Finally saw the FOV Micro Military Line

Mr. Football · Post by **Mr. Football** » Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:09 pm

Somewhat disappointed. Certainly not up to par with Dragon Armor or even Matchbox/CDC. I went ahead and picked up the 'Battling Bitch' anyhow. Seemed the best of the bunch.

Tshintl · Post by **Tshintl** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 12:06 am

Mr. Football wrote:Somewhat disappointed. Certainly not up to par with Dragon Armor or even Matchbox/CDC. I went ahead and picked up the 'Battling Bitch' anyhow. Seemed the best of the bunch.

I initially thought that as well, but just compared the Dragon Armor Abrams and the FOV Abrams, and while both have their positive and negatives, overall the FOV seems to come out ahead. It certainly is nicer than the Sherman with mine roller.

Hoverbug · Post by **Hoverbug** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 5:21 am

The T-72 is my favorite. A suberb target for Dragon F-16s.

hworth18 · Post by **hworth18** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:12 am

I like the fact that they made something different.. I picked up the Sherman and the Churchill and I am satisfied with both.. I would think the test will be when they come out with the Tiger and King Tiger so that a real comparision can be made..

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 10:25 am

I have the Abrams and the T-72, and while my Abrams is missing the commander's hatch (it wasn't even loose in the box), they are very nice tanks. The figures in the hatches and the rolling treads are a plus.

DocTodd · Post by **DocTodd** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 9:06 pm

Where are you guys finding this FOV Micro Line? I know of no retailers in the Central Texas area. Online is the only place I have seen them.
Todd

Philip · Post by **Philip** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 12:00 pm

I just received two of the FOV 1/72 tanks from The Motor Pool - The Abrams and the T-72. I like them both, esp. the T-72.

Jagdplastic · Post by **Jagdplastic** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:54 pm

Forgive me if this was mentioned before, but in re-reading most of the posts regarding this line, no-one mentioned that the Churchill offering is actually the Crocodile variant without the trailer carrying the flame-thrower's fuel. That fact and that the Sherman is an M4A1 (mentioned by others here) which I've not seen offered by anyone else make these vehicles unique, yet still very popular.

easy8 · Post by **easy8** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:57 pm

Where are you guys finding this FOV Micro Line? I know of no retailers in the Central Texas area. Online is the only place I have seen them.
Todd

They are talking about the "action" series that FOV produces. These can be found at Target right now, both tanks and planes. The "enthusiast" versions (more weathering) are only available through hobby shops and online stores. Hope this helps.

easy8

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:34 am

I went to go get a few of these from a couple of local Target stores and noticed something wierd. Some of the Sherman Roller Tanks were different than others. Upon Closer inspection I found that some of them were actually old corgi 1/87 Sherman tanks with the new FOW roller atached to the front. HOW CRAPPY. These are the Corgi shermans that you can buy at Wal Mart for 3.88 and not even close to the quality of the FOW Sherman. They actually have fake tracks and wheels on the bottom like a hotwheels. These are the same tanks I buy for my 5 yr. old daughter to play with as they have no detail parts to break. I also noticed that some of the planes packaged were actually the old Matchbox collection 1/72nd planes. These are at least the same scale and used to be sold at target for $11.99 or $12.99 so are a better price at $9.99, but again, not the quality you get on the FOW one. The FOW planes you get interchangeable landing gear so you can have it in flight or on the tarmak, the Matchbox planes have fixed gear in (I think) the flight position. This is not the forst time I have seen this done. Last couple of years I noticed the same thing going on with the Matchbox Collectibles line. They were selling for about $16.99 or so in Various stores. They were true scale 1/72 and were really nice. I especially like the Shermans. Every once in a while I'd come across a few boxes with the stupid, cheap Corgi Tanks in them trying to be passed off as the Matchbox tanks. I saw this with the T-34 a few times but mostly with the Shermans. ALSO, even the FOV Sherman BATTLING BITCH is NOT 1/72 scale. So they didn't even get that right. It's 1/82 which is HO Scale. Compare the size (Minus the roller and stowage at front. the easiest way to check the size it to compare the track size to a 1/82 tank. They are identical size. The Churchill is true 1/72 though. Overall, I have been very disappointed with this line. It is definately NOT up to what I expect from FOV ( I have every one of their 1/32nd WW2 Line) When you can say Matchbox does a better job than a company that specializes in armor, that's pretty sad. I hope they do a better job in the future.
[/b]

Tshintl · Post by **Tshintl** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:55 am

dfoos wrote:I went to go get a few of these from a couple of local Target stores and noticed something wierd. Some of the Sherman Roller Tanks were different than others. Upon Closer inspection I found that some of them were actually old corgi 1/87 Sherman tanks with the new FOW roller atached to the front. HOW CRAPPY. These are the Corgi shermans that you can buy at Wal Mart for 3.88 and not even close to the quality of the FOW Sherman. They actually have fake tracks and wheels on the bottom like a hotwheels. These are the same tanks I buy for my 5 yr. old daughter to play with as they have no detail parts to break. I also noticed that some of the planes packaged were actually the old Matchbox collection 1/72nd planes. These are at least the same scale and used to be sold at target for $11.99 or $12.99 so are a better price at $9.99, but again, not the quality you get on the FOW one.

Sounds like a case of someone buying them, switching out the contents and returning it to the store. I've never seen this done, but remember a post here not too long ago about something similar.

hworth18 · Post by **hworth18** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:07 pm

Tshintl wrote:
dfoos wrote:I went to go get a few of these from a couple of local Target stores and noticed something wierd. Some of the Sherman Roller Tanks were different than others. Upon Closer inspection I found that some of them were actually old corgi 1/87 Sherman tanks with the new FOW roller atached to the front. HOW CRAPPY. These are the Corgi shermans that you can buy at Wal Mart for 3.88 and not even close to the quality of the FOW Sherman. They actually have fake tracks and wheels on the bottom like a hotwheels. These are the same tanks I buy for my 5 yr. old daughter to play with as they have no detail parts to break. I also noticed that some of the planes packaged were actually the old Matchbox collection 1/72nd planes. These are at least the same scale and used to be sold at target for $11.99 or $12.99 so are a better price at $9.99, but again, not the quality you get on the FOW one.
Sounds like a case of someone buying them, switching out the contents and returning it to the store. I've never seen this done, but remember a post here not too long ago about something similar.

I agree.. There seems to be alot of this crap going on lately..
Dfoos, If I were you, I would bring this to the attention of the store manager.. I think Target is similar to Walmart in that they keep records on who returns stuff.. I'd like to see this person burn...

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:35 pm

No these items weren't returned. I did bring it to the attention of the manager of one store (Fred Meyer) They said that they have no control over what the company packages in their products. If you remember, the Matchbox line was packeged in a display case (mini diorama) screwed to the diorama base with foam strips under the tracks, the diorama was sealed inside a plastic display box and that was sealed inside the outer cardboard box. It would have been really difficult if not impossible to switch the tanks without damaging the packaging ev en so, the screws were altered to attack to the corgi tanks and appeared to be a factory modification. The new FOV ones I saw the other day (the "First in Bastogne" corgi tank in FOV packaging with the roller on it and the Matchbox Mustang in the FOV Plane packaging, I can definately say is not a switch. those boxes that they come in have plastic reinforcement on the sides that the cardboard is glued to and the tank / Plane is wire tied and screwed down to the cardboard backing in the factory. There was no sign that they had been re attached or anything. I think the companies are buying lots from corgi of their excess stuff and trying to pass it off to the consumer. Kids and non collectors probably wouldn't know the difference so alot of them probably sold with no complaints.

Dennis

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 1:00 pm

OK, let me clarify, The Corgi in Matchbox
boxes was over a year ago. There were several that I saw and they were in several different stores. they also seemed to be entire shipments. Like for instance, at one Fred Meyer store I was looking for some of the T-34's. Every T-34 they had at the time was a corgi in a matchbox container. All the other tanks, (Sherman, Panther, Churchill) were correct. Then within the last year, Target had a new line of Matchbox Shermans. THey were in different packaging, They were more of a blister pack but bigger. Sealed tight. They had a two different Sherman tanks. One was a olive green M4A3 / 76 with black stripes airbrushed vertically up and over the sides and over the turret. It had white stars in the turret and sides. I never saw a fake one of these. The other one, however was an olive green M4A3 75 with tanish spots all over it and a black star on the hull. This one I saw lots of corgi's mixed in with the real ones. The Matchbox ones say Dinky on the bottom. The corgi ones were actually painted with the spots to match what the Dinky one looked like.
I saw these packages mixed in with the real ones at many different store locations and many different times.

As far as the FOV ones go, I saw this at only one store, Target in Northgate Seattle. I just recieved a return email
from Lisa Denmark from Panache Place (FOV's US contact) I offered to go to that target and buy the fake ones and send them to her if they are still there. So, we shall see.

Tshintl · Post by **Tshintl** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 1:36 pm

dfoos wrote: The new FOV ones I saw the other day (the "First in Bastogne" corgi tank in FOV packaging with the roller on it and the Matchbox Mustang in the FOV Plane packaging, I can definately say is not a switch. those boxes that they come in have plastic reinforcement on the sides that the cardboard is glued to and the tank / Plane is wire tied and screwed down to the cardboard backing in the factory. There was no sign that they had been re attached or anything.
Dennis

Hmmm, don't know. I don't think a manufacturer would do this so I stick with a return to the store with the contents swapped out.

The FOV packaging is very easy to get open and if done right can be put back together without anyone ever knowing it was open. I don't see the point of someone doing this since they're only $8 at Target, but who knows.

I also don't see how the mine plough would be attached to any other tank since there would have to be a hole on each side of the tank for the plough to fit in to. This comes on the FOV tank but would be more work than it was worth to make fit on a Corgi or Matchbox tank. What about the commander on top, or the fact that the back of the packaging has a picture of the tank in the first place. Someone might be able to fool the average high school student working at the return counter at Target, but the manufacturer would never try to fool the public with something else when the product itself is pictured on the package.

I'd like to see a picture of one of these. I don't believe it was the manufacturer at all, but some guy trying to save a few bucks and ripping off Target and who ever buys it from the store once returned.

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:17 pm

I went and picked up the tank at target today. I forgot that the plane was at a different store, so I will pick that one up as well later if it is still there. I am going to send these to the FOV rep. who contacted me. I looked VERY close to the packaging and there is NO sign of it being opened or tampered with on the outside. I really hope it was just an Isolated incident and that someone did return it. It would make me feel much better about FOV, who is one of my favorite makers of Tanks. But, I can assure you that as far as Matchbox goes, they were definately doing that at the factory, They used CDC, Dinky, Corgi all interchangeably and they did it over several sets and over several years, I really didn't worry about it too much because I know the difference right off the bat, but I feel bad for a dad going to buy a tank for his kid, or some kid saving his money for a cool toy to get ripped off because he dosent know the difference. Anyway, I have the "tank in question"

and I would be happy to post pics or email them if anyone is interested. Like I said, I will probably go get the plane tomorrow if it is still there.

Dennis

GI GENE · Post by **GI GENE** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 10:28 am

You know, I thought the FOV Sherman looked a little small. However when I saw the FOV Churchill/Crocodile and the DML T-34, they were smaller than their Matchbox versions too. So I'm confused. Is the FOV Sherman 1/72 or not?

In other news, I bought the last two FOV Stukas in town. They are awesome. I don't even mind the missing swastikas. I hope FOV releases Ju87G tank hunters next!

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:17 pm

No, the Sherman is not 1/72. It is 1/87 (HO scale) I compared the churchhill to the Matchbox ones that I have and to a 1/72 Model and they are about the right size or so close that you cant tell the difference.

Yeah, I got the desert Stuka and the Eastern front one, Just Awesome. I also got a couple of the Hurricanes. Finally a good model with interchangeable landing gear. I have yet to find any of the german tanks, either they havent been released in my area yet or they have been all bought up. I'm eager to know how they compare with the likes of Matchbox and Dragon. Also, has anyone gotten hold of the 1/72 infantry yet? I am really interested in these. As a miniature wargamer, I have tons of Airfix, revell and Italiari 1/72 troops but I don't have time to paint. Plus the ones I have painted have a tendency to chip real easily because of the soft plastic. I have been waiting for someone to come out with pre painted, true 1/72 infantry for a long time. Hopefully they are nice and they eventually come out with a good selection of them.

Tshintl · Post by **Tshintl** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 3:13 pm

dfoos wrote:No, the Sherman is not 1/72. It is 1/87 (HO scale) I compared the churchhill to the Matchbox ones that I have and to a 1/72 Model and they are about the right size or so close that you cant tell the difference.

We must each be talking about something different because the FOV 1:72 Sherman tank with mine ploug that I have (all 12 of them) is no where near 1:87 scale.

The Matchbox Collectibles Sherman is about 1:72 scale and the FOV Sherman is about the same size. The Corgi Sherman is close to 1:76 and much smaller than both FOV and Matchbox Collectibles.

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 3:25 pm

Yeah, I'm talking about the FOV sherman with the mine ROLLER. It is exactly 1/87. It is the same size as the corgi shermans and Rocco Mini Tanks Sherman that are make for HO train sets. The FOV one ooks a little bigger at first glance as there is stoage glued to the front which overhangs the front. I took the roller off of mine when I did a size comparison. If you check the actual hull and track sizes, they are exactly 1/87. The FOV one is more detailed that the corgi one though and it's refreshing to see a rounded cast hull instead of the angular welded hull version which everyone likes to make. With the roller on though it looks close enough to 1/72 that I'm not too worried about it, Ive seen lots of models that claim the ba the same scale that differ greatly, so who is to say which one is the true 1/72. but all the shermans with mine rollers I have seen were the same size as corgi and rocco, which advertize as being 1/87.

Tshintl · Post by **Tshintl** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 3:43 pm

dfoos wrote:Yeah, I'm talking about the FOV sherman with the mine ROLLER. It is exactly 1/87.

Well in a case like this, there's nothing better than a picture. As you will see, the Corgi Sherman is smaller than the FOV Sherman. The second picture shows the FOV Sherman is about the same size as the Matchbox Collectibles Sherman. I've measured them before and can do so again if you'd like to show they are not 1:87 scale. Very easy to prove as well with a simple formula converting the size the tank measures to compared with the size of a real tank.

Tshintl · Post by **Tshintl** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 3:55 pm

Pictures showing the comparison from the back.

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 6:12 pm

Yes, those pictures show the height and width, I was going off of length of hull and length of track. I took pics but I have no idea how to post them here.

Please help...

Tshintl · Post by **Tshintl** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:22 pm

You have to upload your pictures to a website first, then you can link the picture to this site. There are several free sites that let you do this.

Measuring it is the only way to get the accurate size of the small scale replica. What measurements did you come up with to base your opinion?

dfoos · Post by **dfoos** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 8:52 pm

Aha,
Ok here are (hopefully some pics I took) I took these myself, I didn't pull them off of someone's website. Notice that the hull size is almost exactly the same on the corgi and the FOV. The FOV looks longer because of fenders hanging out the rear and a bunch of stoage sticking out the front. THe track length is almost exactly the same as the corgi. there is quite a bit of difference between the FOV and the Matchbox. Anyway, like I said, with the stoage in the front and the roller attached, it is close enough in scale to the matchbox that I am not to worried about it.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, this camera dosen't take real clear close up shots.

Small Scale Military Headquarters

Finally saw the FOV Micro Military Line

Finally saw the FOV Micro Military Line

Re: Finally saw the FOV Micro Military Line

FOV 1/72

Re: Finally Saw the FOV Micro Military Line

Be careful buying these, Many are not what they say they are

Re: Be careful buying these, Many are not what they say they

Re: Be careful buying these, Many are not what they say they

No, they weren't return items

Re: No, they weren't return items