Dave Van

A TON of work to end up that nice!!!!

Correct......Mike Wolf did negotiate a deal with the railroads. The story is a long one and pretty complicated. Real railroad 'names' had been used for many years......some 100! There had never been licensing fees.....until licensing became a profit center. Then things changed. Long story short.....Wolf and Warren Buffet, now a model railroader, got it worked out. A little different than the car deal.

I have been lucky enough to build a test shot and help with issues in early production. I don't claim to be an expert on the 1/1 truck but there was nothing that stuck out like a sore thumb. I my OPINION the kit is as close as humanly possible 100% correct. I LOOKS great when complete......and I think Sean's great build shows this. As far as fit and finish....... I was able to build much of the chassis without glue....parts fitting so well they friction fit. The 6 cylinder engine, like the Hudson, is a work of art. I'd ask that all the nit picking wait until at least one PRODUCTION kit is in peoples hands. I know the effort behind the kit was 110%. All you can ask.

Of 100 licensing deals there is 100 different fees. No two deals are exactly alike.....it varies with manufacture, who is in charge that week, their mood....etc....

Who don't love a nice AMC build!!!! I cut up one of those kits back in the day....trying to make a 73 Matador......failed.

I'm building one right now. It will remain curbside and simple.....but I REALLY like how it is coming out!!!! Fun if nothing else.

I wasn't really talking about just Academy exclusively......But Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia....Asia in general CAN be difficult to work in when trying to protect or enforce Trade Dress and Trademarks. I had the opportunity to work with some folks in China. A great experience and some great people. But it was difficult at best and we were working toward a common goal......I can't imagine being at odds with all the barriers out there.

Correct Art.........but when you are dealing with a manufacture based in China going after them is going to be costly. Ferrari might do it, if they find out before the kits are all in hobby shop shelves, but Mitsu may not and even if they did....the kits may be gone from the manufacture so the win will be more pride again. These unlicensed things coming into the US is a different thing. But even that a hard place to police. When an item comes in w/o any trademarks on it.....the folks checking millions of containers a year may not spend much time looking. Lots of gray out there. If you want to see how hard it is for US customs to police it all....go to the wholesale district in downtown LA. All that stuff gets in somehow!

The 'look' is 'Trade Dress'.....

Lawsuit and China are a tough mix.......and when the company being sued is NOT using a trademark then you have to go after Trade dress......and my understanding that is super tough and costly in China,,,,,,if you understand. So you sue them in Italy, win....but the court has no teeth in China so it's a moral victory......a costly one to boot.

Look what I was just sent.......

Nice work on a very basic model. I kinda like this kit, bought 3 or them. I can see Revell Tooling a kit in stages. This basic kit is the lanch of the kit. Next version has better headlights, tail lights, mirrors and upgraded interior. Sales from this first two kits, which many of us buy, funds the detailed kit as it looks in real world production version. This gets a kit out there to the kids that 'want it now!!" and funds the full detail down the raod. A interesting method that is my years as a bank analyst has dreamed up and no inside info on weather that is their plan or not. I'm for it.....

I still have I still have a mint Pete sleeper as I used my kit to build Phil Jenson High Wide and Handsome from CM Mag.

Nice clean build. I think I built all the Dave Deal kits back in the day......have a few mint kits to try again someday. Many years ago I thought about the Dave Deal plane kits and wondered what a Tom Daniel plane based kit MIGHT look like. This was the result. BAD SPAD showrod........It was fun anyway!!!! 1/28 Revell Spad kit was the base.

That Ford Econline van in 1/25 would have sold millions....even into today!

Well........the kit as a whole is not 1/26 or 1/28 like some older Japanese kits.......but the body A pillars forward has issues.....again they don't bother me but get the digital calipers out and......

Worked OK in the film 'Solar Crisis' so why not!!!

Both AMT and MPC had 69 Mustang kits. My understanding is the AMT tool was modified into the funny car 'MACH WON' then the long nose Rhona kit?? The MPC version nose is too narrow for some reason....maybe a semi funny car body or something. But I do not notice the issues with the MPC as much as the new tool 1/25 Revell kit which has a very flat pug look for some reason.....even Revell was not real happy at the time it was done.

There is something 'wrong' with both kits.....the old AMT/MPC kit or the modern Revell kit. Both have issues up front. But I like the AMT version a little better.......the 'issues' are not as easy to see on it......the Revell kit screams wrong to my eyes.

Kinda figured we'd get a sleeper kit of some kind. Wonder if they will 'find' the Pete sleeper for a rerun of the 2nd edition of the Pete???? Kool idea anyway.

Drew..... Just catching up on this one. And a bit off topic.....the car in your avatar.......is that yours??? Did you ever have it at Good Guys in Charlotte?? My son took a ride in one about like that back many years ago when we lived in Charlotte. Just wondering.

Being a AMC fan, owning 2 right now, I am happy to see any AMC kit. BUT.....a 1/20 scale AMX is not what I'd pick first. Talk to any wholesaler and 1/20 is a dog sales wise. Good to see re-tooled parts, that will help some. I hope it does well and makes AMT/R2 look at the Matador kit or GASP....a new AMC tool. I vote a new tool 1971 Javelin that can be issued as any 71-74 Javelin or AMX, street stock, Trans-Am, drag etc. A viable kit IMHO. PS I have two of the MPC AMX kits.....just a bigger version of a 1/25 scale kit....not much different.

Fantastic look and build.......I like it!

If AMT thought there was money in the kits.....they could be restored back at any time. The GTO was, the 69 Torino was. The Falcon is the only one I'd put any money into. It MIGHT get a return on investment if the stock stuff is floating around in the mold. The rest would not turn a profit.....and had they not been modified and given new life would have been scrapped by now anyways.

Ford and Chrysler do a lot of testing along rural WV I-64 corridor. I see cars all the time 2-4 in a row, with the wild black and white tape designs or thin foam taped over areas. I followed what looked like a Challenger but I think it was a test Cuda as it had the greenhouse but front and tail were all new. hard to tell what they are at speed. I think they like it as there is no major citys after Charleston, little traffic at all and lots of different elevations with one HUGE up hill/down hill section that will test anything!