namdoc69

This is one of those buyer beware tales. One of my neighbors purchased a Walker Bulldog for his son from eBay. Bid on it and paid $25. I think.
Kit was advertised as 1/15 scale, remote control possible. Kit was supposedly first produced in the 1960's.
$25. for a 1/15 scale tank? Too good to be true? Must be a catch somewhere. The catch is that this kit isn't 1/15 scale! Not even 1/16.
I had a look at the kit. Hull dimensions of the tank are L-about 10-3/4 in.
W- 4in. That makes it almost the same size as one of my old Tamiya
1/25 scale King tiger static models. Means this Walker is closer to 1/24 or 1/24 scale. Kit came in a box 20x15x3in.
Instructions for this Walker (look like xerox copies) state this kit was first produced in 1961 by Ideal Toy Co. Box art shows an artist's not very accurate rendering of a Walker in a tropical setting, with an emblem of a South Vietnamese Army unit on turret side. Box info states that Kit is 1/15 scale, as do instructions. Kit distributed by Glenco models thru Baronvonplastic.
Kit parts are molded in light OD green and (with this kit) the parts do not fit together very well, large joint gaps and seam lines. Over all the kit appears to be fairly accuate in form. Turret is in four parts: sides, top
mantlet, base. Upper hull portion is slightly warped. Torsion bars not spring loaded but glue in place. Tracks are crude, inaccurate tread pattern on bottom, nothing on inside. Tracks pin together at one end to form track loop - breaks very easily.
Instructions state kit was designed for remote control, but no motors included with kit. Several plastic gears come included but instructions do not show placement of gears.
Decal sheet has nearly 40 unit emblems for different countries, insturction sheet only identifies about 20 of those emblems. Walker Bulldog was sold to just every non-communist country over the years.
Was this kit worth $25.? Maybe, but not as advertised.

The_Stuff

oh wow. that sounds so Chinese. Lets see some pictures of this thing. I want to see how bad it really is.

namdoc69

[&o][&o][&o] Sorry, no picts at this time. I don't have access to the kit anymore. Don't know what my neighbor is going to do with the kit, possibly try and return it ?

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

Sorry buddy, you have been Glencoe Bulldogged. It is a useless lump o plastic that tempts the RC tank community and has been documented in the past.

http://crispyantherocketman.tripod.com/id10.html

This link is a build up review done a while back. I bought one to use the parts for scratchbuilding later in life. I had a crazy idea to build a M-18 Hellcat and thought the Glenco turret might be a starting point. The hull sucks, the tracks are a joke, and my sample had so much flash in the mold it was almost unidentifiable. Oh well.

Panther F

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/ki...glen_m41.shtml

http://www.glencoe-models.com/catalog/9401.shtml

namdoc69

thanks for the info, i'm going to email that link to my neighbor to show him how badly he had been snookered on that tank. Oh well, live and learn. At least he hadn't spent a fortune on that piece of S--t!

pattoncommander

You can go directly to Ebay community and demand refund as "not as advertized". Ebay is good on these things and will back you up. Very simple process if you have not been through it and you shouldn't have any problem getting a refund....and leave bad feedback so others can see.
Bill

Panther F

The problem is with the manufacturer. It doesn't measure out to 1/15 but it has it written on the box so ebay will not do anything about it.

I would check to see if the seller has a return policy first, and then maybe just relist it for sale.

I have the kit myself and just laughed after opening it. Better off just finding a 21st Century Walker Bulldog that is 1/18th scale!


Jeff

Wozwasnt

Its not the sellers fault if the manufacture calls it a 1/15 scale tank and it's not the correct scale. The link edoubleaz posted had it down as 1/15.

The seller probably just wrote down whatever was on the box.

The HL Panther completley wrong, wrong size, wrong shape but they still sell them.

Leo2A6 Owner

Actually the Glenco bulldog is more accurate to size then the henlong. The Bullgdog was not as large a tank as HL has it. If anything the HL one is over sized. The Glencoe kit is still a piece of junk mind you.

The_Stuff

seeing other kits on that last site posted, what do you guys think of the mule there? waste of money/effort?

Panther F

I have that kit too. Pretty small and not too complicated. Has plastic tires and nothing functional about it.

Could be built in a day or so.


Jeff

Harquebus

Was this kit wrongly or fraudulently advertised? Seems the answer is no and I think the buyer may be the one more at fault for failing to be informed. This kit has been around for some time and your description was very accurate for what it is, a 1960's vintage kit (i.e. antiquated by modern standards). The kit is rather rare so despite your neighbor's dissatisfaction with it I think the asking price was fair.

I think the kit was originally designed to be simply motorized. Perhaps the maufacturer stating that the kit can be RC'ed is stretching it a bit far but remember that there was more of a DIY attitude back in the 60's and this kind of thing was normal with regard to modeling and most hobbies in general. I have several Lindberg kits including the "suitable for radio control" 1/125 Blue Devil Destroyer (36" long) that was originally designed for motorization, has motors included, but not ones suitable for RC nor is there anything included for direct RC operation except instructions (quite well-written) for RC modification. In that regard, it is a big stretch to view this model as anything other than something to designed collect dust on a mantelpiece.

Was it worth $25? I am reminded of a truism: It is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Do you have any info from the auction, item description, etc.?

-Harq

Leo2A6 Owner

Theres someone in the Uk tank forums who did a full function RC conversion to a Glencoe Bulldog. Revamped the whole works. Needless to say it works quite well. To get a better track on it he got one of the weird 1/20 scale early trumpeter T-55 series kits and used the track and drive sproket off that.