Small Scale Military Headquarters

OK, the Patricia is up at BCA (the only bird I recommend pre-ordering due to genuine limited distribution) but it is $80. That is absolute BS. There is already a premium on it and it is not even released - sort of defeats the purpose of getting in early.

Now I am bummed. I can't wait to get the German CL-13 Sabre. I hope it doesn't get pushed back to much.

Looks like the German F86 comeing out the same time the 262 comes out
Kurt

That price has to drop. $80 is way, way too much. Must be a typo, hehehehe....

-Ski

I had to reply to this even though I promised myself that I would not work this weekend.

$80.00 is a darn good price, because we are going to recommend $84 and change. When you do a 500 limited release, you have a lot of extra costs. For example:
1. A plate on each model that states 1 of 500, 2 of 500, etc., is not a huge investment in itself. But you have to add the cost to pre-drill the models to attach the plates and to add more people to your production line to attach the plates.
2. Custom sales box for the Patricia II. We do not put different models in the same box. We have the box designed for this aircraft and then tell a printer to make custom screens for the printing of ONLY 500, which they do not like. This is a lot of extra cost. I can have 2,000 printed for much less.
3. New spray-masking, tampo-prints and decals, having your decal supplier provide you with only 500 decals is more then if I ordered 2,000.
4. New production assembly line. It literally will take a manufacturer the same amount of time to produce 500 of something as it would to produce a container of something. (Same amount of time, fewer products equal higher production cost.)
5. New paint for the Patricia II. The Jolly Roger has one type of silver paint. We apply three layers of different paints to the Patricia to give it a very real look. When you start to paint only certain panels here and there on a model, you have to have masking tools made for the whole model. This means custom molds of the whole aircraft to assist in painting.
6. There are so many more factors involved with which I will not bother you.

As you can see there are a lot of extra costs associated with limited releases of large scale models. This is why no one has done such limited numbers of 1:18 models. This is a test bed for the market. If the market “as a whole” feels the price is too high, we will not further produce limited numbers of 1:18 products. One thing I know for certain is that the prices cannot go down. Production cost is just too high. Trust me - Admiral Toys Incorporated will make no more money per model than they did on the Jolley Roger.

Regards,
Jason

Hi Jason,

Whats the word on the German CL-13 Sabre? I hope it is not delayed to long.

You guys at Admiral are doing a terrific job. The more detailed paint work on the Patricia Sabre is very nice. It is the only thing about the Limited Ediiton Sabre that I find attractive, the exclusivity and the numbered eiditon plates do not add any value to it in my view. I don't pay extra for "trophies".

What I'd like to see is the better paint job on the large production run so that we could buy the better product at regular price or a modestly (not almost double) higher one.

Then again I don't see how you guys (Admiral) can do these toys without losing your a$$ anyway, so what do I know.

I hope they do well and the market "as a whole" responds in acceptance. Limited number pieces maybe the only way we get to see some aircraft such as larger or more obscure subjects. Of course the market response and sales potential of a limited run of F-86 repaints compared to the market response and sales potential of a limited run of P-39s, B-17s, etc., can't be judged to be the same. Anyhow I do hope Admiral does well and we see this turn out fruitful.

Jason, I was not saying you guys were making more money, just that unless you want a trophey or are in LOVE with this paint scheme I don't see why you would want it for almost twice what the equally nice other version costs. To each his own. And guys, we have never seen limited production MOLDS, only paint schemes, so this endeavor has no implications for getting birds/vehicles we would not otherwise see.

I see awesome pics of the 262 and the new pilot on AT's website. Don't know if this is old news but man it looks sweet as does the pilot.

Digger, thank you for pointing out that new photos of the ME 262 are available on our site. These are what we thought would be the final production photos. But we did not like how some of the paint colors lost the details. Therefore, we have tweaked some of the colors. If you like these photos you will really like the new colors. I will have those up on the site later next week.

Before you ask.... many of you will notice that we do not have a picture with the landing gear down. Truth be told.... our guys forgot to put the front tire on its wheel! It is embarrassing to show that even the Head Cheeses in a company get models with quality control issues.

Regards,
Jason

Alright, you guys are just no good.

That Me-262 just looks SO GOOD.

Now I can see anothger rule in the dumper. The rule is "only two stinken planes - Stuka and Avenger, that's all". Foiled again.

Now, since I've only just been made aware of AT, where can I pre-order one of these beauties.

Is AT (my new best buddies with the 262) thinking of any 1/18 vehicles, my life's blood.....

TTT

Wow! Simply, wow! That is an excellent looking plane - and the pilot figure looks great as well

Will there be a headrest in the cockpit? I've seen pictures, models, and actual examples of the ME-262 with them, as well as without.

Either way, that is one great looking aircraft and I can't wait for it to be released!

Excellent! It's got working slats and flaps. Count me in for this one!! Well, well done Admiral!!

-Ski

Thank you all for such positive feedback on the ME 262. We are in the middle of production and should be finished soon.

Teamski, great eyes! We have said nothing about the moving parts on this aircraft. However, yes the real slats are present on this model, two sets of them! We have the two inner slats and the outer set of slats available for your displays. We also have two sets of flaps! Two flaps per wing are present on this model. The movement and function of the slats, elevators, rudder and flaps are incredible. They each have their appropriate range of movement and look great, up or down.

tmanthegreat, we went with no head rest. This was one of the first production versions of the ME 262 used in combat. The headrest was added to the 262 soon after production started: one for comfort and two; they realized the pilot was very vulnerable to attacks from behind (if not at speed). Walter reportedly did not have the headrest in his aircraft. His was one of the first combat ready versions.

Regards,
Jason

Woo Hoo, I'm excited.
Aaron

Thanks! Glad to know its accurate

Jason,
If the ME262 looks as good as person as the pictures, you guys got yourself another WINNER!

Look forward to this one as much or more than the F-86...

I can still remember flying along in my ME262 in Lucas Arts' PC game: Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe

That thing kicked!

I would love to see a follow up plane - ME 163 Komet

I'm with Razor on the Komet. I think it is a cool little airplane with a ton of appeal.
Aaron

Please post in the Admiral Toys Discussion thread. Thanks!

-Ski