Steve C Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 What happened to 21st Century Toys? I thought I read that they got some financial backing from Wal-Mart in order to get going. Were they a China based manufacture? I have two of their kits, and my sons have several of their pre-painted planes. I also thought I read that another company bought their molds/tooling. So are we going to see their stuff come back anytime soon? Inquiring minds want to know. I was really hoping that they would release more of their line up as kits. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAGNEW Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Steve JSI bought some of the 1/18 tooling, there are a couple of company's sniffing around the 1/32 molds, but on my friends last trip to China(he's been back about a week) the 1/32 molds are either crated up of sitting inside and outside the plant while other projects have taken over the factories. if they stay in weather to long they will be junk soon glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toadwbg Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 A shame those tools are sitting around, probably in legal limbo. Hmmm....anyone up for a covert operation to "save" these tools? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve C Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Dang that's too bad. I would think you take all of the 1/32 tooling and just use them to make kits. They were selling for around $10 at Wally World and I would imagine people would pay between $15 and $20. I wonder what the selling price is on the tools. Can anyone remember what all they did in 1/32? I wonder if Revell USA could be talked into purchasing the tools, or least leasing them for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coogrfan Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 (edited) All-Go Toys has announced that the first re-issues of the 21C 1/32 pre-builts will be in stores (online only) this June. P-51B Shangri-La (Gentile) http://www.badcattoys.com/pshla1al13s6.html FW-190 A-8 Red 19 (Schroder) http://www.badcattoys.com/fwa8red191al.html To the best of my knowledge there are no plans to re-issue the kit versions. Edited March 4, 2011 by coogrfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
32tragic Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 probably in legal limbo. in China LMAO Nothing personal toadwbg, but that is funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssculptor Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 What is a shame is that they could not get their latest models on the market before they went under. I saw their 1/18 King Tiger at the toy Show and it was sweet. Their 1/18 88mm gun was superb but few got on the market before they went under. I think it will take a reversal of the economic recession for the old molds to be put back into production. Making the castings again can be done at any time but there has to be an assurance that there will be a profit for the manufacturer. I do not see this happening anytime soon. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branchline Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Sure is a great shame to loose these kits to the market. They were a great starter kit for introducing younger and/or newbies to the hobby, and in any scale that alone 1/32nd, being not only cheap but really quick and easy to build. I do admire Hornby's approach along these lines using the Airfix brand, but alas there are no cheap starter LSPs type kits in their new range. Still can't fathom why Walmart did what they did, accountants drilling down to the bottom line again? (apologies to any accountants out there). Rgds Brent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) I believe at least one of the reasons Walmart gave the shaft to 21st Century was that 21st went back into business with Toys R Us and, since Walmart did their very best to put TRU out of business a few years ago, 21st's move was seen by Walmart as an unfriendly action so they abruptly pulled their business from 21st. If All-Go does bring the kits back (unlikely) they will no longer be cheap. The re-releases of the 1/32nd prebuilts will retail for $30, which is $5 or $10 more than they used to and twice what Walmart used to sell them for. Word is that All-Go has secured the rights to all of the 1/32nd scale tooling formerly owned by 21st Century Toys. Edited March 7, 2011 by johng Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanook Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Just curious but has anyone heard/read anymore updates on the tooling? I missed out on the 21st Century kits for the most part as I was living in Alaska when they hit the shelves and the nearest Walmart was nearly 100 miles away. Thanks, Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce_Crosby Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I had a brainstorm recently and bought a load of C21 kits on evil-bay, bidded for a few and got all of them. To be honest they are pretty good for the money and any kid would be really happy with one of them. After reading some of this topic I nipped upstairs to look at the stash: 3 Macchi 205 Veltros, 2 Stukas, a Zero and a Bf-109G-14. I've got the Messerschmitt in front of me and its a neat kit, it certainly looks like a Messerschmitt, your cat could put it together. even the blurb is well written. And the decals on all the kits are top class, two sheets to include all the stencilling, walkway markings, etc. OK, so panel lines are heavy but it only takes a bit of filler, a bit of sanding, some Dymo Tape and a decent scriber to sort that out. All the kits have a pilot figure included and they are excellent. The only thing I can see that's missing is a decal for the instrument panel, no big deal. So I'm hoping somebody picks up the moulds, produces the kits again and maybe, just maybe, kids will start building models and join our hobby. These are the kits to get them started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CATCplSlade Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 For all intents and purposes, 21st Century is effectively gone. All-Go's attempt at resurrecting the line fell back into the mire it tried to spring from after reissuing the two 1/32 planes - the mistake they made there being twofold: they reissued paint schemes that had been done already (and at half the price) AND they no longer included a pilot figure. A lot of merchants dumped excess stock upon the failure of the planes to sell, and discounters like Tuesday Morning ended up with them. JSI seems to possess the bulk of the 1/18 molds and have reissued several of 21C's vehicles in that scale. As far as 1/32 goes, status remains unknown. Still a lot available on ebay, but obviously not at Wal-Mart prices. I have built several of the kits myself, and while plainly being more toy-like than your normal kit, they do clean up nice and if you get them at the right price are a bargain. I managed to snag a case of BF109F's for $20 a couple of years back. At that price how could I say no? And now I have 109's in Finnish, Bulgarian, and Italian markings. And I've built the Macchi c.202 Folgore - which was my first-ever attempt at airbrushing camouflage, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Mike Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 HMMMM.... collectors items...? and fun to build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Moulds left outside? That is a crying shame. Maybe we could send them a couple of cans of ACF50? Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 (edited) There was a thread ages ago on one of the forums from the guy who worked for them and he was the one that suggested releasing them as kits....it was tragic what happened... In the UK Home Bargains sold off the remaining 1/32 kit stock at £1.99 each, I had loads, indeed I still have a cupboard full of them Edited July 8, 2014 by TonyT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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