Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)

[Jesse James]

The Sahara figures, for whatever reason, were sorta just a side thing for 21st.

I wouldn't say the heads are too big though, they're actually pretty good with some fodder and not great with others.  Like I saw Fritzkrieg use the Matthew McConnehey head on a Ki-Adi ROTS figure and it looks great actually.  The turbin heads look good on a number of fodder pieces too, and of course the heads are perfect with most POTF2 stuff since it's bigger, but yeah the Jedi Fritz made using the ROTS Ki-Adi body looked fine with the one head.

The figures are cool for modern military stuff and the turbins come off, that's aplus because they fit any SW head I've put them on and would be good for random background people.

The figures are a little shoddy quality though.  Not bad sculpts (bad likenesses though) but kinda cheap and fragile.  not 21st's normal quality work.

The line was weird.  It's like they got the license amidst their financial woes and couldn't deliver the product.  I want the desert jeep for SAS North Africa reasons, but I've seen nothing of it.

The figures seem to have come and gone.  I'm just as glad these didn't ship too heavily so the military figures are actually not backlogged cause of these guys.  They could have easily sat around considering the fim's popularity and this line's dismal look/effort.

They're really not bad customizing fodder though IMO, pretty great really for Star Wars and military customs.

[Vator]

Wow, just got caught up on all the new 21st Century News. I think, in light of the plethora of news I'm still trying to digest, a simple response would be appropriate: Hell. Yes.
I'm loving the BoB repaints (The Germans especially), and the Operation Market Garden figures looks fantastic. And I'm dying to see pics of these Platoon figures, since they'll apperantly have all new articulation and what not.

Dare I say that 2006 will be an active year for Army Building? I think so. 

[Gregorbian]

I finally found some of the 21st Century Toys army guys.  I picked up a German Trenchcoat (open coat), US soldier in the white coat, and a US soldier without coat.  They are very cool, I like the articulated arms.  My only question is are all of the arms that fragile?  The German's arms tend to pop off at the elbows (especially the non-trenchcoat articulated arms).  I've got some of the closed trenchcoat German as well as the set of the Ardennes figures from TRU.com ($50 for the set).  I can't wait, these guys are awesome custom fodder!

I also picked up 2 of those WW2 Paratroopers from TRU, not bad, but they can't put their arms down to their sides.  I'll probably just use their heads and accessories for some customs - anybody need the parachute sets?

[Paul]

The BoB figs have me considering buying WWII figures again...after a good amount of time off...

I am looking forward to the Platoon Figs too. 

I can see getting a few to Army build with..the first series of Germans were SOOO bad, anything has to be an improvement.  I'm not sure why BBI is so afraid of Axis stuff..

I did snag the Series 2 German Tanker and he is pretty nice.  I also snagged the Bf109 pilot, but typical of 21stC his ankles were painted stuck so as I GENTLY tried to rotate it....BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE and he is a casualty of FLAK.  So I am going to do some body part swapping and get him a new leg.

I'm also considering one of the RC Panzer IV's.  I'd wish they would have done skirts but, I'm sure I can make some.

[Jesse James]

I want the Panzer IV too Paul, but it's pricey for me right now.  Skirts and a winter white wash would have probably made me lay one away already though.

Anyway, they're not fragile by my tinkering with them...  I don't have problems with joints popping off and stuff.  Sometimes you get a factory defect here and there like a shortened limb or a joint that's pins aren't molded right so they don't hold together but that's not too common. 

I haven't seen BotB figs yet really, definitely not S2, and it's killing me.  Glad to see you making a comeback to it though Paul.  I need the new BBI WW2 infantry and stuff, those look sweet.  I need these new BotB though, they're just what I wanted, especially the US Greatcoat rifleman. 

Lots of good stuff and we've still not heard about the "Bridge Too Far" line.  There was a lot of talk they'd secured rights to that film, which could be on the way...  I want a Sean Connery Red Devil!  Now that's kick ass custom fodder.

[Paul]

I saw wave 2 of the Battle of the Bulge at 2 different Wal Marts  in the last 2 days.

I really like the "Variety" they provide in the figures.  Not less than 2 of them have different head sculpts in the package.  And not just "hat on' and "Hat off" of the same face...entirely different head sculpts.

That and the combinations of different arms and removable great coats/ mackinaws etc.  is just one great "extra".

If Hasbro would look down the "Aisle" and see what the "little guys" were able to do, ARMY building would be sweet.

I did not pick any up.  It was more a "catch and release" activity.

[Jesse James]

Damn Paul, those are the biggies for me...  And wouldn't you know that all my WM's are suddenly loaded with other waves.  Just my F'n luck.

Those figures look gorgeous, did you see the trenchcoated US Rifleman?  I LOVE that figure.  I need dozens of just that guy.

[Jesse James]

BigBadToyStore had a sale going last week that we advertised out on the front page of JediDefender.com, and so I went in and checked it out.  I ordered the BBI Sherman finally and WOW I love this beast.

Besides the gaping maw that is the Tanker's mouth, the thing is a beauty...  Oh and no interior to the tank.  Is it wrong to want a Sherman witha n interior?

The tank's awesome though.  Worth every penny, and only $33 really shipped after the sale price.  Their shipping blew IMO ($8-ish is too much I think, but that's me), but the tank's worth it.  I wish I could've afforded the Mustang too.  BBI's Mustang is awesome.  I don't collect many planes, but the Mustang's too iconic not to have, and I wanted the pilot figure too...  So sweet.

Next sale perhaps...

Oh, and in other news...

Tons of stuff is shipping, including Battle of the Bulge Series 2, so go shop dammit.

[Angry Ewok]

I don't get it... Toys R Us has a big clearance of all of their 21st Centruy stop, and just stopped carrying it... I was happy to see that our Wal-Mart picked it up, but for some reason they only stock the planes and tanks. No individual figures.

Is this just a local thing for me, or are people having trouble getting 21st all over the place?

[Jesse James]

Wal-Mart's not distributing evenly on 21st...  Each store has a variety I've found, like in my area Brad I can count 5 stores I visit and each has (generally) something different.

Some things get wide release like the choppers were everywhere here, and the current Humvee variants and the Weapons Carrier Dodge are at every WM I visit, but like the one that just opened has Imperial Marine (Japanese) figures, while one 15 mins away has Battle of the Bulge, Marines, and Pilots/Patton figures.

And 2 other WM's near me have just Marines (S1 and S2)... 

I see planes at various stores but they're various planes.  One has P-47 Bubbletops, one has the German Night Fighter, one has old Corsairs and Stukas. 

All had RC Panzers and APC's up to the holidays and they've since seen clearance, but only a few had regular model tanks.  Like one had Shermans back in the day, one had Tigers... 

One right now near me has Halftracks and nothing else.  Weird.

TRU quit with their deal with 21st because some self-interest group(s) complained that the toys glorified the Nazi Party as there were "Nazi" action figures.  Nobody takes the time to pick upa  book and read, so they just cry Nazi...  But, TRU did get the Merril's Marauders set for the holidays, so they're not totally out of it.

I'm amazed WM hasn't caught flack...  They have on the S1 Marine holding a Japanese flat and cigarette I've heard, and that figure is phased out, but they haven't on Germans.  They do sort of "generically" name them too though as "Ardennes Infantry", haha.

[Nirvana]

I've only seen a few 21st Century figs at WalMart, and the only one I really liked was an Imperial Marine (rifleman) and I picked it up. The figs are awesome, but they would be 10x better if they used the BBi-style heads, not the cheesy, non-neutral expression.

[Jesse James]

They're 50/50 with expressions.  The Marines have a mix of expressionless, slight expressions, and full on eyes-closed screaming faces.  The Japanese are the same as there's like 3 or 4 without any expression, 1 with a slight expression and the rest with mouths open.

Same with the Paratrooeprs...  Battle of the Bulge had expressionless figures, as did Series 1 Infantry, Vietnam, etc...  Modern figures sucked but the heads were nice and fairly expressionless.

BBI's headsculpts are better but most of them lack muchof a neck so customizing wise they're not as useful I've found...  Not without "work", which is ok for me but not a lot want to make a suitable neck for them.

[Nirvana]

Yeah, except I only found Marines with screwed up faces, and I Imperial Marine with an expressionless face but still looked goofy. BBi's don't have much a neck, that's true. I find myself having to Dremel it outinto a balljoint so it'll look normal.

[Jesse James]

OOOOooooooo good news is out there my friends.

Series 2 Battle of the Bulge are becomign widely available online for good prices, and when you get a WHOLE torso with some figures, and 2 heads, and lots of gear...  Count me in.  I want a whole case, they're awesome, and I need the Autumn cammo German tankers anyway for my autumn cammo tank.

Now, the juicy news...

BBI has new modern figures on the market NOW, out of the freakin' blue, no words of warning whatsoever.

Among them, new SEALS, new headsculpts...  One guy with bare arms.  New articulation...  no pics yet that I've seen, but holy **** I gotta see these.  BBI's figures stepped it up a notch with their new WOrld War 2 series sporting advanced articulation.  I haven't gotten them yet but it's pretty fantastic judging by the Sherman Tanker.

Now, what could be better than this you ask?

I'll tell ya what...  unintentional pictures of the new Hot Toyz Aliens Snap Kit figures, AND, COLONIAL MARINES!  And Ripley too.  3 Marines, 1 Ripley, shitloads of Aliens, and Aliens fans getting massive erections as the sight of these SUPER detailed, SUPER articulated, SUPER accessorized figures.

Some of the aliens appear to have bullet holes too...  Not just straight re-releases all around.  Nice tough Hot Toyz.

Count me in for two cases of these.  now I gotta get series 2 right quick so I get that Alien Queen to chase Ripley.

I'm on f'n sensory overload right now.  I need to calm down.

[Ryan]

I found some Series 2 BoB figures tonight. $5 for 1 figure, 2 heads, 6 arms, 1 coat, 2 helmets, a gun, a satchel, a canteen, a pouch, and a stand. Hasbro take nots, that is how it is supposed to be fun.

Jesse would you like me to pick some up for you if i see them again?