AND THE PRICE SUCKS !!!!

From looking at the pictures the windshield wipers look waaaaay out of scale. Guess I won't be wasting my money on it.

Location: Augusta, GA

Is it possible that these photos are of a prototype and not the final production model ? I have to agree that putting a plastic aerial on it is a bad move. And the wipers are way wrong too. But will C3 do anything about it ???

Location: SEMich.

Especially since PTH is going to start shipping these Friday.
A little late to do anything about them...What a shame!!
If they WOULD JUST LISTEN and not be THE "All~Knowing Die~Cast Gurus"....

I had high hopes for this model. From the pictures shown so far, I will not be buying one. Maybe I will reconsider after I see the actual model. For now, I will be waiting to see how the open cab version turns out. I think Corgi nailed this one back in the late 60's.

Location: Baltimore

Well C3 could have used the yellow plastic ladder with the big operating knobs off the original Corgi ALF open cab TDA from back in the 1960's.The jeweled lights were the "thing" back then for us "senior" collectors who didn't have much to choose from. Yes, I was collecting in the 60"s - age 76 now - and had over 800 fire models of all scales and types. I'm down to my last 40 pieces now.

Location: SEMich.

clearly not up to more recent C3 quality. In addition to other comments the scaling ladders are way out of scale and the doghouse over the tiller seat looks funky too. Guess I'll wait to get this one on sale and re-do it!

Location: Wareham, MA

Let's just wait and see if someone takes delivery of one of these and see what they have to say before we REALLY bash this model to death! The pictures from PTH on the Code 3 website make the model look a little bit more appealing than the model shown on the C3 website.

I, too, had one of the Corgi ALF tillers back in the early 1970s (I'm "only" 46!) and remember the jeweled headlights and warning lights, and the knobs to raise and lower the ladder. The Code 3 ALF is much nicer, IMHO.

I really think that the excitement is over for a lot of collectors in regards to Code 3 because the "heydays" of years ago are gone, when Code 3 was brand new and we all looked forward to the upcoming models from month to month. I mean, come on, who offered modern Seagrave pumper models in 1/64 scale? Then there were the Seagrave tiller ladders, Seagrave straight sticks, Seagrave ladder-towers, Sutphen pumpers and platforms, Mack CFs, Ford E ambulances, Suburbans, etc., that followed in the years to come, and the rest is history.

It was all brand new to us! No other company ever offered us anything like that. It was exciting. I was right there in the thick of it as well!

We were ALL in a tizzy over these models. And now it's "old hat" to most of us. Nothing is really exciting anymore. We've had our share. "The thrill is gone", like B.B. King says. Maybe our favorite models aren't "up to snuff" as we'd like them to be, but you know what? That's life, unfortunately.

There ARE other things to do in this world than sit around and collect firetruck models and nitpick every little detail about them and think about them night and day as if that's ALL you live for! There's golf, fishing, camping, playing a musical instrument....much more to do than worry about toy firetrucks, guys! Really! Be happy with what you have and live life. It could be a lot worse.

Location: St. Charles County, Mo.

For those that want to see out of the box pics, I have posted 14 photos on Fireengines.net, for those who do not like to visit that site, the photos are also on my site at www.policecarmodels.com
Click on the "Shipping - Ordering & More" section, scroll down, click on "SO / OS", scroll down to the bottom of the page---

Location: Earth

Thanks, Jeff. Not a bad looking rig.

I think that people's expectations are so high these days that when a Code 3 model isn't perfect, they complain about it. They think back to 1997 when the first Code 3 Seagrave pumpers came out and compare them to today, and so their expectations keep growing.

Look at a Code 3 Seagrave from 1997 and compare the hose in the hosebed and the pump panel to a 2010 C3 model: No comparison! The tooling is fantastic compared to 13 years ago. They've come a long way!

When I look at a Code 3 model, or Matchbox, or even one by TWH, I keep one thing in mind: They're a TOY! OK, maybe not exactly a toy, but you know what I mean. They're not going to be exactly, 100% perfect, like the prototype, but close. And that's what we have to live with.

Location: St. Charles County, Mo.

I STILL SAY ...THE PRICE SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!

Location: PA.

I don't think it has anything to do with expectations other that to see that basic things are done right. I agree that the level of detail from C3 when it started was not what it eventually evolved to but that is not the issue with this piece. Fundamental mistakes like the windshield wipers and size of the scaling ladders are things that should be picked up at the design stage and corrected. That's just plain sloppy work.

Location: Wareham, MA