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Other Toy Lines / Re: Which Toyline Do You Feel is the Best Value?
« on: May 3, 2006, 03:12 PM »
Nothing Star Wars, that's for sure...
For me, it's the 1:18 military toy lines...
For $5, the current Series 2 Battle of the Bulge figures from 21st Century Toys give you as many as 6 sets of arms, 2 heads, packs, a gun(s), and helmet/hat for your figure. The articulation is super articulated with 16 points of articulation!
Comparably, BBI's Elite Force 1:18 figures are exquisitely sculpted with detail I've yet to really see Hasbro match. Their figures feature as many as 18 points of articulation, and their figures usually come with a pile of extra weapons as well as their normal packs, rifles, and helmets. You'll get a Bazooka, Mortar, or tri-pod support machine gun... Lots of stuff for the $4.99-$6.99 pricetag ($6.99 figures have working parachutes and jump gear... Not bad).
To take my idea of these being the tops in value a step further though... Let's look at their vehicles.
A 1:18 scale P-38 Lightning Interceptor... A massive fighter in World War II by all means, is recreated in perfect 1:18 scale. The plane is made up of TONS of individual parts, and put together by hand. There's a full cockpit interior down to every tiny detail including footpedals and a control stick, painted instrumentation, etc... The cockpit glass opens EXACTLY as the real plane would, in multiple sections. The landing gear open, lock, and roll, and are comprised of many individual parts, ther painting and decaling are incredibly accurate, and again it's PERFECT 1:18 scale.
You get that for $40-$50 depending if you find it in a store or online. I got mine for $40 at TRU. And there's a number of paintjobs for ANY given fighter too, not just one to pick from. Everything from D-Day to the Pacific Theater can be found.... AND you get a unique pilot with super articulation that is as good (or even better than) the basic carded figures. I mean, holy ****.
And, to add to that... 21st Cent. Toys is A) a private, small, independant toy company with highly limited capital as compared to Hasbro, B) pay licensing fees on any number of items... Contrary to popular belief among SW collectors who love to defend Hasbro, other toy companies do pay out the whazoo for licenses, and sometimes pay multiples licenses on one toy they make... While it's not in the millions, it adds up and for small private toy companies it is just as damaging financially to them in relative terms. Imagine if you had to pay for the Humvee title, or the Patton Family to use his likeness? And now imagine if those fees go into the 10's of thousands of dollars sometimes. And anything from noseart on a fighter to a pilot's name has to be paid out... Yes, this **** costs money too and Hasbro all-too-often hides behind the license fee IMO.
21st's also got to answer to people who demand accuracy, and are as frustrated as Hasbro can be with Lucasfilm wanting them to go back and revisit something again and again... Other comapnies deal with the same problems, if not worse problems since 21st doesn't have the production capabilities and such that Hasbro does, and yet they still put out a better product year in and year out despite their obstacles they face. To me, the X-Treme Detail and Elite Force 1:18 scale lines are worth every penny.
For me, it's the 1:18 military toy lines...
For $5, the current Series 2 Battle of the Bulge figures from 21st Century Toys give you as many as 6 sets of arms, 2 heads, packs, a gun(s), and helmet/hat for your figure. The articulation is super articulated with 16 points of articulation!
Comparably, BBI's Elite Force 1:18 figures are exquisitely sculpted with detail I've yet to really see Hasbro match. Their figures feature as many as 18 points of articulation, and their figures usually come with a pile of extra weapons as well as their normal packs, rifles, and helmets. You'll get a Bazooka, Mortar, or tri-pod support machine gun... Lots of stuff for the $4.99-$6.99 pricetag ($6.99 figures have working parachutes and jump gear... Not bad).
To take my idea of these being the tops in value a step further though... Let's look at their vehicles.
A 1:18 scale P-38 Lightning Interceptor... A massive fighter in World War II by all means, is recreated in perfect 1:18 scale. The plane is made up of TONS of individual parts, and put together by hand. There's a full cockpit interior down to every tiny detail including footpedals and a control stick, painted instrumentation, etc... The cockpit glass opens EXACTLY as the real plane would, in multiple sections. The landing gear open, lock, and roll, and are comprised of many individual parts, ther painting and decaling are incredibly accurate, and again it's PERFECT 1:18 scale.
You get that for $40-$50 depending if you find it in a store or online. I got mine for $40 at TRU. And there's a number of paintjobs for ANY given fighter too, not just one to pick from. Everything from D-Day to the Pacific Theater can be found.... AND you get a unique pilot with super articulation that is as good (or even better than) the basic carded figures. I mean, holy ****.
And, to add to that... 21st Cent. Toys is A) a private, small, independant toy company with highly limited capital as compared to Hasbro, B) pay licensing fees on any number of items... Contrary to popular belief among SW collectors who love to defend Hasbro, other toy companies do pay out the whazoo for licenses, and sometimes pay multiples licenses on one toy they make... While it's not in the millions, it adds up and for small private toy companies it is just as damaging financially to them in relative terms. Imagine if you had to pay for the Humvee title, or the Patton Family to use his likeness? And now imagine if those fees go into the 10's of thousands of dollars sometimes. And anything from noseart on a fighter to a pilot's name has to be paid out... Yes, this **** costs money too and Hasbro all-too-often hides behind the license fee IMO.
21st's also got to answer to people who demand accuracy, and are as frustrated as Hasbro can be with Lucasfilm wanting them to go back and revisit something again and again... Other comapnies deal with the same problems, if not worse problems since 21st doesn't have the production capabilities and such that Hasbro does, and yet they still put out a better product year in and year out despite their obstacles they face. To me, the X-Treme Detail and Elite Force 1:18 scale lines are worth every penny.
