Small Scale Military Headquarters

deciding which one to buy my soon to be 9 year old.....constructive opinions/insight is encouraged.

edit: 1 18 scale m1a1 abrams tank
son will gently play with it
he has taken real good care of the 1 18 pave low he has had for the last 2 years.

They're pretty similar IMO... Neither's particularly stellar. If I had my choice I think the FOV one's a better deco. I have a BBI and wouldn't buy a duplicate of it, so it's just what I have. But the FOV's deco just looks better to me for some reason.

You are leaving a lot out.
1. Is it 1//18 scale or 1/32
2. What kind of armor is it?
3. Will your son destroy it?
4. How much do you want to spend ?
5. Is is soley for him ?
6. Will you take control of it after he is done playing with it.
8. Is the armor you are coosing modern or WW 2 ?
9. Are you after a toy or model ?

I prefer the FOV. Here is an older post with some great photos.
viewtopic.php?t=9650&postdays=0&postord ... &start=120

For a nine year old,the cheapest.

1958Zelda wrote:For a nine year old,the cheapest.

fov is your bet

Definitely the FOV - it looks better and more detailed - usually cheaper too.

The FOV one is better in my opinion, with a great paintscheme and weathering. Proper crew figures for it are also readily available in the form of the Bravo Team Army and USMC Tanker figures. The only negative aspects to the FOV tank are the soft plastic (bendy) turret bustle and machine gun.

The hatch design on the FOV tank is better as the figures can actually stand in the hatches, whereas they must sit in the BBI tank hatches and endure a tighter fit. The BBI tank comes with more stowage on the turret bustle and other little perks like antennas and the little box-thing (AC unit?) that goes on the rear fender.

In terms of working features, both tanks are nearly identical:
- rolling treads
- elevating main gun
- opening commander hatch
- opening loader hatch
- swiveling machine guns

Both tanks also compliment each other and are not technically duplicates, with the BBI version being the earlier type used in Desert Storm and the FOV version being more representative of the type used in Iraqi Freedom.

I had them both out in the lawn last summer and thought it was a close call on which one I preferred more.

I voted FOV, but it is close. Together they are nice, as they look different enough that they don't feel like duplicates.