AMT "Masterpiece" Series Models

[Snake45]

Today I Snake-Fu-ed a nicely built AMT '70 Motion Camaro I bought at last month's toy show. Only needed a few minor things to look good. As I got into it, the more it began to look like a "factory" paint job with tampo graphics and trim. I didn't remember this kit ever being offered in the "Pro Shop" pre-painted series so I started doing some research. Fortunately my Google-Fu was strong today and I discovered something I'd never heard of before, AMT "Masterpiece" kits. These were not only pre-painted but pre-assembled as well, and came in nice boxes with individual styrofoam and clear vac-bubble packaging like high-end diecasts. I found there were at least eight of these, including a '62 Pontiac, '58 Edsel, '62 Impala, and I forget what-all else right offhand. 

So my questions are, when were these "Masterpiece" models (can't really call 'em kits) offered? How many were there--more than eight? And what was their price at the time? Anyone recognize or remember these? Mark?  

[Mark]

Pretty sure only the eight were offered.  Off the top of my head, besides the B-M Camaro, there was a '71 Charger in green, a white '62 Impala convertible, a silver '66 Riviera, a red '62 Catalina, a light blue '60 Galaxie, a '57 Chrysler, and the Edsel.

I believe there was a high reject rate on larger parts like bodies, and anything else with a lot of masking and multiple colors.  That in my opinion killed the prepainted and preassembled models.  There are a bunch of uncatalogued prepainted kits though.

[Rodent]

I don't know, but the briefly alive Hobbytown USA not far from here had the 62 Impala convertible on the shelf for about a year. Not sure if it sold before they closed shop.

[440 Dakota]

I don't remember all 8 but I have the 57 300 and the 71 Charger, and I can say the 57 300 is detail painted the same as the Pro- Shop version except the body color which is black in the masterpiece and green in the pro-shop, seems about the turn of the century and I think in the 20 buck range, I'll dig em out tomorrow unless someone fills in the details tonight

[Snake45]

3 minutes ago, Mark said:

Pretty sure only the eight were offered.  Off the top of my head, besides the B-M Camaro, there was a '71 Charger in green, a white '62 Impala convertible, a silver '66 Riviera, a red '62 Catalina, a light blue '60 Galaxie, a '57 Chrysler, and the Edsel.

I believe there was a high reject rate on larger parts like bodies, and anything else with a lot of masking and multiple colors.  That in my opinion killed the prepainted and preassembled models.  There are a bunch of uncatalogued prepainted kits though.

Thanks! Any idea of the price?

BTW, the body and paint on mine are magnificent. There was some green exposed at the very bottom and very rear of white rear quarters, but I touched it up in a few minutes with some white paint. 

[Snake45]

2 minutes ago, 440 Dakota said:

seems about the turn of the century and I think in the 20 buck range

Thanks! I THINK I was still buying AMT kits at Walmart for $6 or $7 at about that time, so $20 for a nicely prebuilt one sounds reasonable. 

[440 Dakota]

my Google is pretty strong here is a pic of all 8

[Mark]

I bought the Charger and Camaro at "regular" price at a local store, but found an Impala convertible at a K-B Toy outlet store for, I think, four bucks.  Later the local store got more and sold them at around half price.  One guy I know bought one of each.

[Carmak]

I picked up all but the Camaro and the Riv at the Ertl outlet store back in the day for $5 each (a the same time a standard kit cost $3 at the outlet).

[THarrison351]

 

[440 Dakota]

Just now, THarrison351 said:

 

Tim nice collection and write up somehow I missed it first time around

[Snake45]

50 minutes ago, 440 Dakota said:

my Google is pretty strong here is a pic of all 8 

I found the same pic today, which is why I said I found 8. 

I'd buy that Riv today if I found one at a decent price. I've been wanting to build a silver one, and it would save me a bunch of time. 

[Snake45]

28 minutes ago, THarrison351 said:

 

I managed to miss that post, too--or didn't give it much attention at the time. Thanks for the link--very informative post! 

[peteski]

I bought the Rivera years ago, would you believe me for the wheels!  I wanted to use them with the resin boat-tail Rivera kit. I have not build that kit and now I'm rethinking taking the Masterpiece Rivera apart.  I'll have to take a another close look at that model.

[Snake45]

3 minutes ago, peteski said:

I bought the Rivera years ago, would you believe me for the wheels!  I wanted to use them with the resin boat-tail Rivera kit. I have not build that kit and now I'm rethinking taking the Masterpiece Rivera apart.  I'll have to take a another close look at that model.

You might not be able to get those wheels off without destroying the thing. I don't know what kind of glue they used but whatever it is, it's STRONG! I was unable to get the wheels off the Camaro and ended up having to sand the treads while the model was assembled. I couldn't get the body off the chassis, either. Well, I prolly could have, but I didn't want to risk the probable damage. 

[peteski]

Thanks for the warning.  I have not really attempted any disassembly yet, but I'll be careful when I do.

[David G.]

 

10 hours ago, 440 Dakota said:

my Google is pretty strong here is a pic of all 8

Hmmm, Looks familiar.

 

David G.

[Motor City]

I have the 300 and Catalina.  Both were made in China, and the copyright date on both boxes is 2001.  The 300's front license plate decal is upside down!  Other than that, lots of nice detail and good models to display.

[ZTony8]

I bought the B/M Camaro and the Charger for $10 each at a toy show several years ago. I reference them as benchmarks when I build the regular kits.

[Snake45]

29 minutes ago, ZTony8 said:

I bought the B/M Camaro and the Charger for $10 each at a toy show several years ago. I reference them as benchmarks when I build the regular kits.

When I got finished with the Camaro, I thought, "That's almost as good as I could have built it if I'd made a max effort and tried my very best." It's pretty impressive and looks good on the shelf.