LOOK INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coreyeagle48 · Post by **Coreyeagle48** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:24 pm

Paul

Good points.

I remember back in the day when TRU carried the 1/18 scale cars from Burago and Ertl and they were the rage. There was an entire shelf of them to be had in TRU at that time. Now, none of that stuff is even sold at TRU anymore.

I think these companies really need to focus on the markets such as the small etailers and going to military shows, airshows and areas where these items will in fact sell and people that are interested them attend. At the Reading World War II Weekend anybody that had the 21st 1/18 stuff was doing a great business and was selling items. At the car shows I attend, the 1/18 cars sell really well there. I think the future of this hobby depends on reaching the market its intended for.

The 21st toys were not durable enough for Walmart and neither was the packaging. That or Walmart destroyed the stuff, maybe a little bit of both. If the company does survive, I think their success will be better in the smaller and more dedicated market.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:13 pm

keep sending those emails...if you havent yet... do so.....

Sky Ray · Post by **Sky Ray** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 8:43 pm

Jay wrote:What kind of advertising / exposure do they have in the states? Do they advertise in model magazines?

Recently I just dug up my old stack of old ToyFare magazines to read. Each issue has ads for 21CT's 1:6 line showing the Little Bird, Rommel figure, M2 Bradley, M5 Stuart, a POW scene, etc. Only the last issue I collected has an ad for the introduction of the 1:18 scale with a line up for figures, vehicles, and aircraft, each of these ads were very impressive to look at.

FieroDude · Post by **FieroDude** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 8:58 pm

My first experience with 21st Century actually was at Walmart, with a chance find of a Tiger I in a Motorworks box. My local store didn't get another piece in for more than 6 months, so I suspect it was sheer luck that it was in the store. I had a hell of a time tracking down more info on the manufacturer (which was listed as New Millennium Toys), and finally found BCA and discovered more. I actually had an easier time finding info on bbi, once I discovered them through the F/A-18 on BCA's website.

Advertising would do this industry some good - and not just in magazines like ToyFare, but more in magazines focused on what I would consider the target audience - military history and vehicle fans.

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 9:03 pm

Why in all that time did Walmart not carry any 21st Century Toys, or even back when it was Motorworks online?

Did they not have enough stock to sell? The damn airplanes (as the toy dept. lady at Walmart called them) just took up too much space. Why in God's name did they not offer any of our favorites online?

I remember searching time and time again for them to no avail.

I don't know, I got mixed feelings for Wal-Fart.

FieroDude · Post by **FieroDude** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 9:12 pm

I think one reason walmart didn't carry 21st on their website is because most planes and tanks were shipped (at least to them) in "assortment" cases. Which means they couldn't put 20 boxes in the warehouse and know for sure that they had 80 of a specific plane/paint scheme. And unlike other manufacturers, it wasn't totally obvious--imagine expecting the typical WM warehouse person to pull and ship a specific paint scheme. Their inventory system listed them as 1/18 aircraft or 1/18 vehicle assortment, if I recall correctly.

And of course there is the added fact that they are morons

Dauntless · Post by **Dauntless** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:13 pm

Why didn't they pull some of those people they had in their Layaway department they shut down, and have them open boxes.

I seem to remember being able to buy Star Wars figures and ships individually. Who opened those boxes, identified the figures, the ships?

Walmart, the big fish couldn't work that out with 21st? Yeah like you said morons.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have gotten what I have from them at reduced prices, but it just seems if every other store did it why not them? An agreement in the contact?
Seems like a missed opportunity, and poor business decision. Too big to know what the frak is going on.

Walmart- a mixed blessing and curse.

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:23 pm

I have been speaking with the CEO at 21C trying to gain some understanding of the issue surrounding Mass Retail. The simple fact is that WM is very much a big and important player, critical to the volume and variety of products offered by 21C in the past. It is indeed a FACT that WM intends to fully cut all 21C product from all stores as part of a larger plan to reduce or even eliminate all products of a collectible nature aimed at older boys and most certainly young adults.

I URGE EACH OF YOU, who cares anything for seeing more military collectibles from 21C to write to these individuals at WM. Let them know how you feel and if you feel the loss of products as I do, make sure you express that to the fullest measure!

On-line and Hobby stores simply don't have enough collective orders to support more than the very occasional offering! We indeed face a future of only 1 -2 new products a year if the situation does not change NOW! All I am saying is- IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE PRODUCT OFFERING YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. It only takes a few minutes to fire off a note or two! Cast your vote and exercise your freedom of speech for something you care about.

As for other avenues of Mass Retail, YES 21C has chased them for years, most recently the slim offering from Target is a result of years of effort but it's not enough. K-Mart has also been talked with and still remains an option at some point in the long term future. Right now WM is the best road and one that I would be inclined to fully support as a Fan of Military collector items. I say we make the effort! Otherwise to remain silent on the issue means we don't care about the hobby and the many vehicles and figures that have been produced by the largest supplier in the history of accurate scale military products.

MG-42 · Post by **MG-42** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 1:33 pm

* "I totally agree and you have my vote".

............. e-mail's sent ! ... Done !

Mitch v MG

Birddog · Post by **Birddog** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:22 pm

tko211 wrote:It is indeed a FACT that WM intends to fully cut all 21C product from all stores as part of a larger plan to reduce or even eliminate all products of a collectible nature aimed at older boys and most certainly young adults.

So are you saying that WM has future plans to cut out items like GI Joe and Star Wars too?

If so, it is becoming a sad world where kids will have nothing but mind rotting video games to play....

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Tue Feb 10, 2009 2:27 pm

I over reacted a bit,,,they will cut back on them...probably will not see as many like we do now....also we will still see the occasional move stuff that is here one month and in clarence the next.....

tko211 · Post by **tko211** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:27 am

Birddog wrote:
tko211 wrote:It is indeed a FACT that WM intends to fully cut all 21C product from all stores as part of a larger plan to reduce or even eliminate all products of a collectible nature aimed at older boys and most certainly young adults.
So are you saying that WM has future plans to cut out items like GI Joe and Star Wars too?

If so, it is becoming a sad world where kids will have nothing but mind rotting video games to play....

I am sure "seasonal" movie related toys (spiderman, Indiana Jones) those kinds of things will remain in the plan, but I think those things are more of a year long offering. Star Wars I am sure will remain as it hits younger markets and Lucas seems to always pin it to a movie release, cartoon, video game or what ever. So I see those staying as long as there is interest. Transformers = movies GiJoe = movies. Those lines are secure today I would think.

So what things are getting cut? Well look for model kits to go, look for large scale collector cars to go, look for the collectible retro skateboard stuff to go, Realistic military (21C) will go. I think even to some extent the NFL collector stuff will go. McFarlane will go. -Does this give a more accurate picture? Those kinds of items are already gone or on the way to going. They are replaced by toys aimed at a much younger customer.

Regardless of what WM plans, the simple point in my mind is that WM intends to no longer carry 21C product. To me as a fan, this comes as sad news on several levels.
1. 21C needs a large retailer in order to fund multiple projects as we have seen in the past.
2. I miss the cost savings associated by purchasing the product at WM.
3. I miss the ability to simply drive down the street to several WM stores in my area to purchase product. (at times the offering has been stale but usually, this would pass and then we would see more new stuff.
4. Ultimately, without mass retail support this hobby becomes so niche, that it starts to resemble a "cottage company" meaning that we will be lucky to see 1-2 products a year -PERIOD! We have less than a handful of new products from BBI this past year and they are HUGE! I haven't seen anything new from Admiral AT ALL! Not even promised repaints shown 2-3 years ago now!

Everyone can burry their heads in the sand on this issue and pretend that it's not a big deal but I sincerely believe that the best days of this hobby are surely behind us. One hope we have is to show the retailers that we miss the product and we want to see it continue and improve.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:42 am

Well, I obviously don’t have a dog in this fight, as the nearest WM is half a world away from me, but why would WM executives listen to collectors when the management at 21st Century Toys doesn’t?

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Fri Feb 13, 2009 4:06 am

If you haven't sent an email yet please do so.

Small Scale Military Headquarters

LOOK INSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* 21st. Back in WAL* MART ?