Author Topic: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)  (Read 362121 times)

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #690 on: February 24, 2011, 11:05 PM »
Guy built this custom...  It's a 1:18 scale Skycrane...  Oofah.   :o



http://www.largescaleplanes.com/Photostory/RonDenning/ch54b/ch54b.php

Uh, yeah...  Talk about a humbling experience.  :-\  Kinda makes you wanna give up doing the stuff you thought was "really cool and detailed" when you look at something like that, haha.  I have plastic envy.

300 fabricated plastic pieces in the rotor assembly?  4 feet long I guess?  Wow.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2011, 11:10 PM by Jesse James »
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #691 on: March 28, 2011, 02:06 AM »
Well I caved this weekend...  After a weekend of not really doing/spending a ton, I decided I was pulling the trigger on another 1:16 RC tank...  This time I got the metal upgrade Tiger-I, which Tigers are among my more favored armor pieces from the war, and I couldn't pass up the price for one with metal tracks, running gear, and transmission.  It's just a much more heavy/cool look to it.

It was a toss-up on this and a Russian KV-1, which is kind of an odd item but it does exist...  and I don't have Russian anything, so that would've been neat.  However, my next purchase may be that, or a Stg III...  Or a Jagdpanther...  though that one is at the end of the pack right now.  The first two will have to duke it out I guess, haha.

Anyway I'll give some thoughts on the Tiger-I when I get it in.  Shouldn't take long.

I need to aim for Sherman and T-34 purchases but neither are cheap...  or not nearly as cheap as the stuff I have bought, so I'll need to dwell on those purchases a bit more.  I have buyer's remorse on anything over $50. :P
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #692 on: March 31, 2011, 02:47 AM »
Little bummed out...  I went and got my older Panzer 1:16 out and some screw mounts inside the remote intended to hold the braces for the controls in place were broken.  The plastic was simply sheered because it's pretty shoddy/****** material.

Think yellow clone helmets piss you off?  Try plastic that just sheers because its not bonded properly and is just a weak material under any pressure/tension.

Anyway, I glued the posts, and we'll see if I need to find a new controller or not.  The tank is fine, and the controllers are notoriously chincy, but I was surprised when I got the remote out and all kinds of **** was rattling around inside.  Ultimately my remote to my tank that's on its way should, in theory, work if the crystals are the same...  and they probably are.

Still, I want my controller i got originally.  Such is life I guess.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #693 on: April 2, 2011, 12:16 AM »
I got my Tiger Tank, and took it to the local Star Wars meeting that was held this evening...  I figure it's the only way I can bring something that someone doesn't already have, since my Star Wars collecting isn't that much of a "Wow!" factor to most people.

It's nice too...  big, heavy, and very detailed.  I'm always a little in awe of the quality, as you really get a lot for your money in these 1:16 tanks, but you also can expect flaws...  Some can be pretty severe like bad soldering, or even a broken piece here and there.

It's a sharp piece though.  I got the beast home and put some Germans on/around him.  I love it.  I almost hate to take the airbrush to any of these after I buy them.  I also haven't ventured into adding all the extra pieces they give you that you have to put on yourself, or the decals.  I'm concerned the decals won't look too hot once applied, and that the bits you need to add should be left off till you decide to paint it in the final scheme you want.

I'm now anxiously eyeing a StugIII...  But there's so many more tanks I want, and I really feel bad I don't have an RC Sherman yet.  It's the Tiger's contrast I feel, even though one-on-one they're completely mismatched.

Great piece though, well worth the money.  I wish I could buy these just without even thinking about it.  I'd have a room dedicated to WW2 armor alone I think, and customize them all.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #694 on: May 16, 2011, 08:58 PM »
Unfortunately there was a good deal online that turned out to be too good to be true...  Company was selling sets of FOV US Infantry for $7 and change...  I'd bought 2 sets, but it turned out they shipped out only 1 figure for each set you ordered.  Ultimately it was probably a mistake on their part, but they advertised it as full 6 figure sets, so they messed up.

Anyway, they're doing refunds, but it's a bummer.  I'd bought 2 sets simply for customizing purposes, and now that idea is out the window.  Too good to be true. 
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #695 on: May 24, 2011, 08:36 PM »
Found a lone US Paratrooper from BBI's last series at Ross for $3.99 Not bad.
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Offline efranks

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #696 on: June 3, 2011, 07:02 PM »
I hadn't really been looking for one, but I ran across one of the PTE Command Post sets on eBay the other day and put a watch on it just to see what it sold for.  Thought I might throw in a bid if it stayed low, but it ended up at $44.21 and still had $18.50 in shipping on top of that.

I was kind of surprised how high it went, but that's a better building than the one that was at Big Lots last Christmas.  If I run across one for cheaper I may pick one up.  Maybe BL will get these this year rather than the bombed out building.

If you want to check out the auction, click here.

   E...
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #697 on: June 3, 2011, 11:58 PM »
My advice on it is wait...  Wait for Big Lots to get in their Christmas stuff (usually between August and October), or wait to see what Penney's stocks/gets in.  They had the Command Center in over the holidays IIRC.

http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=16e86d3&DeptID=52440&CatID=77791&SO=0&PCatID=52440&CatSel=4294939233%7cview+all&NOffset=0&Ne=4294957900+4+5+1063+1008+8+18+904+949&CatTyp=RLE&Dep=Toys&N=4294939233&Pcat=Toys&Cat=Boys&Nao=0&PSO=0&CmCatId=52440|77791&sa=1

They've still got a number of other sets, and Penney's has coupons all the time.

That bridge?  It's the primo piece from PTE if you ask me.  And in that set you get the tower, the bridge, the "steel hedgehog" obstacles...  That set's friggin' great.

While I like the "Pizza Hut" Command Center, I would have to humbly disagree on it being better than the 3-story building.  Only because the 3-story building is more a realistic looking design...  It fits in with Tatooine for instance, or North Africa in WW2, or Italy in WW2, or basically anywhere we're blowing up right now like Afghanistan, Iraq...  It just fits in to so much, honestly.

The Pizza Hut rocks though, but it's a more modern looking building, and is smaller.  I got 3 of them in what I hoped would be an attempt to put them all together to form one big "complex".

What I really miss is this modular set from Eversparkle.  It was glorious.  I got two of them, and a few extras from a friend, and I feel fortunate to have those.  They make these really bitching little buildings, stackable or expandable in ANY direction.  Walls are just thin plastic sheets, but sturdy enough and featuring some detailing.  I go tthem years and years ago, they're long gone from the net now it seems.  And they were the inspiration for modular Star Wars sets in my mind...  I got these back when the FFURG Email Listserver still existed even, they're that old.  Cheap as hell figures, cheap as hell accessories, but the set was everything.

PTE continues to impress though.  They're cheap, they're almost always abundant around Christmas, and PTE continues to put out new stuff...  Every year they do something different (well, not EVERY year, but every other year they've pretty steadily delivered something new). 

Towers though?  I've got dozens and plan to use them all.  And that bridge is something to behold with a platoon of Japanese soldiers rushing across it, or some German infantry, battered and bruised, trying to limp back across the Rhine, or some cold-weather U.S. GI's making their counter-attack after the Bulge failed...  Lots of cool scenes that bridge is great.
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Offline Fritzkrieg

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #698 on: June 4, 2011, 06:34 PM »
I have to agree with Jesse on the Bombed-Out building, the set is the Bomb!

Eversparkle?  What is that? I've never heard of it.
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Offline Sprry75

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #699 on: June 5, 2011, 09:28 AM »
I'd love it if they re-released the bombed out building molded in gray. 
"Really?  Sorry."

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #700 on: June 6, 2011, 02:25 AM »
Hands down agree with you Ryan, and actually I've thought of painting one of my 3-stories grey using plastic-adhering paint.  It's a simple enough design, i think it'd be pretty easy using a "gun" attachment to a can, to just give it a good spraypainting...  Paint a little detail on the exposed brick, and voila...  Instant new looking building.

Fritz,

Eversparkle was a company that did some cheap-o military stuff...  Not much to be found about them.  They did some 1:6 and 1:18.  Their 1:18 was great though.  It was just big playsets...  Not individual stuff like PTE, but their playset was modular, and is sorely missed by me.  I'd buy a dozen of their set if I found them today.  I'd even pay a little bit of a premium (I mean, they're "cheap" so I wouldn't pay a big premium, but I'd pay PTE playset prices for it despite it being a lesser product in terms of detail/quality).

The cool thing was the design...  You built the building, any way you wished, any direction you wished, and limited only in the number of parts you have.  It wasn't hyper detailed or painted well.  Walls were more like a stamped piece of plastic than something comprised of multiple parts.  It still looked really cool built up.  It made, to me anyway, cooler Star Wars set-ups than realistic military.  Cool for GI Joe or Star Wars...  Something with an element of fantasy to it, only because you could tell it was modular obviously.  Still one of the neatest ways to do a diorama for your figures IMO.

The Command Center from PTE is outstanding though, so don't let my bombed building praise sway you.  I just prefer it.  The CC is really awesome regardless though.  Neatly designed too, with a ladder/trap door to the roof and stuff.  I wish the windows were a little more "depth" than just a piece of plastic, and some side walls would've been appreciated, but it's still cool.

Now if PTE designed them to actually be stacked or connected side-by-side?  I'd poop my pants.
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Offline Jesse James

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NEW Power Team Elite images?  Oh my.











Love the stuff in the top pics (except the jet, but for Joe fans that's a good new item).  The trailer is already getting people's juices flowing on how to use it for World War 2 and ditching the Mutt with it...  The new base/diorama stuff has potential.  

Whoever makes PTE stuff has an idea that it's a good cheap toy for kids, but it's also the kind of thing that's cheap enough for adults who buy more expensive figures in the same scale can pick it up, and improve it with minimal effort, and give themselves something insanely neat to display their toys with it.

I'm glad to see new PTE though...  They're always out of left field, but you can generally count on them making this stuff, and just hope you can get a good outlet like Big Lots to pick it up.

The Chinese boat is cool, and I wish they'd do removable helmets on their U.S. figures as well.  Love that about the Chinese guys.  I won't be broken hearted if the boat never shows up in the States, but it's pretty slick looking.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2011, 11:44 PM by Jesse James »
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #702 on: June 12, 2011, 11:45 PM »
Also changed the thread's title with my last post...  PTE is talked about the most these days, haha.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #703 on: June 16, 2011, 12:01 AM »
Apparantly someone has the 21st Cent. Molds for the 88 Flak Cannon, and don't really give a **** or not if All Go thinks they own the molds, as I guess there is a promise of grey 88's coming to etailers...



I got two DAK decoed 88's for the same price as one grey one, so I'm reluctant to buy a grey one.  I'd rather just take some Panzer Grey and go to town on one of my extra tan 88's, but hey...  grey is what it should be so I'mg lad someone is dusting off the molds and trying to do them.

All-Go is gonna be pissed though, especially since, word has it anyway, these are coming out in 21st Century Toys boxes!   :-X  All-Go swore they were going to block that from happening, and stop companies in China from using their molds...  Something fishy is going on with all that though.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #704 on: June 16, 2011, 04:55 PM »
And the pre-orders that went up, now suspended?  Hmmm....  Interesting.
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