Robberbaron

Stopped in the Hobart, IN store tonight and they FINALLY had some automotive kits. Had about 6 each of the Transit Mixer, Grumpy's Vega, and the Cal Drag Combo. I already have a couple of the Vega's and way too many '64 Galaxies, so I had a rare case of self control and left empty handed. Just glad to finally see them getting some automotive kits again. Oh yeah, looked like they also put out another batch of trikes, too. Starting to wonder if they'll ever run out of those.

James, thank you for posting the kit contents. This confirms my suspicions that they would leave out the steelies/hubcaps/trim rings from the last couple of previous reissues. Slightly disappointing, but I guess it's offset be the chopper. Also happy to hear that molding quality is good.

I should clarify: my comments on the ride height should be understood to apply to the aesthetics of a hot rod (since this kit can't be built stock). Not doubting that it is correct for factory stock. And by the way, nice truck! 🙂

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but IMHO the back of their built-up is sitting about 6 scale inches too high. Ideally I would want an equal tire-to-lip gap around the circumference of the tire. Their gap from the top of the tire to the fender lip is at least three times the gap at the front.

Wonder if that includes inserts? I have a strong suspicion that when Hobbico sent certain R-M tooling to China, inserts for alternate versions stayed in Illinois, and then got left behind during the bankruptcy/sell-off. So some recent reissues like tne S-10 and Silverado don't have full factory stock parts now. Even the '66 Malibu SS 2'N1 (sic) reissue is missing an awful lot of the old "Street Rat" parts, first and foremost the slot mags.

Just to clarify, older issues of the AMT '49 Merc don't have the flathead hop-up parts. Not sure when they added them, just know that the one I built around 1990 didnt have them yet.

Funky! Never saw those before. Apparently the wheels were made specifically for those tires. Here's some info I found: https://www.madle.org/elxx.htm Center design of those wheels looks suspiciously like the Kelsey-Hayes Magstars. Wonder if Firestone contracted with them to design/manufacture them?

Appreciate the heads up on this. Checked the Schererviile store while running an errand and was surprised to see they had kits too. They had the cardboard stand in the middle of the main back aisle. Was surprised to see it's different than the displays from a couple years ago: just plain white cardboard, about three feet high and open on one side. If I hadn't been approaching from the open side, I would have totally missed it. Was only about 1/3 full, so SOMEBODY is buying these kits. Hopefully that prompts them to restock. This is the first time I've seen kits at ANY of my local Walmarts in several years. Picked up a disco Nova and a pair of fat Cougars. 😉

Still the same old dreck at the Hobart, IN store. Haven't seen anything new there in months.

LOL... "Thingmakers"

I believe Dave Van was the member who had the connection with Accurate. I seem to recall him stating the same thing regarding the stillborn Taurus. If you do a forum search, you should be able to dig up the thread where he discussed it. I seem to recall that he went into quite a bit of detail regarding the Accurate Miniatures saga.

Hobart, IN store had nothing new yesterday. Same old Atlantis non-auto kits and some Wacky Racers. The unfortunate side-effect of them opening more Ollies stores is that the overstock kits get spread thinner as the number of stores keeps increasing. Over the last couple years, most of the Round 2 overstock stuff that I've seen posted in this thread never showed up at my local store.

I was a bit surprised by the '72 Duster, just because they already have the '71. (Yes, I'm aware of the differences. Just not sure if the average HL casual buyer would be.) I can't help but think they may have a Pro Stock version planned for the future so they can resurrect this: That would help justify tooling a new body. Regarding a 1970 Duster 340, Steve Goldman has stated on this board that he would like to do one eventually, It's just a matter of priorities/$ allocation. Creating a base Duster grille would be straightforward enough. It sounds like the interior differences might be the bigger hurdle. Personally, I would be happy if they just added a base grille to the '71 kit.

Casey, weren't you converting one of those J-10's into an older model Gladiator? I seem to recall you (or someone else on this forum) doing a bunch of work on one, but I don't remember ever seeing it completed.

I also recall looking at pictures of built Revell J-10 kits vs. 1:1 examples and thinking that the Revell kit would need about a 2 or 3 inch section taken out of the body to start looking proportionally correcf, among other issues. It seems very similar to their Fox-body Capri from the same era. You can use it as a starting point, but if you want it to look correct you're going to end up modifying almost everything on the body. For me, I've got to really love the subject matter to go through all that work (which isn't the case for either one of those).

Agreed that the '87 Monte is most likely the Aerocoupe. As stated, the taillights and rear bumper should be different. All 87 and 88 Monte SS also got a different profile rear spoiler that debuted on the super limited production (qty 200) 1986 Aerocoupes. Changes are quite subtle, so its tough to spot. I never got the original Aerocoupe kit, so I don't know if Monogram accurately made all these changes. The orignal issue kit is pretty uncommon, so there's not too many build pictures on the internet to judge from. 1987 striping is also different from 1986. The interior is a whole separate can of worms. The interior in the original issue (notchback) "1986" kit is actually from an '84 or '85. 1986-1988 should have a different dash and gauge cluster, different console, and different door pulls. Not sure if the upholstery pattern changed. From the few pictures I've seen of built Aerocoupe kits, it looks like all of that stuff remains unchanged from the original kit. I suspect Monogram originally used an '84 or '85 model year car as reference when developing the kit, then did a quickie change to the '86 style door mirrors and aluminum wheels. All it takes to build the original notchback kit as an '85 is to swap out to earlier style sport mirrors and the steel wheels from the AMT '86 El Camino SS. In reality, the interior issues are somewhat minor. Although lots of details changed from '85 to '86, overall they look very similar. Only someone intimately familiar with these cars would even spot the differences. I've never seen anyone else on this forum even note these issues, and as we all know we're the "lunatic fringe" (myself included).

The original Monogram GMC "High Roller" kit was the pickup, which basically was reissued as the "Big Game" GMC under the Revell name. Since this new kit is listed as an '85 Jimmy, it must be a variation of the new 1/25 Stranger Things Blazer. Suspect they might be using the "High Roller" name as a play on their legacy kits.

Yeah, got a chuckle from that too. Also noticed that the Jeep J-10 is listed as 1/24, but of course it's actually 1/25. Seems like it doesn't matter who owns the old Revell and Monogram tooling, they always seem to get confused on scale.

I seem to recall that the Galaxie tooling was located in South Korea. Wonder if Moebius will keep it at the same molding facility or relocate it to China? That may be the reason for the limitations on modifying the tooling, and would obviously also factor into pricing. No idea one way or the other, just speculation on my part.

Would be cool if someone offers 3D prints of the Chrysler Marine and Chrysler Industrial versions too:

Yup, not even close. Seems tailor-made for 3D printing. I'd be surprised if someone doesn't already offer correct ones.

OK everyone, before you get too excited, let's actually look at Revell's handiwork on that new "hardtop" roof: How do you like that "flat as a board" side window profile compared to the real car? I'm taking a hard pass on this one.

Thanks for the insight, Tim. Now I'm even MORE intrigued!

Just resurrecting this thread to see if anyone has any insight into what became of the AMT '66 C10 tooling? Judging by Casey's post, since American Satco didn't end up marketing these, I'm guessing the small run of "Wheat's Nostalgia" retro promos happened shortly afterwards in the late nineties. So probably about 25 years ago? Is Roger Sill still alive? Seems like this tooling should still exist, somewhere. Would be great to see Round 2 reaquire this tooling and get these in production again. As popular as vintage trucks are, seems like these would do well. And since it's a longbed with the side trim, there's enough to differentiate it from the Revell kits. Plus the Revell kits fall short in some proportional/detail issues.

In the past, someone on this board claimed that they had it on good authority (from someone with insider knowledge) that the original annual 1958 Edsel tool DID still exist, although it was only the body (no chrome/glass/chassis). If the Unreal Edsel never included those parts, it makes sense that they would no longer survive, even if the body did. This is definitely a "someone told someone who told someone something" situation, so take it with a spoon of salt. My fuzzy memory says the source might have been someone back in the Ertl days, so there have also been 20-25 years and several ownership changes where tooling could have gone missing and/or been left behind. We know some stuff that was run in the eighties and nineties isn't around anymore, for whatever reason.