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

[Jesse James]

And now, $30 88 MM cannons...

The black shroud has fallen over 21st I'm afraid.     Word is this is their liquidation through Monkey Depot...  I got 2 88's because, well, it's originally an $80 item at Smalljoes, so why piss around with that?  I'll hopefully land these 2 shipped for that same price!  I just hope I get both as I'd like a DAK colored one, and a Panzer grey for my figures since grey's the more common color.

Seems 21st may be on its death bed though.  Bummer, but I guess they've been struggling in these tough times, so chalk them up as another loss in a time of retail and manufacturing losses galore.  I'll be surprised if they come back in much of any form?  Their 1:32 stuff is popular, and their figures did generally well, so maybe they'll come back in a smaller capacity of some sort.

[Morgbug]

Time to change scale and start building models Jesse.  1/35 scale Tamiya kits are dirt cheap on ebay these days

[Jesse James]

Eh, I got into it because it sorta ran with Star Wars' scale well enough.  There's still BBI and Forces of Valor so I'm not "done" per se.    21st isn't dead either, just nobody knows what's up.  Monkey Depot got tons, and tons of 21st gear dropped to them for a song it seems...  The SS sets we thought were a fluke, but then they clearanced what appears to be their own old stock, then planes and stuff, and then all of a sudden the new Panther tank repaint showed up for $25, and now the 88 which has barely been out any ammount of time (newest thing 21st's made for a while). 

The 88 kinda seals that 21st is either fading out totally, or they're scaling back and dumping all their stock.  Their 1:32 line did well, their 1:18 figures did well...  Really their armor did well too but their airplanes came too fast to retail with repaint after repaint, and I think that hurt them tremendously.  Most of this stuff fetches a pretty great price on the secondary market too, so I'm really considering selling all my tanks and going 1:16 for tanks only since they pair up with the figures and support items (cannons, halftracks, trucks, etc.) pretty well.

FOV still make figures for Target, and BBI still is putting out new stuff sparingly.  I'd be totally ok with just having figures to buy, actually.  The planes take up too much space, and the armor's fun but like I said above...  I'm probably phasing that out for some cash.

21st's figures are insane, so I hope they're still around to produce those...  They were having trouble financially last year after having gotten themselves out of a big hole several years ago.  Toys always take a hit in these times and I think 21st took a knock-out punch maybe.

The real bummer is their 88 is probably their best, most detailed piece ever...  It's a great way to go out I guess, but it leaves you wondering what they could've done in the future.  When the online retailers all had the 88 at $80 though, I wouldn't bite.  I'm sorry but it's nice but not that big to warrant an $80 price.  That's just retarded to me...  I think if 21st set that price, they set themselves and the etailers that bought them up for a fall because that's double what tanks used to cost, and tanks are bigger... 

Either way, I got 2 88's ordered, so I am very hopeful my 88's go through soon and ship to me because I'm geeked to get 2 of them for the $80 it would've cost me (before shipping) just for one of them a month ago.

[Paul]

FOV seems to be picking up a bit... I saw a WWII US M16 Halftrack at Target the other day... the most BORING US Halftrack in my opinion and way overdone....they should do something cool like an M4a1 Halftrack....but that is just me....

[vupa0101]

i've always passed on the 21st Century 1:18 figures because Im more of a modern fan but i saw some of the PLATOON figs on clearance at WM the other day so i thought why not give it a chance. Boy was i glad i did, they may not be Hasbro quality, but they have their own unique style and look that im digging. The extra body parts are way better than some of the crap (mini holo's) that Hasbro has given us over the years. My favorite part are the ammo packs and canteen that you can stick on their belt, now normally you'd expect with cheap toys that you'd have problems with stuff like that staying on, but i really felt like those small pieces fit perfectly with no problems, best of all, the paint is real good. I also picked up the 2 recent BBI modern paratroopers, they are cool as fuk. whew!

[Jesse James]

I don't consider 21st "Cheap toys".  They're just not licensed (generally) so the price is pretty fantastic.  Cheap is Chap Mei...  21st's quality has always been pretty top-notch.  The only figures lacking a bit were a couple pack-ins and the modern allied figures were "eh".  Not horrid, but they weren't the level of the WW2 figures either. 

Forces of Valor is the same price, and I consider their figures fairly outstanding.  They're a more "standard" body that has different heads and gear, but it's really nice work.  They do many things right that Hasbro rarely does, like flexible skirt pieces, extra gear, etc., etc.  Hasbro could've learned a ton from these companies.  In some ways I think they did take ques from them.

Paul, I totally agree.  The one thing they did do that 21st didn't, was raise the quad .50's so they dn't catch on the side armor.  21st missed that detail and so theirs lacks a little, but it's way, way, way more detailed.  I'd love to see a mortar carrier.   Proper WW2 paint and all...  Maybe someday.  If FOV corners the market on 1:18 we could see new stuff.  They supposedly have a Tiger I out there somewhere, but I've never seen one, and it even has Zimmerit on it.  21st didn't do that... 

I'm really on the 1:16 fence though...  What say you Paul?  1:16 sound interesting to you, just for pieces of armor? 

[Darth Gamboa]

21st C 1:18 figures dropped to $1 at the Wal-Marts here in the AV So Cal). Picked up about 2 dozen last night.

[Jesse James]

Wow, I wish I'd had that many to find...  At $3 everything here pretty much disappered.  I only had some DAK to pick from for the most part too...  I bought a couple D-Day guys at one WM though that had the latest figures (.30 cal wave), but not many were available.  I got I think 2 snipers, which were great because they're just simple riflemen, so the $3 price on those kicked butt...  Other than that though I think the only other DDay guy I got was a German range finder...  DAK was all the rest I got on clearance, and even the light green uniformed, uber tan Germans were all gone...  And they sorta sucked.

I did get 8 D-Day tankers just yesterday for $30 shipped to me, which was a good deal on those since I didn't buy all the tankers, and need some full crews to man my tanks.  The BotB guys all look alike too, so some variety is nice to have.

Got my 88's yesterday too, and I have to say...  It's probably the most intricate piece they've ever made.  Lots of individual parts.  I'm still figuring out how I tilt the barrel up and down though.  I wish I had something to tow it.  I assume Hanomags were the preferred method to do so.

If 21st is truly on its last leg (no word from them, that's just speculation from people), I'll be glad to get a 2nd 88 painted in grey and that I got both for $80 shipped, considering places like Smalljoes and others were wanting $80 for just one (not worth it IMO, despite the coolness of it).

[Darth Gamboa]

I picked up alot at the $3 price too a few weeks ago. Then the stores restocked at the original price. I was really surprised to see them dropped so much so fast. They weren't even in the clearance aisle. It might be a good idea to check out your store to see if the restocked suddenly.

[Jesse James]

Thanks DG, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled...  Be nice to get some D-Day guys cheap as they're really outstanding figures.  I really wish I could get more of the Wave 3 Paratroopers...  Man that was a good wave of figures and I just didn't go hog wild when I should have on those. 

[Jesse James]

Forces of Valor pictured today some pretty cool new figures...

-Spec. Forces in Green jumpsuits ala BBI's first series of Navy SEALS...

-Spec. Forces Delta Force guys, very cool...

-Spec. Forces SEALS in frogman suits.  VERY cool looking.

[vupa0101]

using info provided through here i went to some local WM's and found some XD figs sitting at the bottom of shelves with the 5 dollar price tag, an unsuspecting customer would have just kept walking but I; empowered with the knowledge gained from this thread, took the figs to the scanner and lo and behold, they were a dollar apiece! Im not an expert on the WWII XD stuff but i did get a few US machine gunners and soldiers and German officers w/ black coats?? wish i would have found some Nam figs but oh well, any of you guys want to trade modern or Nam era figs for my WWII finds? With the lull in Joes, i've also started to pick up the FOV modern figs from Jesse James reccomendation. I almost have the whole set of desert soldiers, kinda having trouble with the sniper guy and his hand, but for 4.99, its a pretty sweet deal. Those newer figs over at the unimax website have me excited, escpecially the divers and rangers! Ive also been lucky enough to snag some sweet 1:18 birds in trades that still have me saying OMG!

21st Century XD Super Cobra Helicopter Gunship MIB (cobra deco version)
21st Century XD "CIA" Huey Helicopter Gunship MIB
21st Century XD Huey Helicopter Gunship MIB
2x BBi Elite Force Blackhawk Helicopter Gunship
BBi Elite Force V.1 Little Bird
BBi Apache Helicopter Gunship

now the mission resumes for these

BBi KIOWA RECON Helicopter
BBi Pavehawk Helicopter gunship
BBi Apache (shark deco)
BBi Little Bird (desert version)
BBi F-18 (any version please)
BBI F-16 (any version please)
21st Century Huey Helicopter gunship (shark deco)

[Jesse James]

Interested in any modern land items Vupa?  I've got a couple I'd sell...

I found 4 Deutsch Afrika Korps figures at WM the other day for $1 a pop too...  I'd love more of the figures you found Vupa but I'm not finding much here other than some DAK guys, which aren't what you're after.  Let me know if you unload those WW2 figures...  The .30 cal guy is my favorite in the line actually.  Wish I could find a pile of those!

Oh, and keep looking because these DAK guys I got just showed up.  I'd cleaned this store out a while ago and they just surfaced, so WM's are turning things up out of the blue it seems.

BTW I love my 88's...  I can't stop messing with the one I opened.  Once I get the other one painted panzer grey I'll be stoked to have a nice ETO one on display.  So far though allt hose $1 DAK are looking sharp around the tan one I got.

[jedipurge]

hey WWII lovers not sure if you guys have seen this b4 but found the site looking for dio stuff for SW, posted in customs section, and found this.  Lots of 1:18 size pieces.


Edit:  Thanx JJ


http://build-a-rama.com/

[Jesse James]

You didn't post a link JP!

I'm guessing it's Build-A-Rama?  They used to do tons of 1:18 but cut back in the last couple years.  I never did get a set of stretchers from them.