Minichamps 1/35 Diecast Tanks (1 Viewer)

[uksubs]

Has anyone been collecting the Minichamps 1/35 scale diecast tanks?

I have all there WW2 items & now collect Dragon 1/35 armour

 

[uksubs]

Mike doesn't show them all. I have quite a few. I started collecting them when they first came out more than 10 years ago. They were the first tanks I collected and as far as I know, they were the only ones at that time with high quality. They also made several of the modern tanks other manufacturers do not make.

They come only factory fresh clean - no weathering -and there are no soldiers to go with them, but the tracks and wheels do work and work very well. Unfortunately at 1/35 scale they do not go well with the 1/30 scale tanks. And tanks are not the main product of Minichamps (car models) so they come out only sporadically. Their WW2 range is limited.

Terry

Minichamps & dragon tanks go very well with ORYON 1/35 soldiers

 

[IXEC]

I think some companies are charging to much though, for polystone. Other's have gone the extra mile with metal tracks and details. But I see it keeps getting better and better with all of the manufactures. /QUOTE]

I agree with the assessment that Minichamps is a dead end for any collector who regularly needs his fix - which is about 99.9% of participants on this forum. Also agree that sharing on a forum like this is an enrichment of the collecting hobby - and Minichamps does not offer this.

Having said that, may I ask you as the expert your opinion on this:

http://www.treefrogtreasures.com/forum/showthread.php?p=198326#post198326

I don't profess to be an expert, just mentioning my experience of collecting.

I wish you hadn't let me know about this company, but thanks for the heads up The armor looks great, and the prices seem very reasonable considering the amount of labor that obviously went into building them. Myself, I no longer have the patience to build models, but did in my younger years. These builders are artist in there own right and I wasn't aware of this branch of the hobby.


Cheers

I'm sure I'll be purchasing some of these...

 

[Phantom Warrior]

I don't profess to be an expert, just mentioning my experience of collecting.

I wish you hadn't let me know about this company, but thanks for the heads up The armor looks great, and the prices seem very reasonable considering the amount of labor that obviously went into building them. Myself, I no longer have the patience to build models, but did in my younger years. These builders are artist in there own right and I wasn't aware of this branch of the hobby.


Cheers

I'm sure I'll be purchasing some of these...

Gorgeous models - probable the best I have seen. They are 1/35 plastic models from Dragon, Tamiya and others, assembled and exquisitely painted and weathered. They are works of art. Imagine having the job of assembling and painting models. Did I say job?

Terry

 

[The Military Workshop]

Hi guys,
Interesting comments about Dragon. I used to sell a lot of 1/6 figures and 1/72 Armour. The figures peaked at least 4 years ago and now would not sell 10% of what I did then.
The 1/72 armour was good in the first few years. However it became apparent that their obsession with German armour defied common commercial sense. They were making obscure German tanks such as the Maus years before they got to doing a Sherman. It became a bit of a joke. It was only this year they did a Pz IV ! However by the time it came out my customers and I had given up on the range.
If only they realised wargamers bought the range in far greater numbers than collectors and planned accordingly they would have done much better. Even now there has hardly been any N Africa stuff.
I wrote to Dragon HK a few times about the 1/72 armour and never got a response. Whoever is running the 1/72 armour range should be fired.
I gave up selling Dragon kits a few years ago when it was obvious that there were too many Ebay sellers out of Hong Kong selling far cheaper than I could.
I would guess Dragon would be experiencing great difficulty now. Much of it of their own doing.
A pity as they made some great items.
Brett

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Hi guys,
Interesting comments about Dragon. I used to sell a lot of 1/6 figures and 1/72 Armour. The figures peaked at least 4 years ago and now would not sell 10% of what I did then.
The 1/72 armour was good in the first few years. However it became apparent that their obsession with German armour defied common commercial sense. They were making obscure German tanks such as the Maus years before they got to doing a Sherman. It became a bit of a joke. It was only this year they did a Pz IV ! However by the time it came out my customers and I had given up on the range.
If only they realised wargamers bought the range in far greater numbers than collectors and planned accordingly they would have done much better. Even now there has hardly been any N Africa stuff.
I wrote to Dragon HK a few times about the 1/72 armour and never got a response. Whoever is running the 1/72 armour range should be fired.
I gave up selling Dragon kits a few years ago when it was obvious that there were too many Ebay sellers out of Hong Kong selling far cheaper than I could.
I would guess Dragon would be experiencing great difficulty now. Much of it of their own doing.
A pity as they made some great items.
Brett

Good points. They made too many camo schemes of each tank without balancing out the tank vs tank possibilities. They did very few British, US Russian tanks, AFVs and self propelled artillery, or Hobarts Funnies and no Italian or Japanese armour. There were lots more German AFVs they could have done too.

The older models, which are all I have, are selling on e-bay for $13 - $17 which is slightly more than I paid for them. In the Fall, I will sell them and keep only a few well done pieces and use the money for what I collect now.

Terry

 

[forlornhoper]

Tanks are the main component in my military miniature collection,but have no Minichamps,never liked all the silver.My tanks are mostly plastic in 1.35th scale i either commissioned from a recommended modeller or bought from a recommended modeller the others are 1.72nd / 1.35th diecast dragon armour,a range that seems to have had a number of problems in recent times,rumour had it ,that it was a problem at the factory in hong kong.Plastic offers in my opinion greater detail than any other material,but is so easily damage even with careful handling and should only be collected with a good supply of super glue,LOL.Minichamps armour are popular with collectors who like to feel the weight of proper diecast.Through trial and error,i was fortunate to find a number of excellent modellers in the uk,who could provide the models i wanted and i will always be grateful to them.