I'm going to be interviewing for Area 21!

Post by **p51** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 11:07 pm

Hey everyone! I was asked to 'guest interview' Zach (The Area 21 Fan Club President) and his Area 21 partner Allen. I have a list of questions to ask already, but I have 2 or so questions open to ask. I'm going to give a call out to you guys and see what you all think I should ask for those. Try not to ask anything specific, just general things. I'll take probably the two most common questions. I'll be conducting the interview in a few days, so the faster the better! Thanks everyone.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:00 am

Congrats on being able to interview the Area 21 leadership! My brain is too fried at the moment (working on three long research papers) to think of a really good question, but I'll get back to you on that.

****

...you may want to ask about future products that we know are out there, but weren't seen at the toyfair... you may want to ask about 21c Fan Club exclusives...

Just some random thoughts before I get back to my schoolwork...

tankduel · Post by **tankduel** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:12 am

I'd like to know what the chances are of them re-releasing 1/18th buildings,hayloft,farmhouse etc,or perhaps the Govt Building,bridge etc,or some other new stuff along those lines,if you can work a question like that in.
Thanks

Dubar1 · Post by **Dubar1** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:52 am

Ask if the 1/18 FW-190A and ME-262 are definately going to be produced. Also, ask if there's any thoughts on producing some 1/18 squad level skirmish rules.
How about squads of soldiers? It would be nice to be able to buy a complete squad of a given division.

Gunner · Post by **Gunner** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:18 am

You know me, I want some OPFOR...

T-72s, BMPs, BRDMs, Helos...

Another thought would be to ask if they plan to strictly limit themselves to aircraft that will fit in the current box size, or if there will be two lines, the regular sizes we're seeing now and a second, bigger box line...

Just my thoughts...

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:33 am

yeah Gunner's questions are good, ask them those.

digger · Post by **digger** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:24 am

I think Zach is just fanclub president, not product engineer or CEO.....
The idea of fanclub exclusives would be cool - I think that is a viable question.

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 7:58 am

How about the simple question: Are there any NEW vehicles that they are in the process of producing. ANYTHING with wheels or tracks.......tanks, trucks, artillery.....anything to make us groundpounders happy.

Any second question, is there anything they can say about a twin engine plane, ME-110, Mosquito?

How about a 1:6 B-17? or is that too much to ask? Ya thing?

Sorry, I get carried away......to much fresh air.....now I'm back in my cave, feeling better......forget about the B-17.

TTT

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:16 am

the me-110 has already been confirmed for late this year, early next.

Wieslaw · Post by **Wieslaw** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:09 am

Question from Poland: when will the 21st Century Toys be available in Poland?
Best regards
Wieslaw

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:15 am

I would also ask about the 21st Fan club "exclusives" and future products.

You might want to work in a question of distribution- is Walmart and online dealers the only outlet or is ToysRUS or maybe even Target considered as a point of distribution.

How 21st feels about BBI as a real competition...

Congrats on the interview. Take some pics for us on the board if possible.

tankduel · Post by **tankduel** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 4:48 pm

Wieslaw,there is probably a good reason that nobody in Poland is importing 21st Century,namely lack of interest/market for the products.
Having said that,all it takes is for somebody in the model industry to bite the bullet and apply for a distributorship;the minimum wholesale purchase is $500usd I believe (plus freight). So the impetus for this needs to come from Poland,not 21st century.
I was involved with a colleague who took this on in NZ,but most of the stuff just gathered dust in the stores here,it didn't work out.

You probably find,like I do that with any purchases you make through online stores,the postage costs more than the item itself,but a partial solution would be to buy from one of the good traders here who is prepared to send items by surface mail,which online stores or ebay sellers won't do.

luftpanzer · Post by **luftpanzer** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:03 pm

Maybe you could squeze in a qusetion regarding the future of 1/6th scale stuff. When I talked to the staff at the toy fair I got the impression that 1/6th figures was pretty much dead for now. But may be they could concentrate on vehicles and accessories instead of figures.

Morian Miner · Post by **Morian Miner** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:27 pm

As a few have said above, get more info on what the fan club has in store for the rest of the year. What exclusives we may see, will we see more special offers like the Vietnam tankers from a few years back, and any clues as to future contests.

Asking about future 21C products probably will just get the "stay tuned to Area 21 for more info."

HIDEOUS ONE · Post by **HIDEOUS ONE** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 5:37 pm

If you could squeeze this in between airplane questions, some of us are wondering if we are ever going to see any Russian and or British troops in 1:18 scale. Maybe you could ask where the X-D figure line is going or something.

luftpanzer · Post by **luftpanzer** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:56 pm

Maybe you can print all this stuff out and show them in print what thier loyal fans want.

DocTodd · Post by **DocTodd** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:20 pm

Is there any future in the modern jets-especially the A-10. I think the A-10 would be liked by groundpounders as well as airplane enthusiasts.
Todd

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:32 pm

Good digs P-51, it should be interesting to hear...

My question?

-What's the plan for figures, and will the line ever focus on having the figures as the anchor while vehicles are the supporting items like most action figure lines are?

I for one am bumming that we get so few figures a year... BBI's been the only one fueling much.

Birddog · Post by **Birddog** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:50 am

Ask about a 1/18 A-10 Warthog? Since they have a prototype, ask if there are any plans on releasing it as a members club exclusive.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:55 am

Ask them what their thoughts are on the 3 3/4 joe line being cancelled.

Wieslaw · Post by **Wieslaw** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:42 pm

Thank you, Tankduel.
I don't think there is no interest/market for the 21st CT or FOV in Poland. Poles love history and militaria, there are thousands plastic modellers, many of former modellers (like me) have no time to glue and paint the kits and wanted to have ready models. But nobody knows the names "Forces of Valor" or "21st Century Toys"... From time to time in our shops there are some New Ray tanks and aircrafts, which are more toys than models, and the people buy them. I'm sure so would be with 21st CT and FoV. Well, I see one problem. The 21st CTs an FoVs are available in other European Union countries (Germany, Holland, Belgium, UK) but the prices are two/three times higher, than in US. Too high for me too (it's cheaper to buy them online in the US and I do it). What would be the prices in Poland? Similar to the American or e.g. German ones? That is the question.
Best regards
Wieslaw

Post by **p51** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 1:18 am

Okay, it's time for me to do the interview... so I've gone through and picked out three questions that were asked a lot. Thanks everyone who voiced their opinions!

Small Scale Military Headquarters

I'm going to be interviewing for Area 21!

I'm going to be interviewing for Area 21!

Ummm..

Re: I'm going to be interviewing for Area 21!

interview