Revell BMW E36 line

[PowerPlant]

I sure would like to see these again, especially the M3... Recently Revell issued the i8/507 combo so I assume their BMW licensing is solid.

Is there a chance we will ever see these kits again, does anyone know?

Thanks in advance

[Rob Hall]

You talking about this kit?  I believe this was a rebox of the Dragon kit. 

[PowerPlant]

Yes, that is the kit... Revell had a whole series of these, including a four door car and compact...

 

[Rob Hall]

I think the 4dr was a Fujimi (or was it Hasegawa?) tool and the compact was a Dragon also. 

[stitchdup]

I've had a few of these. They did a pretty good job on all of them so you can mix and match the bumpers between them all so an m compact or base 2 door is easy to achieve.

[PowerPlant]

46 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

I think the 4dr was a Fujimi (or was it Hasegawa?) tool and the compact was a Dragon also. 

Yes, there is a hasegawa kit out there, but Revell did a 325i with engine detail.

[Rob Hall]

4 minutes ago, PowerPlant said:

Yes, there is a hasegawa kit out there, but Revell did a 325i with engine detail.

The Revell 325i is one I don't have..I have the Tamiya E36 325i and Dragon M3 coupe. 

[PowerPlant]

13 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

The Revell 325i is one I don't have..I have the Tamiya E36 325i and Dragon M3 coupe. 

I'm pretty sure the Tamiya is actually a rebox of the Revell kit, or vice versa... They did the same with the 850 I believe...

I have the Revell 325i and it seems quite nice, but would like to get the M3, which is why I'm curious as to whether we might see these released again

 

[Rob Hall]

I'm not sure if Dragon is still around..

[PowerPlant]

35 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

I'm not sure if Dragon is still around..

I'm pretty sure it is, but not as far as 1/24 kits are concerned, which is why I'm wondering about Revell… Their BMW license seems valid, but I was hoping that someone might have a clue about the molds and if Revell  might ever release these again...

 

[Exotics_Builder]

The 320i from Revell was theirs, not Fujimi and has an engine.  They did at least a standard and Alpina version.  I built the Alpina some years back and the M3 coupe and standard sedan still in the moving box.

[fumi]

8 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

I'm not sure if Dragon is still around..

Dragon is alive and well in the military world, although they seem to be lost in their direction after the daughter took over the business a few years ago.  Diversification into the miniature toy business did not work out and they have closed up all their local retail stores, leaving only one outlet shop.  There was also a nasty fallout with their long term partner Hasegawa over cross wholesale distribution agreements.

The Dragon line of E36 M3, 318ti and touring cars were collaboration with Hasegawa.  The main chassis sprues were from Hasegawa's sedan kit and the model specific parts were tooled by Dragon.  As they have completely pulled out of the model car business in the early 2000's and the fact that they depend on Hasegawa for 1/2 of the kit's content, there is almost no chance for them to be re-issued.

Revell made their own 325i sedan street car with engine, which spawned the Alpina version.  They have also reboxed Dragon's versions of the E36 which are curb side.

Tamiya reboxed Revell's 325i sedan street car in the early 90's for the Japanese market only to compete with Hasegawa.  That and the 850i were pulled out of the catalog soon after.