collectibles' so I was lucky enough to latch on to this diecast B-52 from China.  It's just what I wanted. With that big 'ol clunky friction drive underneath and the loose fitting vertical stabilizer it is clearly a toy, not a highly detailed, über accurate collectible  You can however tell just by looking at it that it's a Stratofortress and that works for me. It measures 7 1/2" (19.05cm) L x 8 1/2" (21.59cm) wingspan x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) H. Enjoy! Opa Fritz an Oma Bettina