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

[Jesse James]

I picked up a full set of the modern figs and the 2 WW2 figs shipping with them here just the other day...  I'm overall pleased with what I got.  I'll give some mini-reviews/thoughts on them here now...

-US Spec. Forces Afghanistan...  The Special Forces guy with bare arms is pretty much lacking the things Ryan already mentioned, so you're right on with this one.  The joints are not attractive and show green spots throughout instead of casting it in flesh tones...  And no wrist articulation?  That sucks, plain and simple.  If you can see the elbow joints so much what's the big deal about gaps at wrist joints?  Sleeveless arms are just gonna have to accept they're ugly with articulation and move on.

No working holster also sucks, and I'd add that a non-removable hat is inexcuseable really...  Not perfect, but at the samet ime it's probably the best sculpted figure they've ever done...  The realism on it's unmatched, and it shows how our special forces are fitting in over in Afghanistan...  It's a brutal area, and our troops are adapting to it in weird ways.

-Night Stalker...  One I don't even know wtf a nightstalker is.  I've never heard the term, but I can only assume the guy's a chopper pilot...  What he flies, I have no clue.  Every chopper comes with a pilot so this guy's an enigma to me.  He has a pilot helmet on though...  Though why does he come with a big, I think, M-60 machine gun?  I don't get it...

He does come with a cool laptop and GPS though and that's awesome to me.  A great sculpt, but like the Afghan spec. ops guy he has no wrist joints and like you said Ryan it's REALLY inexcuseable on a figure who has gloves on.  For christ's sake just give him the wrists from the other army figures since they're the same gloves...  Oh and no working holster, again, when they have a goddamn working holster all ready to be used that they've put on figures to-date.   This sucks really and is a regression IMO.

-Sniper...  I love this guy.  I don't mind the goofy guille suit without the "back" on it.  To me I'll only display him all guille'd out anyway.   I'm gonna cast the hat and suit for star wars uses too, it's fantastic.  The figure has a very hard time holding his sniper rifle(s) though I've found, my only complaint about him. 

I like that he comes with two rifles though...  Again though, no working holster...  WTF is the deal with BBI ditching working socom holsters?   

-Navy SEAL...  Best of the bunch is the Navy SEAL figure.  He features diving vest, diving fins, camera (I think?), 9mm SMG, boonie hat, goggles...  Stuff all fits the figure well though the breather doesn't fit to his mouth right, it's too low.   It'd be nice if the goggles/mask would wrap on the boonie hat too instead of only on the face.  No huge deal there though...

Articulation's perfect really, though BBI could step it up by adding mid-thigh swivels to figures...  And again no working socom holster and it's a must at this point.  Screw making a new holster with a molded-in gun, just give us the old one you already ahve tooled up and we can put the new kick-ass pistols in it ya know?

Anyway, great figures...

The WW2's are better IMO for the most part than 21st's but I'm disappointed that their backpacks are basically stuck on them.  If you take them off the web gearing looks like ****.  The Army Ranger's helmet is too small too for his head, but no big deal there to me, I have tons of helmets available to slap on him.

Some more rifle-ish hands would be nice for posing the figure with M1-Garands but again it poses ok...  Just takes some work.

Overall, great figures, and for $4.99 you can't beat this kind of value.  Even the worst BBI figure rivals the best Hasbro figure...  That's not a good thing for Hasbro, but it's great for a small company like BBI, no doubt.

[Nirvana]

I just picked up the Afghan Spec Forces and WW2 Medic Paratrooper for customs...I actually love the Spec Forces fig, the lack of wrist articulation is a minor setback, as well as the non-removable hat...the brim is too low and you can't see his face.

The Paratrooper was okay...I mainly bought him for the headsculpt and the gear...I didn't like that his arms couldn't hang down at his sides...they kinda hung out at an angle do to the sculpt of his jumpsuit.

Also picked up one of their earlier Marines, the African American version for the boonie hat and beret.

[Vator]

My Wally's have been getting in Panzer's again...is there something I've missed? I thought the days of the Panzers were through, but I guess not.

Also, what news of the MiG-15? That's a fighter I've been longing for as long as some were for the Avenger.

[Jesse James]

Might be a new deco, I dunno, but I've not seen anything but RC Panzers in a while...  Then again the basic Panzers were non-existant in Pittsburgh unfortunately.  I saw one, once, for clearance like they had just found them in the back and needed to unload them fast...  It was at a store I go to routinely too so it wasn't new, just must've gotten lost in a shuffle somewhere along the line.

RC are still abundant here though...  Some stores got new and some just have leftover stuff they won't clearance.

Anyway new news on 21st...

They announced the Pioneer division Hanomag of course which many have probably already seen...  It's cool right?  Has the cool new small artillery piece on it and of course the small track bridges for traversing small streams and gaps...  If a winter white comes up I'll pick one up happily enough for Ardennes offensives...  Not sure I like the camo they showed though.

Anyway, then 21st comes out of the blue with a new US Halftrack...  Sweet.  The M-16 Anti-Air version with quad-cannon's in the rear...  This is a beast of a half-track.  I really want this piece of armor though, especially in Winter White...   I just hope both these come with lots of gear and perhaps new drivers or at least some good repaint pack-in figures.  The lack of figures with the humvees and weapons carrier really hurt the sales on those I think...  I mean who wouldn't pick up a slightly new/repainted Spec. Ops guys, or even perhaps an all-new modern US Infantryman figure?  I'd dig it.

Anyway, new planes too...  I slowly have drifted away from planes all together personally.  The Mig looks cool, so does the Starfighter, and I really REALLY would love the pack-in pilots if nothing else...  The East German Starfighter looks great too.  I just can't justify the space the planes take up though when air combat wasn't ever something I got into like others.

Figures and armor, that's my love at this point...  I need more and more of that.

[Jesse James]

For the military collectors there's been some movement on the front lines of late...  New Halftracks are the rage from 21st this year in 1:18 so why not a third one right?  Here's images of it:



Also 21st confirmed EIGHTEEN new 1:18 figures this year, including at least 2 DAK Germans.  ALl-new sculpts, nothing re-used or repainted, and all featuring the new (and incredible) articulation. 

DAK is cool, not my normal favorite but cool...  I'd honestly be happy with resculpting the basic German and US infantry units (riflemen, support, etc.) from European operations but this is cool too...  The report also said to expect Americans in the mix, many accessories for each figure, and many never-before-seen accessories...

I really hope 21st branches out to Brits, Russians, maybe even Resistance Fighters at some point.  I'd love it myself.

There's also lots of OTHER scales getting news, and since I'm not much on the airplanes anymore (too big and take up too much space for my collecting habits) it should be noted there's just huge news for planes.  Duel 2-packs of planes I guess, Jets, the long-awaited Avenger Torpedoe Bomber is just recently at retail... 

And on a personal note I'm finding Series 2 Battle of the Bulge figures routinely on trips out which is fantastic.  The US troops in greatcoats are freaking incredible.  I love these figures and they're what I wish we'd have gotten first time since the greatcoat was pretty common in the field.

Cool stuff. 

Oh and yes finally some freaking ARTILLERY is up...  Check out 21st's first piece in this genre, the PAK 40, a popular piece of German Artillery used extensively on all fronts:


And here's some shots of the other 2 halftracks for the curious...

Pioneer Hanomag...  Notice the bridge pieces on the sides and the artillery piece in place of the forward MG.  Pretty nice.  These were used extensively by forward German Forces on all fronts.


And this of course is the quad .50 caliber Halftrack.  The anti-aircraft gun (what it was originally designed for) was pretty wicked looking and this is one of 21st's more distinct and highly anticipated armor pieces this year I believe.  I love it personally and it's my favorite thing they've announced in a while really.  These were used against ground/infantry as well later in the war (i've heard this and 21st mentions it on their site but I don't know where it was recorded to have been used against ground targets but my god it must've been devastating against infantry). 

[jedipurge]

Thanks for the pics Jesse, awesome.  why in the hell can't hasbro do there vehicles in this fashion/detail.  It's really amazing the detail/realism put into them.  I can't wait to see what Fritz could/will do with that half track .50 calib quad.   I'm rackin' my brain trying to think how to make that Star Warsy.

[Darth Slothus]

I really like this line. I have a 32x Me109 with german ace paint apps. I follow my heritage;hence the german fighter. My son is really into the 32x planes as well he currently has a Me262, Zero, macci. He really wants a FW 190D plus the upcoming Stuka. He has no desire for the Allied aircraft either. He says if they do a P61 or a twin Mustang he may change his mind. He would like 32x scale american and german bombers as well. We can't find anything but more macci's and zero's at retail so We'll probably have to shop online to get those newer Axis planes.

[Jesse James]

I could definitely use the quad .50 for a SW custom...  It's so alien looking on its own you could just add greeblies to it, maybe extend the barrels and add it to an AT-ST carcas for a walker with some NASTY teeth.

The HT's are some of 21st's best work + value...  They sell for like $20 and the sheer # of parts used to make them makes it worth the price.  The original HT (US) sold for $30 included tons of gear and a figure with a new rem. helmet headsculpt too...  So it was a bit more value, but the recent repaint (Battle of the Bulge) was $20 and just didn't include all the "stuff" but was still a great item.  I didn't pick it up unfortunately and now regret it tremendously.

The work 21st does really goes unrecognized as the brilliance in terms of detail and quality that it is in this scale.  There's always the argument (when drawing comparisons between Hasbro and 21st) that 21st doesn't deal with license costs like Hasbro, etc...  The truth of the matter is though that they actually have to pay licensing fees out on anything from George Patton's family (for his name/likeness) to the individual names/noseart on planes...  And not to mention the manufacturing abilities Hasbro has in an advantage, the financial backing Hasbro has as a publicly held company that 21st lacks as a privately held company, etc...  Yet they're managing a lot of good stuff with their toy line.  They and BBI really go under the radar as truly great toy companies for the collector.  I'm just glad 21st's doing well financially with Wal-Mart (they also don't have the retailer support Hasbro does...  It's sad but 21st really only deals with one retailer in any capacity).  The line is popular I guess with adults and kids alike.

Who'd have thought we'd be at 2006 and kids would want WW2 figures of Japanese Imperial Soldiers, or US Marines from WW2's Pacific Theater?  The pegs in my region aren't empty for 21st product but I gotta say they're not overflowing either.  I remember the pegs overflowing with Japanese figures and now you can only get certain ones and usually there's only a handful of each.  The line seems to be doing well and 21st says it is too...  Good for us then.

[jedipurge]

I'm loving these figs/vehicles, if I didn't have Star Wars OCD I'd be buying anything and everything from this line and BBi, it's just amazing, the guns aren't all limpy like hasbros either.  I was checking out one of the figs and his gun actually has a foldable stock, i would kill to have a stormie/clone carbine that had a foldable stock.  I only have 2 complaints though, which doesn't even compare to how many I have with hasbro, 1)some of the facial expressions-they range from looking like they got smacked with an ugly stick to looking like they got take a  with no toilet paper in sight.  Some are okay but it seems most are in the "action" expression which may not nessicarily, spelling, hold well when using these guys for custom fodder.  2)I wish the joints were ball jointed, while according to Hasbro it's more expensive it looks so much better then that pin/hinge deal that most of them have.  but with the news that they'll be doing more/different scults soon we'll have to wait and see.

[TheBlackDog65]

Wow, where have I been?  Man oh man, I should have been in this thread a LONG time ago.  This is what is one item that is taking over on from my 3 3/4 Star Wars collecting (cutting back to only a figure or two that I want; my must haves on the SW line). 
I have bought many of the 1/32 figures, focusing on the 82nd, 101st, and Big Red 1 when they were out from Normandy, to Market Garden, to the Bulge (and their German counterparts). 
I buy some vechiles, but not duplicates.  I LOVE that they are doing a Pak 40! Anyway, I think for the money, this is the best thing out there for collecting!

[Darth Slothus]

1:144th scale planes are out!

Last night at WM I picked up the Japanese Hayate, the f6 hellcat, the ME262, and the P51 mustang.

Nice little planes..my son will be thrilled when he checks his sock for xmas

[Jesse James]

I try to keep this thread updated...  It includes BBI stuff (of which I've seen more of the new figs of late btw), but yeah the 21st line (and 1:18 in general) is popping...  Tons of stuff coming, and it's not over yet.

I guess all these random updates are 21st's way of keeping up wiht the fans since they (and BBI) had 0 presence at SDCC...  BBI was there but showed nothing.  The competition in these lines is cool (then you throw in Adm. Toys and their jets too), but it's made a lot of the companies tighter lipped than Hasbro about future product till the future isn't very distant. 

The Halftracks are cool to me...  I just hope some paint schemes are consistant for current figure lines.  Like I'm really hoping all the Hano's come in Winter White for mechanized infantry units assaulting Bastogne...  The US HT will be green I assume which is fine for Bastogne (as is a winter paintjob).  The Germans had so many camo schemes though that you could get anything really.   I just hate when 21st does Eastern front schemes considering they've done jack and **** with Eastern front figures...

Would I buy Russians?  Hell yeah but they just don't seem anxious to do them...  I'd buy any nationality.  I hope we get some Brits first though.  I'm salivating at the 18 new figures with 2 DAK confirmed...  There could be some rocking choices in there.  I hope they mix it up some though with really different groups sent out at once instead of one big wave of Marines or Japanese...  If they mix it up and release more of one group later and staggered over time, I think it'll be better for sales.

[Darth Gamboa]

I've been a fan and collector of the 1:18 scale aircraft line since I found the first P-51 Mustang at TRU years ago. Since then I've picked up the ME 109, P-38 Lightning, Stuka, F4U Corsair, P-47 Thunderbolt, FW-190, Spitfire, Huey and F-104 Starfighter. I've been looking for the P-40 Warhawk "Flying Tigers" scheme, and AH-1 Supercobra but I've been told I'm outta luck. From  BBI I've picked up the Apache, Blackhawk, Little  Bird, Kiowa and  Zero.

Keep an eye out at Wal-Mart for those TBM Avengers, I read that BadCat was screwed by 21st Century to Debut this plane.

[Ryan]

I saw a few Avengers at my local Wally-World last night. It is an incredible looking plane. Were I not so poor I would have loved to pick one up. Hasbro really needs to learn a thing or two about proper scale from 21st Century...

[Darth Gamboa]

Woah!  Just  picked  up  the  Avenger  at  the  Wal-Mart in  East  Palmdale  and  this  plane  is  awesome!  But  at  70  bucks!  Ouch!  Looks  like  my  kidney  is  goin' on  e-bay.

If  anyone  spots  1:18  scale  "Flying  Tigers"  Warhawk  or  AH-1  Supercobra  please  let  me  know.  I  have  2  kidneys  after  all.