Small Scale Military Headquarters

SWEET MARINES....they're coming...so much for this summer!!
http://www.badcataviation.com/wwusma11by21.html

more nice surprises from 21c! But weren't there 9 marines altogether? And where are the Japanese troops i wonder....gone the way of the Zero?

Easily mixed with some of the worst face sculpts ever. I wish they'd get away from "character" in their sculpts and go with more neutral ones. BotB was a model for headsculpt perfection I thought.

Beyond that, nice figures all around, but I thought there were 9 also, and no Japanese = uh oh...

Price is good though, but I guess BC could screw you on shipping. Broken down that's $5.80+ per figure which is quite reasonable. God those faces though... *shakes his head* Dunno what they're thinking with that one. Head swaps ahoy I guess.

And if these guys don't have anyone to kill, I'm gonna be disappointed.

All Right!! Hope these figures are a notch or two above what has been produced so far.

Well, here's hoping for the best with the Marines - at least they look better than the M113 crew. ....what I'm really looking forward to are the bbi GI's!

There are only 9 of them they are selling them as a case with duplicates of certain figures. At least that’s the way I read it.

Awesome looking figures! I kind of like the expressioned faces - they may add a touch of realism in some sort of South Pacific battle diorama. The ToyFederation also has them, being sold seperately or as a case. Kind of expensive at $8.50 per figure plus shipping, but these look to be quality pieces.

http://thetoyfederation.com/xcart/custo ... res&page=7

21st must be implying that the Japanese soldiers are jungle guerilla fighters that shoot at the Marines from well hidden, nearly invisible, positions only to run or be blown to pieces by the time the Marines take them - hence being practically nonexistant in the first place

There are 2 figures that come one per case and those are 8.50. The 5 other guys who come 2 per case are 7 ea. I believe.

There were only 7 shown the last few times we've seen them, which leave 6 Japanese figures on the back of that blister card - 2 per case!

I say we need some patience with the Japanese figures - it makes sense that the US guys who were already molded at TF in October are out before the guys that were just a drawing.....21st has given us no reason to believe the Japanese aren't still coming. Hell, people were saying this summer for the Marines so I'm ready to wait a while for the enemy.

21st really beat bbi to the punch with the next set of figures....I really thought we'd see bbi's before the 21st USMC but they seem to be resting on their laurels after the p-51.....

at least they look better than the M113

Ah... Yes, these are real beauties. I think that little chunk of metal's sitting around BECAUSE of the two doofs who make the CORPS figures look like Michelangelo's David.

Saw those in the last month or less... Horrible.

I dunno about Japanese any more. The card back we saw at the last toy show could be an old one and the Japanese could have been susbsequently dropped. It would be strange to release them later, seperately when there were so few of them.

Hopefully they will still appear but i'm less optomistic. Maybe they will show up through the collectors club in some form or other..

Don't know what it is with this whole omission of anything having to do with the Japanese military in the XD line (save for kill marks on US planes!) It can't exactly be racial issues as 21c has made Vietnamese and Arab "enemy" figures. I think the Japanese stuff will sell well, even if only released through small retailers, since it will be unique in this scale!

awesome, finally, cant wait to get my hands on these

$7 each sounds fair....I hope the early release on these won't compromise the quality. If bbi continues as expected, the only way 21st can compete is with unique products and/or absolute top quality.

Tman-

"It can't exactly be racial issues as 21c has made Vietnamese and Arab "enemy" figures."

-If you remember, the "Arab" figures were not the enemy! 21st found a PC way of making the enemy - they were the northern alliance or something of the nature. Basically, they never released an enemy, and gave us the guys that our Afgan troops are suposed to be working with, like the south Vietnamese in Vietnam. Of course nobody bought that that was the reason and we used them as the enemy, but it allowed for 21st to brush off any complaints... very smart way of getting around the "checkers" if you ask me.


With the Vietnam figures, they (21st) had yet to truely experience the backlash of political correctness.... so i think that they are hesitant to put them out for those reasons. Think about it, no one will defend the German army (well a few might) but no one in public... no one cares, because to most people a german is a nazi... but the war crimes of the Japanese, because we DID NOT get their full surrender (like we did with the germans) have become forgotten and the japanese got to keep the same people in power, it was not the kind of change that germany saw.

We look at nazis as bad, and forgot about the japanese, so if anyone made them the enemy now, people would be upset.

my 2 cents... not trying to be political... i agree that there should be a balance between history and PC, I'm just telling you why 21st doesn't want to put the japanese out there.

-mike-

macvsog -

Thats a good point! However, I still think Japanese troops should be made, even if only distributed to certain small retailers - for collector and historical purposes as opposed to being the "enemy". Afterall, even Hasbro made a Japanese officer and pilot for their 1:6 GI Joe line, and I think there may also be Dragon examples as well. Besides, there is a growing cultural trend in Japan towards remembering and enshrining the soldiers of past wars (and overlooking the atrocities some perpetuated) and also an increasing interest in militarization and directing their own foreign policy. Japan sent peacekeeping troops to Iraq and the CO of that unit became a popular media sensation in that country. Therefore, XD Japanese soldiers, if sold in Japan by 21c's burgeoning international market, would probably be popular.

OT: Even if we may not get Japannese troops, it still doesn't rule out the production of a Zero, since that could be labeled for the purpose of rounding out the collection of XD aircraft and making it representative of all contenders in the aerial theaters of WWII. Matchbox, Dragon, Corgi, and various other modeling companies have made Zeros, so why not 21c?

okay T man... good point. I do agree that they should make the japanese... i would love em...

we will see is they go with em' or not.

-mike-

the japanese soldiers are still planned. Figures are just lower priority than airplanes. The japanese soldiers are still planned to be released later this year. Nothing to do with politics just priorities..

I refuse to buy any 21C XD US Marines or Corsairs without also having the Japanese enemy to engage in combat!
For now, I will need to be content with my 1:72 Corgi & Matchbox Corsairs, Hellcats, AND Zeros!!
Stryker

So long as I get an enough men to form a squad behind and officer with a samurai sword to lead a bonzai charge, I will be happy.
Aaron

I just hope when we see the Japanese, 21C goes easy on the face sculpts. I'm passing on the marines because too many of them look constipated.

BTW, has anyone heard if the mythical Japanese soldiers are the next figures coming, or are the Platoon Vietnam figures (or knights, or any other TF teases)?

Just received an email from Toy Federation that the Marines are in the mail. They are already on eBay, so those who ordered from BC should also see them soon. Now we can see if the Japanese soldiers are on the back of the cards.
Almost forgot, I had better go through my closet and find the COED Sherman and break it out as the Marines are coming, as some will surely want to ride instead of trudging through the jungle, towards the airfield where the "Pappy" and "Checkerboard" corsairs are waiting.

I just recieved a similar e-mail yesterday, however, no tracking info was provided and when I checked my order history page on the site, they only showed that the order had been completed and would ship when the items arrive. I'll have to check again, however!

i like the marine faces for the most part. Not great for guys who like to army build but a few good faces for individual figure display. Also, a couple of generic faces too. Can always do some head swapping.

I don't mind the odd animated face with figures but for the most part i, like most, prefer generic faces...

They are at BC and will ship tomorrow. I love that they play it safe with the due date so we are often pleasantly surprised. In a couple of weeks when SBP gets them I'll grab some more as they're closer to me.....