21st's M113

[ketelone]

The Vietnam era M113 was one of the best die cast vehicles 21st made. FOV's M 113 from the Gulf War (action grade) was a decent piece but 21st's version had excellent weathering and more operating hatches and the rear door that did actually open. When Walmart sold 21st, I purchased quite a few of the M 113s and made one into an ambulance, one in desert camo, one a UN vehicle. God, I miss 21st and the days when you could go to Walmart and TRU and they sold both 21st and FOV.

[cjg476]

You and me both. I went to my closest Hobby Town the other day which is a 45 minute drive and loved looking at the pieces. I was in sticker shock with the prices though. He had a lot of it marked down 25% but when you looked at the price they were like $80-$90 after the discount. I was discusted because I knew I could get the same pieces for half the price online. I'm all about supporting brick and mortar stores but not at those unbelievable prices.

[ketelone]

I know what you mean. The closest Hobby Town is asking just under $80 for their new FOV. I stop by periodically to see if they have reduced the prices. A couple of times they had some pieces 35% off and once 50%. I usually do much better at the Toy Soldier show in September and from some venders at a local train show and at flea markets.

[tmanthegreat]

That's cool your Hobby Town has FOV - my local store has carried some sporadically over the years, but never anything en masse. My local store does have an excellent assortment of Hobby Master and other diecast items, plus tends to get in the new 1:18 scale Merit/JSI/BBI items when they are available. Back in the day, the store had a fantastic selection of 21c and BBI 1:18 and 1:32 items. The prices at my store have always pretty much in line with the online retail prices.

On the 21c M-113, I agree that is simply a fantastic piece. Its one of their only 32x vehicles that had a fully detailed interior - and they made the vehicle accurate for a Vietnam-era M-113A1, ACAV variant. Really, its much better than the 1:18 version. The 32x M-113 is sort of a stand-alone piece without really any other Vietnam-period vehicles to accompany it, though a few could be stretched to fit within the Vietnam period like the 21c M-41 and the FOV M-60 tanks. I remember when they were at retail as well and should have picked up another...

[[CAT]CplSlade]

The HT in Kennesaw, GA, had quite a bit of 1/35 and 1/72 Dragon and FOV for quite some time, and even during my last visit back in the end of February they still had a decent selection of both scales plus a good assortment of the current 1/32 offerings. Their selection of plastic kits seemed smaller, though.

Oh, and before I forget, HT has these little models made of etched metal that come in a huge assortment of subjects including tanks, aircraft, buildings, the Millennium Falcon, etc. Anyone else seen these? You could get stupid just collecting them alone.