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Defend your planet! O Scale War of the Worlds

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First those rascally Martians came for our cows. Next they raided our supply of tasty M&Ms treats. Now, though, they’ve gone too far! They are prowling around the Army base, snatching our Jeep’s! Heed the bugle call and protect our vehicles from these interplanetary hoodlums!

The basics: The Army vs. UFO scene is a fully assembled and decorated 18 x 11-1/4 x 7-1/2 diorama with an illuminated flying saucer equipped with a clamp for raising and lowering a Jeep; soldiers, aliens, military equipment, and a moving tank with flashing cannon, machine guns, and sound effects.

Sound effects are triggered with a push button on a two-foot lead. The accessory has a topside power plug-in on the gravel hill, and a second in the base for a connection from beneath the tabletop.

This is designed for the Menards Plug & Play power system (sold separately) for operation. Check Menards nos. 279-4061, 279-4062, or 279-4050. You may wish to consider the 8- or 9-piece Plug & Play accessory kits (SKU# 279-4035, 4681) and to serve multiple structures and vehicles. All are available separately.

Why you need this: This is a whimsical operating accessory suggesting the Martians may have landed at the wrong place and the wrong time: A U.S. Army base. Clearly the Army was on maneuvers when the Martian Expeditionary Force decided to grab the General’s trusty Jeep!

The saucer itself is a classic oval with a large, clear canopy. The pilot has superb visibility from the flight deck. The pilot rests in a command chair while control panel lights glimmer. An eerie green light envelopes the deck, hinting at the craft’s sinister intent. Pulsating green and white lights flash brightly around the saucer’s middle.

Having sighted a likely vehicle to snag for the Martian high command, the vehicle is hoisted upward. However, the local G.I.s have something to say about interplanetary Jeep-jacking!

With one Jeep already damaged, five troopers try to contain the situation. The weird lights of the spaceship don’t intimidate the soldiers! Fuel drums are positioned, a supply crate is on hand with extra gear. There are even 18 cannon shells stacked up and ready for use! Zero hour finally arrives! Earth stands up to the Martian menace at last!

Up the hill comes something big: a great equalizer - a tank! With a press of a button you hear the cry "Fire!’ Tank firing is triggered through a button with a two-foot wire lead. The cannon barrel flashes, and green machine gun lights flicker! The tank then backs down to avoid return fire. Slowly it moves up once more to challenge alien vehicle thieves!

The terrain includes soldiers dug into defensive positions, and ever safety conscious, they posted warning signs alerting the unwary that they were entering a battle zone! Fear not, Jack the German shepherd is on the scene, looking into what all the commotion is about!

This accessory is a great companion to our full line of military-themed rolling stock.

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Last edited by Menards
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With a little bit of imagineering, one could convert it to this:

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I took these in Bowman, SC a few years ago thinking that this is part of the vanishing Roadside America scene.

I have the original cow version and plan to do the "conversion" someday. Mine will be a little neater than the Bowman one.

I checked Google streetview recently and this is still there as of August 2019:

https://www.google.com/maps/@3...A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

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Last edited by PRRMP54

That seems like a really fun accessory. It’ll go great with the Area 51 train set. I agree, these will sell out quickly!

Yep, I had the previous Menards UFO (the cows) set up last year with my Area 51 Set.  I did a re-paint on the flying saucer to cover up the writing. All looked great especially with the Lionel green lighted FasTrak.

I confess that when I saw the product announcement, I started thinking about the Blondie song “Rapture” and the Man from Mars who went out at night stealing cars.

The trouble with doing a “Rapture” scene, aside from possible (and expensive) copyright issues, is that so many of us would have so many differing ideas as to what sort of cars the flying saucer should be stealing. Narrow gaugers  would want a Model T, late steam era fans would want a 1939 Packard, transition era fans would want a 1949 Chevy, present-day modelers would want a20(something) Mustang.

you get the idea.. 😃

I have been eyeing the cow one for a few years but couldn't justify the $100. price tag. I found one a moth ago at a train club open house for $20. I couldn't pass it up and it is now on my layout. With this one at $120. it will also have to wait maybe forever until I see one at a sale. On a side note, only wish Menards would have put different wording/lettering on the spacecrafts, it is kind of hoaky.

Their stock showed 137 this morning, now it's 87. Assuming this is all they really have, they won't be around for long.



I did order the engine shed and water tower though. Their shipping is a little frustrating. The buildings had a shipping cost, then the free box trucks had an additional shipping cost. I assume they ship from a different warehouse? Anyways, I just passed on them at that point. Same deal with a power adapter, separate cost from the buildings. Oh well, it's what it is. I'm just happy for their offerings.

Last edited by PRRick

That is pretty cool, I like it. But, I have the "We take you Steak" version and that's still my favorite and gets lots of laughs! :-) The only problem with mine is the cowboy struggling to get the cow back keeps coming unglued and is dangling from the rope! So, I decided to let him dangle as it looks like he's loosing the battle!

I have the same problem - went with the same solution!

I have the farmer saving his cow version as well. The displays operating in my local Menards stores and the one I have all had /have the farmer being lifted off the ground. I used a rubber band wrapped around the base and attached it to the bottom with hot glue to keep the front end attached to the base. It just tilts forward when the rope pulls on it.

@jim sutter posted:

Does the eerie music that's playing come with it?

Jim,

The sound track Menards used is called Haunted Mansions from the album "Epidemic Presents Crates, Oro Edition" available on Apple, Spotify...etc. An ambitious modeler could certainly load it into a sound module to turn on when the Menards product is activated. Maybe a good idea you are suggesting!

Disappointedly, mine came damaged also and it won’t power up despite using the Menards wall wart.  All plugs under the base appear to be set properly.  I contacted Menards via their online submission form and waiting for them to sort out the issue.  Since they only made a limited number of these, I am not hopeful that I will receive a replacement.  I don’t want a refund, just a functional saucer.  I am particularly interested in this saucer since my whole layout is Area 51 themed.  For now, I will sit back and wait for their resolution….

-Pete

@PRRick posted:

While not related to war of the worlds, I am dumbfounded my items weren't damaged. One corner of the green grass base got a little dinged up but that's all. They're big, delicate items in a cardboard box at the mercy of handlers. This is the engine shed and water tower in a hacked up cardboard box as they arrived:

20211222_15473420211222_16014220211222_160152

Sadly, all my Menards boxes were delivered in the same or worse condition. Menards does not over box them, they ship in the same box that they were packaged in China. The outer box from China is not of good quality. I have had to repair pretty much all of my Menards O scale buildings. Fortunately, they all worked as advertised.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Ste 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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