Small Scale Military Headquarters

How slow will it take for you to give up 1/18th
Just wondering how long it will take for people to loose interest when 1:18th items slows down......

No I am not saying that 1:18th is dead just wondering how many are actually thinking about giving up on this hobby.

My self.. I in am in it for the long haul....

It took me a few years to get on the bandwagon despite seeing large amounts of cool stuff at WM and plenty of snake stukas at the exchange, so I think, it would have to take a complete shutdown of the industry for me to give up on it.

You mean give it up again?
I've got an attention span that's too short to measure. I'm already essentially quitting 1/18 on average of about twice a month.

When it goes, I'll go. When it comes back around, so will I.

Maybe.



Jeffrey

What scale was that? 1/18? Oh, you mean that really old scale. I think I remember that scale......

TTT

I'll give up 1/18 when they stop making german figures & vehicles.

Stug45 wrote:I'll give up 1/18 when they stop making german figures & vehicles.

What if they make WWI and not WWII

VMF115 wrote:

Stug45 wrote:I'll give up 1/18 when they stop making german figures & vehicles.

What if they make WWI and not WWII

I'm all for wwI figures & vehicles.

give it up and go where? I've dabbled in 1/32, 1/48 and 1/72 over the last few years and they all do nothing for me. I lose interest in them in about an hour. But i've got 1/18 stuff that i've had for 8 years that still gives me a thrill. So, there's nowhere to go, for me.

If 1/18 died totally i'd still be fine. I've got tons of projects on the go right now and almost none of them center around mass produced 1/18 toys. Between r/c planes (i can't even keep up with all of them right now; they're coming so thick and fast) and paper model tanks, customizing and my other 1/18 interests like animals, star wars, dinosaurs, cars, motorcycles etc etc i'll be kept busy til the end of days (well of my days anyway).

Anyway, i don't think 1/18 will ever die. It will just ebb and flow; there will be boom times and bust times.

Stug45 wrote:

VMF115 wrote: What if they make WWI and not WWII

I'm all for wwI figures & vehicles.

I am also ...as long as they do it in moderation and still do other eras.

Never!!! I'll always be a fan of 1/18th through thick and thin.

My interest in 1/18th will never die, even if the products cease to be produced. I will continue to collect from other collectors and customize as well. I mean, how big of an army do we really need, per collector I mean? So by all means please contact me when you want to sell your collections. I will be more than happy to take them off your hands. I'm sure I can find something to trade if the money is an issue.

"Live free with XD or Die!"
I picked up smaller and larger scales and 1/18 is the great mix of both.
The figure/tanks/planes MOVE, unlike 1/32 scale. 1/6 is just too big!
So, if 1/18 died tomorrow - I would mourn it's loss and COLLECT LIKE CRAZY what is still out there till it all dried up!
I would then go hunting from other collectors, who may have lost the bug to collect 1/18.

If nothing new is made I'll just sit back in my den and enjoy looking at all the great stuff I already have just like I've been doing since it came out in 2000. Although this is very important to me it is just one part of my toy collection the main part [ 95% ] is SW that I've been collecting since 1980. I also do Spawn, Battle Star, Indie and kinda whatever catches my eye. While I have many 1/32 pieces and they are really well done they just don't turn me on and will never take the place of 1/18. Bob

VMF115 wrote:How slow will it take for you to give up 1/18th
Just wondering how long it will take for people to loose interest when 1:18th items slows down......

No I am not saying that 1:18th is dead just wondering how many are actually thinking about giving up on this hobby.

My self.. I in am in it for the long haul....

Slowing down ? What are you talking about? So many subjects are on the table. Oh !!!! I may have let the cat out of the bag........

Why would I give up 1/18? I have tons of stuff, more is on the way, and even if big manufacturers duck out of it, there are still many other people developing low production pieces. Just a question of patience!

I have enough stashed away to keep me occupied for a few years. Even if no new items ever came out, I could "play" with what I have until my days are done. But new releases are always welcome!

Worst comes to worse there will always be figures and more toylike tanks and planes to modify. At Big Lots this weekend I picked up this very crappy 3 3/4" Cops and Villains line set for $8 because it had a police tank done on what is a copy of the old Bundeswehr Wiesel AFV. I have no idea how far off scale it is but I think I can turn it into something worth displaying.

I will always enjoy my 1/18 stuff, even if it goes away.

Hard to Find XD just makes 1:18 more fun to me - I'm actually a bit relieved - stuff was comming out so fast I couldnt keep up for a while.
Now I have time to pick up GI Joe, Starwars, and XD.
If 21st fails - well that is just business - more companies will come around -

Don't think I'll ever lose interest.

I am optimistic with 1:18 because of the other companies feeding off the GI Joe line selling more realistic vehicles.

GI Joe can only be good for our hobby.
As soon as Hasbro realizes there is money to be made in the more realistic market, and decides to expand beyond the whole 80's cheapo retro-toy stuff, we might see something from them even.

I think if it ever did dry up, we could always tour the pickelhaube museum (er, attic that is) and relive those days when they were brand new, still in the box.

Steelbonnet had one of those chap mei weasels. It's pretty close to scale. A bit small but nothing too bad, so that was a good find.

Chap mei and power team may be our only sources for new military vehicles for a while, until someone else comes along to fill the void.

This happens every year though. I only collect modern, but I imagine it works the same way for every era.

The cycle time on these figure lines is about a year. They make a slew of them, then wait until inventories drop, make more and maybe do a couple of repaints, then wait again until the next year to release something new. This is what BBI used to do and this is what FOV is doing now.

As far as staying interested, I buy enough of every release that I have a lot of fodder for customization. So when new figures come out, I get those, then when there's nothing new for a while I start bashing my own. I'm about out of things to bash now, though, so it's good FOV is going to start releasing new stuff again.

aferguson wrote:Steelbonnet had one of those chap mei weasels. It's pretty close to scale. A bit small but nothing too bad, so that was a good find.

Chap mei and power team may be our only sources for new military vehicles for a while, until someone else comes along to fill the void.

Thanks for the heads up. Those weasels were just wee fellas...

There will be 21st 1/18 for sale on ebay for years to come. There will be sellers just like there are now. Some will sell their Tiger for less than retail and there will always be those etailers who want triple what its worth and there will be some buyer who knows nothing about the hobby who will pay it. Even if 21st goes out of business, at some point someone will step in to take their place.

And there is always 1/16, which has a much better selection anyway of tanks than 1/18 does. Those of us who collect both scales know that the the 1/18 figures work perfectly with 1/16 vehicles. If those who rant so hard against 1/16 tried a couple of them, I think they would be sold on them and realize that you just keep right on going. If you are looking for variety in armor, you don't collect 1/18 anyway, you collect 1/32 or 1/35. I have at least one of every 1/18 and 1/32 armor piece that 21st has made so I am speaking from the viewpoint of someone who is not locked in to just one scale. I will miss 21st's 1/32 more than the 1/18 just because of the variety you got in 1/32. Unfortunately, FOV is about to price me out of their 1/32 scale also.

To paraphrase the immortal Charlton Heston.
"They can take my 1/18th when they pry it from my cold dead fingers"
In for the long haul.