1/18 Huey B from JSI exclusive for Merit International

[normandy]

Thanks for the reply Jim, it's all a little confusing.
I would have thought once a company has a license to produce a model of an aircraft that's it, then make as many different repaints as they want.
Is it because JSI is calling it a Huey B rather than Huey C ? Or is it something else?

[tmanthegreat]

Looks fantastic!

But, it seems to be the old 21c tooling. I still have my original 21c Huey C gunship that's proudly served in my collection since 2001 (as well as one of the "slick" variants). That's enough Hueys for me.

[bobb428]

Jim@Merit, If you guys are representing JSI, what is the status of the F-15 or the Russian plane?

[Tinman]

Rats, it is a repaint. If they come out with a version that has significant differences beyond just the paint, then I'll be interested.

Sorry. Hope this will change in later 2013.

Ah, perhaps there's hope!

Thank you, Jim.

[c44]

Speaking of hope, I hope we start seeing pilots & crew figures again...which raises the question, could an interested party locate all the old 21CT figure molds should they want to...?

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

Agreed! everytime they make pilot figures we buy as many as we can get and they are gone in a couple of weeks.

[P47faninchicago]

Now that a "new" Huey is going to be produced, the fire sale on the old Hueys should be starting soon. I remember when JSI put out their P-38's. The old P-38's which were being listed for $200-400 on ebay suddenly dropped to $100 and ebay was absolutely flooded with them-people trying to unload them before the new ones came out and made their old ones worthless.

[gliderdwm]

I don't think the JSI version putt putt maru ever made the 21st century P-38's worthless. The value might have gone down slightly but the Haleakala and Cal Cutie have held there value and Louise is virtually nowhere to be found. Even WWS sells easily for a hundred.

[Dauntless]

...that would be a good thing.

Got an Air America Huey, but nothing in OD yet.

Prefer just a regular Air Cavalry version. Something you'd see on the battlefields of Vietnam everyday.
To each their own though with the hoghead sharkmouth over the top Huey.

Maybe catch a good deal and get a real 21st Century Toy ... but I suspect the other versions will somewhat hold their value.

[dragon53]

Diecastairplane.com has the new UH-1 for $97.95 and Flyingmule has it for $97.99.

[CW4USARMY]

Thanks Dragon53! 97.99 with free shipping seems like a deal to me! Thanks again for the heads up!

[Jolly Roger]

Bad cat has it for $99.96

Since I'm one state away, the 2-3$ difference is worth waiting extra days from far away dealers.

[tmanthegreat]

The new Huey looks great, but I think I'll sit this one out. I've got two Hueys already and thats more than enough for me. Still for those new to the hobby that weren't collecting in 2001 or around 2004-06, this will be the first "affordable" Huey we've gotten in a long time. Its priced $50 to $100 less than the going rate for these things.

As such, it will likely drive some versions of the Huey lower. The S1 21c aircraft was already usually the cheapest and will likely drop in price. The others with the "smooth" noses will likely retain their value better. I don't anticipate much of a drop in price with the 21c "Air Cav slick" and "Easy Rider" Hueys, since those seem to be the most rare.

Since this is a JSI/Merit release, this Huey is almost certainly the original 21c tooling with little modification other than the paint scheme. Fantastic that a 12-13 year old tooling can still hold up so well in our hobby

[gouchy]

Besides the difference in price between JSI and 21st, another thing to consider is that JSI has no pilot figures, and these are hard to come by in the secondary market. So depends if anyone who's interested thinks that a pilot is absolutely necessary might still go for a 21st one though its priced higher.

On that note, if any company can come up with and release proper helo pilots (Huey, Cobra, etc) would make some collectors happy

[tmanthegreat]

The Vietnam-style Helicopter pilots are difficult to find cheap. There always seems to be one or two on ebay, but they can be anywhere between $25-$50 for a single uncarded figure. Over the years, I got lucky and managed to scrounge up a couple loose pilot figures that didn't come with any of my 21c Hueys, so at least I have two pilot in each ship now.

Proper modern pilots are much easier to come by. 7-8 years ago, BBI had their carded "Navy Seal Blackhawk" crew figure which was their basic Helo pilot in the OD green fatigues. They also had the "desert" version of the same figure in the tan fatigues with the African-American headsculpt. Those work very well with most of the Modern helicopters - the Supercobras, Blackhawks, Littlebirds, Kiowas, etc. Then BBI had the "Chopper Harris" Nightstalker helo pilot/crew figure and the more recent version in the tan fatigues that came with the new Special Ops Blackhawk. The Apaches came with their own special figures, including the original ones in the cammo uniforms and the S2 versions in the tan desert uniforms, but those were never sold carded.

On eBay, its easy to find the new tan version of the BBI "Chopper Harris" figure and some of the old BBI OD green crew figures. Obviously, the modern figures can fit in the 21c/JSI Huey, but just don't look quite right...

[dragon53]

I've been posting about someone on SSHQ making additional UH-1 pilots for almost two years-----but with no results.

There have been several SSHQ members who have mentioned making pilots for the 1/18 F-14, F/A-18 and F-16 and some actually went into production.

With many of the old 21st Century UH-1s needing pilots and Merit's new line needing even more pilots, I'll say again-----if someone makes more UH-1 pilot figures AND door gunners (that's FOUR figures plus two M60 machine guns per UH-1), there's money to be made.

[Jolly Roger]

Bad Cat has stated that the initial PO sold out in less than 16 hours.
They have upped there PO numbers.

only 600 world wide.

If your on the fence, Jump off, or Jump over!

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

they are full of it pre order just started today

[Barbarian333]

Ordered mine Mon Night the 7th.

[CW4USARMY]

Yep, preordered mine as well, flyingmule.com for 97.99 and free shipping is best deal going!

[rudedog]

i went to the merit web site the paint looks very cool but the choper looks like the same tooling as the 21st release i took mine down and compared both i don t see any things in the body or engine and rotor assy differant. i hope i'm wrong it also did not show any personal with it or mention them. i have a freind who served as a door gunner on the m 60 he said he would love to have one if it was more correct. i posted it needs the correct wepons and crew with it i think most people fell the same. also merit has hinted to a 3rd tomcat any one heard this?

[forcerecon85]

I missed out on the original 21C run so I am happy that they are coming back. It also helps that this model "Ace of Spades" of the 174th AHC is my favourite model of UH-1B/C of the war, as was the F-14 from VF-84. At $100, I cannot pass this up. It does suck that there may not be any figures. Merit also distributes Vietnam War figures, mostly 1:35 scale. I don't see how difficult it would be to produce pilots and door gunners for JSI, or eventually create their own later on. The demand is clearly there, it's just a matter of listening to the consumer. If they were business smart, they would sell out their lot of Hueys and then sell crews separately.

[granch]

Saw this on eBay. Who knows "Yadira"?
http://www.ebay.ch/itm/1-18-21st-Centur ... 3f20e0218f

[Barbarian333]

I dont know him but he always has decent items listed at inflated prices.

[Barbarian333]

Looking at his feedback, its mostly as a buyer.