Small Scale Military Headquarters

It was about five years ago this month that 21c's XD line first started to appear, having been announced a few months earlier. I bought my first piece (Panther) in early october of 2000 (right after running a 5k in a relay marathon race...i ran by a TRU during my stint and when i was done, took the subway back to my car and went and bought the Panther...they had been out for a couple of weeks and i was resisting getting any XD but finally caved..heh). I joned GP's board a few weeks later, after hearing about it on some toy site's forum (i think it was on Action Figure Times forum).

And the rest is history..

I thought 21st started their produccts back in 1996????.....i don't follow....it definetely has to be more than 5 years.
let me know, because i bought my first xd back when i was in PR and that was more than five years ago.....
keep me posted.

I think he's talking XD 1/18 scale, since Ultimate Soldier was making 1/6 stuff years before these came out...

I came across my first 1/18th Panther in April of 2000. Sometime after that I went back to TRU and got a second which I converted into a Jadgpanther. GP posted my first pic on his site. Five years and its still fun.

21st have been making 1/6th since around 97/98 if not earlier (they were the one`s IMO who really kick started 1/6th up again) as I recall our first Wedding anniv in 98 in York & seeing Kool collectibles stocking a wide range of there stuff.
Also 98/99 was when XD first appeared also Again if memory serves correctly.

Ja
Steel Bonnet

yes i was speaking of XD, i know 21c was making its 1/6 stuff for a few years before that...i think they first began making 1/6 in 1996 and they were soley responsible for the huge resurge in popularity of 1/6. XD definitely debuted in 2000...if you don't trust my memory (understandable) just check the back of the S1 figure cards or S1 vehicle boxes and you'll see the copyright date is 2000.

i didn't realize xd came out that many months earlier in the US. I thought that it showed up in Canada around the same time it appeared in the US, which was early Sept. of 2000. I guess not being on GP's board, i was in the dark back then...but since then i have seen the light...

I recall seeing XD for the first time (at least in California) around September of 2000 as well. Back then, I checked TRUs fairly regularly as I was looking for the latest in the 3 3/4" GI Joe collectors line.

Boy was I surprised when, while on a roadtrip to Sacramento, Ca. I stopped by a random TRU and saw a 1:18 scale ME-109 and P-51 sitting on the shelf! I walked out with the P-51 and later got an ME-109 and it all went from there!

Hard to believe its been five years. Compare the S1 P-51 with the F-104 (or, well, the soon to be retooled P-51) or the S1 US & German Infantry with the new US Marines & Japanese and see how far we've come!

I got my first XD (D-Day P-38) in April of 2002. I took it home and checked it out. Next day, I went back and bought the Stuka and Corsair. My collection has "snowballed" since then.

I forget when it was... but I remember going to TRU one day and seeing the original XD P-51 ('Lou IV') and ME-109 on the shelves. I couldn't get them at that moment, so I called TRU the next day and put two on hold. Went down there and picked them both up. Such a long time ago! Now... *looks at the sea of aircraft hanging from the cieling*

I wish I could remember what site I saw it on, but I remember seeing that this "XD" line was coming out with realistic military figures. I can remember telling my wife "SH#$, this is going to cost me some money." Nostradamus, eat your heart out!

I can remember getting my first XD piece - the panther tank - after seeing it at a freinds house. I was totally captivated by the size and the detail and just couldn't wait to get one for my own.

My first were the kubelwagen and tiger tank off a lot on Ebay about a year ago

I was stationed over in the UK in 2000 when I heard about the XD line on another forum. I couldn't believe the detail and fell in obsession with the P-51 and 109. I had to wait until I moved back to the states in 2001 to land my first aircraft in July 2001. I had to get the P-51 on E-Bay by then. I then got the second S-1 P-51 and 109 from the fan club at $30 each! That seems so long ago!! It is all history from there. I found GP's forum immediately upon return to the states and have been here ever since. We all lucked out big time that P51 got this site up, that's for sure.

Time sure does fly and I am so much the richer for knowing all of you. Thanks guys!!

-Ski

I had my head up my butt looking for 12" GIJoes...can still remember seeing the peg boards LOADED with XD and standing there looking at them and thinking-'These are pretty cool'! But did I BUY any? NOPE. Now 5 years later-thanks to this Forum and the GREAT people on HERE...I'm trying to CATCH UP!!! I'm selling and trading off my 12" Joes for XD! If I was only SMARTER back then....

What got me interested in XD was a trip to TRU about 4 years ago to look for 1/6 stuff for my son, as he was into Joes! TRU was having a "Sidewalk Sale" where they had a 1/18 XD Tiger 1 for $19.90, a German Panther for $16.90 and an SdKF2 German Halftrack for $12.90. I remember this because of the $.90 on each. Amazed by the detail and the pre-built, pre-painted size of these vehicles, I took them home!
My son really wasn't interested at the time, but it peeked my interest for more......and more.......and more. Now he has developed an interest in 1/18 and has taken over care and ownership of the items. I support him by buying and building items for him. I get my joy out of his interest in WWII and his insatiable appetite for knowledge. And sometimes, he even lets me play along!

Yes I remember in 2000 being a fan of the toy industry and an avid reader of the toy magazines. I didn't collect 1/6 scale stuff but I was impressed with the 21st Century Toys products in that scale. I read the coverage in the summer of their big convention where they unveiled the 1/18 scale stuff. I saw the BF-109 and thought it was 1/6 scale and couldn't believe they were gonna try to sell something that big. Here's the amazing part, later when I found it was all 1/18 scale I thought it was a dumb idea. Yeah hard to believe now, but back then I didn't think I would like them. They started showing up in late summer early fall at TRU and I thought the figures were ok but kind of crude, wth those swivel elbow and knee joints. I was amazed by the tiny grenades, too. I kind of like dthe vehicles when they started showing up, but the BF-109 was never anywhere to be seen. The P-51 was available in droves, but from looking at the one they had hanging over the toys, I was not impressed with it. So I held off. Finally around Christmas I saw a BF-109 and was so impressed that I bought it and took it home and played with it and displayed it.

The follwoing spring, I walked into TRU and they had Vietnam stuff, and it was awesome. I picked up the entire Nam line in a couple of weeks and THAT got me interested in the WWII stuff, which I was then able to go back and get either from Amazon or TRU stores, all at considerable discounts by that time, and right before they became scarce. Then I was all charged up by news that they were goign to debut a new line each quarter, following up the spring Nam release with summer Modern and fall continuation of WWII. Well, then the Jakks stuff happened and for a year there was nothing but speculation and then the Paratroopers and wave 2 of WWII came out in spring of 2002. So that's my first 2 years of XD

Aferg,

No worries mate though 98 i`m sure i saw smaller 21st stuff,the 32nd didn`t come out before the XD did it? Though i can tell the difference between the scales (unless I`ve gone completey stupid..LOL).

I`m just sure i saw something XD (Nam related in 98/99 in the UK).

Hey it may have been 2000 though just seriously think 98/99 .

As for 21st 1/6h.Yep with you on that there responsible for kickstarting that scale backinto the limelight.

Ja
Steel Bonnet

SB: nope....2000. In fact VN stuff wasn't until the following year, which would be 2001.

Ahhhh right,well must be my memory is going on me then in my old age...LOL

Ja
steel Bonnet

I was in TRU looking for Christmas presents for my nieces and nephews when I happened upon it. I saw the P-51 and Me-109. I passed on them then because I didn't have extra money to spend on myself because it was Christmas. So, a few months later I went back to buy them, and they were gone. But, I did find a big old Stuka and that made my day. From that point on, I think I have bought something XD related about every other paycheck.
Aaron

I was given money for my birthday from my parents.
Went to TRU and wanted to get all Vietnam figs - but they had all the WWII S1 figs on sale for 2.98 each. So, I ended up getting several WWII guys with a Huey - Strange looking dio was created with a WWII German Officer pointing his Luger at the Huey pilot...

I found a ME-109 and P-51 in a local goodwill store that were a little busted up. I almost got them and am sorry I didn't now...
Oh well...

I first found them when I was looking for Christmas presents for my neice and nephew. It was S1. I was taken back. I couldn't pony up the money because it was Christmas. Then, I went to school over seas. When I got back and saved some money, I returned to buy my first plane. S1 was out, but I saw a big beautiful Stuka and fell in love. Since then, I think I have bought a piece of XD about every other paycheck I get.
Aaron

I'm another one who started with the Panther in 2000. I can still remember the excitement it stirred in my middle-aged heart! Felt like I was 12 again and building Tamiya models with my big brother....

Now it's five years and many dollars later...and I still get a big thrill from a new tank, plane, or figure. Good, clean fun if you ask me. Worth every penny!

I remember going into TRU back in fall 2000 and seeing the two planes the P-51, Me 109 and just thinking these were something special. So I bought them and have enjoyed the models ever since. Previous to that I had mostly smaller scale 1:100, 1/72 scale planes. But I have added numerous large scale planes since then and they keep getting better. I wasn't very interested in figures but I ended up buying a case when they went on sale for 2.98. I think that was a smart purchase.
Todd

I think it was the summer of 2002 when I was walking through a TRU in Little Rock looking for Yat Mings or some such junk when I came across the 21C XD Tiger I.
I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen (besides my wife-she may be reading this!). I said "what is such an incredibly accurate model doing in a store that caters to little snot-nosed whine-brats?" (can you tell I hate kids?). I left without one, thinking "where would I put such a beast?". But I drove back to Little Rock the next week and bought that Tiger.
Approximately 500 XD planes and tanks later, I'm still buying this crap! Somebody please shoot me!