merit Announcment

[Beeavision]

Frankly, since Jim didn't say anything about it being capable of taking flight it could also be the Harley Davidson twin engine jet powered hog.

One seater....check
Twin exhausts....check
Jet....actually motorcycle but whats the difference....check
Produced by JSI....sure why not they can pull it off....check

[dcway]

any news ???????????????????????????????????? man o man this is getting old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just shoot me already ......

[pizzaguy]

Here's another riddle Batman.

We speculate these items:
One seater....check
Twin exhausts....check
Jet....check
Produced by JSI....sure why not they can pull it off....check
Pickel is the only one that knows outside of Merit.....Check

Could it be.....

He did mention someone was intersted in his molds.

[rschaap]

I don't believe it would be the Horten. Great theory a bit obscure for the general public though. I can't see Merit investing in such a risk given the present market. Hopefully all questions will be answered soon.

[Beeavision]

Pizzaguy, actually make that a double check. Caribmar also knows what it is too. Of course I wouldn't be surprised if Aki knew as well. My luck, I'll probably be the last one here to find out. lol

Oh, and I think I read somewhere here on this thread that some of the venders know about it too especially Aviatornut. Can't confirm it though but makes sense.


Off to the batcave....

[USCGMK2]

SU-25 Frogfoot? I hope it's a MIG-29 or SU-27.

[Jolly Roger]

I would think retailers would want to know, and Merit would want input on whether the models would be popular.
Who better knows the customer then the guys selling the end product and staying current on customer chatter.


either way, lets get this thing announced.
I'm pondering another purchase, so Jim, make me spend my Money with Merit and tell me what I'm buying!

[A-10LOADER]

YAWN, so where is this BIG NEWS !!?? Somebody spill the beans already.


Steve

[Jnewboy]

I dont care about modern crap but I do like seeing you guys agonize over this

Look at it this way, most of the "announcements" from many companies have = nothing anyway... just sayin.. still waiting for that Allgo Jagdpanther...

I would like a 1/18 C17 Globemaster though but it would have to be RC so I could fly it down the highway while hanging out the passenger side window while the wife drives...

[Birddog]

I dont care about modern crap but I do like seeing you guys agonize over this

I'm sure others feel the same way about WW II crap.....

[Beeavision]

Just about a full week left to go. Can't wait!!!!

[A-10LOADER]

Well said Birddog. You WWII guys have ALOT more 1/18th releases than the modern jet guys. Let us have our moment in the spotlight.


Steve

[NSA]

All's well that ends.. well?

Right?

At least we know JS-I can actually produce stuff, at an attractive price point is another question.

For the sake of the hobby I really hope they knock it out of the park whatever it is.

[NWarty]

"Well, seeing nobody is doing anything in 1/18, we'll keep our announcement under wraps due to the apparent competition from no one"

Give me a break and make the damned announcement.

If I'm excited, I may buy the product at an extremely inflated price point. But then again, hey JSI is pumping out repaints of a tired mold for over triple the price of the original.

Oh, and I need a repair item for face curtain handles for my F-14. Given our small community and our customer-service minded friends in China, do you think I can get a repair part if I contact them? (sarcasm off)

The 1/18 companies make our 1/6 manufacturer friends look like my best-friend-next-door-neighbor-that-actually-let-me-borrow-their-tools friendly

[NSA]

I really hope that the advances in technology really let smaller operations, like Pickel runs, take off (literally and figuratively!).

While I'd appreciate supporting USA-based businesses and all that, I think the fact that you could hopefully get a small replacement part sometime this decade would be a great boon to the hobby. The smaller operations would also have a better finger on the pulse of the community as well.. hell Pickel already asks people what they want him to do now.

The Saber repaint is just another example of "Why??" that we are constantly asking. I'd love to know if it DOES sell and it WAS a good idea, just so I could start looking for who's buying 1000 Sabers, especially when you can routinely find them on eBay for LESS than the new MSRP.

I will say, with the UH-1 they came out with, $99 seems like a more-or-less fair price point. The Hueys were consistently running between $150-$250, so $99 really seems like a mass market "deal" at this point, regardless of what the original MSRP was.

[Jnewboy]

I dont care about modern crap but I do like seeing you guys agonize over this

I'm sure others feel the same way about WW II crap.....

HAHA! thats true! I guess a Mig 21 or a Mig 29 would be cool

[Beeavision]

I do realize April isn't over yet but I'm still curious what could be the hold up. Merit has already disclosed the FW190 and even the expected release dates on both but we are still left wondering what the jet is. It seems to me they maybe still working things out with JSI to get the project underway first.

[normandy]

I'm very interested to hear which jet they're going to do.
I don't collect modern but its good for the 1:18 hobby.

I'm also looking forward to their FW-190.

[NSA]

tick tock tick tock...

[Jackson]

I'm hoping it might be a F-100 or 105....Harrier would be good as well or even a F-84F.. ain't been followin thread[as far as hints to what it might be] so I don't know if any of those jets are even in the discussion..

[Jolly Roger]

well lets have some fun..


F-5 ( not the most popular, but has international slight appeal for being the fake Mig from Top gun, other wise not really the best release for the first non-WWII era fighter, small size and lack oif features mean it would be cheaper to produce and have a smaller price tag. I'd love one but only in Black with a red Star of course)

Harrier ( International appeal, US and UK versions come to mind, heavily featured in True Lies, VTOL air craft are always popular, however there would be some moving parts, 4 gears instead of the normal 3, rotating engine vents, still I know if would be a hit with a lot of people, I think the Harrier is a cult status fighter, everyone loves them, but doesn't talk about them all the time)

F-15 ( international appeal, some real hardcore dog fight stories, tooling already exists, famous from wars, to being Seekers in the G1 transformers toon, to leader-1 of Gobots)

[Beeavision]

Its like trying to solve a murder mystery. lol

Redrum, redrum, REDRUM!!!!

[The_Helicopter_Pilot]

[*]

I'm hoping it might be a F-100 or 105....Harrier would be good as well or even a F-84F.. ain't been followin thread[as far as hints to what it might be] so I don't know if any of those jets are even in the discussion..

Umm....no, but the F-100, or F-105 would be cool, I don't know where people are coming up with the AV-8 at, because it has like 4 exhausts, Jim said only ((2 exhausts)), but those WOULD be nice to see in the future...

[SolidSnakeEyes]

Since Jim hasn't said anything about it being previously shown other then a "all new tooling" a Harrier jet would be in this case fair game. Its also a twin exhaust and somewhat modern dating back to the early 1980's. If the single seat theory holds true then the Harrier would certainly make the top of the list of potential candidates to become the next 1:18 jet release. I would love to add a VTOL to my collection. And thanks to a film back in the 90's, "True Lies" its sort of now a film cult icon.

I don't typically buy aircraft, but I would buy a Harrier. True Lies can be thanked for that. I grew up loving that movie, so that jet has a special place in my heart. Plus, the Marines still use them (right?). I dig that.

[Beeavision]

Good point T_H_P. The harrier does indeed have four exhausts so I guess that rules that one out of the game then.

So to recap on what we know at this point....

1- jet fighter
2- single seat
3- dual exhausts
4- produced by JSI
5- completely new tooling
6- announcement will be made in April
7- not an A-10
8- not a kit but pre-built
9- expected release date sometime between September - December of this year

According to an earlier post here by Jim the delay was on their (Merit) end in getting things going. May have to do with funding the project but not entirely sure. Of course that was quite a while ago and things maybe completely different now.