21 replies to this topic

[Michigan Madman]

One of my all-time faves, back for another go around! Who else is glad to see Lindberg at least partway out of the woods. I’ve loved this kit for a very long time! I have a 1:1 ’34 Ford pickup in an ‘advanced state of disrepair’ which will one day be a late ‘50’s style rod… I wonder if building all those Lindberg ‘34s as hot rods as a kid have anything to do with that?
Yep, this is the long-running ex-AMT kit, which if I recall dates back to the early ‘60’s. considering the age of the tooling, this has always been a pretty well molded kit. Sure, there are some mold lines and a bit of flash to contend with, but nothing too major, and I’ve personally seen a LOT worse!
This one is dolled up with a new Coke decal sheet (no, not a ‘New Coke’ sheet), and though the box art only shows the stake body, the pickup bed is still part of the deal. In fact, so is the wrecker boom. Oh, and the chromed headlamp bezel/reflector castings are still there, even though it appears they were not installed on the box art model! Aside from the Coke decals and the lack of the custom Goodyear ‘gatorback’ tires, this one is pretty much identical to the most recent reissues. I was half-expecting the kit to be molded in yellow, like the mid ‘90’s reissues. No sirree, Bob… white plastic all the way.
As I mentioned earlier, all the parts from the previous reissue are here. That means you can theoretically build a ‘hot rod’ Coke truck, if that is what your twisted little heart desires. The custom wheels are 5-hole Centerlines, a bit dated but fairly well done, and the tonneau cover is still the smooth one with snaps, as opposed to the tuck and roll pattern piece in pre-1995 reissues. And that simplified but oh-so-cool Ford T-bird 390 FE big block is still there!
About my only gripes… the kit is listed as 1:24, it is in fact 1:25- scale discrepancies on Lindberg kit boxes seem to be kind of an ‘in’ thing these days. And for whatever reason, Lindberg still does not see fit to bag the clear sprue, though in this case, there wasn’t any perceptible damage to the plating. I’d also recommend replacing the ‘plastic wire’ axles with metal ones, as the plastic axles are a bit too bendy and brittle to serve their purpose reliably. The kit does go together very easily out of box, so even a novice could build a presentable example, and it has just as many hot rod possibilities as the real truck. As this was originally an AMT kit, quite a few bits from other AMT Ford kits of the era will drop in without much effort.

[Harry P.]

Chrome plated engine block/trans?

I know Coke makes a big profit, but even they wouldn't do that!

[DRG]

Appears to be a good, clean and simple build.
I like those types, I'll being getting me one or two of these.

[Harry P.]

So how can a small-time model car company like Lindberg get away with "Coke" decals when the "big" model companies can't do "Firestone" or "Goodyear" tires???

[Michigan Madman]

Oh, it gets better... the tires have (gasp!) sidewall detail with LEGIBLE ARMSTRONG LETTERING!

[Duntov]

Thanks for this review.....I have several of these on my shelf....in different versions and most recently this one.....this is just a neat kit and affords a ton of flexibility....great review of a favorite old kit!!!

Regards Bill (Duntov)

[afxmustang]

Thanks for the review.I was wondering if this issue included those other parts. Always liked this kit and it has a reasonable price as well.

[Harry P.]

Thanks for the review.I was wondering if this issue included those other parts. Always liked this kit and it has a reasonable price as well.

From the review (first post):

"...though the box art only shows the stake body, the pickup bed is still part of the deal. In fact, so is the wrecker boom."

"As I mentioned earlier, all the parts from the previous reissue are here."

[Danno]

About my only gripes… the kit is listed as 1:24, it is in fact 1:25- scale discrepancies on Lindberg kit boxes seem to be kind of an ‘in’ thing these days.

Probably not a mistake ... probably intentional. Given the French printing on the box, Lindberg probably labeled the kit 1/24 to appeal to the Canadian and European markets since 1/24 is the "more accepted" scale internationally.

They probably figure there's not much difference between 1/24 and 1/25, so why not?

[Jantrix]

I have an AMT "dually" version of this I'll be building later this year. I'm looking forward to it.

Edited by Jantrix, 21 February 2011 - 08:41 AM.

[Art Anderson]

So how can a small-time model car company like Lindberg get away with "Coke" decals when the "big" model companies can't do "Firestone" or "Goodyear" tires???

Harry,

Very simple answer! The Coca Cola license and royalties covered just this kit, where tire company names (such as Firestone or Goodyear) go on, and on, and on, and on, to the level of obnoxity of the Energizer Bunny. Note, though that Lindberg's rendition of the '34 Ford pickup kit has ARMSTRONG tires, so named right on the side--but they missed the "ounce of prevention" that Armstrong Tire claimed made them 'GGGRRRRRIP The Road".

Art

[gpugh1976]

Does anybody have any pics of this kit built up? I'm curious to see how it looks.

[Michigan Madman]

Does anybody have any pics of this kit built up? I'm curious to see how it looks.

Sort of????

This is one I kitbashed with a Revell Deuce Tudor (and a few other kits)


This is one done as a barn-find early rod


One I kitbashed with the Phantom Vicky kit



And this one with a Jimmy Flintstone extended cab (and the fender unit and frame extended to match)


And yeah... quite a few of these will be bought simply as 'Coke Collectibles'. Ed Hulings, owner of Hulings Hobby house (where I bought this kit) ordered four of them in, and the first two went to a Coke collector!

[gpugh1976]

That makes a neat lookin' little truck.

[Art Anderson]

It's not that the "big" model companies can't do tire names; it's that the tire companies want to charge them to much to use their names, and the licensing fee to use "Goodyear" or "Firestone" cuts too deeply into the model companies' profit margins, which are pretty thin to begin with.
The "Coke" kits, on the other hand, are intended for a very specific niche market ... people who collect items with the "Coca-Cola" logo on them. Trust me, too, there are LOTS of those folks out there. If you don't believe me, check out the number of licensed Coca-Cola items in the gift shop the next time you visit a Cracker Barrel. Therefore, a company like Lindberg (and AMT a few years back) is going to be more amenable to paying a licensing fee for the Coke logo because of the additional sales it will generate.
BTW, Lindberg's Coke series of kits also includes the Dodge A-100 pickup and Dodge cabover. While Lindberg might sell a few of those kits to builders, my guess is the vast majority of them will never have their shrink wrap removed.

Absolutely correct, Ken.

When it comes to licensed product, Coca Cola is just about the biggest one there is out there. In 2003-2004, I was responsible for all the Coca Cola licensed Johnny Lightning diecasts--and it was actually a fun enterprise! For starters, while Coca Cola, as a licensor is extremely demanding (or at least they were back then), they were also the most helpful of any with whom I was called upon to work, bar none. Need logo artwork? No matter the era, they had it available. Need to know the correct shades of yellow, red or green (yeah, Coca Cola bottlers' delivery vehicles up through the late 20's were yellow and dark green, with red lettering and accents), I was able to get that within a half hour of an email (most such licensors took their own sweet time with stuff like that). I developed a grand total of 42 different Coca Cola projects in 1/64 scale, along with 6 1/24 scale miniatures, and two 1/18th scale pieces as well in about 15 months. And, the sales rates on all of them were off the charts compared to our other lines and programs.

On the other hand, we continued to be able to use Firestone and Goodyear tampo-printing on our tires well past the larger model companies dropping theirs, due to our having licenses with a much longer duration. But in any event, licensing doesn't cover just the vehicles and any decorations on them, but also aftermarket stuff that may appear on the models themselves. Companies such as CRAGAR, Edelbrock and Halibrand all require at minimum, the right of approval for the use of their designs in miniatures or model car kits. Perhaps the most interesting license we had at Johnny Lightning back in those days was a 100% exclusive license for the use of Halibrand and CRAGAR wheel designs in 1/64 scale. And with both of those companies, the license wasn't terribly expensive, and approvals of a new wheel tool? Sent them pics of the proposed wheel mockup, approvals back within mere minutes!

But, regardless of how any modeler feels about it, licensing and royalties have been a part of the model car game for decades, and they aren't going to go away, so it's really not something worth getting all exercised about.

Art

[RickRollerLT1]

Can you use parts and/or some elements from say... the AMT '33 Ford coupe kit that was reissued not too long ago? (the one in the '90s style box art crica 2006)

[Michigan Madman]

Can you use parts and/or some elements from say... the AMT '33 Ford coupe kit that was reissued not too long ago? (the one in the '90s style box art crica 2006)

Some of the parts from that kit (three window and Tudor) almost drop right in, while other stuff (like the independent front and rear suspensions) take a little more work.

I did bash this kit and one of those to make a replica of what a '34 Ford would have looked like if they'd adopted the passenger car styling on the trucks a few years back-

[samdiego]

The chromed 427 may seem out of place in a Coca Cola truck but when the kit was new it made it a "show quality" rod engine. This is how I did the bed and wrecker boom.

Edited by samdiego, 24 February 2011 - 12:57 PM.

[Art Anderson]

Chrome plated engine block/trans?

I know Coke makes a big profit, but even they wouldn't do that!

The 390 6bbl engine in that kit has been plated every run since the original issue kit in early 1963.

Art

[SteveG]

The 390 6bbl engine in that kit has been plated every run since the original issue kit in early 1963.

Art

It's also in Lindberg's recent reissue of the 1:27th? Tall-T with the other parts on that tree as shown in Chuck's photo below.

-Steve