Johan kits.

[ewetwo]

With Round 2 re-popping some of the older kits now. Are they not able to do the Johan kits because they don't have the right to them? Who does? Are the molds all destroyed? I only ask because AMT has the rights to the 1966 Barracuda Funny car and I always wondered why they didn't make a kit with the back wheel wells opening as the regular stock version. I bet it would sell well.

[Mark]

AMT did make a stock '66 Barracuda, in late 1965.  The body was altered and reused in the funny car kit.

[maxwell48098]

Johan tooling is long gone. It's a subject that has been discussed over and over for years here.

[StevenGuthmiller]

There are a number of reasons why Johan kits are not coming back, but the bottom line is that they’re not coming back.

 

 

 

Steve

[ewetwo]

Ok. I was wondering mainly why they never re-popped the Barracuda. I thought it was originally a JoHan that was bout by AMT. My mistake. Still wonder why it was never brought back as it seems to be a big collector car.

[Greg Myers]

[Greg Myers]

Just now, Greg Myers said:

These kits were thought lost forever.  Discussed on this board many times.  Low and behold Atlantis has the molds and is kicking out the kits. They are presented in a different format,  single body, 2 engines.

Never say never.

[Claude Thibodeau]

14 minutes ago, ewetwo said:

Ok. I was wondering mainly why they never re-popped the Barracuda. I thought it was originally a JoHan that was bout by AMT. My mistake. Still wonder why it was never brought back as it seems to be a big collector car.

Hi!

Last wave of Johan reissues (and many "leftovers" ) dates back to the year some entrepreneurs leased the rights to the Johan name, inventory and molds. They soon discovered that some of those were beyond repair, and sued Johan's original owner for false representations. Legal shenanigans ensued, and it was in effect the end of the experiment. 

Scarcity creates value, hence the stratospheric prices on Ebay. 

CT

[Stanward VonDiederichs]

4 hours ago, ewetwo said:

With Round 2 re-popping some of the older kits now. Are they not able to do the Johan kits because they don't have the right to them? Who does? Are the molds all destroyed? I only ask because AMT has the rights to the 1966 Barracuda Funny car and I always wondered why they didn't make a kit with the back wheel wells opening as the regular stock version. I bet it would sell well.

Sometimes they don't sell that well or if they did they aren't ready to re-release it or when the company was sold round2 didn't get the rights but it could have been lost. America's doesn't do the injection molding all the time sometimes it is cheaper to do it overseas it could be during transport it got lost. I spent time around the plastic injection molding and die casting procedure. I remember that 66 barracuda kit.

[StevenGuthmiller]

This is the story that I have heard.

I have heard nothing to make me think that it’s untrue.

When Johan began struggling, probably as far back as the late 70s, employees began to go unpaid, prompting some of them to steal parts of some of the molds to hold for ransom.

How much of that is true, I have no idea, but it gets worse from there.

As the company began it’s downward spiral, molds were sold off and melted down for scrap, and whatever remained wound up in poorly maintained storage, where it rusted and deteriorated, rendering most of what remained unusable.

To compound things, it’s my understanding that the injection molding equipment used was exclusive to the Johan molds, and vice versa, meaning that any remaining molds were useless without the specific equipment needed to make them usable.

So, it appears that the entire situation was destined to be a disaster once the ball began rolling.

In other words, with the exception of a very few items, the bulk of Johan’s inventory is gone forever, with virtually a zero percent possibility that it can ever be resurrected.

The Barracuda kit spoken of was originally offered as a full customizing kit, with a stock body and all other stock parts by AMT in 1965 and 1966, as well as the ‘67-‘69 Barracudas.

My guess is that there is a very good possibility that Round-2 might resurrect the ‘66 Barracuda at some point through their “reverse engineering” process.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[1930fordpickup]

To add to what Steve has said above there was also a fire at some point. There is a seller in the Detroit area that shows up with parts and bodies left over from the cleanup he was paid to do. He was selling at reasonable prices last I seen him at Autorama.

As far as the molds that are still out there. There is a possibility of those being ran in a different machine. BUT it is like running a different brand transmission in your car. It takes a lot of thought and adapters if it can happen. 

[1930fordpickup]

I believe Testors was the last name that any of the molds ran under. 

Edited February 13, 2024 by 1930fordpickup

[sfhess]

The 67-69 Barracuda kits were made by MPC.

[Mark]

'65-'67 Barracudas were AMT, '68-'74 were MPC.

[1930fordpickup]

Isn't the floor pan of a custom movie car from the first  Barracuda. Fire something? Fireball? 

[Mark]

The '66 annual kit was parted out, body going to the funny car and chassis to the Fireball 500.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, Mark said:

'65-'67 Barracudas were AMT, '68-'74 were MPC.

That might be correct.

I know some makes and models jumped back and forth between manufacturers.

It can be hard to remember what went where.

In any case, the ‘65/‘66 Barracudas were produced by AMT, not Johan.

 

 

 

Steve

[ewetwo]

Thank you all for the interesting info. I’ve never heard of any of this before now.

[Fat Brian]

It's an interesting question, is there intellectual property tied to a tooling that no longer exists anymore? Round2 has shown that they can copy and improve a tool and theoretically that could be done to any companies tool. 

[Brian Austin]

Well, according to a post or two from the tail end of last year, the JoHan name was revived and would be issuing new product that was 3D printed.  A trailer was announced, and we were supposed to await further new announcements but they've been rather quiet.

[Brian Austin]

Almost forgot about the Dodge pickup that was also announced.  Note this is a wholly separate endeavor from the ill-fated 3-D printed Powell pickup announced last year by the "other" Jo-Han (Okey Spaulding).  It is also wholly separate from the old JoHan.  Too many JoHans.

 

Edited February 13, 2024 by Brian Austin

[1972coronet]

5 hours ago, 1930fordpickup said:

I believe Testors was the last name that any of the molds ran under. 

I remember those - last time I saw them was about 20 years ago :

- 1969 [?] AMC Machine

- 1970 [?] Comet ; not sure if the same year Maverick was around concurrently ?

- 1971 Barracuda 

All were in 'contemporary' livery (i.e., Pro Street... with fugly rims) and in Testors packaging. IIRC, that's about the time that Spiro Agnew (or whatever his name is) got involved in an ostensible capacity (the c.1957 Rambler Wagon, and the promo-style Chrysler Turbine - not sure if others were issued).

I have a Cadillac Saville (or whatever their name was) era re-pop of the 1968 Plymouth Fury I Pursuit.  

Edited February 13, 2024 by 1972coronet

[Tabbysdaddy]

[Mark]

If another company considers something done previously by Jo-Han to be viable, they'll step up and tool a new kit.  It has been done a couple of times: Ertl '69 Olds 442, Lindberg '64 Plymouth.  They won't bother to copy the one-piece chassis or the interior bucket with the seats molded in.

I'm betting that certain parts of the coming Moebius Ford Maverick pro stock will bear an uncanny resemblance to corresponding parts in the old Jo-Han kit.  Not the interior or chassis, but rather the body and perhaps the engine.

[Rob Hall]

8 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

I remember those - last time I saw them was about 20 years ago :

- 1969 [?] AMC Machine

- 1970 [?] Comet ; not sure if the same year Maverick was around concurrently ?

- 1971 Barracuda 

All were in 'contemporary' livery (i.e., Pro Street... with fugly rims) and in Testors packaging. IIRC, that's about the time that Spiro Agnew (or whatever his name is) got involved in an ostensible capacity (the c.1957 Rambler Wagon, and the promo-style Chrysler Turbine - not sure if others were issued).

I have a Cadillac Saville (or whatever their name was) era re-pop of the 1968 Plymouth Fury I Pursuit.  

The Testors kits were released around '97-98.   '69 AMX, '70 Cutlass 442, '71 Comet, '71 Cuda... the 'HSO' line..though I think the Comet came a bit later.   Some were in those weird brown cardboard boxes, some were in normal sized flipper boxes.   I think you are referring to Okey Spaulding that did the Rambler wagon and Turbine.