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

[MightyMustang]

MightyMustang,
buddy, you are entitle to your opinion and i'm to mine.
I see your point and make sense but i would like more info...
I guess a coin can always be seen from both sides.
I respect your opinion and still consider you a great guy.
but my position stays where i drew the line in the previous post.
Hopefully you can respect my opinion too!

thanks & take care.

Ranger I respect your veiws and opinions so dont think otherwise. We are all in this together but all I ask is be a little easier on a guy who is nice enough to come in here and give us info that he didnt have to give in the first place.

[75th Ranger]

Matter of opinions,

It is all a matter of opinions and everyone is entitle to one. I respect all of you guys opinions regardingthis matter. But I wanted to say my own, after all that is one of the purpose of the forums.
I think that after me having spent around $400.00 dollars this month only on bbi plus all the numerous purchases that me and many others have made over the years we deserve a better customer & information system provided by bbi. At least Mike could give us a hint of the type of vehicles coming out in the future. After all we mostlylike are going to buy them anyways.
Therefore, I still think we deserve more information.
thank you!

[ExtnsvEnterprise]

Ranger,

Whilst I dislike the wait and see position...I believe it's a position Mike has to take. If he were to spill the beans on a project coming down the pike...and several months later that project gets canned for one reason or another...there's gonna be some pretty upset people. Look what happend when 21st showed us those pics of their A-10 they had in the works. Couple months later...it was dead[ish].

But, like you said...it is your opinion and your feelings on the situation. Personally, I like the fact that we can ask a question and get either a "wait and see", or NO. Which he's done for a couple of things. At least this way, we can still hold out hope if he doesn't say NO.

[Jericoeagle1]

Wow, I'm back from Vacation so its a Zero! humm. Well I guess I'm not disapointed I just wanted an A-10 more. Well here's to the future. I did order one from Badcat though...hee hee hee.

[OnWu]

I think I'll stay out of this debate.

[immeww2]

I'll settle for WM too.

[Teamski]

I obviously love the products of both companies. But, you can see where the difference lies with bbi being a "big brother" company where the Elite Force line is just one of many products they produce and at 21st, where XD and 32x are their bread and butter. I can see why 21st has a spirited following; it's the only company that you can put a face with a product. I found that Roy Sutherland to be a genuine plane buff (especially the Mossie) and that gets a lot of respect from me. I can't say that when I met the bbi rep at the show (the NY toy fair). It does make that bit of difference in dealing with the companies......

-Ski

[digger]

A little outside of the debate but does anyone know if TRU will get the Zero?

I don't think we know. Mike said tru has not said "No" to Japanese products but he did not say it would be there. It is not exclusive to BCT so if not tru it will at least be sold at other online retailers Hell, maybe Target falls in love with bbi and they carry it

I think right now is BCT's time to shine (well deserved) so that's why you don't here about where else it will be. Remember, people on here thought if you didn't pre-order a bbi Corsair you'd regret it when in reality the thing was on the shelf at tru for $40 before BCT even opened their crate

[WGP Klaus]

A little outside of the debate but does anyone know if TRU will get the Zero?

I don't think we know. Mike said tru has not said "No" to Japanese products but he did not say it would be there. It is not exclusive to BCT so if not tru it will at least be sold at other online retailers Hell, maybe Target falls in love with bbi and they carry it

I think right now is BCT's time to shine (well deserved) so that's why you don't here about where else it will be. Remember, people on here thought if you didn't pre-order a bbi Corsair you'd regret it when in reality the thing was on the shelf at tru for $40 before BCT even opened their crate

I'd like to think that if TRU carried the 21st victor charles figures, surely they'd carry the meatball?

I agree as to the BCT shining, Robs done a great job and runs a great business, all the best wishes to he and his company.

[aferguson]

Mike wrote:

"for Sgt Saunders

bbi will continue to develop further figure lines in both modern and WWII themes.

for John Lumley

Thanks for the thoughts...I have been traveling and a bit busy to get to the board,,,no flying un-happily ( at least not with me driving anyway) and no flak for me.

The Zero in Australia will not be available for some time.

for Birddog and aferguson

see above

for 75th Ranger

Thanks for your vote on the bbi products. On the other matters I will refer to my original comments and re-iterate that it is not our policy to comment on any items under development or in consideration.When products are available we will release them. This is normal commercial practice.

for Mighty Mustang

Thanks for the support and I stop by as often as my schedule allows.

for Teamski

Your comments on the bbi rep at New York show are noted and I assume that you are referencing the booth at the Javitts center...which is, as I have previously explained, not a bbi booth but rather a distributor who had many other lines on display apart from bbi.
Perhaps if you attend the NYC show in 2006 you can stop by the Fifth Avenue Building and say hello to me?
We can talk real airplanes then.

Almost missed these as they are on a different thread to BBI info.

for Knight26, aferguson, Timbo

please recall my earlier comments that "we need to build each model to a price"...the ordinance on the jets are simply a compromise and whilst not suitable in combat as indicated by your comments...they are extremely suitable for a retail product.

the reason the sidewinders are different between the Falcon and the Hornet is because they come from a different tool. Each jet has its ordinance tooled in accompanying molds...thus a difference.
Hope that answers all your queries. "

[digger]

bbi will continue to develop further figure lines in both modern and WWII themes.

Nuff said - I'm happy Thanks as always for the direct feedback Mike
Btw I took down the bbi M4 last night and now I remember why I cannot wait for the next bbi armor release

[Teamski]

Mike,

hehehehe... I'll do that. I couldn't get to the 5th Ave location this year, but if you are there this next year, and if I can make it, I will be more than happy to talk planes....

-Ski

[75th Ranger]

To Mike:

Mike, thanks for your answer to the subject matter.

Like i said previously I enjoy collecting bbi products. So far as you can see me and many others here have spent quite large sums of money on the product line.
If by any chance at a designated date & time by your company were to inform of at least the idea of a time frame of would be nice so that we could better plan. This will make it possible for us to get your itmes and sometimes even in bigger quantities.

Take this month for example:
I bought the following because I had been expecting them for 6 months:

20 figures
2 corsairs
2 F-18
15 Target line figure sets

now if we want to get more stuff later, when it closer to X-mas, we need to know what available because like many of us here, we have dependants and during that time they will be first!
Therefore, if we know in advance what is coming...for example 1 piece of armor, 2 planes, 1 new set of figures or such, we can fix it up in our budget and many other members would be able to do the same to!
thanks.

[USCGSARdog]

Mike-

I had to throw this out to you. My son and I were at Target today and saw the Elite Force A-10 for the first time. Needless to say my son saw it and went nuts. He absolutley loves it!!! I am equally impressed. The A-10 is well made and has a TON of cool features that kept me, er, him busy all afternoon. Best yet, my wife thinks its "adorable".

I know bbi caught a lot of flak from some people here about this plane, so I wanted you to pass on how much my family loves it to your marketing group. Its a great product at a good price, and it keeps my son from my "grown up" airplanes!!!!!! Thanks for a great product.

(Now how about that 1/18 scale, "grown up" A-10?! I know, I know, wait and see! )

-Rob

[Birddog]

I saw the Target A-10 yesterday myself. It is neat for what it is intended for. What is amazing is the detail that did go into it for it to be a $20 toy. The cockpit had detail to it. The paint scheme is very cool and what is even more surprising are the unit markings. The unit markings and paint scheme go hand in hand. The 23 TFW. It's pretty amazing that for a kids toy, BBI put alot of thought into making this toy. It's disassembled just the way I invision a 1/18 scale replica would be. After looking at how close the Target A-10 is to the mark, (save for it's size and proportions)it's hard for me not to believe that BBI has or will be doing an A-10 in 1/18 scale. They are just soooo close!!! (Please give us the grown-up 1/18 scale A-10!!!)

[aferguson]

Mike wrote:

"for USCGSARdog and Birddog

Thanks for the comments on the Target A-10....we are glad the "kids" liked it.
Just remember the saying..."if you are too old to play with toys...then you are too old" "

[Birddog]

Nothing to do with being "too old" to play with toys, it's a matter of accuracy and scale. Don't want to park the Target A-10 next to my F-16's and F-18's. Want the Total Realism and Maximum Detail.

Please give us an accurate 1/18 scale A-10 Warthog.

And thanks again for your response.

[Teamski]

Nothing to do with being "too old" to play with toys, it's a matter of accuracy and scale. Don't want to park the Target A-10 next to my F-16's and F-18's. Want the Total Realism and Maximum Detail.

Please give us an accurate 1/18 scale A-10 Warthog.

And thanks again for your response.

Amen Brutha!!!!

-Ski

[Birddog]

Amen Brutha!!!!

-Ski

[KAGNEW]

hi guys
just back from a 3 day weekend
i preordered 2 Zeros from BAD Cat today
thats the only way i no to show our support

[Jericoeagle1]

Nothing to do with being "too old" to play with toys, it's a matter of accuracy and scale. Don't want to park the Target A-10 next to my F-16's and F-18's. Want the Total Realism and Maximum Detail.

Please give us an accurate 1/18 scale A-10 Warthog.

And thanks again for your response.

Not to mention with scads of ordinance, hatches that open to show the 30MM Gatling Gun, Fully Articulated Pilot, Variable Schemes and a destroyed Iraqi Tank as an accessory.

[Birddog]

Just getting an accurate 1/18 A-10 at this point would be good enough for me. But the extras would make it icing on the cake......

[SpareParts]

Guys - I know the A-10 is kinda the Holy Grail of the modern aircraft series, but do we have any idea as to the cost of this beast? I'm sure a lot of us would buy it so as to amortize the tooling cost decently, but what is that tooling/production cost? If it requires a significantly larger set of IM (injection mold) tools than current models, our cost is going to be much larger.

I'm definitely not trying to pour water on our enthusiasm, rather, I'm just trying to ascertain why an A-10 has yet to be produced. It seems the market (us) is clamoring for it, so it probably boils down to a matter of return on investment.

That all being said, I reckon I'd be willing to pay $100 for a well-done model, but probably not much more.

Mike - am I way off with these comments?

[digger]

I'd pay a hundred bucks too...but I've been known to do crazy things ....yea, the reason it has not been done is b/c it's so damn big. Much bigger than anything else really, all things considered. At this point I'm leaning on bbi as they had the onions to put out that huge box the F-18 came in...AND to sell the F-16 w/o tru...