Small Scale Military Headquarters

For those who don't have one (or more) of everything in 1/18, I'm guessing most have a "Most Wanted" item or two. Some will have a "Most Regretted" they sold or traded away and some will have failed to pull the trigger and now are kicking themselves over the "One that Got Away". I have some of each and they actually overlap. Only talking planes and vehicles, my most wanted are an F-104 Vietnam and an F-86 "Huff"(though I won't pay an outrageous or inflated price for them )

My most regretted is selling my F-104 (as at the time I wasn't interested in jets).

The one that got away was passing on an F-86 "Huff" some time ago.

I guess it's all part of collecting and changing your special interests.

Anybody else?

Most regretted is buying anything modern but figures.

Most wanted... Not much, I had it all. Maybe more of it would've been nice.

Not much got away from me, but looking back I wish I'd bought more of the buildings on clearance and sold them, haha. That stuff shot up.

I only regret not buying a shed and filling it to the top with Avengers and Spitfires when they were $10 each at Wal-Mart....

Ive had dreams Im back there, filling the cart, I almost make it to the register before waking up... someday I will make it through checkout and then when I wake up Ill run to my collection and there they will be

I'll keep it short......

Most wanted.....King Tiger. Pickelhaubes got that covered.

Most regretted..... 21st went under.

The one that got away...All the Panzer IV's that never showed in my area.

Most Wanted:
Hard to say and I have several items. I guess the King Tiger in pre-assembled and pre-painted form (I don't want to build a kit), the F-4 Phantom in 1:18, the B-25, or the A-1 Skyraider. The F-4 and Skyraider in 1:18 came so close as Admiral Toys had the prototypes. Other items are things that no one has made yet, like a 1:18 scale M-5 Stuart, Hetzer, or Panzer 38T (though grunt1 is coming close...). Really, I've been able to get everything else that I've wanted, even if I forked out a little more cash than original retail.

Most regretted:
That I didn't keep that darn Tuskeegee P-51D I found at TRU. My local store had two several years ago - one I sent to a board member, the other I took home. I had the box open, the plane in hand, and in the process of assembly. I couldn't get the wing to screw to the fuselage properly (result of 21c's fabled QC most likely) and decided I had enough P-51s at that time. I boxed the plane back up and took it back. Shouldn't have done that

The One that Got Away:
Again, a hard question as if I want something, I'll do what I can to get it, shy of spending hundreds of dollars. But there is an item that has escaped: the Hobby Master 1:48 scale F9F Panther "VF-92/Bridges of Toko Ri" scheme. I remember when this was in stock at TheFlyingMule and thinking either I'll get it later or simply that I didn't want to spend the $60 for it then. The plane is nearly impossible to find now!

MOST WANTED---a Hobby Master 1/72 F-4D Phantom flown by Chuck Yeager when he was commander of the 4th TFW at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina for my NC collection. After several suggestions by me, HM won't touch a Yeager model with a ten-foot pole because of possible litigation.

MOST REGRETTED---not buying more than I did of the 21st Century models during the great Monkey Depot clearance a few years ago and some of the 21st Century 1/32 Mustangs on clearance at Wal-Mart because I didn't know 21st Century was headed into oblivion.


THAT ONE THAT GOT AWAY---a couple of Corgi 1/72 B-17 and B-24 that were offered to me on a second chance purchase via ebay several years ago. Now they're going for big bucks---if you can find one.
Also, when I first started collecting, I had a BBI 1/18 F-16 Wolfpack in my cart on clearance at Target---but I changed my mind.

THE ONE THAT DIDN'T GET AWAY---years ago when I first started collecting, Hobby Master had just released the Ritchie and Cunningham Phantoms. They were virtually sold out when I managed to find a Ritchie for my NC collection at an obscure New Hampshire hobby shop. They also had a Cunningham Phantom which I didn't want, but I bought it anyway and hoped I wouldn't regret spending the money. Years later, I'm glad I bought the Cunningham Phantom because they're very, very rare.

TMANTHEGREAT:

I got a HM "Golden Dragons" F9F Panther being a fan of William Holden (whose brother was a Navy fighter pilot KIA in World War II). I also got the dvd of the movie, too.
I also got the HM Ted Williams Panther for my NC collection as Williams was based in NC twice and learned to fly the Panther at MCAS Cherry Point, NC.

NORMANDY:

I got one of Pickelhaube's 1/16 Peiper King Tigers still in the crate via another SSHQ member who sold it to me after he got it from Pickelhaube (the guy's wife wouldn't let him keep it).
The 1/16 King Tigers were originally about $350, but they were sold out before I started collecting. Now, they've sold for up to $1,700 on ebay.

My one and only regret when it comes to 1/18 is that I didn't keep that Gunther Rall Bf109G-6.. I've been kicking myself in the butt ever since I sold it years ago.
My regret in 1/32, that I never had all the shelf space I needed to display all the planes I had.

hworth18 wrote:My one and only regret when it comes to 1/18 is that I didn't keep that Gunther Rall Bf109G-6.. I've been kicking myself in the butt ever since I sold it years ago.
My regret in 1/32, that I never had all the shelf space I needed to display all the planes I had.

I have 1 left of the Rall ( I think ) and 3 guys are after it.

Man I have so much regrets it aint funny. Passing on the Cobras ,M-113s and the Avengers.

I got 6 Avengers thinking that was enough, it was not.

I did have a few FOV 1/16 Tigers I had 3 original K-2 , 2 S-2 K-2s and 1 Tiger 1.

I kind of miss them but by trading them I really ratcheted up 1/6 collection.

I collect all sorts of things the one thing that I hate myself fo getting rid of was my WW1 Trench armor set. It was 100% complete with about 80 % paint.

I bought it way back when for $700 sold a few years after for $1500. The same (Mine )set sold last year for $3,000+

Man I sure wish I still had that still. but wifey hated it and I was hungry for more spikes and that is what I spent the money on.

Now I am pretty sure if you could find one it that condition it will cost over $4,000

Let's see...

Wish I'd gotten one of those black F/A-18s when then were released years ago.

Wish I hadn't sold off my Cobra helicopter.

Wish that 21C had made the Mig-21. Would have been awesome.

I'm with Tinman. I remember staring at the black F-18 in Hobby People and thinking I should get the the other one since I never saw the black one on a carrier deck. Hind sight is always 20/20. I wish I had a bigger room to display everything I have, now better than half my collection sits boxed in my garage and storage shed. I'm glad I only collect the U.S. aircraft and armor. I have 20 planes hanging from the ceiling, 18 aircraft on shelves and at least 60 vehicles and armor displayed. I also have about 10 or 12 aircraft parked on the floor waiting to take to the air or Tarmac. This does not count the hundreds of soldiers in various locations throughout the room and everything in storage awaiting it's day to shine.

Picked up almost everything, and that includes a lot of armor which I wasn't that into, but they were such sweet deals, and most were on sale.
The only planes that eluded me that I really wanted were the DWK Biggin Hill Spitfire, the Tuskegee P-51D, and Donnie Boy P-47 Razorback.
By the time I realized I didn't have them, it was way too late to get them at a reasonable price.

Passed on the modern jets, but the only reason I would've bought them in hindsight was to turn a profit, but I wasn't in it for that.

Now that 1:18 trickles out at one or two releases a year, decided to have no regrets and buy one or two air(planes) that are exceptional and have never been made before. The last one I bought was the Merit Coral Sea Dauntless. I'm about to spring for the Richard Best Midway version before it disappears. Don't want to regret that.

I will not miss the FW-190, likely it won't suck.
Still not buying modern jets, but have a couple F-86's, Mig 15's, and F-104's.

So the rewards have by far outweighed the regrets.

I missed out entirely on the old school days where you could walk in to WalMart or TRU and buy stuff at retail because of college and then illness. I think not being able to participate in those days, which must have been wondrous, is my greatest regret.

My most wanted is the 2 seater Nightfighter Me-262. I've bid on quite a few and never managed to win the auctions.

The one that got away for me was a Blue Angels F-18. My first and only Hornet is one of the black Jolly Rogers which I bought off a guy pretty cheap because it is missing some ordinance. About a month after buying it I came across a Blue Angels Hornet at a local flea/antique market. The gentleman wanted $250 for it and my gf was giving me grief since I already had an F-18. Of course as soon as I stepped away to talk with her it got sold.

Most wanted: As I have posted before, I would have given blood to buy a complete line of Soviet War in Afghanistan figures and vehicles. Chief item I would have wanted would be a Mi-24D Hind.

Back in '07, Calgary's 21st distributor Chinook and Hobby West had a 50% off sale for all 21st merchandise. They had a lot in stock: planes, figures, tanks, vehicles. And all I got were Sgt. Wildorff, the pioneer sdkfz 251, and a pak. The next time I went to the store about a month later, there selection was done to a few vietnam figures, which I also got. And so my biggest regret is not getting anything more during that sale.

The one that got away was an Avenger that slipped from its perch on my shelf and literally slipped through my arms as I tried to catch it. I use pieces of it for dioramas now and then.

Most wanted: F-4 Phantom in 1:18 or A-10 in 1:18 scale

Most Regretted: Every single time I have tried to buy a Hellcat in 1:18... WORST 1:18 execution EVER!

One(s) that got away: Stacks of Spitfires at Walmart on sale for 15$. THE DAY THEY RELEASED!!!

tko211 wrote:Most Regretted: Every single time I have tried to buy a Hellcat in 1:18... WORST 1:18 execution EVER!

...apart from the very toyish P-40, P-47 bubbletop , P-47 Razorback, and the list could go on. I'll agree the F6F is not one of BBI's best 1:18 WWII aircraft efforts, but not nearly a fail in terms of accuracy, detail, and quality as some other 1:18 aircraft. There was, after all, no "4 for Victory" contest to move along stagnate BBI Hellcat sales

Not many regrets in 1/18.

Probably the biggest would be not getting the Badcat and Australian F-18's for cheaper, but wasn't into the hobby when they were first released, so not like I passed on them.

Wish I had picked up the Corgi 909 B-17, and the HM Cunningham F-4 when they were first released. Now they are very expensive, and out of reach. But not like I don't have other B-17's or Phantoms, so I am okay with it.