149 replies to this topic

[niteowl7710]

 

Agreed, but with every other California Wheels kit they have the extra wheels included.

 

I did buy one and after reading the box over I wasn't holding my breath.

 

Not nearly as disappointing as the reissue of the '56 DelRay which was advertised as a 2n1 in the original Revell literature, but when it came out was a direct re-pop of the California Wheels kit which has all of the stock parts except the "snap-in" white wall tires.  Still I can't believe those tires and the small runner of white-wall inserts cost THAT much that they couldn't include them.  But then again I actually like the rims that are part of the California Wheels kit anyway once I looked them over.

[rel14]

Note the bottom left of the box, which says it's 1/16 scale. It's not -- it's the same old 1/24 kit sold under many labels. This is a typo that made it onto a ton of this kit. There never was a 1/16 version.

 

 

 

  And ya notice the really car has a 6 cylinder,,and this kit has a,,UHH looks like a blop of plastic for a engine, Zero detail.

  inside tub seat combo has little to detail too...

[Edsel-Dan]

Wish I had a picture of the box.

AMT's re-issue of the 60 Chevy Pickup kit. First offered in Michaels's

 

Shows a Longbox Fleetside in 2 tone silver/gray with side trim,

but open the box,  and find the Modern tool Shortbox Phantom Cameo

that has smooth sides and is a Base Custom not the high level Apachie

 

It even shows Correct Fleetside outer box sides while the kit gives the Stepside box

with Fleetside "Fenders". Worse, the box was cast as one piece.

That one & Revell's 64 are not Correct Fleetsides, and both are very susceptible to warping

 

I had to cut both apart, add floor sections to widen the bed floor and then replace the outer box.

[Brett Barrow]

 
How do they get away with a stunt like that???

Well, it was during the flurry of third-party reissues when RC2 was letting whoever could pony up the $$$ and do their own box art and decal art run whatever they wanted. I'm sure that was one of the examples of "dilution of the brand" that led to Round 2 coming in and taking over the brands and ultimately purchasing the company.

A straight reissue of the Vicky would have been welcome at the time, and that's how we ended up marketing the kit at the wholesale level - we were clear with our dealers as to what was inside. I can imagine it was a tougher sell at retail. It was only a small run by DTR, there were only a couple thousand pieces done. They did another one, I can't remember which body it was, the coupe I think.

[Harry P.]

Well, it was during the flurry of third-party reissues when RC2 was letting whoever could pony up the $$$ and do their own box art and decal art run whatever they wanted. I'm sure that was one of the examples of "dilution of the brand" that led to Round 2 coming in and taking over the brands and ultimately purchasing the company.

 

They let anyone run anything, and put the AMT logo on the box? 

[niteowl7710]

 
They let anyone run anything, and put the AMT logo on the box? 

That's the rub it's NOT the AMT logo, but the one of the company that did these kits (and they did about a half dozen or so of them that I've seen on eBay). I dunno how they got away with it, you'd think there would be a trademark issue, but I guess since AMT/Ertl can never exist again, perhaps there's no "confusion" issue with the logo. Who would sue?

[Harry P.]

That's the rub it's NOT the AMT logo...

 

[Brett Barrow]

 
They let anyone run anything, and put the AMT logo on the box? 

Yeah, there were quite a few companies doing private label runs - Stevens Int'l and Model King did the most. You first had to make sure RC2 could find the tooling, and it was usable, then design the box art and decal sheet and commit to a certain purchase of x number of kits and they would run and box the kits at their factory and ship the kits to them where they'd take over and handle the sale and distribution of them. IMHO, and I'm a bit biased since I worked for one of those companies during that period, RC2 was a bit of a rudderless ship at the time and it was these private label reissues that really helped save these iconic brands during a rough time when a lot of these private label runs ended up being more popular and better received by modelers than the choices RC2 was making on their own.

That was when Tom Lowe and Round 2 came in and signed an exclusive deal for the rights to the AMT, MPC, and Polar Lights brand names and exclusive access to their tooling, which led eventually to them purchasing those brands outright a few months ago. All in all I have to say I've been generally very pleased with what they've done to save and restore these iconic brands to the place where they belong in the hobby world.

[ZTony8]

The description that always amused me was on the AMT anniversary edition of the '68 B body Plymouth.AMT's license agreement with Warner Brothers had run out so they couldn't use the Road Runner markings or wording.So on box it says something like "anniversary edition of a version of a kit never issued before" (I'm at work and the box isn't so I'm paraphrasing).I laugh every time I see that wording.

[diymirage]

what about all these so called "muscle cars" and then they only have a ford in there

 

zing

[Michigan Madman]

Wish I had a picture of the box.

AMT's re-issue of the 60 Chevy Pickup kit. First offered in Michaels's

 

Shows a Longbox Fleetside in 2 tone silver/gray with side trim,

but open the box,  and find the Modern tool Shortbox Phantom Cameo

that has smooth sides and is a Base Custom not the high level Apachie

 

It even shows Correct Fleetside outer box sides while the kit gives the Stepside box

with Fleetside "Fenders". Worse, the box was cast as one piece.

That one & Revell's 64 are not Correct Fleetsides, and both are very susceptible to warping

 

I had to cut both apart, add floor sections to widen the bed floor and then replace the outer box.

This one?

If you want the one actually shown on the box, that's the old SMP/AMT annual kit. I've heard the one on the box is actually a resin repop of same... why they didn't just use the actual kit inside for its own box art is beyond me.

[Edsel-Dan]

Yes, that Is the one. I wanted that Longbox Fleetside!!!

Original AMT/SMP 1960 Annual!!

 

Notice it says Retouched photo of ACTUAL Model!!!!

No Way Period on that one!!!!!

 

I have a couple Gluebombs to try my hand at restoring now!!

[Michigan Madman]

 

Notice it says Retouched photo of ACTUAL Model!!!!

 

That's how they get you. They never said it would be the ACTUAL model contained in the box... only that it's a retouched photo of an actual model. Of some sort!

And it's badly retouched at that- you can tell the side trim was just kind of tossed on during the photo editing phase.

[FordRodnKustom]

What's a "sheel"?

 

 

 

From an original issue AMT Ala-Kart - '29 Ford double kit.

[Edsel-Dan]

It reads "Retouched Photo Of Actual Model": Not of A model, so It Should have been the Longbox!

And the trim Is correct for the 60 & 61 Apache,

I have a couple and can show that

[Harry P.]

It reads "Retouched Photo Of Actual Model": Not of A model, so It Should have been the Longbox!

And the trim Is correct for the 60 & 61 Apache,

I have a couple and can show that

 

It says "Retouched Photo of Actual Model," which is technically true. It's a retouched photo of an actual model...but it doesn't say that that actual model is the same one that's in the box!

 

For a company that keeps pulling scams like this seemingly over and over, that would probably be their "defense," as shady as that is.

[Michigan Madman]

It reads "Retouched Photo Of Actual Model": Not of A model, so It Should have been the Longbox!

And the trim Is correct for the 60 & 61 Apache,

I have a couple and can show that

The trim is correct and present on the actual longbox kit, which is why I wonder why they added it to the box art model (seeing as how that's the model they used for the '90's-era kit reissue, anyway). Maybe whoever built the box art truck did not foil it, sanded it off, or buried it under paint. It's painfully 'photoshopped' after the fact on the box art.

[Casey]

 

why they didn't just use the actual kit inside for its own box art is beyond me.

 

They probably didn't have a complete test shot ready to finish far enough in advance, since this was an all-new kit at the time.

 

I'm assuming they used a Modelhaus resin kit  for the box art build.

 

I think they went to the other extreme when they released the "custom" version of this kit, causing many to be turned off by what the top of the box shows. 

 

[Harry P.]

This one?

If you want the one actually shown on the box, that's the old SMP/AMT annual kit. I've heard the one on the box is actually a resin repop of same... why they didn't just use the actual kit inside for its own box art is beyond me.

 

Not only is the photo not of the model in the box, they didn't even get the text on the box right.

 

It says "Hot Trucks," whatever that means... then the French "translation." which you can see they list as "Camions gonflés."

 

Except that "Camions gonflés" actually means "Inflated Trucks!"  

[Edsel-Dan]

It was NOT A New tool at the time,. This was the RE-Issue!! 3-5 Years later!

They in fact had 2 issues out Before. The Stock & the Street Machine you

show in the W-M Checker Board box.