Unimax is broadening it’s horizons

News broke yesterday that Unimax, maker of the 1:18 scale line “Bravo Team” military figures, sent out a vendor announcement concerning the future of the 1:18 scale lineup and distribution.

According to several websites, Unimax is going to begin selling their World War II 1:18 scale items at select online retailers. These items were previously only available at Target stores, as Target had secured the exclusive North American rights to all of the 1:18 scale “Bravo Team” figures and vehicles.

Some people in the industry had speculated that Target had purchased Unimax outright, thus enabling their exclusivity, this turn of events mostly discounts that theory.

Target is going to keep the exclusivity of the modern 1:18 scale “Bravo Team” lineup, as apparently that does much better in a “big box” retailer, compared to the World War II products.

This announcement should mean collectors can finally get their hands on the Unimax Tiger I, that has been gone from shelves for quite some time. Also going to be available are the U.S. Sherman tank, and the Quad-.50 cal U.S. Halftrack.

Badcat Aviation has posted pre-order links for the items, and they are showing a definite markup in price from the $24.99/$29.99 prices we’ve come to expect from Target. How high the retailers are marking up the price is unknown at this time.

This puts Unimax back on the map as far as 1:18 scale fans are concerned, and hopefully they will continue to innovate the scale with their products and price points.

Along with JSI and BBI, Unimax is the only other “large scale” manufacturer of “true scale” 1:18 scale vehicles. They have released both modern and World War II-era vehicles and figures through their “Forces of Valor: Bravo Team” line.