I keep passing by.......in the aisle

mikeg · Post by **mikeg** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:28 am

An underlying paranoid sense of financial uncertainty, as well as a lackadaisical attitude about new 1/18th stuff ever appearing, has me somewhat twitterpated about buying the dusty old stuff, repaints I thought to ignore. SUCH AS- the italian scheme quad 50, the m17 quad trailer, the hanomog pak 40 repaint, the tri-color pak 40, the nam 104. I really had no desire to buy these, but I gotta buy something...maybe.

vmf214 · Post by **vmf214** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:50 am

I feel the same way except I turned to Star Wars partly thanks to my youngest son..Oh and picked up all the Indy Jones stuff which is pretty cool.

longrifle · Post by **longrifle** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:16 am

I think 1/18th is all but dead. I have pretty much given up on it, let alone the hobby itself. I was eagerly waiting for the F-4 and the Mig-21 but to no aail. Im tired of the repaints...Im wanting new aircraft. With the fortune I have already spent on this stuff, I thought for sure we would be seeing more 1/18th from 21st, boy was I mistaken.
Eventually if the next 5-6 months do not bear fruit to any more newer aircraft , I will be selling my entire collection.
I think 21st made their money off of us...there the ones laughing all the way to the bank....

Im dissapointed...VERY dissapointed...

Stug45 · Post by **Stug45** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:19 am

I feel the same way longrifle.

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:24 am

longrifle wrote:I think 1/18th is all but dead. I have pretty much given up on it, let alone the hobby itself. I was eagerly waiting for the F-4 and the Mig-21 but to no aail. Im tired of the repaints...Im wanting new aircraft. With the fortune I have already spent on this stuff, I thought for sure we would be seeing more 1/18th from 21st, boy was I mistaken.
Eventually if the next 5-6 months do not bear fruit to any more newer aircraft , I will be selling my entire collection.
I think 21st made their money off of us...there the ones laughing all the way to the bank....

Im dissapointed...VERY dissapointed...

Custom "NEW " stuff so far.
Fw-190 A
Me-163
P-36
Custom stuff in the near future
P-40 E
Ki-61 Tony.
You said that you are tired of repaints but Air Strike is starting a whole line of Hellcat new paints.
All this stuff is NEW but I know they are not sold at WAL-Mart prices. But they are new and available.

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:56 am

SUCH AS- the italian scheme quad 50,

This is one I may consider getting if I see it the next time I'm in a TRU. I already have, or had all the other stuff you mentioned.

vmf214 · Post by **vmf214** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:16 am

The toy makers just didn't decide one day to quit making their bread and butter, come on guys place the blame where the blame is due.....the freakin' oil companies and the fact China as stated on another thread, has higher labor costs, raw materials for making the stuff is higher, plus the ever harassing "safety" inspections when the stuff comes in the country. I'd just imagine the toy makers are re-evaluating their position and I seriously doubt they've given up completely. Are we likely to see way less 1/18, I'd imagine so due to reasons above. They are just too expensive to make and meet the price point everyone has been spoiled by...thanks to freakin' Wal-Mart who could screw up a glass of water! Think about it, WM brought 1/18 in, kept it a couple years, often reducing the prices to clearance anywhere from a common $15 down to a reported $5 and less!!! 21st took a beating from those creeps plain and simple. Yeah we all made out like scalded dogs but lets get realistic, all WM did was hurt the hobby not help it. Normal folks other than just "us" collectors see a $79 XD plane and what comes to mind, "those were just $15 at WM, those people are crazy". It's just like when I used to do gunshows, the average shmo spouting off he could remember when a particular gun was $25 and I was "too" high at say $150. They seem to forget at the same time that particular gun was $25 a new car cost around $2500 and a new house around $10k. It's all relative is the point I'm trying to make. Inflation affects everything, pure and simple. The customs are out ie. pickelhaube's stuff, Airstrike's stuff and it's great. It's expensive but these guys have poured a TON of money in these projects and not to get rich either but for the sheer love of the hobby. As a thirty plus year model builder & toy airplane collectorI can atest to how expensive it is to model nowadays, or even collect diecast, especially when you're dealing with resins and the like. I'm getting ready to produce a custom my self that has definitely never been done and yes it's extremely expensive just to get the req'd equipment and materials just to get started. It sucks that everyone can't afford the customs but understand the expense these guys have making them and that they made them in strictly limited numbers. Pretty cool to me what just a few guys can crank out. If repaints are all that are left, I'm thankful for them coz it's better than nothing. Just my 2 cents.

B-29 · Post by **B-29** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 11:24 am

mikeg wrote:An underlying paranoid sense of financial uncertainty, as well as a lackadaisical attitude about new 1/18th stuff ever appearing, has me somewhat twitterpated about buying the dusty old stuff, repaints I thought to ignore. SUCH AS- the italian scheme quad 50, the m17 quad trailer, the hanomog pak 40 repaint, the tri-color pak 40, the nam 104. I really had no desire to buy these, but I gotta buy something...maybe.

I know what you mean. I never owned any ground items such as tanks and infantry. Now I have a formidable ground force for the Germans and Americans including pak 40s, several tanks, halftracks, and troops.

hworth18 · Post by **hworth18** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:45 pm

pickelhaube wrote: Custom "NEW " stuff so far.
Fw-190 A
Me-163
P-36
Custom stuff in the near future
P-40 E
Ki-61 Tony.
You said that you are tired of repaints but Air Strike is starting a whole line of Hellcat new paints.
All this stuff is NEW but I know they are not sold at WAL-Mart prices. But they are new and available.

True pickelhaube, and you do FANTASTIC work, but at about $300 a pop, these are well beyond the means of an "average" collectors wallet and its hard to justify to the missus how the hobby went from $30 each, to $65 each, to $300 each!
I do think you will be successful in your venture, but you will also be catering to a select clientel.

coreystinson · Post by **coreystinson** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:54 pm

longrifle wrote: Eventually if the next 5-6 months do not bear fruit to any more newer aircraft , I will be selling my entire collection.

I don't get this at all. Can't get any new aircraft, so going to sell off the whole collection. Why? This speaks to not really enjoying the stuff you have so much as just the hunt to buy something new/buying experience. Am I wrong?

FieroDude · Post by **FieroDude** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:14 pm

I can't say I am exactly at the point of wanting to sell the collection, but there is a certain thrill to a new piece that is making the current situation rather discouraging. Cycling a new piece (and older pieces) through the collection until the old pieces get your attention again has always been part of the fun.

I think the most frustrating thing right now, at least for me, isn't so much the lack of anything new, but what amounts to broken promises. There were numerous new pieces announced more than a year ago, pieces that were supposed to be out months ago according to their own manufacturers, and yet are nowhere to be seen. Instead, we get repaints that seem to be little more than an effort to calm the restless natives. According to our "source" (who admittedly hasn't gotten the straightest answers from 21st, either, I suspect), the KT and 88 were supposed to be on the water a couple months ago--what happened? All I see on the shelves are the same things that were there a few months ago. Same figures. Same vehicles. Same dustbunnies.

vmf214 · Post by **vmf214** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:40 pm

FieroDude wrote:but there is a certain thrill to a new piece

100% Agreed!!

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:10 am

vmf214 wrote:The toy makers just didn't decide one day to quit making their bread and butter, come on guys place the blame where the blame is due.....the freakin' oil companies and the fact China as stated on another thread, has higher labor costs, raw materials for making the stuff is higher, plus the ever harassing "safety" inspections when the stuff comes in the country. I'd just imagine the toy makers are re-evaluating their position and I seriously doubt they've given up completely. Are we likely to see way less 1/18, I'd imagine so due to reasons above. They are just too expensive to make and meet the price point everyone has been spoiled by...thanks to freakin' Wal-Mart who could screw up a glass of water! Think about it, WM brought 1/18 in, kept it a couple years, often reducing the prices to clearance anywhere from a common $15 down to a reported $5 and less!!! 21st took a beating from those creeps plain and simple. Yeah we all made out like scalded dogs but lets get realistic, all WM did was hurt the hobby not help it. Normal folks other than just "us" collectors see a $79 XD plane and what comes to mind, "those were just $15 at WM, those people are crazy". It's just like when I used to do gunshows, the average shmo spouting off he could remember when a particular gun was $25 and I was "too" high at say $150. They seem to forget at the same time that particular gun was $25 a new car cost around $2500 and a new house around $10k. It's all relative is the point I'm trying to make. Inflation affects everything, pure and simple. The customs are out ie. pickelhaube's stuff, Airstrike's stuff and it's great. It's expensive but these guys have poured a TON of money in these projects and not to get rich either but for the sheer love of the hobby. As a thirty plus year model builder & toy airplane collectorI can atest to how expensive it is to model nowadays, or even collect diecast, especially when you're dealing with resins and the like. I'm getting ready to produce a custom my self that has definitely never been done and yes it's extremely expensive just to get the req'd equipment and materials just to get started. It sucks that everyone can't afford the customs but understand the expense these guys have making them and that they made them in strictly limited numbers. Pretty cool to me what just a few guys can crank out. If repaints are all that are left, I'm thankful for them coz it's better than nothing. Just my 2 cents.

Well said VMF. You are right , this is no get rich thing. The allure of this hobby are three fold. They are large , fully built and cheap. Believe when I say that if any of the customs out there were built and for sale for at the $50 range I would be on them like white on rice. But they are not . These customs are there to fill gaps left by the main manufactors. Nothing else.
I think that anybody on this forum can build . The end product may be a little rough for some of us and the time spent is another thing.
Your right Hworth. The money paid for these customs are not what the average collector can afford. $300 to $600 is a bit much to pay for a model. But if you average out the time spent on these things 40 to 80 hrs each . This puts things in perspective. $300 to $600 is a car note.
Who pays $1000 for a PEZ despencer? $100,000 for some slippers from a movie ? $1,000,000 for a car when new was only $10,000 ? These are big time collectors. So $300-$600 is still alot for a modern collectable but it al depends how much you want it and is it available ?
But if an astoroid hits us in the next year or so ,who cares about any of this?

coreystinson · Post by **coreystinson** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:37 am

FieroDude wrote:I think the most frustrating thing right now, at least for me, isn't so much the lack of anything new, but what amounts to broken promises. There were numerous new pieces announced more than a year ago, pieces that were supposed to be out months ago according to their own manufacturers, and yet are nowhere to be seen.

In 21st Century's case, we can be fairly certain that they were just trying to scare off competition with some of their announcements. While I can see why they want to protect "their turf", this has ended up harming the collecting community in the form of unreleased product.

I suspect that 21st and all of the rest of the manufacturers will now hold off while the situation with the economy settles out. Sell-through on new products like Cal-Tek's new Me-109, 21st's Panther and other upcoming stuff, will be useful feedback for everyone (consumer, retailer, and manufacturer).

If we get to the end of the year without a King Tiger, 88mm, or Skyraider then I might panic. Until then, I'll wait n' see.

warhawker · Post by **warhawker** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:04 am

Here is my thought on this subject. Since we are in a drought of new stuff that as soon as something new does come out and the price turns out be 3 times what we use to pay for a similar item two years ago, we will buy it with only thinking about it for a split second!
What I have noticed is that most of on this forum are die hard collectors. We will come up with a way to buy those items we think are worth it in these difficult times. Other, like myself, begin to focus are 'collection' on other items such as aircraft, armor or figures from different scales just to keep our affinity for the subject alive. If you think about it what we collect is not 'essential' to our daily life like eggs or electricity, though I think there are some on here that would truly argue this point! 21, BBI, AT and others have their own internal dilemmas just like the rest of us. They are trying to balance their manufacturing, which employees to keep and which ones go down to part-time, raw material costs, distribution, over-sea shipping, etc. similar to what we do in our daily lives.
'Should I swing by WM to see by chance if the new Spitfire is there even if it is 5 miles out of my way home with gas at $4?'
'Should I cut back my lawn service and tell them that I am going greener with 4 inch tall grass as a backdrop for my 1:18 Platoon figures?'
'Should turn up the thermostat a few degrees to avoid a higher elect bill this month and just hang out in the produce section of the grocery to keep cool?'
'Should I buy the 1:48 Mustang since it it $9 or the 190 1:32 for $15 that has been sitting on the shelf for 4 months hoping that they will mark them for clearance this week?'
Of course these are all silly questions but I think we all are trying to justify the same thing just like the big three, 'What can we do to keep this going?'

vmf214 · Post by **vmf214** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:33 am

warhawker wrote:Here is my thought on this subject. Since we are in a drought of new stuff that as soon as something new does come out and the price turns out be 3 times what we use to pay for a similar item two years ago, we will buy it with only thinking about it for a split second!
What I have noticed is that most of on this forum are die hard collectors. We will come up with a way to buy those items we think are worth it in these difficult times. Other, like myself, begin to focus are 'collection' on other items such as aircraft, armor or figures from different scales just to keep our affinity for the subject alive. If you think about it what we collect is not 'essential' to our daily life like eggs or electricity, though I think there are some on here that would truly argue this point! 21, BBI, AT and others have their own internal dilemmas just like the rest of us. They are trying to balance their manufacturing, which employees to keep and which ones go down to part-time, raw material costs, distribution, over-sea shipping, etc. similar to what we do in our daily lives.
'Should I swing by WM to see by chance if the new Spitfire is there even if it is 5 miles out of my way home with gas at $4?'
'Should I cut back my lawn service and tell them that I am going greener with 4 inch tall grass as a backdrop for my 1:18 Platoon figures?'
'Should turn up the thermostat a few degrees to avoid a higher elect bill this month and just hang out in the produce section of the grocery to keep cool?'
'Should I buy the 1:48 Mustang since it it $9 or the 190 1:32 for $15 that has been sitting on the shelf for 4 months hoping that they will mark them for clearance this week?'
Of course these are all silly questions but I think we all are trying to justify the same thing just like the big three, 'What can we do to keep this going?'

WELL SAID!!

GooglyDoogly · Post by **GooglyDoogly** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:42 pm

The Hanomags, M16s, and the Pak-40s are some of the best "armor" pieces 21st has ever created. Especially the Pak-40. It's simply gorgeous. Well worth the price.

I think in order to survive, the big three REALLY needs to think about which items to produce. I doubt many people would still buy every single item just for the sake of collecting. Not at the prices these things are going for.

I know a lot of people used to buy multiples of everything, including multiples of repaints, just for the sake of collecting. Heck, I got an F-104 even though I'm not particularly fond of that plane, but 21st did a great job on it, and I got it for 5.99 at Walmart. But can someone honestly say that they'd still do that today?

Small Scale Military Headquarters

I keep passing by.......in the aisle

I keep passing by.......in the aisle

Re: I keep passing by.......in the aisle