Small Scale Military Headquarters

Merit will have a booth at the San Diego Comic Con starting this Thursday.
Besides the JSI 1/18 VF-154 with new bomb load and lights feature, we will also have the OURWAR figures there as well. Our booth number is 5029 and we hope to see those who managed to go there.

There will only be 30 pieces of the VF-154 available before general release and a portion of the proceed will be donated to the "Special Operations Warrior Foundation" as our thank to those who served.

Hope to see some of you in person.

Hey Jim,

How about taking care of those that purchased JR Tomcat's only to find out the poor overall craftsmanship of the model and couldn't return it...especially to "those that served". What kind of messege does that send?

Gulf War veteran

JIM@MERIT:

Two questions:

1. Since the the new VF-154 F-14 comes a LANTIRN pod, does it also come with smart bombs?
2. Why doesn't JSI include pilots with its planes?

I have a request for those of us not going to the convention ...

Could you or somebody else please take some photos and share them here after the event? I would love to see photos afterwards.

Good luck!

This is what the new Tomcat will have


VF-154 Black Knight CAG bird.
- The landing gears, although not in metal, are strengthened.
- Canopy will stay open
- Comes with instruction sheet in how to deploy the landing gears.
- GBU-16, GBU-24, LANTRIN pod and new pylons.
- With Lighting features
- Modified Tail wings with clear lens for formation lights.

These pictures where taken at Merit!

VMF115 wrote:This is what the new Tomcat will have


VF-154 Black Knight CAG bird.
- The landing gears, although not in metal, are strengthened.
- Canopy will stay open
- Comes with instruction sheet in how to deploy the landing gears.
- GBU-16, GBU-24, LANTRIN pod and new pylons.
- With Lighting features
- Modified Tail wings with clear lens for formation lights.

These pictures where taken at Merit!

look great

Jim@Merit wrote:Merit will have a booth at the San Diego Comic Con starting this Thursday.
Besides the JSI 1/18 VF-154 with new bomb load and lights feature, we will also have the OURWAR figures there as well. Our booth number is 5029 and we hope to see those who managed to go there.

There will only be 30 pieces of the VF-154 available before general release and a portion of the proceed will be donated to the "Special Operations Warrior Foundation" as our thank to those who served.

Hope to see some of you in person.

any showing of the su????

sorry, the J-11 will not be at the SDCC.

Putting aside any improvements - that is a Cat I would buy full price in a second. By simply removing the spots you have the crown jewel of 1:18, plain and simple. Shame there aren't more of those to go around.

Does JSI plan to release pilot figures in the future?

I'm tempted mainly by the weapons package on this plane. Personally not in love with the tail flash art. The paint is much improved over the spotcat VF-84 but that's ok as I would be repainting it anyway.

Might have to consider this one...

Jim@Merit wrote:sorry, the J-11 will not be at the SDCC.

i know we talk about the tax issue coming the end of this year.. do you have a date when we know what and how much increase will hurt our market and when can see the production of the su

Additional note for the 28 sets of VF-154 at Comic Con:
- These 28 sets come with a hand reproduced resin set of weapons pack, reproduced from the mold making tool masters.
- The steel molds are being made for the weapons set and a plastic injection molded set of same weapons will be sent down the road to the 28 lucky buyers.
- In other words, these 28 VF-154 purchased at Comic Con will eventually have 2 sets of weapons, one in resin and one in injection molded plastic.

A few were bought by collectors in person today and a few more sets, bought by friends attending the show.

For those who want extra weapons set, here is your chance.

Jim, are you taking any booth pictures? And do you have the 101st "Our War" figures on display, or is the next series being shown at the show?

Jim@Merit wrote:Additional note for the 28 sets of VF-154 at Comic Con:
- These 28 sets come with a hand reproduced resin set of weapons pack, reproduced from the mold making tool masters.
- The steel molds are being made for the weapons set and a plastic injection molded set of same weapons will be sent down the road to the 28 lucky buyers.
- In other words, these 28 VF-154 purchased at Comic Con will eventually have 2 sets of weapons, one in resin and one in injection molded plastic.

A few were bought by collectors in person today and a few more sets, bought by friends attending the show.

For those who want extra weapons set, here is your chance.

And for those unlucky enough to be stuck with a $230 Jolly Rogers Tomcat full of liver spots and crappy landing gear (aka Spotcat)? What are you guys at Merit going to do for them, Jim?

The silence, it is deafening.

I am still waiting on a reply from my email. Please at least reply if you have the parts for my S1 F-14.

my wife made a good point to me today tkjaer, sdcc is this week, jim may be there and not have access to a computer, so i would give him some more time. i haven't heard from him since tuesday i think.

And for those unlucky enough to be stuck with a $230 Jolly Rogers Tomcat full of liver spots and crappy landing gear (aka Spotcat)? What are you guys at Merit going to do for them, Jim?

does that include everyone who bought the Jet after it was out and everyone knew the issues? And how many people actually bought the jet from Merit? I'm sure most folks bought them from Etailers - if you have an issue with your product start in the place you bought it imo.

Honestly it’s a little late to be complaining about the dang spot cat. If people think they are owed something from Merit for the poor paint job on this plane compared to the new release they should think again. Even if you pre-ordered your plane and were stunned to get the spotted owl you could have still returned it. It wasn’t till after the spots were disclosed and after many preorders had already been made that the no returns policies went into effect. After that all buyers knew exactly what they were getting.

People need to get a grip when it comes to this plane. Jim came on here to give us news and he gets broadsided with smack talk about paying back all the customers that bought the spot cat. What, do you expect a check? Free plane? I bought a spot cat too. I knew what I was buying and bought it. So did 99% of the rest of us. Those that bough it early canceled their pre-orders when they heard the news. This is quite old and completely unnecessary.

Seconding the above 2 comments... The opportunity to return it was there originally. Why keep it and complain?

I'm not a warbird collector for the most part though, so maybe I'm just distanced from the anger a bit. To me, it just seemed logical to, upon sight of the spots, return the plane to where you bought it and be done with the matter. It's the only way to voice your opinion to all involved.

May I remind you of your own post on this page?

toyktdlgh wrote:

STARMAN 352 wrote:Bad Cats is now saying the same thing...

DUE TO THE HIGH COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH SHIPPING THIS LARGE PLANE, WE ARE UNABLE TO ACCEPT RETURNS OR EXCHANGES ON THIS ITEM FOR MINOR FIT AND FINISH ISSUES.

So basically all sales are final when it comes to Bad Cat and the F-14. Nice cop out. I feel for those who aren’t privy to the paint fiasco and try to return their spotted cat.

That was then.

This is now:

"It wasn’t till after the spots were disclosed and after many preorders had already been made that the no returns policies went into effect. After that all buyers knew exactly what they were getting. "

So which one is it gonna be — you "feel for those who aren’t privy" or "all buyers knew exactly what they were getting"?

I agree with the most recent comments. The spotcat, while still a painful memory, is old news. I'm very happy that JSI didn't give up, took another crack at it and appears to have gotten it right. That bodes well for the future.

digger wrote:

And for those unlucky enough to be stuck with a $230 Jolly Rogers Tomcat full of liver spots and crappy landing gear (aka Spotcat)? What are you guys at Merit going to do for them, Jim?

does that include everyone who bought the Jet after it was out and everyone knew the issues? And how many people actually bought the jet from Merit? I'm sure most folks bought them from Etailers - if you have an issue with your product start in the place you bought it imo.

Ha, ha. Best laugh I’ve had in a while, thanks.

The thing is you are aware, aren’t you, that Bad Cat and others do NOT accept any returns on this particular item? And that this ad hoc policy went into effect the minute the standard version S-1 pre-orders went out the door? That, in itself, means that at least some etailers knew full well that the weathering on the F-14 was defective and a potential source of customer dissatisfaction with the model. Hence their refusal. Which, in turn, means that both Merit and JSI *had* perforce to be aware of this issue too. It was too obvious to disregard.

In fact, we know they were both aware, because Merit claimed in writing (i.e. on their website, before it magically ‘disappeared’) that the issue would be fixed by the time the production of the Tomcat was completed. They gave that assurance to collectors.

However, JSI/Merit were unwilling or unable to fix the issue before the final product was eventually released. They decided they would go to market with a substandard model that looked nothing like the advertised product.

It doesn't really matter whether people were aware of the Spotcat fiasco before ordering one (and, no, not everyone who's into 1/18 scale military collectibles reads this or any other board).

They marketed a $230 collectible that was botched from the factory. Not only was the paint job botched, but the flimsy landing gear, though not as evident at first, was also kaput. So, any way you look at it, JSI/Merit dropped the ball on QC. Pure and simple.

To make matters worse, however, many people had originally pre-ordered the model thinking that they would be getting a final product which would resemble the paint master. When they became suspicious of JSI’s antics, Merit reassured them that this would be corrected during the production run. But, once they got their Spotcats and etailers refused to accept returns, these people were stranded with a $230 piece of junk, even though Merit had promised, in writing no less, that this issue would be fixed. Simply put, they didn’t honor their word.

And not to argue too fine a point, but Merit Intl. is still advertising the same paint master they showed us, what, a year ago? The paint master, not the actual model, which is misleading at best. I guess it's because they don't feel too comfortable showing off the production JSI Spotcat they have hanging in their offices.

So I think, yes, Merit/JSI should at least offer (a) an informal apology and (b) the option of purchasing the new ordnance package separately, so that all those collectors who were taken for a ride during the S-1 Spotcat debacle don't have to order yet another Tomcat just for the ordnance package. IMO, having their Tomcats repainted and upgraded with durable landing gear just because JSI/Merit didn’t do their jobs right is enough to warrant some form of redress for these folks. Maybe JSI/Merit couldn’t have foreseen the landing gear issue, I’ll grant them that, but they sure as hell knew that the hideous weathering was completely unacceptable well in advance. They knew because they were told as much… by collectors.

Adding insult to injury (which is what this S-2 marketing approach amounts to) is probably not the best way to treat your customers-slash-guinea pigs, after you have kicked them repeatedly in the groin with their Jolly Rogers F-14s. Merit/JSI didn’t get it right the first time. They could have. The Tomcat could have been a huge success, but they decided not to listen to their customer base. And now many of those who bought the S-1 version are even more frustrated by the fact that not only have all the QC issues been addressed in the S-2 release, but it will also feature an extra ordnance payload that their S-1 models are lacking. Seems rather unfair.

That said, maybe you’re right and all the criticism levelled at Merit and JSI is baseless and should be directed at the etailers instead.

As they say, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But the facts remain that JSI/Merit KNOWINGLY MARKETED A SUBSTANDARD PRODUCT. Period. And they haven’t been upfront about it (for rather obvious reasons, I might add).

Wooooo! Down with JSI and Merit!

iflabs wrote:Wooooo! Down with JSI and Merit!

Nope, but they have to be reminded not to take their customers' loyalty for granted just because no one else is making an F-14 in 1/18 scale. Or maybe we should applaud them and congratulate them on a job well done, given the fact that the Spotcat can be fixed for a meager $50 more (plus shipping). The obvious question then is, if the Spotcat is sooooo awesomely cool, why did some etailers preclude any chance of returning this item? I think we both know the answer to this one.