POST AVENGER FINDS AND DISCUSSION HERE!

[Sabrefan]

Yes it got rid of my headache, but not my depression caused by not finding an Avenger.

[Shin Densetsu]

What you guys forgot to mention was that the lynhaven walmart here in va beach is not only near damn neck, but mere minutes away from NAS Oceana. I thought of something today..S1 is midatlantic...and thats where we are....perhaps we are getting early dibs on the avenger? Eh who knows...but its nice to know vabeach/chesapeake FINALLY GOT SOMETHING NEW!!! Remember guys, this coming from a guy who's never even seen a retooled Mustang in his AO.

I went to chesapeake today. They are resetting the aisles like some of you mentioned. THere was one left from what I could see. It was on the bottom left of one of the aisles. I didn't have the money for it but I checked it out. Looked cool, I thought it would be bigger but I am more familiar with jets than warbirds and the avenger is a plane I am not too knowledgeable about(I am more of a fighter kind of guy).

Nonetheless it is BEAUT!! Its a dream come true for all of us...seeing this thing finally make it onto shelves. The crew had gaps between their limbs...hopefully they do not turn out to be floppy and all. I suspect its because the twisty ties were too tight. It is fairly heavy and I think its thickness and its wingspan probably jumped up the price. Just by looking at it you can tell theres a whole lot of mechanisms internally that you cannot see from the outside. VERY VERY Cool. Hopefully one of you guys picks it up since it was the sole one I saw, and I ain't buying it(lack the money and I want a blue one...because the blue ones are the ones I am most familiar with).

Its almost like a playset. I bet I would probably spend hours just having it on the ground and having the crew placed in and out of it. Not to mention it is armed to the teeth. If anything the wing folding mechanism intrigues me a lot, I can't wait till I buy one before the end of the year and see for myself!

Hopefully the s2 and s3 schemes make it out here before year's end!

[Moth]

I never saw the retooled Mustangs in Long Island... did anyone see them?

[gordon24]

The Modesto WM has 5 Avengers.7 Bf-109s,and that Sky Captain P-40.No word yet on any Pacific paint releases?

[tmanthegreat]

Sounds like they're getting closer to my AO I'm simply amazed that if places in California like Barstow, Modesto, Palcerville, Brea and the list goes on, can get Avengers, then why not the Fresno/Madera area? Wal Mart is just too screwy.

[aferguson]

For those who are upset about the screw holes being unplugged on the Avenger, the BBI F-18's screw holes (on the right side) are also uncovered and i've never heard a single complaint about them. In fact, i didn't even notice until just now....it's amazing how you can just tune stuff like that out, like you can with fuselage join lines etc.

A very simple fix for the Avenger is to simply dullcote or paint the screw heads. That will stop them from glinting in the light and make them much less obtrusive. There is also the clever painted pencil eraser trick..

Whatever the case, nothing in life is perfect but these Avengers look mighty spectacular.

[Teamski]

For those who are upset about the screw holes being unplugged on the Avenger, the BBI F-18's screw holes (on the right side) are also uncovered and i've never heard a single complaint about them. In fact, i didn't even notice until just now....it's amazing how you can just tune stuff like that out, like you can with fuselage join lines etc.

The F-18's holes are from the bottom, so they aren't anywhere as noticable as those on the Avenger as you can see in the photo. Putty would work just fine, however....



-Ski

[Teamski]

Sounds like they're getting closer to my AO I'm simply amazed that if places in California like Barstow, Modesto, Palcerville, Brea and the list goes on, can get Avengers, then why not the Fresno/Madera area? Wal Mart is just too screwy.

Tman,

Fresno isn't that far away from Modesto, is it??

-Ski

[MK]

Modesto is about 1.5 - 2 hours from Fresno. I even stated Turlock Walmart had 2 and that's closer yet to Fresno.

[Just1more]

I found 8 of them at the WalMart in Monroe on US74... Just out side of Cahrlotte to the east... I got to pick my pair from the eight... its been a long time coming and I'm very happy with them both...

later,
David

[Big Duke 6]

Got mine, happy day. So much for waiting for the Lost Squad....

[lucifuhrman]

After years of waiting I got my Avenger from Wal Mart in Sonora, CA. There is joy in the household! However, I just got done assembling it and one of the tail wings had a busted retaining tab, right out of the box. Now the rear left tail wing sits cock-eyed and droopy

I supposed I'll try 21st C. directly and see if they can send me just a replacement wing. If no wing guess I'll be going after it with super glue.

Oh well, guess ya can't win em all.

[Teamski]

That sux!

[digger]

I just got done assembling it and one of the tail wings had a busted retaining tab, right out of the box.

You should try the store you bought it from. If I bought a $70 item from any store and got it home and it was broken I wouldn't contact the manufacturer, I'd take it back.

[grunt1]

Agree on taking it back.

As for the specific issue, was it the little black retainer inside the wing that popped out? I popped mine out (screw and all). Lost the screw (of course) but used a different screw from the fusilage and put it back in place. All is well.

Note: If you don't have your Avenger yet, swallow your pride and read the instructions. I learned the lesson for all of us already

[WGP Klaus]

Finally managed to find Avengers in my AO, so heres a heads up to what I left on the shelves after driving to 11 WM's in the past two days.

AO: Northeast Region - Maryland/Northern Virginia/Washington DC


2 x Manassas WM, Potomac Mills WM, Fair Lakes WM, Hagerstown WM, Charlestown WM, Laurel WM, Columbia WM, Ellicott City (right off 40)WM all found no Avengers at all, only managed to have Customer Service at 4 of the stores check the sku# but the remainder had long lines and I wasn't really wanting to wait around.

Struck Gold - Germantown (closest to home...go figure!) managed to find two and I picked the best of the lot, left the other on the shelf where I had found it in the overstock shelf on the RC aisle (next to the BIG rc trucks)

Struck Gold - Mt Airy WM, managed to find three at this store, took two as they all looked to be pretty darn good, no issues that I could see without removing them from their boxes. I left the third on the shelf (overstock) located where the lego sets are displayed.

Will be taking one out of the box momentarily to assemble it and inspect it, and just looking at it in the box is pretty impressive, I can't imagine what this baby will look like assembled. I've already read about the screw holes, and figure Mr Surfacer will cure this, so I'll let ya know how well once I tackle it.

Todd

[scbvideoboy]

I gingerly folded mine back. You can see a 5 year ripping it apart in like 10 seconds.

Like most diecast models I have "This not a toy, it is an Adult Collectible suitable for ages over 12" or something like that.

Does the entire canopy come off to position the crew?

DH

[demetrop]

I have been to many WMs in Long Island lately and have never seen the retooled Mustang. The latest XD planes I have seen in these stores are the German F-104 and the "Seemann" ME-109G. Yesterday I finally found 8 TBF Avengers in the WM in Centereach. This I believe is the only WM on Long Island that got them. After I picked the Avenger I wanted, a woman came by and put 5 of them in her shopping cart. Probably to sell on E-bay for twice the price, no doubt.

[digger]

a woman came by and put 5 of them in her shopping cart.

That's crazy. Besides dropping almost $400 on the spot I wonder how she knew what she was looking for. Was she casually shopping and just dropped 5 in her cart like they were frozen dinners? Someone said there was a lot of scalping on LI but I had no idea...
Maybe she owns a hobby shop?

[catman]

After I picked the Avenger I wanted, a woman came by and put 5 of them in her shopping cart. Probably to sell on E-bay for twice the price, no doubt.

got that right. theres 4 avengers on ebay from the same seller for $90 each. that would explain a lot..

[lucifuhrman]

Agree on taking it back.

As for the specific issue, was it the little black retainer inside the wing that popped out? I popped mine out (screw and all). Lost the screw (of course) but used a different screw from the fusilage and put it back in place. All is well.

Note: If you don't have your Avenger yet, swallow your pride and read the instructions. I learned the lesson for all of us already

Normally I would take such an item back, but in this case the store it came from is some 150 miles away from my house (one way), and god knows if they have any more in stock, and if/when they will get more. I kind of doubt it will work this way, but best case scenario is that 21st C. has a few of these parts laying about and would send me one.

[digger]

but best case scenario is that 21st C. has a few of these parts laying about and would send me one.

Good luck - according to TKO they might not even have a production sample so I doubt they have a bunch of extra parts but you never know. I forgot how far many of us have traveled for these.

theres 4 avengers on ebay from the same seller for $90 each. that would explain a lot..

Those are in Texas (and going like hot cakes). That seller must have got them at a discount b/c $90 BiN just doesn't make sense. Your insertion, final value and paypal fees would be well over $5 which would leave you under $10 for your gas, packaging and time if you paid the full $75. Barely seems worth it imo.

[grunt1]

Since the instructions don't cover it, these results may vary.

On mine the whole canopy comes off. Much easier to position the George Bush look alike pilot. Also, the ball turret comes out (top and base).

The sliding windows pop off a lot, but they are very easy to put back on.

[mikeg]

HELL AND DAMNATION-- NO AVENGERS YET

Apparently no new stuff (AVENGERS) to be found here in Atlanta this
time around-its certainly a change from the past.

I went to 6 Walmarts east to west across north Atlanta; just the same
old stuff- black 109s, black/blue 12 fws, red 3s, german 104s, seeman,
Hackle and Sahls, a sky captain P-40, Ridge Runners, desert stukas,
yellow nosed corsairs, bbi old crow,bbi vmf-115 corsairs- If your new
to this hobby, the pickins are great, if your a long time addict, your
starting to snap at those around you like a pit bull in room full of
babies and kittens..........

Its nothing, really......congrats to those who have them-Ill keep wasting
gas for the incomparable thrill of walking around a shelf and seeing a
bunch on display..

[c44]

demetrop, I'm glad you got there before the e-shark, too bad you couldn't loosen the wheels on her shopping cart... (are you sure there were 8, because I snagged one earlier in the week, and if there were more than 7, that indicates a restock). I was at 3 other Suffolk locations (Setauket, Mid Island, & Islandia) & there were no Avengers, Corsairs, Stukas, Mustangs, etc. ... just tired XD hummers, a SEAL jeep, & way too many 32X Maachis, Brumbars, & short barrel Panzers (Hey, WM, put those things on clearance, you've moved all you're gonna at full price!) Although no NY dealer has shown up on e-bay with Avengers yet, I'm pretty sure that's where these things are going; as I mentioned in a prior post, it's either feast or famine, new WWII stuff is on the shelf in multiples for a few days, then gone at once in the blink of an eye...PS Hey Normandy, the suspense is unbearable...did you get a hold of one...?