Hello! 1st post... an intro and misc. random stuff! :-)

[BrianStL]

Hello!

Well, I guess I can officially claim I'm no longer in denial... because when you sign up for a message board it's pretty much official: you're hooked!! (and a geek) haha

I'm Brian- 31 y/o married guy with 3 wonderful kids who resigned from my Database Admin job in June of last year to take care of my kiddo's full-time. Which has led me to this: a little more time to research/collect die-cast WWII vehicles and general WWII history. I also collect the Todd McFarlane 'SportsPicks' line and have almost every hockey/football figure. And I can also see my collection including the new military figures (http://www.spawn.com/toys/categorytype. ... egoryid=28) although it's a bit disappointing they don't have any current plans to do any WWII figures.

My collection started with some significant rationalization (like many of you, I'm sure) thinking, "Oh, I'll just buy this 21st Century Sherman tank from Wal-Mart..." and then it gradually grew from there. That was about a year and-a-half ago and I've since graduated from '21st Century' to the $30 'Forces of Valor' line. I think my collection is hovering around the 10 tank mark which is mostly comprised of German tanks- but only because I've always loved WWII German engineering... NOT because I'm a transplant of the 'Fatherland.'

On a somewhat related topic-

I bought a 4 pack of DVD's from SunCoast Video on Sunday. They include the following movies:

"Battle of the Last Panzer"
"Battle of El Alamein"
"Five for Hell"
"Hitler's SS: A Portait In Hell"

All four movies were only $9.99 so I thought 'What the heck.' I had not seen any of them, am not expecting much and am pretty confident they couldn't be much worse than the 1965 version of "The Battle of the Bulge" which is one of the worst WWII movies I've ever seen. Ironically enough, the only one of the movies I have watched is "Battle of the Last Panzer" which uses Chaffee tanks for the Germans. For some reason it wasn't NEARLY as tough to watch as BofB but I guess that's because it wasn't billed as a 'great' movie with an 'A list' of actors. I haven't finished the movie yet (fell asleep- but don't read too much into that, as I started it at 1am in the morning) but it's not THAT bad. It's 'fair' at best, but so far it's definitely watchable.

Anyway, just thought I'd say "hello" and look forward to some spirited discussions.

[tmanthegreat]

Hello and glad to have you on board! You will find that collecting small-scale military products can be quite an additction and there are lots of especially good pieces out on the market at the moment, with more amazing things planned for this year! I started in earnest about five years ago when the first 21st Century 1:18 scale products came out and still collect to this day. Then came the 1:32 scale 32x products, then the 1:32 FOV, the Corgi, the Matchbox and so on. Take advantage of the offerings in this collectable area before it all goes under. Look forward to hearing what you have to say in some of the threads that get interesting!

[BrianStL]

Based on your "before it all goes under" comment I'm beginning to wonder if what is going on in this hobby is similar to collecting SP's?

Some people think the hobby is beginning to go the route of the "Starting Lineups" (never collected them) and then some think things are fine while others think things are just slowing down.

I sure hope the WWII die-cast market is strong, as I truly love the detail of many, many of these pieces!!

Here's a link to my SP collection (which only has a couple of tanks pictured) but will add tank photos asap.

http://community.webshots.com/album/238282285BbwZhe

[gk5717]

I also collect McFarlane Hockey figures, amongst all the FOV, 21st, K&C, etc. I however have mine hanging in the basement, my wife absolutly would forbid them in the bathroom.
I live in Fenton, where are you?
Gary

[BrianStL]

I also collect McFarlane Hockey figures, amongst all the FOV, 21st, K&C, etc. I however have mine hanging in the basement, my wife absolutly would forbid them in the bathroom.
I live in Fenton, where are you?
Gary

LOL

Luckily for me that *is* the basement... and I was able to stake claim to that area! haha

Fenton, huh? I play soccer out at the soccer park in the fall. I live in O'Fallon, MO.

[lightning2000]

Welcome aboard Brian!

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.bigstep.com

[Philip]

Brian,

I collect mainly 1/72 tanks. I have about 80 of them! I too am married with 3 kids, except I'm 51. I have been collecting for about 7 years. I first got into the tanks from CDC, and was hooked. I do have two FOV tanks, a King Tiger, and a T-72. The Dragon 1/72 tanks are so nice that it's hard for me to invest $50 - $150 for one tank when I can buy the Dragons for ca. $15.00. Of course, I do have about 6 of the Corgi 1/50 tanks at about $40.00 each. I also have two of the Wartanks, $90.00 each. I also have a good collection of the Dragon 1/144 tanks. Corgi has a great line that you can get at Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, Kaybee Toys, etc. They are 1/76 scale(?) and cost only about $6.00. They are very nice and come in a display case. Happy collecting.

[KAMIKAZE]

Welcome to the board Brian.If you think your hooked now just wait.It only gets worse.Soon you will be telling your wife that you need to get a job to support you habit.You will wake up in the middle of the night and go check to see if WallyWorld has any new tanks.Next your kids will start giving you tanks for Christmas instead of ties.And last your wife will ask you why
you need all these toys anyway!

Mark

[Mr. Football]

You will wake up in the middle of the night and go check to see if WallyWorld has any new tanks.

I did that once...that's when I realized, I had a problem.