Author Topic: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)  (Read 361709 times)

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #540 on: February 19, 2009, 01:24 PM »
It seems very likely that 21st Century Toys is indeed dead.  Etailers are listing most everything from them as "discontinued".  This is likely why WM has clearanced out all 21st products rather than a lack of a deal between the two also.  The economic downturn really hit at a bad time for them, as they were just getting TRU back into the fold. 

It meant for some cool deals for sure though, and that's neat, but it seems 21st has flopped.  At least there's Forces of Valor at Target, and BBI at Toys R Us.  Both coming up with surprises now and then.  FOV's stuff is incredible to me, so I'm glad they're hanging on.  I just hope they make some new WW2 toys soon.
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Offline vupa0101

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #541 on: April 6, 2009, 07:04 PM »
got my pattons in from the MD sale, I like it even more than my abrams. This tank is HUGE!

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #542 on: April 6, 2009, 10:07 PM »
I believe it's one with an interior too...  I could be wrong on that though.  I don't own any post WW2 era tanks besides the Abrams.  Some really kick ass deals to be had, and this stuff's bound to go up now that the coffin lid is all but closed on 21st.
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Offline vupa0101

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #543 on: April 6, 2009, 10:21 PM »
i think thats the walker bulldog, but ill go home and double check anyways, makes me want to go out and get a sherman as well, The Patton puts the Abrams to shame

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #544 on: April 6, 2009, 10:42 PM »
Sherman's nice...  Ihave the steel BotB deco ones and liked it a lot.  The Tiger I is my favorite they ever did...  Full interior, very nice tank.
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Offline vupa0101

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #545 on: April 6, 2009, 11:35 PM »
are you referring to the 21st tiger or the FOV, in your opninion, who made the better sherman?

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #546 on: April 7, 2009, 12:35 AM »
There's no comparison between the two company's tanks, 21st is miles superior in most every way.  That basically goes for all the vehicles.  FOV isn't even in the same league in terms of quality.  They are different enough to warrant buying both, and the FOV stuff is about half the price at basic retail, but 21st's is worth the price.

You can compare the two, and both have things that warrant a purchase though...  FOr instance, 21st's Tiger comes in various decoes, and there's a metal hull version (I have it).  It has a full interior as well, and comes with a figure (or two in some cases I believe).  There's a detailed engine, etc.  It's a really nice tank...  My favorite tank really.  I only own the panzer grey deco, in both plastic and metal hull.

That said, the FOV Tiger is uncommon...  I've never seen one.  And it comes sculpted with zimmerit on it, something all 21st Tiger's (and all German armor) lack.  The FOV tanks are also only like $20 or so...  But no figure, fewer opening hatches/details, tools sculpted to the tank, no MG I believe, etc. 

The FOV Sherman is more easily found, but like the Tiger I it lacks in almost every detail compared to the 21st Sherman, or BBI's.  I consider BBI and 21st's Shermans on par with each other in terms of detail, and the BBI Sherman has the larger cannon...  So it's a different model worth owning both IMO.  The 21st Sherman came in metal and plastic variants, and has a couple decoes (USMC version, original green, BotB, etc.).  FOV's Sherman came in green and green/brown camo.

Just a note, none of these models is "perfect".  The rivet counters are quick to point out every small flaw on each tank by any of the three companies. :) 

The same "gripes" apply to all the other FOV models too...  Their Bradley isn't in the ballpark of 21st's, but it's nice for the price.  Their .50 Cal. halftrack is nice, but not as nice as 21st's, and the prices on the halftracks is comparable...  I say go with 21st's.  FOV's only real improvement there is they have the low cuts on the side of the armor so the .50 turret can swivel 360 degrees...  21st neglected that and so their gun turret bumps the sides.

The best armor pieces I own may very well be 21st's halftracks though.  Their Hano variants are outstanding.  Some of my favorites easily, as is the first US Halftrack, which just was a great value.

Their Humvee is nice too...  I want to sell mine (woodland) as I'm not much of a modern guy, but really they make the best Humvee.  21st really did the best overall work and it's a shame they're seemingly going away.  I'm pondering going to 1:16 armor for the future now.  Not sure if I will, but there's more variety for a WW2 fan.
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Offline vupa0101

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #547 on: April 8, 2009, 02:58 PM »
thanks for the excellent breakdown, ill try my hand with the FOV ones first and see where that leads me. Im seriosly interested in the p40 tomahawks but i dont know how long i can hold off because ive got an Avenger coming in :o Also I've only seen the FOV 1/18 tiger once, i hope my eyes weren't deceiving me but i think im going to make a custom Audie Murphy and a 'Nam version of Robert Howard.

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #548 on: April 9, 2009, 02:13 AM »
I've never seen the FOV Tiger...  I wanted one, preferably the tri-camo as I don't have a camo Tiger anyway.

The FOV tanks are good, don't get me wrong, but I have teh camo Shermie, and it's just not on par with the 21st or BBI.  But...  Like I said, it's about half the price a 21st Sherman cost too. ;)  Can you really argue then? 

I'm seriously considering selling my 1:18 tanks off at some point and going to 1:16, but 1:16 has little U.S. armor unfortunately.  At least in affordable context...  The RC stuff is more affordable, and suits my tastes, but there's no Sherman available except maybe by a pricey company like Tamiya.  Sherman is my favorite, so I really would hate to not have one in the collection.  Their German offerings are vast though...  Panzier 3's, 4's...  Jagdpanther, Panther, Tiger I, Tiger II...  Even a Sturmtiger!  That's some crazy **** out there given the lack of variety in 1:18. 

1:18 has a lot of value though...  I hear insane prices for some of the 21st tanks.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #549 on: April 14, 2009, 05:01 PM »
As feared, 21st filed for bankruptcy in California court this week...  Stick a fork in 'em!

Fun while it lasted though!  I loved the figures I managed to get, and I hope other companies jump into the WW2 game and that BBI/Forces of Valor both maybe step up with new stuff as well.
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Offline Paul

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #550 on: April 14, 2009, 11:31 PM »
It is sad to see them go, I had everything they did in both 1:18 and 1:6 scale for the first few years...  Then the poor paint aps on the figures and the sometimes "fanfic" vehicles they liked to do really got me off the wagon.  If it is BBI that takes up the slack, I will bet they don't do it for long, their figure release schedule is about 6 new figures a year.

My standards may be too high though.  I really expect perfections or damn near when my 2 favorite things (history and action figures) collide.


Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #551 on: April 15, 2009, 01:02 AM »
You know how anal I am about SW figures generally, and I tend to carry that over to historical figures too, but ultimately I try to take the stance that they're mass release, and fairly inexpensive toys too...  So the Tiger-I with mish-mash of late and early production details never bothered me much...  The only thing I was ever really truly annoyed with was that I couldn't rotate my quad .50 half-track's turret because they didn't make the angled cuts in the side armor. 

To me though they did great for $5...  They just didn't have good business sense.  They needed to focus less on putting out tons of $50 toys, and more on getting multiple figure waves out in a year, and focus on the $20 and less vehicles to back them up.  Vehicles that could be repainted, or chassis reworking could make it a "new" toy.  Unfortunately they were so fixated on putting out plane after plane, repaints, and the like, all at the higher pricepoints, that I think they hurt themselves with that.  Plus they never, ever, ever, made revisions to case assortments.  When you see Figure A stagnates, but B, C, D, E, and F all sold out immediately, you need to revise your assortments...  Drop the jeep driver, and put in another rifleman.

They JUST started to "improve" in that regard with reworking old figures with a new paintjob, but it was too late.  WM was basically on their way out of their deal with 21st, soured on all the figures that wouldn't move because of lack of revisions, plus the umpteenth P-47 repaint when there were still 30 of the original 2 paintjobs on the shelves...  Stupidity like that can only mean bad things in the future (not to mention they were dealing almost exclusively with WM, which is horrible, for some years).

Like I said, I wasn't 100% picky...  If they gave us Germans and they had the jackboots but were later war figures, I was ok with that.  It's a $5 figure, so I can live with a ****** paintjob now and then or whatnot, so long as we get more variety at some point...  Now though the line's kicked over it seems.

Forces of Valor did great WW2 figures IMO.  Lots of gear, good articulation and sculpts that I felt were on par with the best from BBI and 21st.  I'm hopeful they may continue their work with WW2.  I'm hoping for a wave of US and German paratroopers.  Their vehicles are not amazing by comparison to the other companies, but I'm going to move into 1:16 scale armor anyway.  It looks fine with the support vehicles I have in 1:18 now, and there's a ton more diversity in 1:16.  There's just no RC Sherman out yet for a reasonable price that I'm aware of, and I realy, really love Shermans and their variants.

I was never much of a plane guy, though I own probably 10 aircraft.  Not my cup of tea though, and 21st did the majority of what's out there, so I don't feel so bad about that.  I did really want that B-25 though.  Man that thing was gonna be sweet.  :'(  I think that, the last 2 large playsets they never made, and any future armor/figure possibilities are what hurt the most.  Only 21st had the balls to try that stuff.
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Offline vupa0101

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #552 on: April 15, 2009, 09:10 PM »
I used to like how cool my BBi vehicles were until i got an XD vehicle, although it was brief, im glad we met, goodbye 21st Century

its wierd, i went to my local TRU and they have had the same F104 smoke II there for the longest time ever but all of a sudden this weekend they dissapeared.. ???

well, if anybody decides to get out of the 1/18 scale, id be glad to pick up the pieces

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #553 on: April 16, 2009, 12:59 AM »
Probably people speculating these going up in value now that the company's not around.

BBI's Sherman is as good as 21st's I think...  Personally I actually prefer their Mustang as well, and it's the only Mustang I own.  Their modern stuff (the armor anyway) wasn't amazing but they were the only ones doing modern at the time.  I still love the buggy, and their Abrams is as good or better than FOV's...  But 21st's Bradley is the tops as far as modern armor goes.  Nothing came remotely close to that.

21st's Humvee is also the best...  Vupa, if you want the original 21st Woodland Humvee, I've got one that's all yours.  I need to thin my modern stuff down to just figures I think.
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Offline vupa0101

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Re: Official 1:18 Military Toys Thread (21st, BBI, FOV, etc)
« Reply #554 on: April 16, 2009, 03:12 PM »
the 21st humvees are a not as fragile as the BBi ones i think. Once I get the sherman, im going to have to get a nice little squad of machine gunners and grunt. BAR guns are so cool