Small Scale Military Headquarters

I was thinking about how this might be our finest hour. Between distribution and new product we had a heck of a year...BBI at Target and still at TRU, 21C at TRU and still a bit at WM, and now FoV at Target.

In terms of new products:

BBI:
Long-awaited Hellcat
Delta insertion Bird
8 new modern guys including the Brit Para

FoV:
M1
M2
12 new figures

21C:
Pak 40 Hanomag
Me-262
Quad .50 trailer
at least 4 new Nam figures
German Artillery Spotter & 2 new Ottos

We also had a ton of cool repaints like Cal Cutie, Daisy June and BBD.
And the year isn't over yet! If the Tiger II or Nightfighter come out this year I think it will seal the deal.

Lets not forget the FOV Tiger 1 and Sherman.
I think we should be seeing them real soon.

or the new 25th joes, they are a real hit!

Or pegasus hobbie with thier 1/18th V-1 and non-miltry bee-gee Z

funny, i don't think of this as such a great year. I guess it's just that expectations were higher. The KT and 88 will certainly help and FOV coming on line, 1/18-wise, is certainly great news. I have high hopes for them in the coming years..

aferguson wrote:funny, i don't think of this as such a great year. I guess it's just that expectations were higher. The KT and 88 will certainly help and FOV coming on line, 1/18-wise, is certainly great news. I have high hopes for them in the coming years..

I agree a great year would const of this

AT SBD is out but due to retooling was delayed.
AT F-4 would be coming out in a few months
21st F-4 should have shipped out of china by now and started showing up with in a few weeks from now
The Mig 21 should start production by the end on this month.
The king tiger and 88 should be hitting the selves in a few weeks before Christmas
The me-262 night fighter should be showing up along with the 21st F-4
21st will have announced that the B-25 finished the tool preproduction phase and will be ready to start production first quarter of 2008.

This would have been my dream year

It has been a great year!! Now if only the KT and 88 would make their appearance, it would be a fantastic year!!!!! I'll be putting in my wish list to Santa for those two items.

It has been a great year!!

And it ain't over yet Presumably (hopefully..?) the FOV Tiger and Sherman, and possibly some WWII figs will be released before years end. I can't get too excited about the Sherman, but the Tiger with Zimmerit is a different matter, this will be a must have for me, and the paintschemes look awesome. Stay tuned.

aferguson wrote:funny, i don't think of this as such a great year. I guess it's just that expectations were higher. The KT and 88 will certainly help and FOV coming on line, 1/18-wise, is certainly great news. I have high hopes for them in the coming years..

>>> My thoughts exactly ! ... My hopes and prospects are in `08 an Beyond ! *

Mitch _ v MG

My Hellcat model made it a great year for me.

I guess it's just that expectations were higher.

I think this happens every year. People have unrealistic expectations. After all, the 21C F4 and Mig 21 were announced in Feb. and I think we all knew they were not coming this year. AT announced a couple of planes but I don't think it is fair to lay great expectations on them considering they are a new company trying to do very detailed models without the commitment of a retail outlet.
Looking at the year objectively - and considering what may still come: Nightfighter, 88mm, KT, Platoon, FOV Tiger, M4 etc... - I think we made off pretty darn good!

digger wrote:

I guess it's just that expectations were higher.

I think this happens every year. People have unrealistic expectations. After all, the 21C F4 and Mig 21 were announced in Feb. and I think we all knew they were not coming this year. AT announced a couple of planes but I don't think it is fair to lay great expectations on them considering they are a new company trying to do very detailed models without the commitment of a retail outlet.
Looking at the year objectively - and considering what may still come: Nightfighter, 88mm, KT, Platoon, FOV Tiger, M4 etc... - I think we made off pretty darn good!

Yup it's a good year so far.

2007 the best year? Um, no.

-Ski

I do like the positive vibe, excluding Ski. I think that next year could be a good one for 1:18 enthusiasts.
Todd

it's funny, i've been saying 'next year is gonna be the best yet' for a long time now; since the year that so far was the best in fact, which was the year the corsair, p-38, tiger, stuka, halftracks, vietnam patton and huey and figures came out.

After that xd sorta collapsed. Then slowly rebounded to the point we are at today. This has not been the best year. It's been a decent year but the expectations were higher, and for good reason.

BBI has only released on aircraft this year. 21c, also one....two variations of the 262 don't count as more than one and AT, probably none.

Figure releases have been good but don't make for a great year.

Armour has had a good year, if we count the KT and 88, but that's only because of the unexpected arrival of FOV on the scene. Otherwise, i wouldn't call one tank and one gun, no matter how desirable, as making a great year....the Pak wagon was announced last year, so even though released this year doesnt feel very new. And the quad trailer....um no.

You are saying because the Pak 40 was announced last year it doesn't count for this year? The Hellcat was shown 2 years ago, so it didn't really come out this year?

Also, one plane from bbi is a pretty good year as far as they are concerned. I don't think they released a single plane in 2006...

Speaking of other great years, let's not forget the stretch when we got the Cobra, P-47, Spitfire and 190. Don't know if it was the same year but it was close.

Those early TRU days were great but now we have 3 companies at mass retail with a ton of variety (WWII, VN, Modern..).

Btw, everyone really wanted a Hellcat and now you have one. Is that not worth something??

SOME PEOPLE ARE NEVER HAPPY

i am very happy. My point is that this is not a 'great' year, relative to all the seven years of xd.

It was definitely a good year There has been some new stuff, especially in the area of figures, but still not the level that we have seen in the past. I tend to agree with Aferg that the 2001-2002 year was one of the best as far as strictly new armor, aircraft and figures were concerned. This year still was great, however, especially for the new collectors!

We did get a ton of repaints from both 21c and BBI this year, so a good portion of what was out was not brand new items. Repaints or not, however, when one takes into account that the market expanded significantly, then it was certainly a good year. There are now four major companies making affordable and accurate products in 1:18 and those products are being distributed at three large retailers, ebay, and the online stores - that's more venues for purchasing our collectables than we have ever had at any one given time!

Still, the distribution of 1:18 products worries me. Target has actually been right on the ball each time, however, I thought TRU was a godsend over the summer, but as of late it has let me down. Still no 21c trailers, Pak-40s, VN figs, or even the BBI paras in my town, though they are elsewhere in Northen and Southern Ca... I am glad to see fewer new items at Wal Mart, however, as I really hate going into those stores

Big year for distribution, yes sir! Hard to imagine actually.. You can swing a stick and hit something in 1:18 between Walmart, Big Lots, Target and TRU..

As for releases? Figures yes.. But something is missing.. There are so many un-made vehicles (tanks, armored cars, trucks, krads and bikes, etc..).

Hopefully FoV will help that along and maybe 21C will lift the veil of secrecy and surprise us all for 08. Who knows..

aferguson wrote:i am very happy. My point is that this is not a 'great' year, relative to all the seven years of xd.

My sentaments exactly. The year of the XD Corsair as Andrew mentioned was the strongest for 1:18 on record.

-Ski

Interesting how the glory days people recall are when 21C was the only player on the block. You could get a bbi humvee online but all the tanks and planes were XD. Maybe the competition hasn't been good for us...the retail and online demand is spread thin and companies started copying each other...Mustang, Corsair, M1, M2.. They are also trying to outdo each other leading to years between new planes..

it would have been alot better if items had been released. announcements cant fly on my ceiling.

See, I remember a day when you could go to TRU and get just about any of the planes and vehicles you were looking for. 21st was pretty much exclusive to the store and could meet their demands. I think 21st is overextended right now and the big WM in the sky screwed everything up....

-Ski

Teamski wrote:See, I remember a day when you could go to TRU and get just about any of the planes and vehicles you were looking for. 21st was pretty much exclusive to the store and could meet their demands. I think 21st is overextended right now and the big WM in the sky screwed everything up....

-Ski

Well TRU did drop the line. If not for WM we don't know if we would have the Razorback or Bubbletop P-47, the Spit, the Cobra, the 190, the Avenger, the new Mustang or half our armor or figs.

If the pegasus V-1 does show this year it is just more proof how good we got it!