Ive been checking out the modelling section of ebay recently and i've seen alot of Bandai armour going for a pretty penny. I've also seen them metioned in the forums. I notice the scale is 1/48, and the models all look around 1960s vintage. I was just wondering why they are going for good prices, are they still decent kits, or are people buying them so the boxes can collect dust on the wall?

These were 'state of the art' kits when they first came out in the 1970s, most include some interior. My first IPMS competition prize was won with their Tiger1.
Still a good build now,even if not up to todays standards for accuracy.

The first Bandai 1/48th tanks got to Britain about 1973, I think I've still got the issue of Military Modelling where the first batch were reviewed. IIRC they were a Wespe, Sdkfz 251 and a Kubelwagen.

They were very good at the time, good enough for ESCI to produce scaled down copies of several (M4A1 Sherman, Elefant and Wespe at least). They had partial interiors, though with some annoying omissions (like fuel tanks) and some that were mostly fictional (like the Elefant).

For more on the prices of Bandai stuff and an idea of their range, check this site:

http://www.kbleitch.com/bandai

Bandai has been the best models in the Gundam line. Dunno about their armor but I have seen some 1/15 RC Bandai armor kits lately.

To see just what can be done with the 1/48 Bandai kits (and others, including Aurora!), check out the gallery at Track 48

Many are buying them to build. While the collector pushes up the price, the main purchasers are guys who want to build decent quality 1/48 scale armor.

If you look hard enough, you can find them on the shelves of old hobby stores (found the Opel Maultier for about $6 a couple years ago). About 5-6 years ago, Fuman of China reissued a few of these kits. Squadron had them on sale for around $4.99. The main problem with the Fuman issues was that the decal sheet was one giant sticker with the background color the same color as the kit plastic. You had to cut out each sticker if you wanted to use it (not recommended). I dug around for decals that were close enough.

The Frog issues weren't bad and included actual decals. I even found the M12 gun motor carriage in an Academy box.

Personally, I like the old Bandai kits since I was a fan of the other 1/48 scale series made by Aurora.