324 replies to this topic

[Tom Geiger]

As was said on this thread back in 2008, a Holy Grail is the one and only kit that would make your life complete. In my case it's the 1966 Plymouth Valiant Signet promo, one of the rarest Mopar promos. I had never seen one in person and had an eBay search active for one. Wouldn't ya know, the only times one was for sale was when I couldn't afford (or at least in good concious) invest in something expensive.

The last time I saw one on eBay was when I was in the middle of moving from NJ to PA. I was carrying two houses and finance were pretty tight. And of course there it was for $400 Buy It Now. So I closed my eyes and hit that button. It was mine! Feeling a bit guilty but I had my holy grail.

At the same time I was parting out my '63 Studebaker project that suffered from terminal cancer. It just wasn't worth trying to fix. I had offered it for sale on both eBay and Craig's List for prices starting at $2500 and all the way down to $900 without a buyer. I had $1500 in NOS and repro parts alone! So I had sold over $3000 worth of parts off this car. In the end I had a carcass with no body parts, but a 70k drivetrain still in it. I didn't want to send it to the crusher so I did one last ditch ad onto eBay offering the drivetrain for $500. Imagine my surprise the next day when my email read "You've Made A Sale". Someone in North NJ had bought it to put in his 1940s pickup. So by the time it came to pay for the Valiant, I had the money in Paypal to pay for it. Nearly free!

 

This is a photo of the one I own. My modeling life is complete. I don't want for anything more!

 

Edited by Tom Geiger, 01 December 2012 - 02:41 PM.

[FASTBACK340]

And yet it cries out for a set of dog dish hub caps....

Awesome score Tom. My grail cost almost as much as yours and I felt guilty too. But the longer you wait....the bigger the bite. BTW: Too bad about the Stude. Do you still have the old Barracuda?

[TooOld]

As was said on this thread back in 2008, a Holy Grail is the one and only kit that would make your life complete. In my case it's the 1966 Plymouth Valiant Signet promo, one of the rarest Mopar promos. I had never seen one in person and had an eBay search active for one. Wouldn't ya know, the only times one was for sale was when I couldn't afford (or at least in good concious) invest in something expensive.

The last time I saw one on eBay was when I was in the middle of moving from NJ to PA. I was carrying two houses and finance were pretty tight. And of course there it was for $400 Buy It Now. So I closed my eyes and hit that button. It was mine! Feeling a bit guilty but I had my holy grail.

At the same time I was parting out my '63 Studebaker project that suffered from terminal cancer. It just wasn't worth trying to fix. I had offered it for sale on both eBay and Craig's List for prices starting at $2500 and all the way down to $900 without a buyer. I had $1500 in NOS and repro parts alone! So I had sold over $3000 worth of parts off this car. In the end I had a carcass with no body parts, but a 70k drivetrain still in it. I didn't want to send it to the crusher so I did one last ditch ad onto eBay offering the drivetrain for $500. Imagine my surprise the next day when my email read "You've Made A Sale". Someone in North NJ had bought it to put in his 1940s pickup. So by the time it came to pay for the Valiant, I had the money in Paypal to pay for it. Nearly free!

 

This is a photo of the one I own. My modeling life is complete. I don't want for anything more!

 

 

Nice !  A bit pricey for my tastes , but I've spent almost that much on a model I really wanted ,  so " Why not " !

[Tom Geiger]

 Do you still have the old Barracuda?

 

 

Sorry to say I did sell it this year. I had to move it from my garage in NJ when the house sold, so I moved it over to the house my daughters live in, in the same town.  I had planned on keeping it in the garage there, but had to clean it out, so I parked it in the driveway. A local guy saw it and said he had been looking for one to restore for years. He offered me a fair amount and assured me he'd start the resto immediately, so I let it go. It went directly to a resto shop. I felt it was better for the car since I have no time table that I'd get around to working on it, and for what he paid me, I can buy something rust free and finished later on!

[FASTBACK340]

Too bad you let it go, but at least it's being restored anyway.

Now about those dog dishes for your '66.....

[CEKPETHO BCE]

My 'Holy Grail' would be a 1/12 Tamiya Ferrari GTO. I've seen a few up on ebay, but they are pretty pricey... One day... One day...

 

http://www.tamiya.co...i_gto/index.htm

[Tom Geiger]

Too bad you let it go, but at least it's being restored anyway.

Now about those dog dishes for your '66.....

 

John- the '66 Valiants are gone too!  I also sold the '60 Buick and parted out the '63 Stude once we realized it was way too rusty to restore.  Right now all I have left are the 2000 Jaguar and '91 Geo Tracker convertible, which are in daily driver status. I also have the '95 Celica convertible tucked away in my garage.  Once I get myself in order here in PA,  I'm going to search out a decent collector car. Something like a 1950s pickup or rat rod roadster pickup.  Something that I can hop in and enjoy.  I spent too many years owning a bunch of restorables that just collected dust!

[alarmstrong]

2 kits come to mind for "Holy Grail" the hasegawa testrossa 250 had a few in my sights in the past but they all slipped away before i could get them and the revell car carrier.

 

250 is probably the coolest looking car I have never seen in person. I have yet another line in the water for one so i'll keep my fingers crossed and i just think the car carrier is cool in the absolute dorkiest sense of the word cool i have a line in the same water for that kit as well.

[Roncla]

2 kits come to mind for "Holy Grail" the hasegawa testrossa 250 had a few in my sights in the past but they all slipped away before i could get them and the revell car carrier.

 

250 is probably the coolest looking car I have never seen in person. I have yet another line in the water for one so i'll keep my fingers crossed and i just think the car carrier is cool in the absolute dorkiest sense of the word cool i have a line in the same water for that kit as well.

 

Hobby Search and HobbyLink Japan both show the Hasegawa 250 TR as being in stock.

 

[Draggon]

I got one of mine last week.

[Casey]

I got one of mine last week.

 

 

Retro Review, Retro Review, Retro Review!! 

[Chillyb1]

The Hasegawa Testa Rossa 250 had a few in my sights in the past but they all slipped away before i could get them...

 I have yet another line in the water for one so i'll keep my fingers crossed.

It is one of the coolest cars ever. The kit is not hard to find. I just added another to the stash via eBay for just $31.00 shipped! 

[Pete L.]

X2

[Erik Smith]

I got one of mine last week.

Just the box on that is cool. I second the retro review.

I bought one of my "grails" last week - should be getting it in the mail soon...

[Sam I Am]

I already found my Revell fully opened '57 Nomad, and added the matching 55-7 Belairs. Other than that, I wont know my next "graille" until I see it. lol

[alarmstrong]

It is one of the coolest cars ever. The kit is not hard to find. I just added another to the stash via eBay for just $31.00 shipped! 

The only ones I seem to see are about $80-100 don't get lucky enough to get ones at $31 found one for $43 shipped. Kinda Leary about the source though

[Draggon]

I try do the retro review of that 55 Chevy this weekend. 

[alarmstrong]

It is one of the coolest cars ever. The kit is not hard to find. I just added another to the stash via eBay for just $31.00 shipped! 

i never seem to be at the right place at the right time for deals like this. I finally found one and it is resting comfortably on my shelf this is one that i will be taking my time with

[Tom Geiger]

i never seem to be at the right place at the right time for deals like this. I finally found one and it is resting comfortably on my shelf this is one that i will be taking my time with

 

I seldom search eBay for what I'm looking for.  I set up a search agent that emails me every time something I want comes up for sale.

 

Just go to eBay in the model car category and type in the search line:

 

1955 (chevy,chevrolet) monogram -badman -(conv,convertible) -pace -street

 

The search is set up to find either Chevy or Chevrolet, and the minus terms eliminate a bunch of different issues that you're not interested in. The list still brings up a bunch of models that aren't the one you're looking for, but I can't see how to narrow the search down any further.  Once you're happy with the results of your search, click the button marked "SAVE" at the end of this line. That will set you up with the search agent that will email you daily.

[von Zipper]

Scored this built MPC '67 Bonneville on E-Bay last week

The glass was never glued in place   and the hood does'nt sit flush because of the tri-power carb.s and air filters.

This is a model I have wanted for MANY years and even though it's a built model-I'm happy to have it.