What was the worst item ever made?

[tmanthegreat]

For anyone wondering, the picture on the left is the M113 crewman we're all ranting about as the worst of the worst in 1:18 figures:



The picture on the right is the M113 commander. The helmet was sort of neat, but that was about it. As Fritzkrieg notes, however, you can change the M113 crewman's head and get a half-way decent figure out of it, but its pretty bad in its stock form...

[Fritzkrieg]

I'd have to say the Intoyz Germans are pretty wonky.

[tmanthegreat]

I'd have to say the Intoyz Germans are pretty wonky.

Sort of like a genetic cross between Bravo Team, 21c, and PTE

[Jesse James]

The only thing about InToyz stuff (I really should have said them as the worst figures I guess, but the M113 guy still wins it for me) is you got good accessories with them that others didn't come with. Those egg grenades were the best ones in the scale, seriously. And the ammo cans are still the only place youc an get them.

Some of the heads were good in person too, with haircuts/styles that were better than other companies too, and looked very accurate to the period. The one guy was really weird though... Top right corner, the wermacht rifleman... Weird head shape. Like he had a huge brain. The other three had pretty unique heads that just need better paintjobs.

The SWAT had far worse headsculpts. Far worse.

I still wish they'd gotten their "bad guys" line out before they folded. Those were cool.

[Fritzkrieg]

I still wish they'd gotten their "bad guys" line out before they folded. Those were cool.

Bad Guys? What was this line going to be?

[Jesse James]

It was funny Fritz, you'd have loved it. Guys with like bunny masks on and stuff... Kind of generic "enemies", more tuned to the SWAT than any military figures... I think maybe a guy with an eyepatch, and halloween masks on, and this and that. Very plain, but superior to the other figures (at least the prototypes looked improved. The headsculpts were way better than the SWAT guys). I never saw them at retail, and assume they never got made as the WW2 stuff was teh last of the InToyz line.

[B17Fortress]

I just came back from my hobbystore, and they have the same amount of the S1 Marines BAR man and Flamethrower guy they have had for the past two years. Did people have something against these figures?

[Jesse James]

Least army buildable out of the group I guess... Especially the flamethrower. I can't picture the BAR Gunner of the top of my head but he's certainly not as cool as a basic rifleman I guess.

My gripe on the Marines was the headsculpts... They're neat on one-hand, but like some of the grimacing Paratroopers, they're pretty one-dimensional. I like a neutral plain headsculpt... No grins, no growls, no smirks, no gaping maw mouths... Just a plain thousand yard stare. A look of concentration doesn't hurt either. Just so long as the face is overall fairly plain.

[MCalamari]

I just came back from my hobbystore, and they have the same amount of the S1 Marines BAR man and Flamethrower guy they have had for the past two years. Did people have something against these figures?

I thought the S1 were great when they first came out, but as the next several waves of 21c figures hit the streets I lost my interest in them. A few are nice, but I liked the greater articulation and figure stands that came with the next waves.

As for the Marines, they are awesome. The issue might be that WalMart blew through so many that people who are inclined to like them have duplicates. The grimace and really custom faces (a plus if you only want one or two figures) does put a damper on my desire to buy a 5, 6, or 7th version.

SmallJoes had some great deals on sets of Marines.

[tko211]

3. 21C's first P-51D Mustang in 1:18 It's the oldest mold and really shows its age!

2. BBI Hellcat. Want to love this one so badly but it is just so poorly engineered! HATE HATE HATE the flappy control surfaces, the goofy wing folds, the fact they sag when extended, the oversized canopy, the really crappy landing gear! Horrible!

1. DRUM ROLL..... Admiral Toys F-86 pilot figure! (no need to add anything here)

[killer 88s]

1. DRUM ROLL..... Admiral Toys F-86 pilot figure! (no need to add anything here)

Agreed, mine complete disintegrated.

[Tinman]

That's true, I forgot how bad the AT F-86 pilot was. I remember when I first saw it, I referred to it (in my head) as a "throw away."

[snake]

For anyone wondering, the picture on the left is the M113 crewman we're all ranting about as the worst of the worst in 1:18 figures:



The picture on the right is the M113 commander. The helmet was sort of neat, but that was about it. As Fritzkrieg notes, however, you can change the M113 crewman's head and get a half-way decent figure out of it, but its pretty bad in its stock form...

MY EYES!

Not into figures, except for a couple of 1/6.

Out of what I have, I would rate the 21C 1/18 P-40 as the worst. Just doesn't look right at all. Dishonorable mention also to the JSI F-14. $200+ for a model that is painted like that.

The FoV 1/32 aircraft are pretty terrible[ other than the P-39]. Could use them as a paperweight, except then you would have to see them.

[NWarty]

My 21C P-40 has almost flown itself into the wall because of the horrible tail wheel design.

+1 regarding the SpotCat debacle.

[tmanthegreat]

2. BBI Hellcat. Want to love this one so badly but it is just so poorly engineered! HATE HATE HATE the flappy control surfaces, the goofy wing folds, the fact they sag when extended, the oversized canopy, the really crappy landing gear! Horrible!

Horrible sagging wings on the BBI Hellcat? What about the 21c Avenger? My Hellcat has more dihedral than even my best Avenger, on which the wings were at best flat... (and the Hellcat never suffered from all the other QC defects that plagued the Avenger as well - no snapped or cracked parts out of the box, etc.) The BBI Hellcat certainly had its issues, but the Avenger was worse.

[Snake Man]

2. BBI Hellcat. Want to love this one so badly but it is just so poorly engineered! HATE HATE HATE the flappy control surfaces, the goofy wing folds, the fact they sag when extended, the oversized canopy, the really crappy landing gear! Horrible!

Horrible sagging wings on the BBI Hellcat? What about the 21c Avenger? My Hellcat has more dihedral than even my best Avenger, on which the wings were at best flat... (and the Hellcat never suffered from all the other QC defects that plagued the Avenger as well - no snapped or cracked parts out of the box, etc.) The BBI Hellcat certainly had its issues, but the Avenger was worse.

I wanted the Avenger really bad until I saw the droopy no dihedral (or negative dihedral wings). I thought it looked like crap and that factor kept me from buying it. I guess I could have glued them into a proper angle, but gave up on the idea. I was unaware of the dihedral problem on the Hellcat. I just got an RAF P-40 off ebay, and it does not have the no dihedral problem in the wings mentioned by some members here. Is there more than one version of this airplane ??? Perhaps the later ones were improved ??

[Axis Nightmare]

Hello,

This is an old topic but I now have experienced all the World War Two aircraft types and can at least speak of these. In 1/18 scale, the 21st FW-190D in my opinion is the worst with a dead heat tie with the 109E and Razor Back P-47 coming in extremely close seconds. Runners up would be the 21st TBM and P-40B/C. The FW-190D has a good fuselage but the wings and everything about them is a disaster that ruins all pluses of the fusalage. The 1/32 version was a smaller clone with the same issues. The thick squared off wing trailing edge would scale up to about 4 or 5 inches of blunt flat surface. Typical flat dihedral and overly thick cross section of most early attempts is there too. The landing gear is the other crime with the gear leg molded into the gear cover like a cheap toy. The appearance on it's gear is horrible and is extremely obvious. I was so excited and then so disapointed when I got one of these. Such a shame since the overall shape is good and it wasn't as early a try as the 109E and the P-47 which very little is right. More about the the others later as well as best of the best.

[flayrah]

Any 21st Century figure:
The molds were horrible they all felt deformed and cartoony, the skin color was something from the jersey shore, the quality was absolute crap and would fall apart. I had one when you bent his leg the calf fell off. the weapons looked like garbage there vehicles were nice models but their figures were garbage. Every time I open a 21st box i throw the figure away because i don't need crap in my collection.
-Articulation: C
-Sculpt : F
-Paint: D
-Accessories: C
-Durability: F

On a positive side i do like the baseball cap and sock hat that came with modern figures.

NVyper I think you got in on the last of the 21st figures. The earlier sets - particularly first issue Vietnam and Paras - were wonderful, with quality plastic and paint, high detailing, and just a few small issues within the series. It's very hard to find these today because they're in so much demand. Too bad 21st didn't follow through with the quality of the early figures, but ADDED to them with improved joints and more gear.

By the end of the run - last series Vietnam, most of the Modern series - the quality of design, manufacture, detail, construction, almost everything had devolved to the point it was hard to believe these figures were made by the same company that made the earlier sets. Shows the results of a difference in factories and management.

[TankAce]

As far quality goes.The 1/18 dodge weapons carrier and the Panzer IV tank,both have the most fragile plastic.The sclupt is perfect,but the plastic is really brittle.Still they are among my favorites.

[Axis Nightmare]

The TBM is one of those ones which I feel gets votes for both the worst and best. The shear size and scope of producing it and the overall shape is very good. Then there are those dreadful wings. As an active volunteer at a Warbird Museum which has a beautiflly restored, flying TBM I have the gift and curse of being very familiar with the real thing. I am still working on a spar system to get those wings propped up as there is not enough detail to have them displayed folded and look accurate. There is so much plumbing in that system that re-creating it would be a master modeler's task. Shame since the wings are close to dead on in shape otherwise. The landing gear is a trainwreck with the gear legs molded into the gear covers and the toy-like retraction taking priority over accuracy. Unlike the 109E and P-47 razorback, the TBM is worth saving and can be saved as a permanantly wing extended unit. The gear will nearly have to be scratch built but the accurate shape of the rest of the plane is too good to cast off. The bomb bay doors are all wrong too, as the real thing has bi-fold doors, not clam shells. If you are happy with closed doors, you can score the plastic to simulate the bi-fold and leave them shut. The gear is by far the worst part.

[Razor17019]

The Admiral Toys 262 pilot is a real dog, and would give the APC driver a run for his money any day. At least you can change the APC drivers head and have a decent figure in modern fatigues.

I always thought the Admiral toys 262 pilot was a woman.
Can you imagine if the Admiral 262 pilot got together with 21stC M113 driver?
What an UGLY baby that would produce!

[gburch]

Unlike the 109E and P-47 razorback, the TBM is worth saving and can be saved as a permanantly wing extended unit.

I'm curious what your criticisms of the Razorback are (aside from the obvious problem of the huge notch in the razorback for canopy retraction).

[Snake Man]

The Admiral Toys 262 pilot is a real dog, and would give the APC driver a run for his money any day. At least you can change the APC drivers head and have a decent figure in modern fatigues.

I always thought the Admiral toys 262 pilot was a woman.
Can you imagine if the Admiral 262 pilot got together with 21stC M113 driver?
What an UGLY baby that would produce!

I replaced the 262 pilot with a spare MIG-15 pilot that I had. Looks a whole lot better, and even has an oxygen mask !!!

[Rowsdower]

Any 21st Century figure:
The molds were horrible they all felt deformed and cartoony, the skin color was something from the jersey shore, the quality was absolute crap and would fall apart. I had one when you bent his leg the calf fell off. the weapons looked like garbage there vehicles were nice models but their figures were garbage. Every time I open a 21st box i throw the figure away because i don't need crap in my collection.
-Articulation: C
-Sculpt : F
-Paint: D
-Accessories: C
-Durability: F

On a positive side i do like the baseball cap and sock hat that came with modern figures.

QFT! Quoted for truth! I had such a love-hate relationship with those figures. Who can forgett he nucular burn skin.

[Axis Nightmare]

The issue that I think ruins the P-47 Razorback is the profile of the fuselage is wrong. The canopy is shaped wrong. The windscreen is too tall. They continued the taper all the way to the windscreen. The Razorback on the real plane tapers up to the cockpit area and then levels out. The top and bottom of the canopy should be parallel and nothing like the slanted tapering piece they used. The plan view should show a rectangular shape to the cockpit and canopy. Don't know how to fix it. Check a three view of a Thunderbolt and compare. It's not subtle. At least they didn't mold the gear leg into the gear cover which should have been a two piece unit. Got good wings and dihedral. Got those narrow bicycle tires. The notch is hideous but could be covered fairly easy. Definately some good features too.