1/18 Aint dead.

[GooglyDoogly]

Kduck, there has been a sort of 80s revival in pop culture of late (clothes, movies, music) so the Platoon release is not that far off.

As for the quad trailer, it has been discussed before and some people have had a hard time comprehending that it was not made instead of a German cycle with sidecar, it was made instead of nothing at all. The M16 was long-clamored for (see below) and some of our rationale was that the quad M2s could then easily be used for other pieces. If you don't like the trailer, leave it on the shelf, but it is one of very few ground pieces offered in recent years, and it was that or nothing. It was not a big new investment into an item nobody wanted, it was small investment to give us another piece for our ground forces.

JUST SOMETHING 1/18 ON THE GROUND TO BREAK THE DROUGHT. COME ON THE SPRING RAINS.

Thought I have been all about a Preist, because of playing Battlefield 1942. I voted for an M-16. We need some anti-aircraft out there. I mean we have 7 Emil variants out there. Our few Spits and jugs can't possibly do it all. And, now that we have trucks for convoys they need some kind of protection from strafing.
Aaron

Some of the gun trucks from VietNam were equipped with simialar Quad M2s much like the ones used onthe M16 halftracks. Interesting crossover part possibilities for 21st. Hint hint nudge nudge.

As far as the choice of hard top or soft top CCKW? Yes. I will take two of each.

TJ

How about the M3 Half-track converted to a M-16 with a quad .50....but then again I would sure like to see an M-16 quad in 1/6, or re-release of the 1/6 WSC but then with the smoke and beer maybe I should go to bed.

TTT

Gunner:

Using a chasis from a previous release won't work. I've been saying for years that 21C could build on their M3 Half-track to make: a M2 Half-track with just a post mounted mg (no pulpet) and of couse a M16 with a quad mount or a mortar carrier, or a half-track with a mounted gun (75mm or 105mm). And then carry a gun idea on to a gun by itself on a two wheel carriage.....wow

Seems like a simple suggestion to make us happy, right?

21C always has some reason to kill those ideas. A M-42 would be great.

TTT

And how about a M-16 Quad .50 Half-track, M-8 & M-20 Ford Armored Cars and my personal favorite the White Scout Car........all of course in 1/18 and 1/6.

I'm not asking too much, am I

I've been a good boy this year, so how about it Santa

TTT

However, we have been begging for an M16 halftrack for some time and for the same reason. They've got the awesome halftrack, just alter it accordingly as the US did during the war Same could be done with the Hanomag - I hope they take the plunge some day

yeah i really would like to see one of the aaa halftracks too. Maybe it will come one day.
Aaron

i wish they would do a M16 half track also.
i'd take at least 2

An M16 version of the M3 haltrack would be nice too. Both already exist in 1/18.

Btw, I think the schwimmwagen is boring as hell, so to each his own.

And none of those quotes wanted a QUAD TRAILER.

Wait, let me put my beer goggles on....nope, not a single cry for a QUAD TRAILER. Gun trucks? Yes! Half-tracks, double yes!

Trailers? Neh.

PS: M-16 half track is not an M-17 quad trailer. That's why I'm kinda boggled you'd search for old posts to support the idea that people wanted the M-17 in the past....

[Jesse James]

If it matters at all, the Quad Trailer came and went here... Never even saw it and still don't own one. It may have been feast elsewhere, but it was certainly famine here, so I'd say what we did get in sold at least. Was it that bad an idea then? I dunno...

The last land vehicles I saw at WM never saw the sales floor at full price, only at half off... That was PAK's, Hano's, etc. I think they'd have moved very well at full price though, but alas they didn't even get the chance with the ever-screwing-up Wal-Mart.

TRU seemingly at least puts stuff out, but man sometimes it goes through real quick. Then again the PAK's there now aren't moving. A great piece, but just not going anywhere.

[scbvideoboy]

I'd like to suggest something, I'm not sure if its been brought up before...

China is hosting the olympics, could it be possible that all existing toy compaines have been commandeered to produce plastic toys and souvniers for the olmpics, sort of like a nation wide war effort.

And all the non olympic related toys and stuff are on the backburner?

Just a suggestion. If it was one company related issue, then the other folks should be releasing their stuff on time and as advertised.

But all of them?

Dave

[kduck]

scbvideoboy, I don't think it's been mentioned in this thread but it's been discussed before. It's one of the main reasons for the dearth of diecast cars and other diecast items lately. I was just in a local toy store lately and had a discussion with the manager about this exact topic. She told me they simply can't get diecast cars anymore and whenever they talk to the distribution warehouse they tell them the reason they can't get them is because there simply aren't many coming out of China. I don't think it's all about producing souvenirs but a lot of factories have been redirected to produce things the government believes are more important.

[dandaman]

After reading that "1:18 scale is dead" article I just had to comment.

People are lumping 1:18 figures and 1:18 vehicles in the same boat. I see them as two very different animals. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am not much of a vehicle person. Yes, I admit I broke down and recently purchased a 1:18 halftrack, but that is an uncommon occurrence. For the most part I'm all about the figures.

If this "death" of the 1:18 scale has something to do with sales, then why not create figures with more variety? Why keep producing the same old same old?

Perfect example: the Russian soldiers in the new Indiana Jones line. Do you realize how many we have purchased in this forum alone? At $7 a pop, they did some awesome sales on those figures alone. Personally, I purchased 6 so far. And I plan to buy more.

Let me give a theoretical example. Say someone releases a 1:18 Italian infantry figure. Do I need to say how much $$$ I would spend on that? And that's just one consumer! Some people (like me) are starved for variety. We will pay good $$$ for variety.

So why call the 1:18 scale dead? When these companies (in my opinion) aren't even trying? They haven't even scratched the surface yet!

Back to 1:18 vehicles. I regret not purchasing the 1:18 Tigers when they came out, and the original halftrack. I would buy them now if I saw them. Which brings me to another point. If 21st century invested the $$$ to make molds of the Tiger tanks and other vehicles...they can easily make more and release them again! The Tiger tanks should always be mixed in with any new 1:18 stuff that comes out. To me that's a no-brainer! More people would get into the 1:18 vehicle arena if they saw Tiger tanks, and then they would get opposing vehicles to fight them!

A final note: people's likes/dislikes can vary over time...I never thought I would enjoy any sort of 1:18 vehicles...people can change! If I could stress one thing to these companies it would be to give the collector/consumer more credit. We will buy stuff in/out of season and we like variety. Don't give up on us!

[tosborne3]

If ya really think about it though, 1:18 scale and its various items have been around since the 70s in one form or another. I believe that we are just in a dry spell at the moment with x/d. I don't believe that 1:18 is going away anytime soon. Companies like 21st will usually try to market what sells best, ("action figures") and then release the bigger, ("armor & planes"), more expensive items for the collectors. Other companies will also join in the game and produce the compitition for our beloved x/d line, but with toys that aren't as detailed. With this I mean, FOV, BBI, HASBRO, etc. Not that these toys aren't nice, but the fierce compitition will slow down 21st's production. Even in the TOY world it is dog eat dog.

[hworth18]

I think 1/18 figures will be around for a long time to come.
However, 1/18 vehicles/planes are dying a slow death and will go the way of the Dodo soon enough.

Step into 1/32! We will always welcome you guys with open arms!

Join the movement brother..... Its time.........

[dragon53]

BADCAT's blog on 1/18:

What Can We Reasonably Expect to See in 1:18 For 2008?

Flak88mm.jpgMost of us realize the 1:18 highs of 2005 are not likely to be repeated any time soon. So what can we expect 2008 to bring collectors? I mean realistically. Afterall most of you know me to be fairly conservative with new releases and predictions and I don't like to build false hope. So here's a list of 1:18 airplanes, model tanks and action figures I'm banking on seeing before the ball drops in Times Square.

Catmouth Hellcat--Arrived in January.

Vietnam Figures--Got 'em last month.

P-40 AVG Repaint--Came and went last month.

Platoon Figures--Just arrived.

Rudel Stuka--Ships to retailers next week.

Panther Tank Repaint--Ships to retailers in two weeks.

King Tiger--Reported in the pipeline (3th quarter most probable).

Flak 88--Reported in the pipeline (3th quarter most probable, also).

P-38 Repaint--The Cal Cuties are all gone and this tooling is very popular.

A6M2 Zero Repaint--Several paint schemes proposed and someone will get it done before year's end.

F4U Corsair--No F4Us available currently, so someone will fill this vacuum soon.



Other projects are rumored and may well be in the works but their arrival would be pure speculation. This list above will almost certainly be filled before year's end in its entirety. As always, I could be wrong . . . but I don't think so.

[dragon53]

If Badcat's predictions are accurate, perhaps 21st will eventually release the Pappy Boyington F4U that was promised last year.

Also, since the P-38 is very popular, I hope 21st releases a Richard Bong P-38...or maybe a Rex Barber version, but the 40 kills painted on Bong's P-38 would look very impressive.

[GooglyDoogly]

If Badcat's predictions are accurate, perhaps 21st will eventually release the Pappy Boyington F4U that was promised last year.

LAST year?????? LOL!!!!

[Jesse James]

If BCA's predictions are accurate I'd say 1:18 vehicles are anything but dead... That's more vehicles than Star Wars will see in 2008 I think.

[vulgarvulture]

I'm very happy with my 1:18 plane collection. If 1:18 goes by the wayside for the next few years, I won't lose any sleep. It's been a fun run.

1:32's not my bag. It's just not the same as 1:18.

[STUKA]

I'm actually happy with the fact we have time between items comming out - too many not enough money or time to appreciate - I remember a thread when folk were complaining about too much at once -

[pickelhaube]

I'm actually happy with the fact we have time between items comming out - too many not enough money or time to appreciate - I remember a thread when folk were complaining about too much at once -

When the heck was this ? Too much 1/18 ? No way Jose.
Well I guess maybe that goofy quad trailer piece of pooh pooh . Not too much , but not worth..

[GooglyDoogly]

Too much???? When????

The only thing that I remember people complaining about was there's too many re-paints.

[Jesse James]

STUKA might be referring to when the PAK-40, 3 Hano variants, Quad .50 Halftrack, and figures (and Torpedo bomber), were all shipping to Wal-Mart...

The problem at the time was whether your WM got them or not. SOme did get one or two of each, and they sold through, some didn't do so well... Some got them and they were put on clearance before they even hit the sales floor (I witnessed that first-hand).

That was a lot all at once, and you add up $20 here, $20 there, and especially if you wanted extras (PAK was popular to buy a couple of) and it was getting out of hand a bit.

It all got dumped at Christmas too when spending was tight on most as it is.

[STUKA]

yep - I didnt have time to find the thread -
the quad, pak 40 came and went so fast you had to be at the right WM during the right hour - I remember an old navy vet looking at the hanomag - I even wrote about it on the forum - he was telling me some stories - he may even be on this forum but I was telling him how fast these vehicles would be gone at the $12.99 price tag they started off with - and they were gone - the next batch came out after christmas under the $12.00 price tag I cant remember -
oh and the Vet picked one of the vehicles up - I can't remember - what it was