Small Scale Military Headquarters

Any of you guys still have a preorder out for the Admiral 18th scale Dauntless? Really starting to look like we will never see this model. Just wondering if anyone here is still holding out hope for this one?

my preorder is still in at MTS but i gave up hope for it long ago..

Sure wish we would get some type of news, I can imagine the Dauntless would be a very nice model.

After having my full price preorder $ held for a year, I gave up and had my $ returned.

My feeling is it just will not happen.

TTT

I still have my preorder at MTS, that is assuming they keep their ancient documents. I've not lost any money nor has anyone else gained it, so I am good. I do not think we'll see it as AT has to be dead...

Remember the detail pictures we saw of the model, and how Jason told us about improvements they were making on it. Seems like maybe some other company could pick it up and finish it. I sure hope so.

As far as prototypes go, they also had the Phantom, the Zero and the Warthog too.

What I can't understand is what they thought they were going to accomplish by announcing the "upcoming" release of the Mosquito, the WWI fighters and such...

CORNBREADFRED:

Today I telephoned some diecast orders with a dealer who also sells Admiral. I asked about Admiral's status, and he said they haven't answered his phone calls or emails in a long time.

King O' Fools wrote:As far as prototypes go, they also had the Phantom, the Zero and the Warthog too.

Actually, Admiral Toys never had an A-10 Warthog prototype in any scale. 21st was the only one that ever had a 1/18 scale A-10 prototype. At least one that was actually shown. It has been said that bbi had/has one too, but only Aferg has seen it and I doubt anyone will see it come to life from bbi.

Admiral's Zero was unfortunate because bbi beat them to the punch. bbi's announcement of the Zero was right around the same time or a little before Admiral Toys existence became known.

* I thought 21st.Century had a 1:18 Zero prototype and were going to make it before bbi did ? ... Am I wrong ?


- Mitch v MG

MG-42 wrote:* I thought 21st.Century had a 1:18 Zero prototype and were going to make it before bbi did ? ... Am I wrong ?


- Mitch v MG

You are right 21st had a prototype. It was a big deal for them that year. All painted up and in a glass case under wraps. Then if I remember right, a very short time after that bbi had the announcement that theirs was shipping to retailers. Never even gave a hint to fans that it was in the works until it was pretty much on the water.

So I guess bbi, Admiral, and 21st all had their eyes on producing a Zero at one point. bbi just beat everyone to the punch.

That Mosquito anouncement really got me p.o'ed. How did they think we could take that seriously while we were all sitting on our nonexistent Dauntless preorders and nonexistent Galland F-86 preorders, and the nonexistent Skyraider, and the nonexistent WW1 planes,and,and, and. Just an absolutely bizarre thing to do.

I hear ya, I really wanted that Skyraider also.

P47faninchicago wrote:That Mosquito anouncement really got me p.o'ed. How did they think we could take that seriously while we were all sitting on our nonexistent Dauntless preorders and nonexistent Galland F-86 preorders, and the nonexistent Skyraider, and the nonexistent WW1 planes,and,and, and. Just an absolutely bizarre thing to do.

Agreed, but people instantly started dutifully buzzing about it. Which kept Admiral on everyone's lips, which I guess was the game.

Some guy selling Admiral stuff on ebay claims that they went out of business, and as such is charging high prices

So the A-10 picture that doubles as somebody's avatar is the 21st or the BBI version? (It's kinda sad, but whenever I see a picture of a prototype I tend to think Admiral Toys. I guess 21st was more into the PhotoShop thing.)

King O' Fools wrote:So the A-10 picture that doubles as somebody's avatar is the 21st or the BBI version? (It's kinda sad, but whenever I see a picture of a prototype I tend to think Admiral Toys. I guess 21st was more into the PhotoShop thing.)

Believe it or not, it is a picture of a real 1/18 scale A-10 prototype from 21st Century Toys. You can see the tail of their 1/18 scale Huey Cobra in the background for reference and verification it was the real thing. That was around the time the Cobra had recently been released to give you a time frame of how long 21st has had it and failed to do anything with it.

All quite there too!

http://www.collectorsaccess.com/phpBB3/ ... 894115a612

I still have my pre-order (and I paid up-front) in with MTS. I'm planning to cancel it in January, when it will be three years. I think that's holding out long enough.

Admiral's demise is of no surprise to me. It was a small company making very specialized products for a niche market that was oversaturated, all during an economic downturn. If 21c could not escape the current economic situation, then Admiral most certainly could not.

Further, while 21c certainly had its share of long-standing problems, they were churning out items until the end. Admiral came quickly and went almost as fast. They burst on the scene in 2005/2006 offering many original items. Their 1:18 scale F-86, ME-262 and 1:72 Panzer IIIs were all firsts for their respective scales. All of those items, including repaints, were released by 2007 and then nothing. We got the aforementioned promises, pictures, and saw an advanced prototype of the Dauntless, but nothing new ever materialized for years, not even more repaints.

Admiral was in many respects a victim of their own success, the competition, and the economy, despite all their claims to the contrary. Its too bad as I would liked to have seen the Dauntless.

I would have liked to have at least had that Dauntless or the Skyraider. I think everyone thought those might actually make it to production. I know I did. The Mossie and the WWI fighters were pretty much a pipe dream in the closing days of Admiral. Much like the MiG-21, and B-25.

Hey at least we have an F-14 coming right?

i don't think anyone really believed the mosquito was going to happen. Strange thing to announce it though...Jason must have known that AT was on the brink, or doomed...what's to be gained from announcing product you have no hope of making? Ah well, was fun while it lasted.

If Admiral is really out, it's sad to see them go. I wanted to add the Skyraider to my collection, both the USAF Sandy versions and of course a USN version.

if anyone has a working phone number for admiral toys please email me

So, they have just not said anything. They could still be around. I think announcing their demise is a bit premature.