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

[Quixote511]

Does anyone remember USMCBubba--he used to be the bbi rep who came by GP's board? Just a thought since we have a new contact---or is Mike Murphy the same guy? Anyway--thanks for whatever info you can provide and anything new you guys put out. I confess that I am a junkie and pretty much buy it all (paycheck promitting).
Aaron

[Birddog]

"By the way, all of our modern aircraft sold above expectations and have been very sucessful."- Mike

And who said that the Modern Aircraft aren't selling well for BBI? (Another one of those rumors) And they have been offered primarily at online retailers with only a few showing up in brick and mortar stores. Looks like modern aircraft (large size) do sell well like WWII aircraft. Just need bigger boxes....

[USCGSARdog]

I am a big fan of the modern stuff. Not that I'm not a fan of WWII items, Its just the fact that I am exposed to modern aircraft more so than vintage ones. (Not that it really affects my 1/18 scale purchases, I buy them ALL !)

The news that bbi's modern line is doing well is music to my ears. They put out a great product that in my opinion sets the bar for future modern releases by ANY company. The fact that they are interested in what is said on this board is good news too. It will be interesting to see what is in the works at bbi. We MAY see an A-10 after all, I hope!

Thanks bbi!!!!

-Rob

[75th Ranger]

A black hawk Coast Guard Helo with crew would be a great idea!

Especially ift he crew includes the pilot, co-pilot, crewchief & a rescue swimmer!!!

if the make it, you can count on me buying one!!!

[bluesparrow]

I'm most interested in hearing about *any* 1:18 figures, but I would really like to know the plans for the BBi "future military" line that was previewed at Fall Toy Fair 2004.

There's been lots of speculation and rumors flying about that(not especially here but other toy sites) and for a while people thought Merit International's line of Paolo Parente's Dust was it.

[USCGSARdog]

75th Ranger- Put me down for 3 or 4 Jayhawks, especially if a full crew is included! If bbi did the Jayhawk then it would seem logical to do a Seahawk as a repaint. The best thing is that a good bit of the mold work is done, compliments of the Blackhawk. Food for thought, should anyone be listening .

-Rob

[aferguson]

If they did the Seahawk, then some retooling would be necessary to the molds to make it accurate. Lots of structural changes between the Blackhawk and Seahawk and thus far BBI has only done strict repaints, without changing the basic molds. I suspect that is why we havent seen a Seahawk up til now, but like 21c is beginning to do, they may start making structural changes to repaints in the future.

[aferguson]

Responses from Mike:


Mike wrote:

"Hi Andrew,
looks like I have much to respond to ...I'll get some done here..but it is the weekend and I would rather be flying.

for John Lumley

Thanks for the support.

for Quixote511.
Thanks for your comments.

USMC Bubba ( and alias for Rick...from Ohio) was the
"conduit" that I used to reply to the 1/6 forums..like AFerg, he was a dedicated collector and I was thankful for his assistance in acting as my "go between"
So he was not me, he just helped me.

As for Wright Patterson AFB, which you are near, their gift shop buys our F-16 ( the Hornet is Navy so not for them)

for On Wu.

We meet again...................thank you for your particular "perspective" on reading between the lines up-side down.

On the topic of perspective, try placing a map on a table with the normal orientation of North. Then walk around the any of the other three sides of the table and you will get a different perspective. Of course this is only a two dimensional trial so let us consider those who operate in three dimensions...for example, pilots.
They don't go "up and down" but rather they climb and descend, and control inputs are referred to as "forward pressure and back pressure" and not "up and down".

So perspective is always important and it may depend on where you are standing.
Additional, I have never seen it documented anywhere that "North is Up" and "South is Down"

Enough said.

for Razor 17019.

Thanks for the welcome and we are well aware of the loyalty and passion in this hobby.
We have discussed dioramas and at present have no plans for them. We still have much to explore in the basic figure line first.
We did in fact mock up a C-47 complete with "jumpers" but opted not to proceed owing to its size and cost to develop. We may go back to it one day.

for p51.


Thank you also for the greeting...love you handle (p51) such a lovely bird to look at and to fly.
We will continue in both areas of Modern and WWII.
As for the wishlist of aircraft...we already know what that is.

for 75th Ranger.

Thanks for your comments.

Not sure on you query of "other country"...we already do liveries specific for other countries on our line, but if you mean equipment from other countries, such as the Panarvia Tornado or other no-US equipment...my only response will be "wait and see"

Can't do anything ( read that as both cannot and will not) on timeframes.

We are working on our site and will overhaul it..maybe not finished this year though.

As for your other questions...see above re cannot and will not.

As for Vietnam...no immediate plans.

The Coast Guard Helo is only a matter of a paint job and we will do it ...one day.

On your comments of the "guys on the ground fighting the war"...we are in the toy business...not a war...and I'm just off to get a cup of hot cocoa.

for Jesse James.

comments on quality are well noted. Thank you.

For Birddog.

Thanks for the input

We already have the license for the A-10 and many other modern and historic aircraft...we believe we are aware of what there is demand for so you just have to wait and see like all the rest.


for Wise 690

thanks for your thoughts.
We have no immediate plans to artillery of the Paladin.
We always strive to add as many features and access points to our line as possible.

for mwanz

Thank you for your support.

for USCGSARdog

Thanks for your support.

for bluesparrow.


Not too sure which item you are referring to here as we have not shown any "future military" except for the digital camo.
Also we are not associated with the line from Paolo"


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Interesting Mike doesn't know of the future line that was shown. I guess it was just someone's project and not connected to BBI. If someone has a link to the pics post it.

Pretty nice personal attention from Mike, eh gang?

[aferguson]

further info from Mike:

Mike wrote:

"I am just looking over the threads of "Rangers Recon..A-10 here it is"

Some of the comments really made me laugh...most of all the one about the "1:18 aircraft being the suggestion of owner's son and him pestering his father until he got his way"
Comments like this are what convinced me to get involved on your board in an effort to set the record straight.
I can tell you for sure that this was not the reason we went into 1:18 and how this type of rumor ever floats is beyond me.


Now for the line at Target, I thought that I had previously touched on this and made it clear that this is not our regular line..the Little Bird and other vehicles you see in there are different, not accurate and not to scale. These items are built to a price with as many pieces as possible.
The A-10 is not intended to be scale and like the others is built to a price. It is simply not for you guys.

As for the use of the Elite Force name..we considered that carefully before we did it and when we applied the name we added "Combat Command" to differentiate it from the collector line.
Like I said before we want to start a base for the new generation collector and no better way than to get your brand name in front of kids and have them grow up with it.

Even Rolex makes several versions of their products at various levels of quality and price.

BMW started the 3 series just to get people into the brand and then they get them to trade up to the 5's and 7's.
Mercedes too so why not Elite Force?


Mike"

[digger]

Guys, I hope this is clear because it's obviously true about Target so we can stop whining about it:

These items are built to a price with as many pieces as possible.
The A-10 is not intended to be scale and like the others is built to a price. It is simply not for you guys.

I think we can rest assure our Elite Force is getting more detailed/accurate, not less.

[aferguson]

Mike wrote:

"Tell Mighty Mustang that TRU are getting more Corsair shipments and so are Bad Cat..our US office will be carrying inventory.

Mike"

[holensock]

A big thanks to Mike for answering a lot of questions here! I just want to add my 2 cents...I bought all 6 paratroopers and like them alot!! It doesn't bother me that their harnesses are molded on-after all, they are paratroopers! I just hope that more WWII ground troops will be coming out! I like what bbi did to the articulation of these figures. I'm hoping that this articulation will be added/updated someday to all the modern bbi figures that are on the shelf now. I also purchased the Sherman Tank. Love this one as well! I'm a big fan of these new figures!!! I'm hoping that plans will include MORE figures for us!!
I also like the Target line! While most of it is not to scale, they are FUN pieces! I'd love to see WWII expand in this line too!
I will now leave with one thought in mind...FIGURES!!! MORE FIGURES!!!

[mwanz]

I love it. Keep em coming, Mike, but understand we are pretty much grasping in the dark when it comes to BBI's next golden egg. I think part of the fun (and some of the excitement around this hobby) is anticipating what is coming out next, where the goodies are, where the best deals are... etc.

A natural part of the anticipation though, is conjecture. Please take it in stride. With really, little info coming in since about 6 months ago (with the start of, say, the revised 21st site) I think we were getting more and more outlandish/excitable with our theories on development. I think the underlying theme here is that we thrive (and thus the hobby thrives) on good feedback, and I think that Mike's additions here have been most welcome to this collector.

We appear to be fairly religious collectors and very committed to both BBI and 21st when it comes to supporting these lines with more than just spare change. I think the polls, suggestions, and "I'd like to a see a #insert model here# in 1:18" should suffice to say we appreciate the spin (true and less grounded remarks included) and it needs to be taken into conext of a bunch of really committed collectors (I saw recently that someone --with the addition of the new BBI Corsair-- has 55 planes hanging!). I can't stress enough that the updated website would be an important step forward in keeping this momentum going, although I really do appreciate this particular thread and our personal comments.

I, for one among others, recognize BBI is a business and can't/won't put these rabbits back in the hat once they are out in the public domain. Our expectations are very high and our mutual commitment to this line demonstrates that. I would conservatively estimate that I have spent between 1 and 2k on the line and consider the 8 tons of 1:18 stuff as heirlooms for my son (who considers "soldier time" with dad a peak part of our day). Count on my support, but also count on me participating in the boards "flights of fancy" in the absence of data. Thats what I think separates the collector from creator.

Respectfully, MW

[Teamski]

VERY well stated mwantz. My sentiments exactly!

-Ski

[compfire]

Mike Murphy,

Thanks for the BBI updates. Also thanks for taking the time to respond to our questions on this board. I have personally purchased most the 1/18 stuff that you produce (recent purchase - 6 paratroopers), and I am very impressed with the quality.

I'm not sure if you know the answer to this question but here goes. I purchased your 1/18 F-16 from Michigan Toy Soldier & Figure Co. back in early January. Michigan Toy said that it is waiting for a shipment to come in from BBI, but has not received it yet. Is BBI still shipping the F-16 to retailers? Is the F-16 still being produced?

Thanks,
Mike

[Quixote511]

Well, I'll be damned. It is always good to have someone's ear. Thanks very much. And here's to hoping for one heck of a Christmas line up.
Aaron

[Birddog]

Cool. That's really good for direct input to what you have to say. Thanks for responding so directly to everyone Mike.

[aferguson]

Mike has asked me to set up a poll/survey type deal for ideas on future figure releases......one for modern, one for WWII. I'll get started on that in the next couple of days, once i figure out the best way to approach it. So for all who are saying 'more figures, more figures' you'll have a chance to, perhaps, influence BBI a bit.

Right now i think i'm going to approach it by having a thread of open discussion of ideas for a few days and then take the most common requests from that thread and put them in the form of a poll. As i said i'll do it in the next couple of days when i have some more time and can mull over the approach a bit.

[Birddog]

That sounds great Aferg. Can't wait to see it.

[der Vogelfänger]

dV

[Birddog]

Can other modern aircraft like the F-15, F-14, and A-10 be fit inside the current box being used to package the F-16 and F-18? Does Blue Box Toys view these aircraft as being too big to produce? Just wondering. Thanks again for the input.

[aferguson]

the f-18 box is bigger than the f-16 box but even so i don't think any of those three could fit in the f-18 sized box. However, 21c has put some pretty big planes in their beloved box so the packaging people can work wonders. And the 1/18 B-24 r/c plane i got years ago is in a box only a hair larger than the F-18 box and it's a very big plane....

It's the width of the box that i see as the biggest problem, both the F-15 and F-14 are large, flat, wide planes.

[Birddog]

True on the F-15 and F-14. The A-10 isn't however except for the two huge engines and a thick long wing. But like you said, they can work miracles on engineering them to fit into boxes. My main wonder is what BBI's thoughts on the size of these particular aircraft are? Like what they thought about the C-47 Mike mentioned.

[digger]

The A-10 surely would fit in the F-18 Box. The wings are huge but they would be detatched. The length is not a problem, and neither would be the HUGE engines (which are really what add so much plastic) b/c the fuselage is skinny. The tail would not come whole so it is not an issue.
If I had to choose b/w an A-10 & a B-25 I would be a torn man....

[Birddog]

True on the fuselage length and all but what about all that armament...lol. Of course there could be an accessory pack made with aircraft ordinance to customize your aircraft for particular missions.