Are 1/18 scale figures dead

[Aviatornut.com]

I have several 1/18 figures listed on ebay and they have not sold for two weeks now.
http://shop.ebay.com/aviatornut/m.html? ... 4340.l2562
bbi asked if it is a good time to import thier figures (i think not). market is still flooded and the price has not gone up on them.
what do you guys thinks

[Jesse James]

It depends on the figures... Dragon's stuff never did well, and while it's aestheticlaly nice, they really didn't do much for me as a figure collector. I preferred 21st Century, BBI, and FOV in just about every way... I picked up some Dragon mostly for their gear and parts only.

I still buy some of the others here and there when I see them, but I have pretty substantial armies now... Certain 21st guys I'd buy in a heartbeat, others I have too many of to justify it for anything but a pretty low price.

Our War is doing a series of Germans and has plans to continue then beyond that... I think those are good ideas, as they're new/interesting. I'm definitely more interested in "new" though... even if it's just another look at something someone already did, like cold weather U.S. or German troops. I'm open to that stuff.

[Aviatornut.com]

Thanks!
I agree that new is what customers want but bbi is looking same old stuff and I think collectors already have it and is not looking to buy it again for more $.
It is a shame about Dragon because I think they made the best figures except the articulation

[hotrodrock]

Deader than a dead skunk in the middle of the road stinkin to high heaven. I have enough figures to go with the rather large collection of 1/18 vehicles that I have. Not sure why figures would sell if no new affordable vehicles are being made. I think most people like to combine the two.

[Jesse James]

Just looking at it from a scale perspective (and toy lines in general), it's usually the other way around and I tend to believe that's a valid model for going about things... Figures outsell vehicles ultimately in the long-run because they're cheaper to manufacture and more affordable to the consumer then, but also easier to collect... They're definitely more in line for an impulse buy. To me, the lines have always focused too much on too many vehicles, and figures is where they would've been wiser to invest, letting new vehicles come out as time and the line's popularity solidify.

People want vehicles but ultimately, how many $40+ toys can you buy and display? But how many $4.99 toys can you buy and display?

[aferguson]

"the lines have always focused too much on too many vehicles"

um, excuse me but, what?? Too many vehicles? I must have missed those. I don't think 6 tanks and 2 halftracks, with variations in 10+ years can be described as 'too many vehicles'.

And no, i don't think 1/18 figures will ever be dead. I am constantly buying new ones, a couple here a couple there, for various projects. There will always be a demand for basic soldier figures, whether they be german , US, modern, wwii, and there is definitely a demand for some variety, ie non german and non US figures.

[Jesse James]

More about the rapid nature all that stuff came out... WM was getting umpteen planes and repaints, choppers... 1 plane a year should've been it. 1 tank a year, maybe a repaint. Maybe a couple smaller vehicles then a year and variants... 21st didn't adhere to those kinds of standards though. They were all over the place, and at their height they were putting a lot of different planes and things out at one time it seemed, plus overlap from the last round... That was their downfall.

A steady schedule of new and repainted figures in set waves for a year would've gone a long, long way for them. From the line's first launch it was doomed IMO. Too much at once, for what it was... They were on a better track once they got to Vietnam... One tank, one small vehicle, a wave of figures... Figures are the anchor of just about every toy line. Vehicles are secondary and their quantity varies by their price... 21st was trying to push too much at one time at various points IMO.

As a prime example... I got 2 Hano variants, a quad .50, and Avenger at one single shopping trip... And I could've gotten a ton more. At the same time, the only figures on the pegs were DAK 2-packs... That's lopsided and doesn't bode well for the line's overall layout.

[pickelhaube]

I know mine are.

Most of them are still in the boxes that the tanks and planes came in.

They should be rotting away now down to their bones.

Ehh...

What were we talking about ?

[Yoxford]

I really do not care for most figures at all...BUT I do need pilots....I think BBI is sitting on a gold mine as, IMO, they make the best WWII and modern pilot figures...if they want to move some figures, release their pilots seprately...I will buy 6 of em right now.

[aferguson]

yes i have to agree with the pilot figure thing......especially since most planes stopped coming with them a few years ago and any new ones that are being released these days don't come with them.

Pilot figures are something i would buy many of over time.

[tmanthegreat]

I can't say that 1:18 figures are dead exactly... Obviously, there still is a good selection of them and they are easily obtainable (unlike a lot of the 1:18 vehicles and aircraft increasingly are). However, it is not the best market for them either. However, I also see exactly where Aviatornut is coming from in that existing stocks of 21c/BBI/Dragon figures are not moving from retailers. Look at the popular retailer SmallJoes, for example. They still have a large selection of 21c and BBI figures that hasn't really dwindled for months or even years now.

I'm no business expert, but I think the sales volume likely mirrors the overall condition of the 1:18 market. There hasn't been much activity in terms of new items or re-releases and when there isn't much going on, people are less likely to spend.

I also tend to think that in the 1:18 military world, figures were always secondary to vehicles and aircraft and could not really exist independently from them. That probably also plays a role in the slow sales. If you look at the vast majority of the discussions on this board, members traditionally got excited over the newest aircraft or armor - not figure line. Further, always the planes and armor sold out first at TRU and Wal Mart before the figures. In the 1:18 military world, we seemed to collect the figures more for a utilitarian "army building" purpose and not necessairly for the figures themselves. Note that this fact differs from other toy lines like GI Joe and Star Wars as those lines have always been character-based due to the movies and cartoons/comics. Neither 21c, BBI, or Unimax was really ever able to establish a successful character-based action figure line with their military toys nor thus figures by themselves never really could carry on independently from the other aspects of each toy line. They were always secondary, destined to be pilots, drivers, riders, or the guys marching alongside.

I have purchased 1:18 figures recently, but it was often more on a case-by-case basis such as needing a couple more figures for a project or something. I imagine that if Allgo or JSI were to start releasing new armor or vehicles, the sale of 1:18 figures would pick up...

[Jesse James]

I'd disagree on the sales of figures compared to vehicles...

When 21st launched at TRU, figures moved the most briskly, while vehicles sat. I don't think it has anything to do with "characters", but everything to do with sales rates... When I look back at 1:18, I remember tons of stuff not moving too well that was $30 and up.

Then Wal-Mart... It just got worse. Repaints of planes that hadn't even sold yet the first time were now sitting beside one another. Those 50's era Jets were everywhere here. I remember Huey's stacked to the ceiling till clearance. All the while, $4.99 figures would sell, a case would replace them... They'd hit an eventual saturation point of course, and certain figures wouldn't sell (Jeep Driver, DAK Artillery Spotter) while others moved at full price...

Forces of Valor's another good example, and they seemed to focus on the model of "figures first". Figures came in, and WW2 stuff would sell out in no time when it was new. Case upon case moved there. The vehicles I had no trouble finding anything except the Tiger Tank, and I think the Tiger was hard to find because there were plenty of other earlier released vehicles just sitting around. Figuers would eventually saturate again...

To me, they should focused on repainting some of those figures, getting them back out in a new format.

I just guess I remember 1:18 as not being the grand business everyone else does... Stuff came out, but it seemed doomed from the get-go to me because it was always clearancing and new stuff wasn't set to any steady schedule. One plane was clearancing while the next one was on its way or sitting right beside it. I mean, that's not good stuff.

I'm not saying vehicles can't do great, and that some didn't do great at retail. I'm just saying that there's a more proven model on how to do it from other companies, and the 1:18 companies would be wiser to look at it. Right now FOV is the only one that came close to that, and right now they're the only ones really doing anything. I don't think that's too coincidental. If 21st focused on a few big-ticket items a year, and a figure line that had something steadily new (and more steady sales), I just think it would've done better.

It's easy to argue this stuff, and I get that some folks disagree with me because they wanted more planes, and more tanks (I do too, so I don't mean to annoy folks with what I'm saying. I just am looking at things differently), but at the end of the day are those companies still doing anything? To me, that says what they were doing didn't work... Lots of factors for sure... Probably not the least of which is that this whole "market" is small to begin with. You're not going to make it grow though by making most of what you put out that's new, $40 (or much more now)+ and a shelf-hog.

I fully suggest everyone who wants more figures get out there and buy though... Small Joes has some really good prices on full sets of figures. Really outstanding figures too like the Marines, Japanese, I think FOV Figure sets... Get out there and buy.

[digger]

I don't think 6 tanks and 2 halftracks, with variations in 10+ years can be described as 'too many vehicles'.

How quickly we forget. Are we not counting Jeeps, Trucks, Kubels, Command Car, artillery or anything after WWII?

[Aviatornut.com]

Maybe I am pessimistic but I think that manufacturing is afraid of the economy and they don’t want to be caught with their pants down and invest big $ in any tooling. Therefore I think all we are going to see is remakes of the same old stuff that is cheap to make. If you look around it is already happing in the food industry that is they are selling smaller portions for the same price. It is speculated that it takes around 15% more $ today to buy the same item 5 or 6 years ago.
The figure market for the same old stuff is dead and the only place for growth would be some of bbi's pilot figures.
Also seems like ebay has a lot less traffic!

[gouchy]

If BBi still has these,

00250 Delta Force Danny Lynch 00250
00251 Delta Force JT Lucas
21488 Seal Johhny Davies
00253 Brit Para Gavin Reid

These guys have become rare and I think these might still sell? I know I'd want some more myself

[tosborne3]

All 1/18th scale figs are dead. You can send them all to me and I will make sure they are buried properly into my own collection. No, really they are, so if you need my address just let me know!!!

[newwavepop]

i know im probably the only one on this forum, but i dont collect vehicles or planes. i only collect 3 3/4" figures and sometimes playsets and 1:18 scale figures fall nicely into that scale. i also have always been a big fan of uniforms. for me the first series of 21st figures were really cool, the german and their cool field grays and all the americans looked unique to a point. after that to me they lost alot of their character. new releases seemed like it would be 6 of the same figure with a different head. and i dont build battle scene dioaramas so a bunch of identical battle fatigue figures were of no use to me. i also dont find modern military to be interesting looking at all. all i ever really wanted were some nicely done ww2 era german officers, but those were left mostly undone because of the politics. i am a fairly massive figure collector but my entire millitary collection consists basically of the first series 21st as well as the 1st paratroopers and fallschirmjager as well as just a few 21st and bbi pilots and tank commanders. it has now been years since i bought a 1:18 figure and i miss having something i want.

[MCalamari]

I've been buying 21c US paratroopers (101st) when I find deals. I would not say that the market has dropped out on 1:18 figures.

[coreystinson]

Maybe I am pessimistic but I think that manufacturing is afraid of the economy and they don’t want to be caught with their pants down and invest big $ in any tooling. Therefore I think all we are going to see is remakes of the same old stuff that is cheap to make.

This is correct. It is a) the economy, and b) consumer sentiment regarding prices. Companies like BBI have a good opportunity to test the price-point waters with limited re-releases of items that are selling for a lot on eBay, which includes most of their 1:18 scale line. Can the consumer in this economic climate afford to pay the price that the new economy of scale requires to manufacture these large pieces in smaller quantities in an environment where commodity prices are increasing? Is the consumer willing to accept higher prices yet when they still remember lower prices from a few years ago? These are the questions that the manufacturers and retailers must explore.

To answer the original poster's question: I don't think 1:18 scale figures are dead. They still sell for me despite the fact that I've been offering pretty much the same selection for the last couple of years now. Eventually that inventory will dry up though. BBI could probably safely wait another year on 1:18 scale figures but by then I'd like to see them releasing some things.

[savage213king]

I belive they have a good chance of surviving because of a few factors.....
Most of Hasbro toys (GI Joe, Star Wars, Jurassic Park just to name a few) are in the 1:18 scale and that means that there are a lot of different cominations of figures to use. I know loved army toys growing up so I bought the corps before I knew about GI Joe. I combine them with GI Joe and a few star Wars Figures and have a giant battle. Now that GI Joe figures are made in a way i do onot like (love the "O" ring figures) I buy Corps figures instead also cuz they are cheaper. This is my opinion anyways.

[Dauntless]

If anythings dead it's 12" figures. Hasbro has not offered anything in 12" anymore unlike the many 12" GI Joes they used to sell. Yet their Clone Wars, Star Wars, Marvel and GI Joe 1/18 (3 3/4) figures continue to do well. That's the almost all they sell now. The exception being Sideshow Toys.

Other companies try to follow suit and are more successful than if they try to offer bigger sizes. The only other size that seems to do ok is 6" like Neca, Star Trek, LOTR, and Mattel which seem to do ok, but I think would do better if they were at 3 3/4. They are stupidly canceling the Infinite Heroes small figures line I heard because the sales were not that good, but I think that was because of the choice of obscure characters and craptastic articulation way below the Hasbro standard.

A lot has to do with how many vehicles are offered to put them in. Skyworks is selling 1:18 modern jet pilots because they aren't offered with the JSI F-14.
Hasbro makes a giant AT-AT with just a driver, than fans buy the Vintage Commander, and all of a sudden Snowtroopers are scarce.

[savage213king]

If anythings dead it's 12" figures. Hasbro has not offered anything in 12" anymore unlike the many 12" GI Joes they used to sell. Yet their Clone Wars, Star Wars, Marvel and GI Joe 1/18 (3 3/4) figures continue to do well. That's the almost all they sell now. The exception being Sideshow Toys.

Other companies try to follow suit and are more successful than if they try to offer bigger sizes. The only other size that seems to do ok is 6" like Neca, Star Trek, LOTR, and Mattel which seem to do ok, but I think would do better if they were at 3 3/4. They are stupidly canceling the Infinite Heroes small figures line I heard because the sales were not that good, but I think that was because of the choice of obscure characters and craptastic articulation way below the Hasbro standard.

A lot has to do with how many vehicles are offered to put them in. Skyworks is selling 1:18 modern jet pilots because they aren't offered with the JSI F-14.
Hasbro makes a giant AT-AT with just a driver, than fans buy the Vintage Commander, and all of a sudden Snowtroopers are scarce.

I agree about 12in being dead H%&& I havent seen on of them in a store in long time.

[snake]

Kind of ironic, as the only figures I have are the 1/6 scale.

BBI F-15 pilot, and U-2 astronaut.

[pcsguy88]

GI Joe figures with gear from the other lines is a great combination for fictional troops.

[Sarge1234567]

I might buy some of these just for the weapons and maybe for dioramas.