Small Scale Military Headquarters

Just an FYI -21st announced today that they plan to exhibit at the iHobby Expo later this month. For full details and the ability to purchase new 1:18 scale planes check out the full article on AREA-21.

Hey TKO.. Will the 109 be available after the show, or will it be an "exclusive"?????
Also, will 21st be posting pics of it?? I saw the prototype pics and was wondering.. Always wondering.........

I think it's cool that 21st is at least "giving" something to Area 21 members. I wish I could go! I would pick up another 104!!

-Ski

That sounds great... but I don't live on the Left Coast. Still its good news.

The Bf-109G-6 is the long anticipated S-2 paint scheme that has been shown before. What is cool about it is that it is going to "bedut" at the iHobby Expo. It will also be available at your favorite "e-tailer" in the week or weeks to follow. It is just another reason to go if live close to LA or are looking for a quick trip.

The Starfighter is the infamous German Comic Con version. And that is the real reason to go in my opinion! I am not kidding when I say the total amount to these planes produced are low. ComicCon had 200 pieces of this plane and the remainder of the production run are trickling in through other assortments. And for events like this. I think you will see the day when online shops will be able to sell the remainder of this plane but they will be high demand and in short supply because of the special early distributions to an already very very low production run. I think both the German Starfighter and the Rall 109 are going to be some of the most sought after pieces to be sold. (barring the p-51 prizes for 4 for victory and Sweet Arlenes)

The Rall 109 will not be for sale at the show this time around. Fans will more opportunities in the future to buy this plane. That said it is run in the same low quantity as the German Starfighter.

Both of these planes have sold out of the initial small shippments. They tried to get more Rall planes for the show as well. But I guess the Starfighter is the only one they could get more of in time for the show.

This is the time to call anyone you know who lives in LA, or use the buddy system! These planes are worth the effort. I seriously doubt that they are going to run them again in higher quantity later. From everything I have been told they will simply move on to other schemes... There are plenty of 104's and 109's left to do!

I have one of each, but now I am thinking about getting an extra set just to be safe or to do future trades. Now I just need to get someone in CA to send them to me as I won't be attending the show personally.

Hope that helps you guys!

Gunther Rall 109G is on pre-order at BCA. I expect other retailers will be getting it soon as well...

Did 21st fix the various problems with the 109G with this new version? I thought I read somewhere that 21st promised to fix the landing gear, add the necessary antennas, etc.

A couple of questions...

1. In the photos I've seen of the 21st German F-104, there are no missles shown. Can somebody with this version tell us whether or not it includes the missles.

2. I never did see it mentioned what these or the Rall 109 were selling for at Comicon. Can someone fill us in?

Thanks,
Rogo

BCA now has a preorder for the German F-104 and Rall ME-109, for those that can't make the hobby expo.

Rogo:

The German s3 F-104 that I bought at Comic-Con came with two belly mounted sidewinders.

Both the F-104 & Rall 109 sold at the Con for $55 each but if you mentioned AREA 21 you got a five dollar discount each.

Both aircraft are beautiful and worth every penny.

Roger that-
John is correct! The F-104 German has the sidewinders. and the Rall 109G goes feature the top mast now. Also the rudder and elevators are inproved with more "travel" in them. The Landing gear are still the same however the work just fine if you clip just a little bit from the length of the support post to give the gear the right angle and wider stance. Both planes are very very cool... some of my favorites.

Thanks for the reply TKO, that's good news about the 109's antennas.

The 109G is one of my favorites too, despite it's landing gear being inferior to other XD planes in terms of detail and quality. But it's no big, since I display all planes with the landing gears retracted.

Thanks for the info guys!

Rogo

Did i notice correctly that the Rall ME-109G does not have the wing cannons?....

I will be attending this trade show, but I'm mainly interested in finding a US-based Japanese Candy Toy wholesaler with low or no minimum orders. But, I digress...

Speaking as someone who helped out hworth18 with the Gunther Rall at San Diego, here's some words of advice for those who might get recruited for a covert op at the iHobby Expo:

• If I had to do it over again, I would ask the folks at the booth if they still had any of the original shipping cartons. Buying a box large enough to ship the plane in can get expensive. I have a feeling that moving boxes designed for lamps may be slightly cheaper through U-Haul or Public Storage. Although, a table lamp box might be too short, and one for a floor lamp might be too long...
• Speaking of box dimensions, you may run into Oversize Package restrictions which will increase your shipping costs dramatically. USPS Priority Mail parcels that weigh less than 15 pounds but measure more than 84 inches in combined length and girth (but not more than 108 inches) will be charged at the 15-pound rate. Similarly, UPS Ground will charge at the 30-pound rate for the same box dimensions...
• Which may be a reason to get out the old utility knife to try and cut the box down in size. Plus, a smaller box means fewer peanuts (or whatever supplemental packing materials are available) will be needed.

boyx30 wrote:Did i notice correctly that the Rall ME-109G does not have the wing cannons?....

The 1st (Comicon) version does have the cannons, I don't know about this one.

gavman wrote:I will be attending this trade show, but I'm mainly interested in finding a US-based Japanese Candy Toy wholesaler with low or no minimum orders. But, I digress...

Speaking as someone who helped out hworth18 with the Gunther Rall at San Diego, here's some words of advice for those who might get recruited for a covert op at the iHobby Expo:

• If I had to do it over again, I would ask the folks at the booth if they still had any of the original shipping cartons. Buying a box large enough to ship the plane in can get expensive. I have a feeling that moving boxes designed for lamps may be slightly cheaper through U-Haul or Public Storage. Although, a table lamp box might be too short, and one for a floor lamp might be too long...
• Speaking of box dimensions, you may run into Oversize Package restrictions which will increase your shipping costs dramatically. USPS Priority Mail parcels that weigh less than 15 pounds but measure more than 84 inches in combined length and girth (but not more than 108 inches) will be charged at the 15-pound rate. Similarly, UPS Ground will charge at the 30-pound rate for the same box dimensions...
• Which may be a reason to get out the old utility knife to try and cut the box down in size. Plus, a smaller box means fewer peanuts (or whatever supplemental packing materials are available) will be needed.

Go to a local shoe carmival (or payless etc) and they have boxes big enough to ship the planes. I do cut some of them down (they are just long enough but usually too wide) and then tape the side of the box back on. Fedex ground is usually the cheapest way to ship something the size of an XD plane.

For those of you that work in offices, 2 copy paper boxes cut and fitted togther work great to ship the XD items in.

I'm a little confused about Mr. President's comments above. How can they run a small or very limited production batch and yet make money? I'd figure that from a business stand point, they'd come out with thousands of units at a time, and distribute as quickly as possible in an attempt to recover their investment and profits.

Understandably, not all is up to the retailers: Distribution problems, marketing strategies and even gas prices all have a bearing in how well, how much and how quickly the consumer gets a product. Having said that, both BBi and 21C would do well to understand market forces and give people what they want, when they want it, at a reasonable price.

Ed.

Well I checked out the show just because 21st was going to be there and it was only $8 (but add $10 parking)..and here is the info I can remember. (Sorry If this is old news but I'll report what I think is new news...)
...and dumb me didnt bring a camera cuz i didn't think there would be much to see (in respects to our hobby)

21st was there mostly to demo their RC stuff (since the show was mainly an RC show). But had a lot of what they showed at SDCC out to show again in the glass cases. Their 1:9 M1 ran pretty well, which surprised me since there were problems report with it - i didnt notice any problems (except when their battery ran out of juice.) also the 1:6 hummer and stewart where there to demo..both seemed pretty rugged as some of the people demoing them started using them as bumper cars..and they stood up to the pounding. they had the 1:18 panzer demoing there too (which i just got and didnt open yet) so i had a chance to try it...BUT the frequence is the same as the other RC stuff and the signal didn't get through enough for it to run..dang! oh well...
Saw 2 of the avengers painted up and they look sweet in person.
21stC 1:18 modern soft/hard covered tan hummer (M998) was showed and those looked great. the soft cover was actual canvas (cloth) looking material - not molded plastic like the WWII truck.
1:32 russian and japanese figures and a green japanese zero were all there (sorry im not up-to-date on 1:32 so if this is old new to ya guys - forgive me

something that was a surprise was Merit was there and previewed the BBI green Zero and the rep there told me this is the "mass market" version (not in quality but as far as retailers go)..so those should be in TRU - i really don't ask about dates anymore.
also they showed some of that non-articulated 1:18 knights stuff and their new stuff included a seige tower and a catapult! i was very surprised to see that! and it looked great! it wasn't too toyish looking either.

again that's the relevant stuff i can remember that was news to me.
it's a great RC show..i didn't know they could fly those RC helos upsidedown!! (they had a competition that was really cool to see.)

Mark, thanks as always for the cutting edge recon!

2 Humvee variants are very welcomed, especially a cargo hummer. I hope they mount an MG on one of those, though I could do it myself (wouldn't be the first time ). 1:32 really seems to be taking off with so many countries now represented! Maybe there is hope for 1:18 Ruskies yet!

Is the Green bbi Zero the reason why it does not have folding wings? That would be wrong on the later version, right (or the other way around)? Good to see it will be at mass retail though. Shame bbi didn't show anything new - their WWII line is still so limited.

1:32 Russians and Japanese will be certainly welcome! My FOV T-34 needs some more troop support. The mention of a 32x Zero is also good. I think that gives us an early spill as to what the two "surprise" 32x planes may be!

My 32x AVG P-40 needs something to shoot down besides a tropical-cammo ME-109!