n00bness

Hey all. I'm sorta new here. Lurked on the old board for several years. Tried to register but never got a response.

I've been collecting replicas for 20ish years or so. Worked for Collector's Armoury for 10 years up until the blaze orange plug laws went into effect (plus I wanted my Saturdays back) .

At one point I had most everything MGC and Marushin made but had to let all go. The only one I really regret losing was my custom M16 shorty. Since I had access to parts I was able to fiddle with chopping the barrel and recoil spring tube until I had a nice little pistol.

Currently I'm collecting mostly full auto pieces since I'll probably never be able to own the real steel.

Off the top of my head:

MGC Thompson 1928
Hudson M1A1 Thompson
HW MAC 11
HW Beretta M93
ABS Beretta M93 Robocop (this was a custom off of ebay, I think the maker took the parts off of an airsoft Robocop gun and fitted them to a standard M93)
Tanaka Glock 18
MGC Sterling
ABS MP40 (may sell this an get the HW version from Francky)
UZI

Airsoft A&K M249 (don't do airsoft but until they make a replica it's the best I can do)
Airsoft Tanio Koba H&K P7 with comp

Would love to get a PPsH. I've been playing a game called World War 2 Online and I get a kick out collecting period SMGs. Although I don't especially want a Sten (I was firing a real one once and it came apart in my hands, not fun). A greasegun would be nice too.

Also looking for a Beretta M12.

Am I right in remembering that the HW version are actually not as sturdy as the ABS? I don't fire mine much, mostly just for costuming or wall hanging but it'd be nice to know what's safe to fire and what I should worry about breaking.

That's all for now.

Hey there Todd,

When you have a moment, I'd like to hear a little about the RMI guns from Collector's Armoury.
From what I can gather, most of them were MGC, but I'm pretty sure they came from other manufacturers aswell.
They didn't all come with RMI badges either, so never sure what went on.

Were RMI specifically made and packaged for Collector's Armoury only?

Dan.

When I was there the modern guns were almost exclusively MGC or Marushin and the historic/flintlock/black powder guns were mostly Denix. The Old West guns were a mix of nice MGC models and junkier Denix stuff. I don't remember seeing stuff marked RMI although there were a lot of old RMI catalogs around. Once in a while I would see Hudson box, I think they had Madsen fairly often. Sorry I can't be more help, at the time I didn't really pay attention to the markings unless it had the real steel makers marks on it. I remember back in the parts room we had a lot of Beretta M84 parts, mostly without Beretta marks but a few slides and grips with marks. I always made sure my guns had the proper marks.

Oh, just for reference, I worked there from the late '80s to the late '90s. Mostly just on Saturday's, part time, but occasionally full time during the summer.

Welcome to the forum! Nice to have you here. Please feel free to contribute in any way you like. I feel so awful about the fact that I just can't find the time to visit the forum more often. I used to be here (or on the old forum) on a daily basis. You will find out that we are a bunch of friendly, helpful modelgun-nuts people. They're the best I've ever seen on any forum.

Yes welcome, you must of had a lot of good interesting stuff go through your hands working there i am envious that you had that opportunity, i think all my wages would of been spent before i got it though.

Todd, all the RMI guns that I've seen, came in white boxes like shown.
Some of the RMI guns had the silver disk on the grips, while others didn't.

From what I can gather, RMI guns were for Collector's Armoury only, but sourced from various manufacturers.

Welcome indeed OneSkunkTodd

HW models to tend to be more brittle than abs so although the model gun feels heavier and looks better than an abs version, firing them ends up with more frequent breakages.

Marushin's latest MP40 is a HW version which most folks have welcomed for its' looks, feel and collectability, but most everyone has commented here they'd be nervous about firing one!
Marushin's standard abs MP40 is a superb firing model though.

Thanks for the info Cerwyn.

I've been thinking about Ozgun's post about RMI branded guns. I certainly remember many of those white boxes being in the warehouse. And I have vague recollections of the warehouse crew occasionally having glueing sessions where we take grips with no medallions and put in the Marushin or MGC medallions but I don't specifically recall doing that with RMI medallions. I suspect RMI was pretty much over when I worked there, with just some vestiges remaining. I'm not sure where we got our medallions. I assume MGC and Marushin sent us their own but I don't know where the RMI ones were made. I do remember at least one small baggy full of Colt medallions, for the .25 pocket auto I think.

Sorry if that's not clear. My recollection's not real good and I'm feeling a bit woolly headed this morning.

Oh I just remembered something else. Occasionally if the gun had the original manufacturer's medallion and we didn't have a suitable replacement, we would pop them out, flip them over and press them back in. So if you have a gun with a blank gold or silver medallion you might try taking the grips off and popping the medallions out to see if you have original makers marks. With the wood grips the medallions are pressed in. With plastic I'm pretty sure we used glue or resin, so be careful with plastic grips.