Post
by Coreyeagle48 » Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:37 pm
Greetings:
Interesting how the company did not practing what they were preaching in that brochure.
In many ways, 21st Century Toys killed themselves. I was discussing this privately with another member, but, if you think about it, with the exception of cars and trucks, 1/18 was open for the military market. 21st and to a degree BBI were first on the scene and had some great releases.
The problem was in my eyes was that something always seemed to be a bit of a miss. This was especially true for 21st. There were many things that hurt them but in my opinion, the following were all major contributing factors.
1.) Quality Control-This was by far the biggest problem at 21st Century Toys. I can't tell you how many times I passed on pieces in the store that were either broken or had paint jobs a five year old could have done better. Despite the promise to make things better, this never really happened, especially in the 1/18 lineup. I believe the bad workmanship really hurt their business. No one wants to buy something that looks like crap and unfortunately some of 21st's pieces came out of the factory looking just that way. The idea one should "touch up" and "use a tube of glue" to make a product correct just never sat well with me. I often wonder how many people broke their products putting them together or just taking them out of the box, several of the pieces seemed that fragile.
2.) Repaints-I understand repaints but honestly what 21st did was overkill, especially in a scale like 1/18. There were very few people who could buy 10 1/18 FW-190's but would have been willing to buy one of each 1/18 plane and did that. I think the repaints would have been better spread out....like a new one each year instead of five schemes at one time.
3.) Bizzare Marketing-21st and their marketing ideas were somewhat bizzare. The announcement of planes they simply did not have any intention of producing was the most bizzare of them all. The four for victory contest, while some participated in, was just a desperate attempt to clear old stock. I think the Four For Victory Contest was probably the real first indication that the company was in serious trouble and would not last. Interestingly enough I thought one of their best marketing ideas, the 32X Dogfight Packs, never really showed up in large numbers. I thought had they started the 32X planes like that, they may have even been stronger sellers.
4.) Adding Scales-I think the idea to expand into 1/32 past 1/18 was fine but it should have stopped there. I think they got way in over their heads adding 1/48 and 1/144 to the mix. This probably took away resources they could have used to keep developing 1/18 and 1/32 items. The 1/48 was a real mistake with so much already available in that scale and in much better quality. The 1/144 was interesting but again, too many of the same scheme, cheaply made, etc.
5.) Distrubution-The Walmart plan killed 21st Century as well. Poor distrubution led to some stores carrying product and others not. I personally thought when 21st lost TRU, they should have actively pursued the hobby shops and online retailers much harder. It is interesting Tman's pamphlet says "Dealer Inquries Welcome" where really if you want to sell a product, you have to push dealers to carry it a lot of the time on your own.
It is sad really as that brochure shows what this company could have been with better marketing and push for better quality. I will always remember it as a neat company with neat products but as I mentioned, there was always that little part missing in terms of overall excellence.
Corey
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