Robberbaron

Regardless of any other proportions/dimensions, I can't get past the profile of the body sides.

I believe every one of those is a MotorMax origin. Not sure what's going on here, is Round 2 just getting these private labeled from the same manufacturer as MotorMax or was there some kind of purchase of the brand?

Thanks Tim, always appreciate your detailed photos of these manufacturer's displays. I think we all knew the '66 Shelby was coming, considering some of the design decisions for the retooled fastback body. I'm sure it will do well for Round 2. Glad to also see the '49 Mercury returning to the lineup. Still one of AMT's best kits from the original Trophy Series line.

No way to know looking at the box art. The steelies/poverty caps aren't even shown/mentioned on the side panel. I suspect the Revell USA team made a point of adding them since the Magnums weren't correct for a Hemi car. Then the doofuses (doofi?) who created that box art didn't even show/mention the new parts. Perfect example of Hobbico shooting themselves in the foot.

Comes from the same era as the recently reissued 1981 Camaro. And Revell is using the same playbook: no mention that it's a snap kit. Also guessing their MSRP will be about the same as a full detail kit. Lots of people felt ripped-off big time when they opened that Camaro kit. For what they were in the early eighties, these were nice snap kits that had better detail like opening hoods, engines (albeit crude), etc. compared to many other companies' snap offerings. Unfortunately, presenting them as conventional kits as Revell is now doing is a good way to alienate casual buyers. Frankly, I'm surprised stuff like this wasn't left behind during the Hobbico bankruptcy.

Interesting factoid that many of you may already know: GM's designers wanted the wraparound glass on the original 1970-1/2 models, but the bean counters nixed it. Lots of photos of in-progress clay models with the wraparound glass. Personally, I'm glad that happened since I think the 70-74 style rear windows look better.

Stopped at a Walmart outside of my normal orbit, which happened to also have models. Nothing at the top of my wish list, but I did get the retooled Mustang fastback since it's a parts bonanza. There was also a nearby Michaels and I had a 40% off coupon. Scored a Revell '70 Torino Cobra. Real happy about that since I missed out on previous releases.

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.