for 21st Century Toys.
He emailed me yesterday and thought it was a good idea we chat, so we did.
He's a super nice guy, warm and friendly. We talked for probably 45 minutes or so. There were no major revelations i can think of, mostly because he was restricted in what he could tell me (and hence the public).
His backround is very impressive. He has been working in the toy industry for around 20 years or so, has been a professional model maker since '87. Worked on Star Wars Ep2, has written books, won countless model contests etc. He wanted me to assure everyone that he does his very best in researching every paint scheme that comes out. His knowledge is vast and he has a very impressive list of contacts of people he can draw on.
Anyway, here is as much detail as i can remember:
Zero: as has been said over and over it is not dead but also not likey anytime soon. Probably NOT in '05. The major reason is that the collector market (us) is just not big enough and that the sale of a couple of thousand units to us would not even come close to justifying the expense. The feeling is that the general public would not really be interested in a Zero. Limited repaint opportunities further hamper the appeal of making this subject and big toys don't sell well in Japan, which would probably be the biggest market for it. However, it is not dead. A bit of a crusher for me was that he said Russian planes are very unlikely as they sell worse than Japanese. I was very hopeful of a Yak and Sturmovik one day but that does not seem terribly likely at this point. I'm hoping this is disinformation that he wants me to unwittingly pass on;
A-10: Also, not dead. He said 'anything is possible' but i didn't get the impression it is anywhere in the near-ish future.
F-104 and Avenger: tooling being done now both should be out in first quarter of '05. Avenger DOES have folding wings and he said it is truly spectacular to behold. The rumour that 21c was thinking of cancelling it was just that, a rumour. They are very excited about it and its sales potential.
F-4: not a go yet. They have some serious misgivings about its size. I urged him to make it..
Panzer IV and Dodge truck: coming out 'soon'. To me this means in the first half of '05. Release dates are not his department so he couldn't give me any firm figures.
Me-262: Also coming in '05. He said it is spectacular too
Other German fighters: such as the Komet, He 162 etc are a strong possibilty. But i did not get the impression anything was underway as of yet. Even Luft '46 stuff was mentioned as possible one day.
MiG 15 and F-86: a go for '05
WWI planes: possible some day
More RAF types (Hurricane, Typhoon, Tempest, Mosquito): Probable one day
Big Stuff: I asked about the possibility of a B-25 (not totally out of the question) C-47 (ain't gonna happen...too big). I got the impression if anything of that magnituede is going to happen it will be a long ways away.
Future of Armour: armour sells ok but planes sell great. Since they have been struggling financially in the past they focused on planes. This is pretty much what we all figured. Armour will probably continue at a low level. So it's not dead. And for you 32x guys...there was a King Tiger and Jagdtiger shown at a toy show recently...so they are coming.
Figures: he promised that the quality is only going to improve. Head sculpts on the Platoon figures are excellent, Marines are out in the first half of '05 probably and there is more to come. Better pilots (no more sunglasses!) and better crew with modern stuff is promised. The knight figures shown at the Fall Toy Fair are 1/18 and are a go! They are really well done. No news on when or where they will be sold.
Huey D: i asked if there is much chance of them doing a proper Huey D slick. Not likely as helicopters in general don't sell as well as planes and except for collectors the general public would not appreciate the difference.
Modular assembly: He pointed out that the Spitfire was made in such a way that it could be updated to later marks quite easily. I had noticed this and he confirmed that it was done on purpose. So i think we can look forward to other Spitfire versions some day.
So, as i said no revelations but lots of good, solid info. I thought of a bunch of questions after i hung up (naturally) that i didn't ask. Hopefully i'll remember when we talk agin in a few months. He was very unwilling to give out any info other than what was generally already known.....this business is very competative and some info needs to be safegaurded until the time is right.
He did say there is a WWII twin coming in '05. Would not even tell me the nationality. My hunch is it's the Me 110 we've heard rumour of but who knows....as he kept saying 'anything's possible'.
He wanted me to assure everyone that 21c has a ton of cool projects on the go and that everyone should be really happy with what the future brings.
We'll be talking again in the future and of course i'll keep everyone updated with any tidbits...
(oh yeah, their is an r/c 1/6 hummer coming in the first few months of '05).
I wanted my Winter STuka to be getting tailed by someone. 
