Small Scale Military Headquarters

Here is what I know about the last few questions.

King Tiger & 88- Don't let WM shelves get you nervous about these releases. There is always going to be some ebb and flow with distribution through thr mass retailers. It's just part of the biz I guess. Back to the point though... yes we are still supposed to see both of these late in 2007. AREA-21 WILL be showing you updated images of these soon!

1:18 British figs. I ALWAYS ask Roy about doing these. We all want them for sure! I was always told that yes the subject matter would be cool but other things had to come first. They have stopped telling me this.

So it only means one of 2 things in my experience. 1 they are sick of me asking them and in turn I have not asked recently.

OR perhaps they are quietly being built as we speak? That said, I don't want to be accused of not giving info so I will tell you what I know. I know for a fact that there are more figures coming in 1:18. not 1 or 2 or 3 more... lots more! 21st has not told me all of them and some that I do know about I can't yet talk about. But in my mind this is hopeful news indeed!

TKO, thanks for the intel! I'm looking forward to the King Tiger and 88 release. Can we expect to see them at walmart or TRU?

Looks like we're in for some surprises down the line? It should be a very merry holiday season with the debut of the KT and the 88.

TKO,

I am very excited for the Me-262B Nightfighter in 1:18th scale, I think you mentioned that this is going to be a 2007 release, could you elude to which month?

Thank you!!!

The new 2 seater Me-262 is on track for 2007. I think there might be chance for a Nov. release but frankly my money would be on December. You guys will see more info on this airplane surface in the next day or so!

I kinda feel the pressure to remind & point out that this is a new 1:18 scale product.

Will either of the two new 21st Century ME262s make it to Walmart?

Not anytime soon from what I am told. Remember that these are the larger footprint boxes. (read: Avenger size) I know WM carried the Avenger this time last year but I have not seen those big boxes in a WM for a while now. My gut is to go with on-line for sure on the 262's.

tko211 wrote:Remember that these are the larger footprint boxes. (read: Avenger size)

This probably sounds like 21st-bashing but, truly, these two general business suggestions are made with the best intentions.

21st needs to:

1) work on achieving consistently good finish quality on their products; and
2) work on minimizing the size of the packaging it comes in.

With the current finish quality issues, it is nearly essential to be able to see a 21st model before you buy it. That's a real waste and a shame, given how many of these toys they're building. When collectors have to pick through 5 or 6 examples to find an acceptable one, something is wrong. I personally hesitate buying 21st product online because I never know what I'm going to get, and shipping is way too expensive to iterate on a purchase. I can't begin to count the number of times I've gone into WalMart looking to purchase a plane, found the plane I was looking for and left without purchasing it because the quality wasn't satisfactory. It has happened probably half a dozen times to me; if you can't sell a toy to someone who is specifically looking for it, how much hope can you have in selling it to someone who isn't?

If WalMart won't carry an item because the package is too large, doesn't that severely limit the potential market for the larger products? We hear that collectors represent a tiny percentage of product sold from brick-and-mortar retailers; I'm assuming collectors are a much greater percentage of online sales, and the number of collectors who buy online is probably similar to the number who buy in stores (for items available both places).

Thus, if an item is only available online, doesn't that limit its potential sales to a tiny fraction of what it would be if the item could be marketed in stores? Maybe that's obvious.

So, if the obstacle preventing WM from carrying the Me-262 is the size of the box, why not work on repackaging the product to be more volume efficient? BBI and Admiral packaging are both significantly more efficient than 21st's, so it obviously can be done. The Admiral Me-262 box is about 60% of the volume of the 21st Avenger box. BBI and Admiral products are highly comparable to 21st in terms of size, detail, quality and price; it seems like the 21st packaging could be made similar to theirs without significantly impacting price.

Repackaging would provide other potential benefits: more product in a shipping container from China; lower cost shipping via package delivery, for example.

I have the greatest respect for and highest opinion of people at 21st. They've created a market where none existed, and in several personal dealings with them I've always been treated respectfully with satisfactory outcome. The points I raise may seem obvious and my suggestions may over-simplify the issues; maybe they've already been raised and analyzed by 21st management. However, I feel strongly there are still gains to be made in these areas and I hope this message is heard.

Thanks for listening,
John

Tko any news on when the next piece of info will be shown. Also what scale will it be in. Any news on the 88 or kt

TKO, just saw some pics of the King Tiger, 88 and Nightfighter in the iHobby post...any ideas on ETA of these 3 models?

ditto I just seen the pics of the 88, king tiger and the me-262b.....WOW

Where?????

V2 MAN wrote:Where?????

right here bro,

Ma ma ma ma ma ma!!!! Drool going all over my desk!!! Holy cow! That thing is beautiful!!! I think Thats gonna be my favorite 1/18 plane just by the picture!!

Wow That is one slick plane I guess thats the kt to the left

Hi TKO,

Are we going to see any more F-86 Sabre repaints? Any CL-13s? How about a Canadian paint scheme?

I would like to know whatever happen to these?
http://www.21stcenturytoys.com/area21/a ... ?newsID=99
Did this pack come out?

http://www.21stcenturytoys.com/area21/a ... newsID=150

http://www.21stcenturytoys.com/area21/a ... newsID=176

Merrils Marauders, yes.. At TRU about two years ago. Occasionally shows up on ebay.

The Wittman tiger and the GB avenger, not yet..

Hey tko heres a question for you. Will 21st ever consider the idea of coming out with Ground Crew figs for 1/18th aircraft? I think this would be a super idea and the figs I believe would sell very well. I know I would buy them and I'm sure a couple of other guys on here would as well. I know they are going to have ground crew for their Legend Series but why not sell the figs seperatly?

Hello TKO, I was just wondering it was 7 months ago today Area 21 made the announcement about the King Tiger... do you have any idea or hints on which paint scheme it might be? I've seen a pic of it in dark yellow and one of the 88 in gray. They were next to the 262 Night Fighter which was red 10 in night camo.
http://images.kitlink.com/Products/imag ... gTiger.JPG

TKO, can you get us any updates on the B-25, Mig, or F-4? Been quite awhile since we've heard anything. Really just want to know if they are still a go.

Thanks!