Badcat: "new rounds of 1:18 and 1:32"

[VMF115]

Thanks for the updates Zach, I cant wait to see the 88 and king tiger.

[Jesse James]

KT, 88, new figures (god I hope it's WW2 we're talking here)... Good stuff.

I'm sorry though, I'm already sick of Nam stuff unless they do some NVA or VC figures. Otherwise I'm done with Nam I think, and long for some nationality differences in the WW2 line.

[ttclem]

Greetings all! I'm relatively new to the aircraft collection. I've spent pretty much all my time with comic related items. But these frickin 1:18 scale planes are amazing. Anyway, what are the chances of getting a bomber in the 1:18 scale? Like a b-17 or something? Also, what about an A-10? Thanks!

[tmanthegreat]

Welcome! Don't let all the whishing and whining fool you, but the chances for getting a pre-assembled large bomber in 1:18 are at this moment slim. It really has to do with size/cost/sales potential of the big items. Obviously, a 1:18 B-17 will have a far more enormous cost of development, and hence a much higher retail cost, than a small fighter. Sure there would be some people (namely us few collectors) that would buy the plane, but the bulk of 21c's consumers (the "average joes" shopping for their kids at TRU and Wal Mart) would not purchase this plane as its simply too big and expensive for their means.

Past experience with 21c have shown large projects to be difficult. They built a famous prototype of the A-10 in 1:18 scale several years ago, but chose not to develop the project further due to the size/cost/sales potential issue. The Avenger was another similar story. It took nearly three years to develop the plane from when it was first announced, and then in all fairness, it sold poorly at mass retail. Many Wal Marts across the country got stacks of Avengers over the 2006/2007 holiday season that didn't sell at the $75 retail price and were eventually discounted to $35 and lower. That is a loss for Wal Mart and especially 21c. Now, the Avenger case did have other factors working against it (namely the illogical Wal Mart distribution system) but the fact remains that the planes sold more poorly than expected.

Back to the large bombers, 21c has proposed to make a B-25 and an F-4 Phantom, but they are keeping very quiet about the projects. I would like to see them, but it may yet

Don't take me as being extremely pessimistic, just that I am a bit realistic. Sure, it would be great to see any number of WWII and modern planes made in 1:18, but the size, cost, and sales potential of such items severely constricts what can be made in that scale.

Now, 1:32 scale seems a much more likely venue for making a large multi-engine bomber

[ttclem]

Thanks, T-Man!

I figured the size thing would be the big issue for the bombers. but isn't the A-10 about the size of a f-16?

Also, I've also wondered about getting some toys, like these 1/18 ships, that represent the warships and/or destroyers. Old battleships in a 1/32 scale (or whatever scale it would be in) would be pretty cool.

I know my imagination is probably bigger than necessary, but it never hurts to wish!

[tko211]

I can confirm that the new figures that I referenced are indeed WWII subjects. The Nam stuff has been nice to spice things up and I expect that will continue to certain small degree. However, WWII remains a staple that never gets old to us collectors and there is still lots more to cover. That is all that I can say about this at the moment. Hopefully as 21C gets a little closer I can say more.

[SGT. Saunders]

There are new figs on the way in 1:18 as well. (READ: new subjects!) Cool stuff!

TKO.

What do you mean "READ: new subject"? where?

WWII British figures?

[tko211]

Sorry. to be more clear when I said (READ:) I mean " to be specific" you the reader can expect the new figures I am referring to as being... New subjects.

Sorry for the confusion. I just wnated to make sure people knew these were not head swaps or paint changes. But rather new molds and subjects all together.

These are WWII.

[SGT. Saunders]

Thanks TKO. I hope this year is a year for some 1/18 WWII British troops!

[tmanthegreat]

I know my imagination is probably bigger than necessary, but it never hurts to wish!

We're all that way The A-10 is actually larger than the F-16 and in some ways would be a more complex model - especially with all the details 21c likes to include on their aircraft, for better or worse. A 1:32 scale battleship would be absolutely huge, even one in 1:48. A hobbystore in my town has a 1/144 scale model of the USS New Jersey and that is nearly 5 feet long! There is a toyline called Gearbox that made 1/700 scale WWII battleships and aircraft carriers. They have been showing up at Tuesday Morning stores as of late. But now I digress from the topic of this thread...

[GooglyDoogly]

Maybe it's time for 21st and others to consider moving their production to a more stable location, like Columbia or Venezuela.

I hope you are only being sarcastic.

I can just see it now the US does something to piss president Chavez off and all he has to do is say no more 1/18th toys for you, or you know that 1/18th a-10 that is supposed to becoming out by summer of 2009, not going to happen, try 2015.
Or no F-14 why because it’s a symbol of the capitalist pig’s government.

No...with Chavez' ego, he won't stop the production of 1/18th toys.

He'll just order 21st to tampo-print his face on the wings of 1/18th planes.