|
|
 |
|
Maintained
By Rob Caswell
¤ Last Monkeyed With: 11.17.05 |
|
Welcome
to my links page for 1/6 scale historical action figures. Try some
of the links below. Who knows - maybe you'll see something you like
(I hope). Oh! And if you run across any dead links here or if you
have a site you'd like to recommend or comment on (good or bad),
please e-mail me and let
me know. Please don't recommend "general figure dealer"
sites, as I have a freeze on adding new ones. The field has become
saturated, so I'm just listing "the old, reliables".
I just list the basics, but I won't
include a vendor who I wouldn't recommend. Most of these are proven,
reliable sources. If you have any particularly unsavory experience
with any of the sources listed, please let me know the details.
I don't want to be sending anyone down a dangerous alley.
Jump quickly to any section
using the links below:
| Places to Buy the Name Brands
Online | Customizing/Accessory Makers
|
| Communities | Major
Manufacturers | Customizer Sites |
|
|
ATLANTIC
TOYS
This California-based retailer carries the hobby staples and has
developed a good reputation for their dealings in loose parts. Good
customer service.
- Lines: Dragon, Sideshow, and others.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: Under
a week, depending on service chosen.
BATTLE
RHINO
They specialize in loose parts from Dragon and DiD.
Their stock is fairly impressive and the interface is easy to use
and they have a shopping cart. They also carry a number of interesting
custom lines. I've had good service from them.
- Lines: Dragon, DiD, NewLine, BattleGear
Toys and various other custom lines.
- Average Experienced Order Time: 2-4 days.
BUILD-A-WARRIOR
While their focus is on modern (and they are one of the best in that
area), they have an interesting assortment of WW2 loose parts. Much
of it is BBi, making them a good resource for some of the better mainstream
1/6th gear made. Shipping is pretty quick.
- Lines: Dragon and others.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: Within
a week.
CYBER-HOBBY/UNIVERSAL
MODELS
The direct sales outlet for Dragon Models. This is
where you go to purchase exclusives. Their J-Zone section deals
with some non-Dragon items from Japan. Note: shipping from Hong
Kong can be quite high. Typically exclusives have run $20 shipping
to the US.
- Lines: Dragon, et al.
- Average Experienced Order Time: Varies.
Weeks. Months.
KRIEGSMACHINE
This outfit carries a wide variety of low-production
custom items - most notably 1/6th vehicles - as well as some of the
mainstream brands. A number of other useful and interesting sources
are on their site, including articles and photo galleries.
- Lines: Dragon, Cotswold, Brian Vota Customs,
Armoury, and others.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: No data.
GOOD
STUFF TO GO
These folks have a fantastic selection of goods - one of the most
diverse dealers I've seen. The downside is that they can get a little
hefty on shipping, using UPS and Fed-X as defaults which cost more
and take longer than USPS Priority. Their website is attractive, though
a bit slow and awkwardly constructed with redundant menus.
- Lines: Dragon, Concord Books, 21st Century,
3 Zero, Hot Toys, Blue Box, Dog Soldiers, Cotswold, Firebase Ryan,
Action Man, ERTL, InToyz, John's Stuff, Medicom, Yellow Submarine,
G.I. Joe, Patch Hut, and lots more!
- Average Experienced Order Speed: About
a week.
HOBBY LINK JAPAN
While they're mostly a hobby dealer, this Tokyo-based
dealer has an outrageously extensive stock and carry a variety of
1/6th lines. It's worth checking here first for anything made in Japan.
- Lines: Marmit, Azone, Volks, Takara, Medicom,
Yellow Sub, and many others.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: Varies.
I've had them take two weeks, and almost eight. 3-4 weeks is about
average.
JUSTICE
FIGHTERS
Keith Justice sells not only boxed and carded figures
and vehicles, but also loose Dragon parts from sets. His wife Dot
has a similar site, though she carries Action Man,
and G.I. Joe parts, as well. In general, Keith's stock of Dragon parts
is far more complete than Dot's, though his minimum order before applying
an additional handling charge is higher. Both services are immensely
useful in diversifying your figures! Keith also carries some of the
hard to find exclusive Dragon figures. Site includes online ordering.
- Lines: Dragon and others.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: 3-6 days
MONKEY
DEPOT
Monkey Depot carries a wide variety of 1/6th product lines, including
the works of many small customizers. They're a good source for loose
parts from recent releases. Turn around time has been very good and
they have a choice of reasonable shipping options. They also have
occsaional very nice product previews, w/ plenty of pics.
- Lines: Dragon, Sideshow, DiD, BattleGear,
NewLine, Dusty Trails, Armory/Twisting Toys, and many others.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: 2-6 days.
OLD
JOE INFIRMARY
OJI, as you might guess, began as specialistis in replacement parts
for classic Joes. But today they offer some original goods up to Dragon/BBi
standards, as well as a selection of loose part. All orders have a
$0.75 "handling" fee applied.
- Lines: OJI-Original, Dragon, Hot Toys,
Sideshow, Armoury.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: About
five days, which is a little disappointing given Priority Mail
and an extra handling fee.
OUTER
PERIMTER HOBBIES
AND COLLECTIBLES
A Canada-based outfit that offers services very much like Justice
Fighters, although they are exclusively focused on Dragon. They have
loose figures, as well as the standard retail items.
- Lines: Just Dragon, for now, but plans
to expand.
- Average Experienced Order Speed:About
1-2 weeks (Canada to the States).
REASONABLE
COLLECTIBLES
These guys are unique in the bunch, as they just carry Dragon
figures. Their prices are quite good - certainly among the best you'll
find. They now have a Safeshopper site and can accept credit cards,
making ordering much easier.
- Lines: Just Dragon.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: About
a week (this was back when they did check-only).
TIMEWALKER
TOYS
If you're looking for a small vedor dedicated to good, personal service,
give these folks a try. They carry many of the usual and a few of
the unusual lines. They also carry Cyber-Hobby products when they
can and carry a few lines of reference books.
- Lines: Dragon, DiD, Ignite, Armory, In
the Past, Whitty Wings, Dustry Trails, Sideshow, and more.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: I'll
let ya know when I find out..
TOY
SOLDIER BRIGADE
This New Jersey-based outfit carries both all the popular military
figure brands (Dragon & DiD) as well as an excellent variety of
after-market accessory makers, like Authentic Hobbies, BattleGear
Toys, NewLine Miniatures, The Armory, OneSixthUnique, and others.
They also offer a good selection of Dragon loose parts.
- Lines: Dragon, DiD, Authentic Hobbies,
NewLine Miniatures, OneSixthUnique, The Armoury, BattelGear Toys,
Factory No.6, et al.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: 3-4 days.
TOY
SQUARE
This Canadian-based outfit seems to have some direct connection to
Hot Toys. The HT line is their primary product and they have a fantastic
selection of HT loose items. If you're an HT junkie, this place is
hard to beat. In addition they carry Dragon, Blue Box, Armoury, Sideshow,
and a host of others. The site design is attractive and easy to use,
but may require a bit of load time.
- Lines: Hot Toys, Dragon, BBi, Sideshow,
Armoury, and more.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: 1-2 weeks.
Shipping is higher than US domestic vendors.
TOY
MANIACS
This is a slick-looking site, but slow to load ona dial-up connection.
They claim to specialize " in highly sought after toys and collectibles
from around the world". From what I've seen they make good on the
claim, offering HK/Internet exclusive Dragon figures and hard to find
uniforms from companies like Hot Toys. Online ordering system, accepting
most major plastics.
- Lines: Dragon, 21st Century, Toys McCoy,
Hot Toys, and many others such as McFarlane, Bandai, and Moore.
- Average Experienced Order Speed: About
a week, coast to coast. That's very good, given UPS service.
WAR-TOYS
This dealer carries several of the main lines that 1/6th figure collectors
are looking for. In addition they carry some customizer bits from
outfits like Poppo Toys and an extensive line of Dragon loose parts.
The site design is a bit unpolished, but it does feature online ordering
with a shopping cart.
- Lines: ThreeZero,
Blue Box, Dragon, Sideshow, Yellow Submarine, and Poppo.
- Average Experienced
Order Speed: 2-5 days.
|
- BEAN'S
CUSTOMS
My buddy, Bean, is a heck of a craftsman. His custom
works have always gone way above and beyond expectations. He's
now mass-producing some of his items for sale. He tends to focus
on WW2 U.S. stuff. His first offering is a vehicle radio set.
Stop by and see what Bean's up to. It's always a pleasant surprise.
- CVI
INSIGNIA
This is my own contribution to the customizing market.
A cooperative venture with figure customizer extraordinaire Don
Winar, we make uniform and helmet insignia for a variety of WW2
subjects. The patches are printed on cloth and the decals are
waterslide. We sell these exclusively through The Toy Cellar.
- EVA
MODELS
While not historical military, Chris Chulamanis
makes a complete line of BDUs and equipment for outfitting your
figure as a Colonial Marine from the movie "Aliens". The weapons
and equipment are high quality resin castings that require painting
and assembly. The detail is astounding. He also makes a detail
set for the Dragon Apollo astronaut figures. On top of that, Chris
is a real swell guy.
- FIREBIRD
ARTS & MUSIC
A supplier of scale musical instruments, as well
some swords and other archaic weapons. Great extras for detailing
out a diorama or kitbash with character.
- THE
FRONTLINE
They have an expanding variety of products, though the core of
their product line are resin replacement heads for Dragon figures.
These heads are exceptional in both materials and sculpt quality.
So far all the heads have been of action film
celeb subjects.
- 1/6th
DIORAMA DEPOT
1/6th scale magazines, pulps, and comic books from
various periods - in particular, the 40's. Also includes an area
with German WW2 publications and papers. Neat stuff! Great accessories
to help your lil' figures kill some time in their fox holes!
- MAJOR
MIDNIGHT
One of the better known craftman in the hobby,
Major Midnight has made a reputation for himself by creating some
outstanding 1/6th vehicles. While others are content to use lawn
mower wheels and rubber tank tracks, MM goes the extra mile to
make things accurate. But quality doesn't come cheap - his vehicle
prices start in the high hundreds with most going into the thousands.
These are all, essentially, custom made. He also offers other
products, like heads, uniforms, custom figures, and diorama accessories.
- NEWLINE
MINIATURES
NewLine is best known for their amazing 1/6th scale
boots for WW2 subjects. Made from real leather, these feature
everything seen in a real shoe including laces, scale grommets,
functioning tongues, and molded soles with full detail. They also
carry other items, like straps, slings,belts, and more. Fine quality.
- ONE-SIXTH-UNIQUE
Looking for REAL scale cloth British berets? This
is the place. Fine work providing improved appearances and more
flexibility (such as being able to put headphones on a bereted
figure). They also have a line of German hats: crushers, M43s
and the like.
- PANZERWERK
While their focus is on 1/6th vehicles and parts
(a job they do to high standards!), they also carry some limited
figure accessory bits such as resin food and diorama display bases.
Their resin and casting quality is quite high and there's some
top-notch talent building their masters.
- THE
PATCH HUT
A source for beautiful little 1/6 scale embroidered
patches! Most of it centers on US subjects, though there's some
useful WW2 German and Brit stuff in the mix. They can even do
custom bomber jacket art stitched directly on the clothing!
- PATCHES
OF PRIDE
Not only do these guys make super sharp patches
(mostly US WW2), but they carry lots more. Items include bangalor
torpedos, Kettenkrad decal sets, medic accessories, "battle bread",
and other stuff too numerous to list. Their stuff is a little
on the pricey side and sometimes their accuracy is questionable,
but the component quality is very good.
- RIO
RONDO
While this company does not sell military figure
goods (they sell materials for scale horses), they are an outstanding
source for scale leather straps and buckles of assorted sizes.
If you're into accurizing your figures, you MUST bookmark this
site! Look under their "Leather Lace" listing for great raw material
for slings and straps.
|
- JOE
WORLD ONLINE
A nice site for news, pics, special events, and discussions of
all things one-sixth. As you may gather from the name, there's
a G.I.Joe slant, but collectors of all types of 1/6th figures
will find something of interest there.
- ONESIXTH
CUSTOMS
The goal of this forum is to play to the needs of
the advanced military figure customizer. There's also a heavy
emphasis on 1/6th vehicles. It's not a forum for "collectors".
To promote this focus, simple kitbashes and less ambitious figure
projects are not permitted. "Custom" is the operative
word. Heavy WW2 focus, but open to all eras.
- ONE
SIXTH SCALE (UK)
Hop over to the other side of the pond and chat
with with Britain's 1/6th community. Especially good if you're
into British figure subjects.
- ONE
SIXTH WARRIORS
After only a few years this site has grown into
one of the most robust communities for discussion of general military
1/6th topics. The graphic design is quite striking - it's a very
sophisticated site.
- THE
SIXTH ARMY GROUP
A US-based WW2 figure community emphasizing customizing
and touching on both men and machines. Well run and full featured,
in an excellent daily stop for the WW2 figure modeler/collector.
- THE
SIXTH DIVISION
This site specializes in the WW2 part of the hobby.
It includes many resources, like references and trading areas.
The traffic is high, so the signal to noise ratio can be low much
of the time.
- THE
UK 1/6th COLLECTOR'S CLUB
Another British 1/6th community, they have a lively
forum, its members attend shows, have a regular newsletter, run
an annual charity drive and even produced a Club Exclusive Figure!
- UNOFFICIAL
ULTIMATE SOLDIER DISCUSSION FORUM
The site this forum's attached to is frequently
updated and focuses mostly on the product lines offered by 21st
Century Toys: Ultimate Soldier and America's Finest.
This forum is lively, friendly community of figure collectors.
|
-
21st
CENTURY TOYS
Updated sporadically. Covers the Ultimate Soldier
and America's Finest lines, among others. Includes details
on their 1/6 vehicle line. It's a flashy, but slightly annoying
site design.
-
COTSWOLD
COLLECTIBLES
As I understand it, Cotswold was the only major 1/6 fix during
the period where G.I.Joe shrunk to half his size glorious 12"
size. Their Elite Brigade line features a great variety of subjects
- much of it WW2. They even have a cool (but pricey) line of
1/6 medieval armor. I've never seen one of their figures in
the flesh, but I hear the quality doesn't hold up to Dragon
or even 21st Century. In addition to figures, they also have
a wide variety of equipment and accessories. They run monthly
specials on their website.
- DiD
(Dragon in Dream)
Not related to Dragon (DML) at all, this is another Chinese figure
manufacturer and relative newcomer. Since their start their quality
has rapidly improved, putting them in the same quality category
as BBi and DML.
- DRAGON
MODELS LTD.
These are the guys whole solidly got me into this hobby. Site
is updated several times a week and worth checking regularly.
Includes many detail shots of each figure and their accessories,
both available and upcoming.
- MEDICOM
This Japanese manufacturer makes a great variety of figures, including
the cool,super-deformed Kubrick line! In military circles they're
best known for their Cro-Magnon series of modern anti-terrorist
unit figures. Reviews have given them higher marks than Dragon
for accuracy and equipment detail.
- SIDESHOW
TOYS
Pushing 1/6th figure standards with a leaning towards U.S. sensibilities
and tastes, Sideshow is providing useful competition to the established
names in the field. Their product line is varied, covering WW1,
U.S. Civil War, The Old West, Classic Monsters, and more.
- TWISTING
TOYS
One of the new kids on the block, relatively speaking, Twisting
Toys puts out an excellent line of carded weapons sets and WW2
figures (starting with Italians). Their quality and detail is
easily up to the standards of the big names in the field.
|
- SIXTY
DRIVER'S 1/6th
An impressive figure customizer, Sixty Driver's
site is both a showcase for his work as well as providing some
outstanding how-to articles on basic techniques. If you're a WW2
enthusiast, his work is not to be missed!
|
All text © 1999-2004 Rob Caswell.
|