Small Scale Military Headquarters

Has anyone had problems with missing pieces? I got a 1:32 Kingtiger at WM (unopened) and it is missing its crew.

I am not surprised. I love 21st C (my Favorite company) but they do from time to time have a quality control issue. i have run into broken/missing pieces on a couple things. Thats is one reason I like Walmart (price is second) ... Ican look stuff over and if its broken I can take it back. Returning stuff to online companies can be difficult...at least some companies are less than helpful.

I think some of the newer single-packed tanks have been reported as coming without crew. The new Kingtiger repaints that I saw in my area a few months ago did have the figures... The Ironhorse pack vehicles do not have crews, however.

I have contacted 21C about replacements. Are they still good about that?

I'ts possible you could be a victim of the old "switcheroo". Sneaky people will take stuff out that they want and return the remainder, or even a different item for a refund, and the teenage WM returns clerks generally don't know a Panzer IV from a ping pong ball. I recently found a German 222 armored car from one of the dual packs inside a box labeled Panzer IV ausf. H and you could not tell anything by looking at the box, it appeared to be factory sealed. It would not be the first time this has happened.

Ah yes, the old "switcheroo"... Even in my area I've seen a Stug IV in the Maultier truck box, and 32x "Wespen" Bf-109E in a Bf-109G box, just to name a few

That was my first thought, but they had just been put out a day or so before.

The newer vehicles are crewless.
--gitoys

Just went to WM & checked out 2 KTs, neither box had crews...I checked my own (which I bought back in December) and there were 2 figs...maybe this a continuation of the trend towards the Incredible Shrinking Crew (remember when 32x vehicles came with three crew members?) Could this be a late run production cost-cutting measure? Or maybe the production line ran out of figures & the foreman said just keep goin'...or maybe the 12 cents an hour packager felt faint from hunger and forgot...this might be one of life's unexplained mysteries... let us know how it goes with 21CT customer service...

Thanks! So far I have not had a reply from customer service.

My new 21st C King Tiger #112 (light blue) does not have a crew member. For that matter neither did the PzIV-Hs (#829) I've recently gotten. On the other hand the PzIII-L had two. Go figure. I presume it is a cost cutting feature.

Does it say on the box that it includes a crew?

There is no indication on the King Tiger box that a crew is included, and a picture of one on the back of the PzIV box shows no figures. Curiously, my KT box (which, as mentioned, did come with crew), shows on its back pictures of other 32x vehicles with crew figs...I fear that the 32x crew members are going down the path of extinction that the newer XD vehicles paved...this would be more forgivable if we were able to buy the figures separately...and 21CT, how about releasing those Hanomag drivers as individual figures...

Should our postulating regarding the reasons for the omission of the figures be true, it really would not seem to make that much sense to me. I guess it does save costs, but the cost of a figure or two really doesn't add that much more to the overall cost of the tank. I mean, perhaps it would cost a few dollars more at the most, but that is acceptable.

Come to think of it. I got a case of M7 preist the other day and none of them have crews.

Have you noticed that the quart jar of mayonnaise now is only 30 ounces? It is these very small savings to the manufacturer that add up to keeping a business profitable. I too regret the loss of the figures but hope/expect that 21stC will be coming out with a vehicle crew figure pack, eventually.

How the hell is a quart 30 onces? I hope they don't call it a quart now. If they can change physics...you think they can make me a King?

All hale the power or Mayonnaise!!

My first law is that all Tanks must be supllied with full crews.

-King Hanomag I

It appears that both laws are now violated. The Law of Quarts, subsection Mayonnaise, first violated in 2006. The full crew requirement has been violated since the creation of crews.

the cost of a figure or two really doesn't add that much more to the overall cost of the tank

I wouldn't think so either, and the fact that some boxes seem to have the figures, and some don't is rather odd as well, who can say what the reason is...?? As the old saying goes...There's no reason for it, it's just our policy. As for the figures themselves, it's really no big deal not having them, at least not for anyone who has acquired many 32X tanks, because the figs that came with my KT were the same two guys that came with many (most?) of the other 32X German tanks in recent memory.... A "driver" type figure and an "officer" type, either with his arms folded in back or stretched out in front him. I probably have a couple dozen of basically the same two guys stuffed in plastic bags or boxes stashed away in the dark confines of my storage area.

Re: no big deal not having them...well, I'm with Hanomag on this one...for me, it's not a dealbreaker, but I am a little disappointed that we're not getting figs with the armor, especially with something like the flak guns, which were nice with the loader, etc. (& even the anemic & undernourished duo that came with the first series priest were better than nothing)...and I stopped picking up kit versions simply because we were getting shorted on the crew...FOV is including extra figures with some of their newer armor releases, and this makes me go even quicker for a repaint of something like a Sherman because you feel you're not just getting recycled issue...come to think of it, gimme my damn crew...!