Revell Midgets - all gone?

[Jonathan]

I was thinking I'd like to pickup a couple of the Revell Midget racers (Edelbrock, Offy) but man, oh, man!  The few I've seen are only on eBay or Amazon and are pricey.  Anybody know if these might be reissued in the near future?

[JTalmage]

I know a small local store that has several of each still in stock (last time I was in there) and they were average price.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Yeah, you can still get them for around $25. Plus shipping of course, if you're shopping online.

[Mark]

You're a year or so late...one of the "closeout" stores blew out a bunch of the Edelbrock/V8-60 kits for $8 apiece.  I didn't see any of the Offenhauser version kits there, which would lead me to believe the Offy far outsold the V8-60.  I'd bet that the Offy might see a reissue in the next couple of years, but the V8-60 version might not come along for the ride next time around.

[Daddyfink]

They don't like to be called Midgets, they prefer "Little Race Cars"

[Dave Van]

The number I saw dumped at Ollie's I doubt we will see them  in the Revell catalog.  Plus the folks that backed that project are no longer at Revell. 

[mikemodeler]

Modelroundup has them, reasonably priced, and they have outstanding service.

[mike 51]

...  Plus the folks that backed that project are no longer at Revell. 

So when staff leaves Revell do they take the molds with them or does Revell just throw them away?  

[oldcarfan]

Maybe they can package it with the Mercury Woodie or something as a combo kit. That would be interesting.

[Craig Irwin]

I saw very few on the contest tables, that leads me to believe they didn't sell well.

 

[Jonathan]

Reading the reviews, I would have expected them to be popular kits - trailer included.  Bummer.

[Daddyfink]

i think i bought one of each and I have not clue where they are! If they come back, i doubt I would buy anymore. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

I saw very few on the contest tables, that leads me to believe they didn't sell well.

 

Though to some of us old farts the little midgets are important parts of racing history and very desirable models, I fear that for the majority, they're unknown and unwanted because they don't look like anything diddy or momma or brudda ever drove.

I'm pretty sure the recent reissue of Thompson's Challenger One was kindof a flop too, for much the same reason...which strikes me as sadly odd in light of the fact that that single car probably marks the absolute high-point of real hot-rodding in America. It was built by one of the all-time great hot-rodders, a gifted practical engineer, and it was built largely from junk. But for all the "nostalgia" running rampant these days, nobody really seems to give a rat's backside, at least in numbers sufficient to sell lotsa kits, what kinds of racing cars are really historically significant.

The Offy and V8-60 powered midgets were vastly popular both before and after WW II, but the guys who actually remember seeing them as real race cars and not museum pieces are mostly pushing up daisies now.

Not a lot of people even know a V8-60 ever existed, what it is, why it was built, what it came in, and how it proved to be stiff competition for the more expensive little Offenhauser racing engine. The fact that the Offy was originally designed by Harry Miller (and that that fact...and the Offenhauser name being associated with high-performance in the US up through this very minute... gives the little 4-banger a pretty impressive pedigree far as US racing goes) seems to be overlooked by most modelers too.

It always strikes me as interesting that there's rather a lot of historical awareness in other fields of plastic modeling, like aircraft, ships and armor, but model cars don't seem to attract the history-cognizant.

Edited May 7, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Jonathan]

Bill - I suspect this is true for many of us -- I build for several reasons:  I like the vehicle; I stumbled across some interesting history about the vehicle; my parents/grandparents/others had some connection to the vehicle or one like it.  And, I'm a history buff, so when I'm not building cars/trucks, I'm building 1/72 WWII aircraft (mostly).   Your comments really rang home for me. I was aware that the midgets were very popular after WWII, and that was my interest in them.  Plus, there are all sorts of marking options.

I did dig through the ol' stash just a bit ago.  Turns out, I do have the Edelbrock Equipped V-8/60, but not the Offenhauser one.  I'm going to keep my eye out for more of the former, and at least one of the latter.

If anyone has any built, I'd love to see them. I hate that I missed when they were hot items. 

[Dave Van]

So when staff leaves Revell do they take the molds with them or does Revell just throw them away?  

I'm pretty sure you know that's not true.........

But after 30 plus years working in the industry at every level from retail shop to kit manufacture..........

I've seen projects pushed by one or two individuals at a company just go away when those folks are no longer there. 

Being pretty big flops I don't see anyone putting their neck on the line anytime soon......it will be a while before new plastic runs in those molds.

If you know different please share.  thx

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's a little history lesson on the midgets and what a huge part of American culture they were for decades. Maybe some understanding of how cool these little cars were will help to bring about another run.

http://alblixtracinghistory.typepad.com/al_blixt_auto_racing_hist/2010/03/v860-the-little-engine-that-could.html

         

Edited May 7, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[tim boyd]

.

If anyone has any built, I'd love to see them. I hate that I missed when they were hot items. 

Here you go....79 how-to/buildup and completed photos of the Edelbrock version...click here     and....

 

and here a similar treatment for the Offy version....    and click here...   

These two kits are among the best 1/24th/1/25th scale kits to ever be tooled....they are amazingly authentic and pretty easy/quick to build for experienced modelers.  I cannot recommend them highly enough....  TIM 

Edited May 7, 2016 by tim boyd

[Art Anderson]

Here's a little history lesson on the midgets and what a huge part of American culture they were for decades. Maybe some understanding of how cool these little cars were will help to bring about another run.

http://alblixtracinghistory.typepad.com/al_blixt_auto_racing_hist/2010/03/v860-the-little-engine-that-could.html

         

What the writer of this attached piece omitted, if he even knew, is that Frank Kurtis' Midget was the most-produced open wheel race car of all time,  Kurtis having produced more than 500 rolling chassis, plus nearly a thousand pre-cut and formed chassis kits to be assembled by those who bought them.  Kurtis, having been an established hot rod and custom car shop in LA by 1940, found himself subcontracting for the likes of North American Aviation, where during WW-II, he stamped out or formed hundreds of wing-root fairing panels and wingtips for such planes as the P-51 Mustang.  That left him with a small sheet metal stamping press that otherwise might have been worth the price of scrap iron.  Kurtis had a pair of dies made in order to stamp out the two halves of the midget tail, as well as 2-part nose panels, which could be heli-arced into one-piece body units (he had a pretty strong spare parts business for those, given the 7-day-week midget racing seasons of the first 6 or 7 years post WW-II.

MIdgets pioneered a few things race-car-wse as well:   Kurtis' welded steel tube frames came about at a time when virtually all race cars were still being built with channel section rail frames (Kurtis himself enlarged his midget design to build sprint cars, and by 1949 had built the first successful tubular space-frame Indianapolis car (which won at Indianapolis in 1950), and his influence was felt all over--from oval tracks, to Formula race cars overseas, to the drag-racing world.  In addition, the first use of caliper-type disc brakes on race cars was on a Kurtis Midget.  Where virtually all open-wheel race cars in the US used leaf spring suspension (most derived from Fords), Kurtis introduced torsion bars.   They pioneered the now-classic quick-change rear axle center section, and got Ted Halibrand into the business of making cast magnesium racing wheels.  Joe Hunt magneto's? First used on Offenhauser midget engines.  Hilborn Fuel Injection?  Pioneered an Offy midget engine.

 

Considering that Ollie's is a fairly small regional close-out store chain--I doubt they got all that many midgets--Ollies here in Lafayette had none of them.  As for reissues--I'm willing to bet that in 4-5 yrs time, there could well be another production run of these kits.

Art

[Jonathan]

Man oh man!  You guys are killing me!  Excellent information - Art, Tim, Bill, Dave, et al. - thank you!  Now, I really, really, really wish I'd grabbed some when they were available!

[stavanzer]

I've got one of the little Offy Midgets. I need to eventually get the V-8/60 kits. Tim is correct about it being a beautifully molded kit. It is simply gorgeous. 

That said, I think Bill Engwer (Ace Garageguy) may have hit on a reason that the kits did not sell as well as expected, and are not seen built much. Truthfully, except for the "Lunatic Fringe", car modelers seem to be mostly driven by a "That's Kool" Mindset, buying whatever grabs their attention most on the shelf, or the internet. A smaller group, are driven by a "theme". Mopar Muscle, Hot Rods, Trucks, Light Commercial, Super Cars, whatever. The last and smallest group (by far) are those of us with an interest in and knowledge of both the Model Car Hobby, and the One to One Car Hobby. We also have an interest in the History of both Hobbies, and how influences have crossed back and forth from Model Car to Real Car, back to Model Car.  This "L.F" punches a long way above their weight. Moebuis Model's Car Kits would not exist if the L.F. did not wield considerable influence. The same applies to Many Recent Revell kits. The '29/'30 Ford Kits, the '57 Black Widow, and the Mercury Wagon are examples of the L.F. driving the market. IMHO.  You will note that the kits designed for the "That's Kool" market (S&H Torino, comes to mind first) are looked down on by many of the Lunatic Fringe, for being simplified "No-Options" kits. But, by all accounts the Torino is selling well, just not so much amongst us. I see the new Hurst Olds following a similar trajectory. Already the L.F. have weighed in with what are perhaps truthful, yet minor gripes, for a kit that really is not aimed at them, except in a tangential way.. The "That's Kool" buyer really doesn't care if if the wheel rims are too narrow. He just sees the pre-printed Red Stripe on the rims, and has two thoughts. 1. Wow, that's Neat! 2. How did they do that?  The L.F. may have those same thoughts as well, but the are followed by judgement and critique, not simple acceptance. Now, this is NOT to say the Joe Buyer is right, and the L.F. is wrong. The rims may very well be too shallow. The Details may be too simplified. But, the attitude taking by the purchaser is where to two groups diverge. The "That's Kool" guy cares mostly about how neat a kit is. Neat Kit=Satisfied. The L.F. buyer, however, has a more nuanced and global view of the kit. It must, of course, push the "I Want/Need" button, but it also has to satisfy several criteria as well. Are the Dimensions/Proportions correct? Did the details get molded correctly? Are the details I want on the kit. Is this the Exact Version of the subject matter I want. If not, How Soon / Easy will the version I want be tooled, or have a the Resin Corrected or Transkit parts produced. Again, Neither View or Buyer is wrong. They just Differ (wildly sometimes) in their view of what constitutes a "Good" kit.

As I see it, the Midgets, while possibly a huge hit with both the Lunatic Fringe and Theme Modelers, may not have made such huge sales inroads with the "That's Kool guys. Ergo, less than stellar sales.

To back over what Art Anderson mentioned, I suspect that the kits will see that light of day again. Possibly with different decals, and as somebody else mentioned as part of a Two Car gift set. Since the Midgets come with hitch assemblies for the '50 Ford Pickup and Mercury Wagon, those would be the most logical candidates for a double kit. 

Of course, this is just my opinion, bolstered by some reading of Modeling Boards, and actual observation. I freely admit that I am not a Guru.

[Silver Foxx]

I have built three of these ( 2 offy and 1 V8 ) .These are great little kits , go together real nice , look great hooked up to the right tow vehicle .

[mikemodeler]

Man oh man!  You guys are killing me!  Excellent information - Art, Tim, Bill, Dave, et al. - thank you!  Now, I really, really, really wish I'd grabbed some when they were available!

They are still available, just go to the Modelroundup and you will see them. 

[Shardik]

I have one of each in my stash.  I picked them up specifically as starting points to replicate the cars my Grandfather built back in the late '40s and early '50s.

My uncle drove the two on the right, while the one on the left was built for a customer.

Looks like I better pick up a couple more while I still can.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I have one of each in my stash.  I picked them up specifically as starting points to replicate the cars my Grandfather built back in the late '40s and early '50s.

Cool. Really really cool. 

[modelercarl]

This really stirs up some old memories for me.  From about 1953 to 1959 there was a show on local TV (black & white) that was telecast live from Motor City Speedway featuring midget cars such as these models.  The midget racers running on this track were not in the same class though, many were built up in a shed or guy's garage, not anywhere as nice as these.  The track was a 1/4 mile oval and it was located on the northern border of Detroit on the east side.  The announcer was a guy by the name of Fred Wolf and he managed to make celebrities of the various drivers.  It was shown on Saturday night and was quite popular.  The track was torn down in 1959 due to heavy damage to the grandstand from a fire.  I have a couple of each model in my stash and have on my todo list to build replicas of racers that ran on this track. 

Edited May 8, 2016 by modelercarl
After consulting with buddies, the years should be 1947/1948 to 1950