MPC Daisy Road Runner kit - Something I Don't Know?

[Drake69]

Ok. The MPC rereleases of all the Dukes vehicles have been out there for some time now, and you can't walk into a Hobby Lobby, Hobbytown, or Wal-Mart without seeing a few of these kits. At least, that's the way it WAS. Now for some reason the Road Runner has all but disappeared from shelves, and the MPC repop tin out there is up to $60+ in price! I understand Daisy's car is now discontinued, but that is a major skyrocket in price, like a $45 jump from the average $15. Is there something I'm missing? Or is it because JUST NOW I decide to try and pick one up, only to realize there's few left out there?

Roscoe's Monaco, on the other hand, is slowly starting to dry up at the hobby stores, but is still readily available online. I just found both at Ballzanos.com and took care of my problem that way, but it's astonishing how fast a kit can get marked up like that.

Ohh well....

[Mark]

Is that what they are selling for, or is that what people are trying to get for them? Often you'll see recently dropped kits offered at exorbitant prices because they're "out of production". Often these sellers forget that they went "out of production" because there were not enough buyers to keep them in production. I don't buy into a price jump until I see people carrying them away with those price tags on them...

[CapSat 6]

Look for a pre-Dukes release (known as a "74 GTX"). They issued these several times in the past 10 years. The only difference is that they did not come with decals for the stock graphics. My bet would be that you could find one of those much cheaper, get some aftermarket decals (Fred Cady or Firebird Designs) and still come out ahead of the current "ask" for the Dukes version.

Edited April 13, 2015 by CapSat 6

[unclescott58]

Look for a pre-Dukes release (known as a "74 GTX"). They issued these several times in the past 10 years. The only difference is that they did not come with decals for the stock graphics. My bet would be that you could find one of those much cheaper, get some aftermarket decals (Fred Cady or Firebird Designs) and still come out ahead of the current "ask" for the Dukes version.

The Daisy Duke version (cardboard box, I don't know about the tin) came with an incomplete set of decals. No Roadrunners! You to go to someone else for correct decals. I got mine from Keith Marks. So if the GTX version is available at a lower price, I'd go that route and buy aftermarket decals.

Scott

[Mark]

The '74 GTX issue has the later squared-off instrument panel and single exhaust chassis from the '78 police car. I don't think it has stock wheels either.

[unclescott58]

The '74 GTX issue has the later squared-off instrument panel and single exhaust chassis from the '78 police car. I don't think it has stock wheels either.

Forgot about that. Which is the reason I never built the GTX version after I bought it. After I got the Daisy Duke car with the correct dash and exhaust, I gave away the kits. I don't remember if the GTX kit had the correct wheels or not. I do remember it having the '75 and exhaust from later mid-size Mopars. So I'd stay away from the GTX version just for that reason.

Scott

[CapSat 6]

I took a look at the kits that I have: correct- the 80's issues (orange on box, molded in orange), and the later RC2 issues (red on box/ molded in gray) all have the single exhaust / catalytic converter chassis, and later '75-'79 B Body dash. I guess I was so used to these features because I grew up with the '80's issue. No Cragar wheels or stock stripes come with these kits like are shown on the red car boxes- the custom wheels are later modular Centerline/ SST style wheels. They do all seem to come with stock Rallye wheels however- the gray plastic ones I have do have Rallyes on the chrome tree. The orange kits sometimes came with dark tinted windows, like many of the '80's MPC kits.

The Dukes kits come with the correct dash and chassis plate, along with stock stripes in 3 colors, and it's molded in white, so that issue is looking better and better in comparison.

You could do worse than to get one of the older kits, and combine it with the AMT '71 Charger R/T (for the Chassis, dashboard and powertrain) for added detail.

Having the correct dash in the new kit gives me hope that maybe Round 2 they has the tooling for the '71 Road Runner- that has to be where the correct dash came from, it looks identical to the one in the '71 kits. It does appear that this tool shared common elements (chassis, some interior, engine, custom Cragar wheels) among the annual MPC '71-'74 Road Runners, then the '75-'76 Fury-based Road Runners, then finally with the MPC '77-'78 Monacos.

[CapSat 6]

As an aside, I went to look at a 1:1 '74 Road Runner for sale about 20 years ago. This was back when old muscle cars might still be sitting on the street once in awhile. It was pretty original- worn, original-looking red paint, no stripes (just Road Runner emblems in the right places), standard bulge hood, black bench seat interior, a 318/ auto, and NO power steering. The VIN checked out- making it a genuine Road Runner.

One test drive convinced me not to buy it. It was in good shape and ran well, but that manual steering in a 4,000 lb. car was a real bear. I had a driver with manual brakes years before and that was much easier to live with. I guess I could have swapped power steering in, but at the time I didn't feel there was anything else special about the car so it wasn't worth the effort to me.

Nowadays, you don't see many old muscle cars, (especially Mopars) without stripes, with bench seats, or base engines (base in the RR was a 383 in '68, but just a few short years later, the base mill was actually the bread-and-butter 318).

I think I'm going to have to build a model of that car.

[Drake69]

Awesome. I've already got the RR kit coming from Ballzanos ($15.00 plus shipping) along with the Monaco kit (also $15), so now I just need to find a cheap '71 Charger kit and contact Keith Marks for some decent decals. I was just "sticker shocked" by the price I kept seeing for this kit which I still thought of as new.

Amazing what happens to a price when a kit becomes "RARE" or "OUT OF PRINT" or "DISCONTINUED". I know it's just like everything else we buy on FleaBay, but still gets to me.

[Greg Myers]

Ballzanos.com ? Holly Cow !! Price darn near double$ when you add $hipping.

[Drake69]

Ballzanos.com ? Holly Cow !! Price darn near double$ when you add $hipping.

Huh? Not for me.... I only paid $8 for two model kits to the same address. I've paid FAR WORSE in shipping before....

[Bob Ellis]

A 1974 Roadrunner with manual steering and an powerless 318. What a combination; slow and uncomfortable.

[tim boyd]

Good discussion here...as many of you know, both Bill Coulter and I owned new, factory ordered '74 Road Runners, his black with white stripes and the (standard) dual exhaust version of the 318, mine black with red stripes and the new for '74 "E58" hipo 360. First some photos...then some additional info on the kits you really want to track down...

For those building a '74...you want either the original MPC annual kit, the Daisy Dukes reissue, or the metal box edition. Only those have the correct dual exhausts and '71-'74 interior instrument panel.

The Daisy Dukes version adds the correct bodyside/roof/hood stripes (which were not in the original annual kit) in the factory correct shades of white, black, and what I call "Mopar Tomato Red", but these are missing the Road Runner bird decals on the stripe and the decal sheet also omits the "bird" for the right rear deck.

The metal tin edition uses essentially the same decal sheet, but with the correct bird decals added to each of the side stripes (all three colors) and with four stand alone bird decals for the trunk (and extras).

Bottom line, the metal tin edition is the one to get, with the added bonus of not paying the "Dukes" premium, offset to a degree by the metal tin edition carrying a higher MSRP when the kit was issued.

Hope that helps...TB

[Draggon]

Ballzanos must be having a sale. I just picked up a Slingster, $3.94 shipping.

[Bob Ellis]

I think technically, the GTX existed until 1974 as a Roadrunner GTX. The 440 engine was the GTX option.

I went to a local Plymouth dealer to go to a Sox & Martin clinic back in the Summer of 1972. They had parked a 1972 Roadrunner with GTX emblems on car. The trunk had a chrome GTX emblem on the right side.

[tim boyd]

I think technically, the GTX existed until 1974 as a Roadrunner GTX. The 440 engine was the GTX option.

I went to a local Plymouth dealer to go to a Sox & Martin clinic back in the Summer of 1972. They had parked a 1972 Roadrunner with GTX emblems on car. The trunk had a chrome GTX emblem on the right side.

Bob...you are correct, any 440 powered Road Runner also wore "GTX" badging in the 1972, '73, and '74 model years. Funny thing, though, I never noticed this on the Silver Frost 440 powered '74 Road Runner at the Plymouth dealer in Ypsilanti, MI, in the fall of '73. Only became aware of this many, many years later. TIM

Edited April 15, 2015 by tim boyd

[CapSat 6]

A 1974 Roadrunner with manual steering and an powerless 318. What a combination; slow and uncomfortable.

Too funny, Bob! You forgot "dumpy looking" (with no stripes). Although I would call an old 318 average- slow was the slant-6 '67 Coronet I owned briefly.

[Carmak]

Odd side topic. Back in the mid 80's a good friend had a white 74 Satellite Sundance. The interior was over the top with yellow, orange and brown stripes on the setas! It was a 318 bench seat car - super reliable but slow.

Carmak

[Drake69]

Looks like I'm going to get a metal tin edition in the immediate future as well then. The Ballzanos kit is the Daisy reissue, but I like the idea of extra correct decals.

[unclescott58]

Looks like I'm going to get a metal tin edition in the immediate future as well then. The Ballzanos kit is the Daisy reissue, but I like the idea of extra correct decals.

As noted, the correct decals with the little roadrunner cartoon logos are available from Keith Marks too. And his decals are very good.

Scott

[Drake69]

As noted, the correct decals with the little roadrunner cartoon logos are available from Keith Marks too. And his decals are very good.

Scott

Ohh, without a doubt. I've bought quite a few of his sets and never had a complaint about any of them.

But having another nicely tooled RR kit works as well.

[catpack68]

I found two of the reissued 73 road runners in the tin box a while back at a local hobby looby on the clearance rack for $8 a piece.....

[w451973]

My brother had a few 73-74 Road Runners. His last one was black with red stripes and a 400. I've always likes them.

[Drake69]

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Be aware that the Ballzanos.com website is now shut down, and Stephen Balzanos just refunded my money. Not sure what's happened, but apparently he's going to be doing strictly eBay sales now.

Anyone who has recently ordered from the webpage and received no responses from him need to dispute their charges if they can. I payed through Paypal and was protected in my purchase.