Small Scale Military Headquarters

with bbi coming out of its coma this year, i can forsee them making new stuff in the not too distant future. While i think armour is out there may be a hope for figures.

In the plane category i can see them doing any of the following:

P-47 - a popular subject that has long been out of circulation; bbi likes to appeal to the american market as well.

spitfire - another popular subject; while i'd like to think they'd do a mark ix, they'd probably do a mk v

fw-190a - looong overdue in this scale, offering repaint potential the next hundred years

hind - only because i know they have one all ready to go and i believe they are testing the waters, price-wise with the black hawk

that's pretty much it for now. I don't see all of these, just one being released in the next couple of years. The most likely is the thunderbolt. Sorry, the A-10 is still a long way off if ever. I don't know they'd release it without big box retailer support and they won't be able to get that again, i don't think. Not for many years anyway. Too bad, the one they had ready to go was a beaut and if not for a chance coincidence of power team releasing theirs at the same time, it might have made it to TRU (the only reason TRU didn't want to carry the bbi a-10 is because they had already committed to the PTE as an exclusive).

Looking at your list the 190 is the only one they would make in my opinion.

I do not believe the Hind will ever get made.

It is just too big.

pickelhaube wrote:Looking at your list the 190 is the only one they would make in my opinion.

I do not believe the Hind will ever get made.

It is just too big.

I agree, the Hind is huge and ultra detailed, that could only happen if the economy totally recovered.

The 190A would be great but I fear anything that takes new molds or anything other than a new paint job will be over $100, way over...

If you think a Hind has a chance of getting made, then I think you are wrong about the A-10 not having a chance. They already have an A-10 just as ready to go as they do a Hind (at least pictures of the A-10 have been shown to you) and your logic about the Blackhawk leading to a Hind could be the same regarding the F-16 leading to the A-10. If your logic about the Blackhawk testing the waters for a Hind are true, better hope its sales go better than everyone is projecting or everyone's dream of a Hind will be just that.....a dream. Plus, if what you say is true about bbi having a Hind prototype like they do an A-10, the fact that they at least tried to market the A-10 to a mass retailer and never did the Hind should tell you something about what they think will sell more. I don't think the current lack of brick and mortar store support is something to factor anymore for a subject in 1/18 scale being made. I think the price point is a bigger factor now and I think that may actually allow this hobby to see more subjects than it would have with brick and mortar store support. Granted it will definitely be at a slower pace and of course higher prices.

Another reason I think puts the A-10 ahead of the Hind are plane sales vs. helicopter sales. I think planes outsell helicopters like aircraft outsell armor. Helicopters are cool, but I think planes have a bigger audience.

I hope both the A-10 and the Hind get made though. I want both in my collection but I think the A-10 has a better chance of making the list before the Hind.

The A-10 is a good choice, they've done huge jets already so why not.

A Spitfire by BBI would probably be very nice if the BF 109 is any indication of quality. Agreed with Aferg, probably a MK V.
You'd get some good choices of slight mods with a mediterranean / desert tropical vokes filter and 20mm cannons and more color schemes, maybe even a Seafire?

While were at it why not a Hurricane? I'd settle for any version, but probably the MK I would be the one they'd do.
I'd like to see the same treatment with a desert scheme, vokes filter and 20mm cannons of the MKIIC.

If whatever work that 21stC had going if any to modify their P-51D into a P-51 B/C doesn't happen with Allgo, then perhaps BBI will make one.

I'd personally rather have the 21st mold than the BBI, but I'd buy either.

It was mentioned as something 21st was contemplating if not working on by the fan club Prez. The work is half done with both companies having done the Mustang D.

...and yeah of course the FW-190A.

What about the Me-163 Komet? There have been rumors banging around for a few years now. I know I'd buy a few.

As for me, I would like to see the FW190A, a Hurricane, a Japanese Tony, or one of the Jap floatplane fighters, and a Sturmovik !

normandy wrote:What about the Me-163 Komet? There have been rumors banging around for a few years now. I know I'd buy a few.

I believe we'll see a Komet before long, but not from BBI.

As for the rest, the big question is "new molds in the new world." JSI set an example with the F-14. If they actually make money with it over time, then MAYBE BBI will eventually risk a new mold. I happen to think the A-10 is the best bet for a truly new big project from a big manufacturer other than JSI, because of its instant recognizability and wide potential appeal.

As for JSI, I could see them making the SU-27 / J-11 as a test of the Chinese market as a base, instead of the US market . . . IF they have enough financial backing to undertake such an expensive experiment. Regarding their F-14, I've always thought that must have been a project that was well under way, with most of its development costs spent before the Big Crash, and that they pushed ahead because incremental cost to try to recoup their sunk costs was relatively low.

"and that they pushed ahead because incremental cost to try to recoup their sunk costs was relatively low."

the biggest cost by far on any project is the actual production run. The development costs are relatively minor, which is why you see so many unproceeded with prototypes from various manufacturers, 21c and BBI included.

I said Hind over A-10 only becasue it would have a cheaper price point with virtually as much sizzle. An A-10 released now will probably be close to $250, and i don't see an aircraft of that cost being released anytime soon. I don't think the F-14 did all that well and it is the king daddy of modern planes, as far as popularity goes. I don't think there is any modern plane that would be a more popular seller.

I think the Hind is a super long shot, but has a shot.

I hope you're right about the komet; it's getting awfully late in the year now and usually things like that are wanted to be available for the Christmas season. I was hoping for some Bravo Team news by now too, with the rumours of new 1/18 armour releases but with every passing day that hope fades as well, for another year...

The problem is, the Hind probably wouldn't have a cheaper price point than an A-10. If it were to have a cheaper price point, I wouldn't count on it being such a huge difference that it would make an A-10's price point look bad. Also, I think the A-10 would outsell the Hind which would also wash out a small price point difference if there was a price point difference at all.

Now not saying I want them too, but if bbi brought an A-10 to market for $250, I don't think they would have a problem. With the current market, I think that price fits within what many collectors would expect....between the F-16 and F-14. Especially if F-16 sales at the $179 price tag are going well. I really think they could bring an A-10 to the market for the $179 ($200) price range.

I just want them to release the Kiowa again, I missed the last few on Smalljoes. Suddenly the price went from around $45 on websites to $125+ on ebay . I would like a Hind as well, that way the stingers they include with the kiowa could be of use for once .

f18 is going to be 2012's bundle, i just know it.

seeing that they have a compiled wishlist on their facebook page, wouldn't they be making things based on popular requests? obviously, they wouldn't be making models that are in low demand.

i know they have one all ready to go

This bbi Hind talk has perpetuated for years but nobody can ever point to the origin of the rumor. No photo, no article, just a recurring dream. Besides, we all know a mock-up is not "ready to go" - see the 21C A-10.

Mike told me it was ready to go years ago. By ready to go i mean it's tooled and all that is needed is the word to be given and production to begin. I don't mean to imply there are boxes of them sitting in a warehouse somewhere.

So bbi has already spent the huge cost of tooling a subject like the Hind only to not release it? That's odd if true since the tooling phase is the part that never happens until buyers are known. Did they do the same for the A-10 since Mike shared pictures with you of what was called a "ready to go" one?

i assume so. He said it was ready to go and the only reason it didn't get produced was because TRU turned it down and there weren't any other big box retailers interested. Back then BBI wouldn't produce anything without big box retailer support first. Things have changed a bit since then.

The Hind would have been produced ; TRU was willing to carry it but sales of the Blackhawk and Apache were soft and that spooked bbi so they delayed it a year, then another year and then......well it didn't happen, yet anyway. But with the new higher price point now, they need to make less, so that may let it see the light of day, though i still think it's a long shot.

I think they could sell more Hind's for $170, than a slightly embellished repainted Blackhawk.

I'll go with Fw 190A/F...should of been first in line after the Bf 109....Ta 152 C-H-V...any of the variants would be nice as well....

Jackson wrote:I'll go with Fw 190A/F...should of been first in line after the Bf 109...

That is what I would like to see as well. The BBI Bf-109G is just great and the FW-109A (as one of the most important fighters in the war) is sorely needed in the scale. They would do a fantastic job and blow the socks off anything Allgo/21c could produce.

I'd certainly get a Hind if they do it, but for whatever reason I see this as a long shot, even if they have the tooling. While it would be big and cool, the helo likely has just too limited of an appeal, particularly in the American market.

If I could add to Aferg's list, I wonder what the possibiliy of BBI upscaling their 1:32 tooling's would be? They did an excellent Dauntless and F4F in 1:32 - as well as an F-4 Phantom. All three would be excellent subjects in 1:18 and since Admiral seems to be dead, I don't think my Dauntless preorder is going to get filled anytime soon.

tmanthegreat wrote:

Jackson wrote:I'll go with Fw 190A/F...should of been first in line after the Bf 109...

That is what I would like to see as well. The BBI Bf-109G is just great and the FW-109A (as one of the most important fighters in the war) is sorely needed in the scale. They would do a fantastic job and blow the socks off anything Allgo/21c could produce.

We are in an accord on this T

Birddog wrote:If you think a Hind has a chance of getting made, then I think you are wrong about the A-10 not having a chance. They already have an A-10 just as ready to go as they do a Hind (at least pictures of the A-10 have been shown to you)

Now is this actually true? I know I have heard it said more than once. Also, we need to define what is meant by "ready". Does ready mean they have hand-made a prototype model, or does ready mean they have cut tools and the tools are just sitting around? I think it must surely be the former or otherwise the investment already incurred would be so significant that they might as well have released *something* already. The fact that they have these modeled doesn't strike me as a huge deal. They probably have a *lot* of stuff modeled.

Birddog wrote:I don't think the current lack of brick and mortar store support is something to factor anymore for a subject in 1/18 scale being made. I think the price point is a bigger factor now and I think that may actually allow this hobby to see more subjects than it would have with brick and mortar store support. Granted it will definitely be at a slower pace and of course higher prices.

I agree. It is definitely the case that 1/18 scale is moving into the niche hobby consumer area. The effect of this, and whether that smaller consumer base can support the product at the commensurate higher price points is still up in the air. We would have liked to learn something from the JSI F-15 but that didn't really pan out due to the deficiencies the model exhibited - in other words, not a good test.

Re-releases of the F-16 and Blackhawk will be informative but only mildly so as they do not address the consumer base (most of us in this forum) who already own these items and are not inclined to re-buy them.

In summary, I still think someone (BBI?) will have to go out on a limb with a new tool, done right, higher price point, and see how the consumer responds.

when i used to chat with Mike, all of which was sworn to secrecy on my part, he used to differentiate between prototypes and stuff that was ready to go.

BBI had 1/18 prototypes of a c-47 and b-17, also an f-5 and some other stuff i forget now. The Hind and A-10 were described as ready to go. This i interpreted to mean tooling was done; what else could it have meant as they were clearlly well beyond the prototype stage.

He said the cost of producing an item was the most expensive and thus before BBI would proceed they would have to have an big box retailer lined up. This is why the A-10 was not proceeded with. For the Hind, TRU was lined up but bbi got cold feet due to soft helicopter sales of the prior releases.

One interesting note that just occurred to me. While i saw a bunch of pics of the A-10, i never saw anything at all of the Hind. However, our conversations came in fits and spurts, often separated by months, so it may just be that he never bothered to send me any. At the time, the A-10 was much more in the spotlight as that was when the hunger strike was going on.

1:18 c-47 and b-17 ?

Puff the Dragon would be an awesome bird in 1/18th...

Whoever said aircraft outsell Heli's is wrong. Helicopters sell twice what aircraft sell.
Kids like flying objects that can hover and interact easier. Helicopters and VTOL like aircraft sell extremely well.

I would Assume that Mike meant " ready to go " as the prototype was finished and ready for molds.
The molds being made would have made a release happen. A 5k prototype laying around is much easier to swallow then a 35k in molds. My bet would be in won't happen unless someone wants to order a 5000 pcs.
If TRU order 10 per store it would probably get it done. I don't think any online retailers would want to take a risk of that magnitude, even split between major players, it'd be 1000 ea.

There's not enough collectors of 1/18 for that.