Thanks for your thoughts and interest guys! It's much appreciated.
Good to hear. You should take a vote amongst the various boards you visit on how detailed you go with the model. We all appreciate 21st Century’s detail, but I feel most of us preferred BBI’s approach where some sacrifices were made so you could actually pick up the model without snapping brittle plastic details off. BBI mostly hit that sweet spot of good enough. Hopefully you can round up enough interest to keep it closer to $100 than $200.
Well, I can say for sure I'm avoiding the brittle plastic of the 21st offerings. I had a few of the WWII vehicles growing up, and I remember small pieces breaking off with just extremely light play. The smaller pieces on the MARV (such as lights, antennae, and hooks) are made to be removable, so it will be a matter of popping them back in place instead of gluing broken bits.
As for detail, it's amazing how much can be delivered (at a minimal expense) in just the sculpt of the plastic. However there are some extra details I feel are highly valued among collectors, such as clear plastic used for the windows & lights and soft plastic "rubber" tires. The pricing is still very important and there are elements that I have sacrificed to keep the costs lower; the turret for example will just be a basic rotating machine-gun on the base MARV release, with a fully-armored turret being a candidate for a future upgrade kit. Potential paint applications are something I will reach out to the community for feedback on as the production plans are being finalized; would you prefer a simpler vehicle with the only colors being the different plastics (more like a Hasbro offering), basic paint detailing like a wash, or even a complex paint operation like camouflage?
I'm of the opinion that, by and large, 21st wasn't that far ahead of Bbi in the detail department, and were certainly behind them in the durability one. I digress, however. Definitely gonna want to keep it on *this* side of $100 if at all possible. I imagine the timing of the campaign will be crucial. Best of luck!
Under $100 is a goal, but I hate to advertise my planned price range and risk disappointing folks if it ends up higher. Just know that as a collector myself, I understand how important it is to get a fair price AND a well-made product.
