Small Scale Military Headquarters

Just got a response to my email to FOV and the Stryker isn't happening this year.

No information on just what is going on with it. Didn't say it was canceled though.

Darn it! I don't need another LAV. And recycled heads bite.

Yay, more reused heads. Good thing I bought a bunch of extra WWII guys just for headswap purposes.

i wonder why they'd drop the stryker, which is a new vehicle in this scale, for yet another copy of something existing? And the fact that they are not showing anything new in WWII is not good either. FOV may be our only hope for scale 1/18 armour, and they are depressing rather than impressing me.

Time to take another look at that chap mei wespe..

FieroDude wrote:I am sure they will make a few hundred thousand, so everyone should get their chance to a own a couple (or couple dozen).

I wonder if they'll let you trade in those IJ figures on them

You are so wrong for that dude.

aferguson wrote:i wonder why they'd drop the stryker, which is a new vehicle in this scale, for yet another copy of something existing? And the fact that they are not showing anything new in WWII is not good either. FOV may be our only hope for scale 1/18 armour, and they are depressing rather than impressing me.

Time to take another look at that chap mei wespe..

I feel the same way Aferguson.

They probably have already used molds, like the BBI ones. The tanks seemed identical except for small differences. The LAV is probably from the BBI mold and therefore easier and cheaper to produce. Man.....I really wanted that Stryker, there are so many mods you can do to them.

I guess I'm one of three who are happy to just see new figures! Those spec. forces guys rock, especially the seal divers. Count me for a set of each though! I love FOV's figures.

I really hope they do some more WW2... US and German Paras would be my pick personally. I'd like to see them try their hand at just about anything though. Hell I'd take repaints of the US Infantry with khaki jackets as a start.

I think I mentioned this before in previous posts, but imagine if FOV produced some WWII ITALIANS.

That is a shame on the 1:18 Stryker. I was really looking forward to that, but at least I've got my 1:32 version. Sometimes it pays to dabble in other scales

When the 1:32 Stryker came out, I was worried that it was the Stryker Unimax had been talking about all along and that the 1:18 version was a pipe dream. The timing of the 1:32 Stryker was more-or-less in line from when they said we would get the 1:18 version, and it was part of the Bravo Team lineup. That said, we perhaps dodged a bullet because if they potentially made the 1:18 Stryker like the 1:32 one, we would all be disappointed. The flaws on the 1:32 vehicle are OK to me, but they would detract if included on a 1:18 version.

That said, I'm willing to give Unimax a go on the LAV. As was mentioned above, they could actually do a good job on it. After all, the 1:18 M1 is better in many respects than the BBI version and the Bradley is not too bad either, save for that crappy static missile launcher. Certainly, the paint applications stand a chance to be pretty good!

BTW, the new figures look cool

I'll have a look at the LAV when it hits the stores. I already have the BBI one, still MIB, and I haven't uncarded any of the several sets of FOV Marines I have, so I'm only likely to get the FOV LAV if it's really better than the BBI one. I'm a lot more interested in Army figures and vehicles, and I was really looking forward to having a couple of Strykers.

On the other hand, I am definitely happy about the new special ops guys. I just wish they'd have a little bit more variety in their sculpts. All of the FOV headsculpts are interchangeable, both modern and WWII, so there's really no reason to limit the new modern guys to just the 4 sculpts we've already seen.

I still want a FOV Tiger I

ditto on still needing the FOV Tiger. Was there any info at toy fair on this ever seeing a re-release? I can't imagine that they'd just put out the very few that made it to the shelves and then cancel it for good.

Stug45 wrote:

Sky Ray wrote:Crap, they're re-using heads again for most of the Navy SEALs and Delta Force figs.. ahhh

WHAT

I think it's worse than that - the delta force guys look to be complete re-issues, just with different paint jobs, different helmets, and different weapons.

For example, compare:
http://www.unimax.com.hk/product_detail ... s&id=73401

http://www.unimax.com.hk/product_detail ... s&id=73003

The SEAL guys might actually have new-sculpt bodies (obviously the divers are new).

i would have bought the striker but i love those figures! I would love to see these over in the UK and would buy loads of them! The legs seem to be reused on the delta guys but think the chests are new. Am really interrested to see what gear they come with!

I dunno. I find the Stryker concept in and of itself terribly redundant. Just another example of the Army trying(badly) to duplicate a tool used by the Marine Corps. If they thought it was such a good idea, they probably should have stuck with the same general specs the Marines used. That or perhaps the upgraded variant the Canadians employ. Otherwise, they should just stick to improving the Bradley or developing a suitable replacement for their mechanized troops. If your solution for dealing with the RPG threat is installing a giant hamster cage, I think you missed the boat when trying to match a given vehicle to a particular mission.

The Marine Corps uses the LAV due to size and weight restrictions for deployment. The Army generally doesn't operate with such restrictions, and consequently, shouldn't have hamstrung themselves with the Stryker. There are better designs out there.

The Stryker is neither a replacement for the Bradley, nor an attempt to duplicate the LAV-25.

Compared to the LAV-25, the Stryker is larger, heavier, better armored, and carries more troops. The main difference though is that it has room and provision for much more communications and networking gear, as well as more automation (e.g. a remote controlled gun). The LAV-25 platform would not have worked nearly as well if all of that equipment had been shoehorned into it.

The Bradley, on the other hand, is big, heavy, loud, and nowhere near as fast on roads. The Stryker is meant to be quiet and road-mobile, well suited for quick-reaction forces in a counterinsurgency role. It is a much more effective vehicle in the kind of fighting going on in Iraq than the Bradley; conversely, the Stryker is not really intended to be used in the same sort of mechanized role the Bradley is for. They are different vehicles for different missions.

Birddog wrote:....I'm hoping there is an error on their site and they forgot to list it.

Sorry guys, it is not an error.

Due to the types of conflicts we've been fighting in the last two decades, the US military has really tailored it's equipment to the desert environment. They've also customized and modified all the vehicles to fight in urban environments against guerrilla type forces. We seem to be turning more into a police force, tasked with destroying rouge nations rather than defending ourselves in any environment. Not that the changes are bad or unnecessary. I wonder how things would pan out if we got into a straight conflict with a larger nation. Though i don't know how fast they could withstand a toe to toe fight, i think the swift reaction and readiness of the Russian forces in the recent Georgian conflict surprised everyone.
Russia and China have become very brazen lately and I wonder what kind of fun things are in store once both countries' militaries are fully operation between 2015 and 2030. We could see some sort of action in the next couple of years if Israel attacks Iran preemptively.

Corey, any indication from unimax as to why they shelved the stryker in favour of the lav? Seems odd to create another redundant vehicle in 1/18, especially when the stryker appears so similar to the lav.

Here is a recent response I recieved from a Unimax rep after e-mailing their website address:

Please note that both Stryker and M109 Self Propelled Howitzer are available in 1:32, but not in 1:18 for the moment. We will pass your message to our product development team for their consideration of future developments.

By the way, an 1:72 Stryker will be offered very soon, please watch out for it.

Ages of Action is our current program, we also look forward to seeing more new figures coming up.

Thank you for your kind patronage and we look forward to your continued support.

Best regards,
Unimax Toys Limited
Candy Dong

Maybe there is still hope for the Stryker in 1/18 along with future armor from their 1/32 line.

ah, good ole candy dong is still around...

aferguson wrote:Corey, any indication from unimax as to why they shelved the stryker in favour of the lav? Seems odd to create another redundant vehicle in 1/18, especially when the stryker appears so similar to the lav.

Sorry, no additional info. (And actually I didn't know they were doing an LAV in 1:18 scale). Basically I had the same info that Birddog got.

Well, if they expect to use the Stryker in an urban evironment, they better get used to losing em. Hamster cage or not. While they may be more "fill in the bank" than an LAV-25(which is only one of 7 variants the Marines use), they're still inadequate outside of a cross country recon role. I did my time in LAVs as a Scout, so I know the limitations of the platform in general.

Hahahahahahahah...................Hahahahahahhahahah.............Candy Dong