BBI - Blue Box Toys Information Q&A (Mike)

[Plane Nuts]

Mike: I suspect that you don't necessarily like to answer questions about your company's business methodologies, but I was wondering something generally, that I would hope you could answer.

The Target thing is great, and I know that it must be real nice to have a new market that you can penetrate where at least 99% of your customers are seeing something new. But for us 1% it becomes hard to justify something we already have, even though in this case the price makes it easy to support you, in hopes that we can help build you a strong partner relationship. That being said, is this kind of deal such that a new deco was just out of the question because it would cost too much to make changes or was the lack of a new deco the result of a fast moving deal where you had the ability to run with an order, but couldn't make any changes in order to make the shipment work?

[viperzerof-2]

mike I would like to know do you think bbi could modify the 1/18 f-16 and make a 1/18 f-2a? it probly would require little work compared to making a jet form start. I also think it would be popular with most collectors because how rare the jet is

[VMF115]

Hello Mik,e is Bbi going to fix the wing fold, height and angle of the wing fold too and the thin tires of the hellcats some time down the road? ,, you know the box does say 1:18 accurate.

The reason I am bring this up again is. Yesterday I was at the VFW and was talking to a few of my veteran friends who happened to work on the Hellcat back during WWII, . Some of them already have the Corsair and want to get the hellcat but when I showed them the pictures that Badcat put up on the Hellcat they said Bbi got the whole look of the Hellcat in the ground position wrong. they did like way it looked when the wings and landing gear where retracted, but said bbi needed to work on the rest.

[Sabrefan]

Hi Mike, any news on the 1/32nd scale F-4 Phantom? I am really looking forward to that plane. Thank you.

[mountian-man]

Personally, I am more concerned with the apparent lack of the signature dihedral in the Hellcat's wings, rather than thin tires... But I was encouraged by the great paint schemes displayed at Comic Con on the F6F and the F-18. I hope these will be put into production

[VMF115]

Personally, I am more concerned with the apparent lack of the signature dihedral in the Hellcat's wings, rather than thin tires...

I agree if they put some dihedral in the wings then maybe they could have put the wider tires on.

With out the proper dihedral the hellcat looks a bit off.

[Quixote511]

As said before with the tires--there needs to be give and take so it can fit inside the wing. The dihedral is another story. But for the most part, I aint gonna complain b/c it is just too cool a ship to pass up.

[aferguson]

Mike wrote:

"For VMF115

Regarding the Hellcat details…I did already explain some weeks back about the thickness of the wheels, etc….as for the comments from the VFW guys…well of course it has to be different from the original!

Let me say it all over again……

Building one of these things to a price that you guys can accept is always a compromise…like the wheel thickness and the wing fold…of course we can replicate the real one but the price will soar higher that real bird flew.



So just keep one word in mind..”compromise”…or convince me that there is a real market out there for enough of these at true museum scale selling at over $200 for me to recover our investment costs."

[VMF115]

Mike are you trying to tell me that your guys over at Bbi could not get the dihedral correct the wing fold/ wing fold angle as it is folded or the tire thickness correct due to cost? If this is the case, I find it hard to believe. I am not asking for a 1:18 hellcat with 15 thousand parts, just one that looks good and correctly from the outside, heck If you could do that I would look past the removable engine cowl and opening gun lockers. however they would be nice.



I know there are a lot of guys that are happy with the hellcat the way it is but I am a die hard military aviation buff on a limited budget. And I want to thank you for talking the time of responding to me and others on the board.

And yes I think there is a market for highly detailed 1:18 scale aircraft
but with some compromises …I think this scale will continue to grow.

[Sabrefan]

Mike, how about that F-4J model? Any news? Thanks

[Killerf6]

Mike are you trying to tell me that your guys over at Bbi could not get the dihedral correct the wing fold/ wing fold angle as it is folded or the tire thickness correct due to cost? If this is the case, I find it hard to believe. I am not asking for a 1:18 hellcat with 15 thousand parts, just one that looks good and correctly from the outside, heck If you could do that I would look past the removable engine cowl and opening gun lockers. however they would be nice.

I know there are a lot of guys that are happy with the hellcat the way it is but I am a die hard military aviation buff on a limited budget. And I want to thank you for talking the time of responding to me and others on the board.

And yes I think there is a market for highly detailed 1:18 scale aircraft
but with some compromises …I think this scale will continue to grow.

Being in manufacturing I can tell you that without little compromises you can end up with a product that is very nice that no one can afford.

Sometimes I think that the members of this board are a little too picky. Are any of my aircraft scale perfect? No. Does it deter me from buying more? No.

From what I have seen of the F6F is very nicely done. I could pick it a part, but why. If I didn't like it I wouldn't buy it, and If it cost $200 I probably wouldn't, even if it was scale perfect. That is what companies like bbi has to look at. It's not easy to produce a product at a price that will appeal to a mass market.

Now I'm not trying to answer for Mike, I'm just trying to give a little insight into the world of manufacturing.

[VMF115]

Mike are you trying to tell me that your guys over at Bbi could not get the dihedral correct the wing fold/ wing fold angle as it is folded or the tire thickness correct due to cost? If this is the case, I find it hard to believe. I am not asking for a 1:18 hellcat with 15 thousand parts, just one that looks good and correctly from the outside, heck If you could do that I would look past the removable engine cowl and opening gun lockers. however they would be nice.

I know there are a lot of guys that are happy with the hellcat the way it is but I am a die hard military aviation buff on a limited budget. And I want to thank you for talking the time of responding to me and others on the board.

And yes I think there is a market for highly detailed 1:18 scale aircraft
but with some compromises …I think this scale will continue to grow.

Being in manufacturing I can tell you that without little compromises you can end up with a product that is very nice that no one can afford.

Sometimes I think that the members of this board are a little too picky. Are any of my aircraft scale perfect? No. Does it deter me from buying more? No.

From what I have seen of the F6F is very nicely done. I could pick it a part, but why. If I didn't like it I wouldn't buy it, and If it cost $200 I probably wouldn't, even if it was scale perfect. That is what companies like bbi has to look at. It's not easy to produce a product at a price that will appeal to a mass market.

Now I'm not trying to answer for Mike, I'm just trying to give a little insight into the world of manufacturing.

Killerf6 IMHO,

for this hobby to continue and for it to be taken seriously among the collector crowds, there has to be some measures of authenticity to the real aircraft that the 1:18 scale replicas are imitating. Anything other then that will be considered just a toy for little kids to bust up.

Before you manufacture something you need good research and prototyping, I think a basic shape that is to scale is not asking for a lot… having the right wing fold or the angle that it sits when folded is not asking a lot. Having the canopy the right shape is not asking a lot. Having the proper wing thickness and tire size is not asking for a lot.

Now having detailed gun bays is asking a lot….woops 21st already has done that with their F-86F and it cost under 50 buck, is it perfect no… it is not but that model is a good exercise in compromises.

Another good example is the AT Me-262. While we seen some major jumps in detail from AT and from 21st we have not seen much improvement from Bbi in the area of 1:18 aircraft. While their figures in my book are considered top notch their aircraft needs some work.

Now asking for detailed cockpits with clear plastic gauges covers and photo etched parts along with detailed removable engines would be unreasonable…… how ever would be cool.

[blaster_e11]

don't forget they still need to make profit : if they sell their products with a lower margin, there's a chance, they might stop this line to produce something more profitable

so i think compromise is something i can live with

[Plane Nuts]

VMF: You seriously need to let this one go. This is the Hellcat we are going to get, and it will be the only Hellcat we will ever get. BBi did the best they could with their business plan, and though you can't seem to comprehend their compromises, they were all made for very good reasons. And Mike will NOT let you know why those compromises were made. If you don't like it, you don't have to buy it...but there are plenty of others who will.

In my opinion, the $50 1:18 price point is a toy, not a historically correct collectible model. Let it rest, please?

[FieroDude]

Anything other then that will be considered just a toy for little kids to bust up.

Technically, that is what it is, no matter how much we want to think otherwise. If you want a perfect scale replica, you drop $7,500-$15,000 on something from HpH or a similar museum piece manufacturer or you scratch build it yourself.

If you want a close approximation that 99.9% of the people out there would never know is not perfect, on a working man's budget, then you get something from bbi, 21st, or Admiral. Personally, I'd rather spend $50 and get a really nice plane that may not be a perfect recreation, but that I also don't feel I have to store in a glass display case with burglar alarms. And I can spend the extra thousands I saved on something more practical--like my car or house.
And like has been pointed out: bbi COULD spend the extra thousands needed to overcome some of the design issues like the landing gear, and they could recoup it by charging more for the plane, like maybe $250-$500 apiece. If you can justify spending that much on one, go for it. I know that I can't. I am happy for the chance to get a Hellcat that I can afford, even if it isn't perfectly accurate.

[toyktdlgh]

These issues have been brought up before. Its not news to us all here. Some people are very picky about certain points and others could really care less. I fall into the care less category unless of course there’s a wing or wheel missing. I must agree that there are issues with every aircraft produced but let’s get real; these are toys, not perfectly accurate high end models. I really don’t think it’s necessary for Mike to defend his company’s decision making process on this topic again.

[Sabrefan]

Bring on the Hellcat, I got a place just waiting for one!

[SGT. Saunders]

MY Q gets unans again. Mike did anything ever come out of those pics I drew for you?

[VMF115]

..

[Sabrefan]

Speaking of wheel size, did anyone notice the nice fat wheels and tires that come on the 21st Century 1/32nd scale Corsair? These are really nice, and they retract rearward like the gear does on the Hellcat. I wonder why they can make scale wheels and tires on a 32nd scale plane, and not on a 1/18th scale plane?

[mccarthy1028]

I was wondering since the Tomcats were retired from service, is BBi going to consider a F-14 in 1:18. It would behove this company to do such a plane since you sit on the forefront of modern 1:18 scale aviation...They would go great with the F-18's and F-16's...I would also like to know if there are any plans to re-release the Blue Angels version of the F-18...Thanks, Mike M.

[aferguson]

Mike wrote:

"To All ( including VMF115).

So let me repeat myself..and I will only do it once….I previously advised the reason for the skinny wheels but it seesm nobody paid any attention…if we make them to scale they will not fit into the wing.

For some reason you all want to ignore the facts of making a plastic model…let me say it so you can read my lips..”some things are simply not possible…or cost prohibitive” and above all we are not making an exact copy of the real thing here...it’s all compromise guys.

So fat wheel will not fit in a skinny wing that is just pure physics…… next ..the wing fold angle may be wrong….but we are not using the same hinges as Grumman did…is that really so hard to understand? So if you don’t like the angle then don’t fold them!



Now for dihedral….nah..I’ve said enough."

[Sabrefan]

Ok Mike, no more wheel questions. Now how about that 1/32nd scale F-4 model? Any news on when it will be out?

[sluff]

Hurumph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[toyktdlgh]

Mike wrote:

"To All ( including VMF115).

So let me repeat myself..and I will only do it once….I previously advised the reason for the skinny wheels but it seesm nobody paid any attention…if we make them to scale they will not fit into the wing.

For some reason you all want to ignore the facts of making a plastic model…let me say it so you can read my lips..”some things are simply not possible…or cost prohibitive” and above all we are not making an exact copy of the real thing here...it’s all compromise guys.

So fat wheel will not fit in a skinny wing that is just pure physics…… next ..the wing fold angle may be wrong….but we are not using the same hinges as Grumman did…is that really so hard to understand? So if you don’t like the angle then don’t fold them!



Now for dihedral….nah..I’ve said enough."

I’m curious Mike; why do you even bother answering some of these questions here? It seems to me that some people just want to tell you how you got it wrong and should fix this or that huge error. If I were you I wouldn’t bother even reading this thread. When’s the last time someone said I love it or that’s a great model, you guys did a great job?
My 2c

By the way, I’m not referring to anyone specifically, just to the general tone of these threads.