Terrible Box Art

[Erik Smith]

“California Pickup”???? Not sure stars and bars were ever real popular there...

[Rusty92]

1 hour ago, Erik Smith said:

“California Pickup”???? Not sure stars and bars were ever real popular there...

What in the world is going on here. It's got some Lil Red Express mixed in with some DoH but on a Chevy truck. The California part is weird also!

[Daddyfink]

2 hours ago, Erik Smith said:

“California Pickup”???? Not sure stars and bars were ever real popular there...

The funny part is that they did not come on the original issue of the kit as the "Red Neck Power Pick Up" but they did on the "California" version

 

[lordairgtar]

On 12/9/2018 at 4:27 AM, Atmobil said:

Convertible model kit?

That means you could build the stock version, not the body style.

[tim boyd]

For what it is worth, the subject of model car kit box art, how and why it has developed, is addressed in considerable detail (including input from industry insiders) in my latest book...TIM  .    

[CapSat 6]

On ‎12‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 11:22 AM, Erik Smith said:

Any idea what’s happening here? Dude in short cut offs flipping a chubby mechanic a coin...makes me want to buy it. 

I would not call this "Terrible"...I would call this: "hilarious!!!"...

Full disclosure: I had one of these as a kid, and sought one out (cheaply) a few years ago. Mine is a keeper.

I think in the '70's, this played much better than it does now.

I think the driver is on his way to the Regal Beagle...

 

[Oldcarfan27]

15 hours ago, CapSat 6 said:

I think in the '70's, this played much better than it does now.

I think the driver is on his way to the Regal Beagle...

Or the "Blue Oyster Club" to see the Village People. 

[Atmobil]

I am one of those that want to have that kit on my shelf, not because that I think any higly of the boxart but because I have several other versions of the same kit. I'm not sure the pink VW Street Machine really is that much better:

But atleast it shows you what you get, a very pink late 80s cal-looker. And I got it on the shelf.
When searching for that box I also found this:

Revell Easy kit New Beetle.
Does that boxart make you want to buy it?

[highway]

On 12/9/2018 at 3:25 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Don't pay too much! I have purchased all three when they were readily available.  These cars have just OK 1/24 scale proportions (Tbird is too big, Firebird is chopped and wide, Mustang is the best), no engines, have opening doors with rudimentary interiors, platform chassis and most of all PROVISIONS FOR MOTORIZATION! Very important when building an accurate scale model. 

Why, oh why do Japanese companies keep foisting this useless gimmick instead of just producing an accurate model.

It isn't that the Japanese companies are still trying to use the gimmick of motorization, it's due to the fact that when these kits were originally molded in the late 70s or 80s for a Japanese kit to be imported to the US, it had to be sold as a "toy". That is why the older ARII, Tamiya, and Fujimi kits all have provisions for motorization and some are not done as good as others. 

As with most things though until importing foreign kits as we enjoy today got easier, there are some notable exceptions to the rules back then, and mostly an American manufacturer reboxing an import kit. Many of the old Testors yellow box kits are either Tamiya, Italeri, or the best of them all Fujimi Enthusiast kits. The early to mid 80s Revell GT40 is actually a Fujimi kit reboxed, as is the AMT "Back to the Future" DeLorean which was actually molded by Aoshima.  

[highway]

Though I think reading through this thread, a few of these were already mentioned, but my vote for the all time worst box art is AMT's RC2 days in the late 2000s like this one. 

I like to call these the "box of chocolate" kits, because you never know what is actually going to be inside! No kit descriptions, and specifically with this kit, it doesn't even represent the kit that is actually in the box. I bought this kit specifically because I wanted to build a stock run of the mill "grocery getter" Nova like it shows on the box, and to my dismay open it up to find out that what is inside is only parts to build a pro street style car, no stock option parts are included.  I ended up picking up a reissue of the "Squad Rod" just so I could have my stock Nova to get my scale groceries in! 

[Atmobil]

29 minutes ago, highway said:

Though I think reading through this thread, a few of these were already mentioned, but my vote for the all time worst box art is AMT's RC2 days in the late 2000s like this one. 

I like to call these the "box of chocolate" kits, because you never know what is actually going to be inside! No kit descriptions, and specifically with this kit, it doesn't even represent the kit that is actually in the box. I bought this kit specifically because I wanted to build a stock run of the mill "grocery getter" Nova like it shows on the box, and to my dismay open it up to find out that what is inside is only parts to build a pro street style car, no stock option parts are included.  I ended up picking up a reissue of the "Squad Rod" just so I could have my stock Nova to get my scale groceries in! 

Same here, I also wanted to build "grocery getter" and was bummed out when I found out what was in it.

[Daddyfink]

40 minutes ago, highway said:

Though I think reading through this thread, a few of these were already mentioned, but my vote for the all time worst box art is AMT's RC2 days in the late 2000s like this one. 

I like to call these the "box of chocolate" kits, because you never know what is actually going to be inside! No kit descriptions, and specifically with this kit, it doesn't even represent the kit that is actually in the box. I bought this kit specifically because I wanted to build a stock run of the mill "grocery getter" Nova like it shows on the box, and to my dismay open it up to find out that what is inside is only parts to build a pro street style car, no stock option parts are included.  I ended up picking up a reissue of the "Squad Rod" just so I could have my stock Nova to get my scale groceries in! 

It is ironic that we got "Actual Model" box art because of "Truth in Advertisement" laws and yet we ended up with horrible models that did not actually match the contents. 

 

[Snake45]

6 hours ago, Atmobil said:

I am one of those that want to have that kit on my shelf, not because that I think any higly of the boxart but because I have several other versions of the same kit. I'm not sure the pink VW Street Machine really is that much better:

But atleast it shows you what you get, a very pink late 80s cal-looker. And I got it on the shelf.
 

I just rediscovered one of those in the Snakepit stash, apparently bought decades ago. Having just finished an AMC beetle (after nearly 50 years!), I'm kinda in the mood to build it. And if it's molded in pink, so much the better--I really enjoy polishing plastic, and I don't have a pink car in my collection. 

[lordairgtar]

1 hour ago, highway said:

It isn't that the Japanese companies are still trying to use the gimmick of motorization, it's due to the fact that when these kits were originally molded in the late 70s or 80s for a Japanese kit to be imported to the US, it had to be sold as a "toy". That is why the older ARII, Tamiya, and Fujimi kits all have provisions for motorization and some are not done as good as others. 

 

I kind of doubt this. The same kits in Japan had the motor additions too. The Japanese liked powered models. A kit could be sold as a toy regardless of motor inclusion or not. Not all toy cars are motorized.

[Sledsel]

20 hours ago, highway said:

Though I think reading through this thread, a few of these were already mentioned, but my vote for the all time worst box art is AMT's RC2 days in the late 2000s like this one. 

I like to call these the "box of chocolate" kits, because you never know what is actually going to be inside! No kit descriptions, and specifically with this kit, it doesn't even represent the kit that is actually in the box. I bought this kit specifically because I wanted to build a stock run of the mill "grocery getter" Nova like it shows on the box, and to my dismay open it up to find out that what is inside is only parts to build a pro street style car, no stock option parts are included.  I ended up picking up a reissue of the "Squad Rod" just so I could have my stock Nova to get my scale groceries in! 

This goes right along with the Nova..... The box art clearly shows an MPC build but the kit is the AMT.

Kind of leads me to believe the MPC tooling exists 

[Oldcarfan27]

8 hours ago, Sledsel said:

This goes right along with the Nova..... The box art clearly shows an MPC build but the kit is the AMT.

Kind of leads me to believe the MPC tooling exists 

I remember being excited about buying  this Mustang, thinking it was the MPC kit on the box. Only to find out it was the AMT kit - and not even stock! I stopped buying RC2 kits after that. Truth in advertising indeed, not with this one.

I doubt the MPC kit still exists as stock, pretty sure it became the pro stock/pro street version at the end of the annual run. Too bad, as it's much better than the AMT kit is.

[unclescott58]

8 hours ago, Sledsel said:

This goes right along with the Nova..... The box art clearly shows an MPC build but the kit is the AMT.

Kind of leads me to believe the MPC tooling exists 

If the old Mutt II tooling exists, they need to reissue a stock '76-'77 Cobra II version. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 12/22/2018 at 11:22 AM, Erik Smith said:

Any idea what’s happening here? Dude in short cut offs flipping a chubby mechanic a coin... 

Makes my skin crawl just looking at that...and I really do NOT want to know any more...

[Casey]

Racing Champions era-AMT wasn't exactly moving the bar in the upward direction, and the 2/3 checkerboard-1/3 Dryvit wall texture boxes weren't helping much, either. I don't think the wording was ever proofread, either, as those don't appear to be Rally Wheels, and while you can't even see most of the hood due to the presence of that massive hood scoop, there are no louvers present. And in low-res, semi-blurry pictures, and cheapen the AMT logo even more while you're at it...

Edited December 28, 2018 by Casey

[Snake45]

On 12/22/2018 at 11:22 AM, Erik Smith said:

Any idea what’s happening here? Dude in short cut offs flipping a chubby mechanic a coin...makes me want to buy it. 

I'll explain. 

The fat guy's not necessarily a mechanic. Back in the old days, you didn't pump your own gas. There were people who performed this service for you, called "gas station attendants." I worked as one in high school. (Probably many of you did.) 

Look at the gas pump. The sale reads 00 dollars and 25 cents. Mr. Village Person has just ordered and received 25 cents worth of gas, and is flipping the attendant a quarter in payment. 

The attendant is dumbstruck as he realizes that Mr. VP probably at that very moment probably has more than 25 cents worth of "product" of some kind in his manly mustache.

Every picture tells a story. 

[1972coronet]

39 minutes ago, Casey said:

Racing Champions era-AMT wasn't exactly moving the bar in the upward direction, and the 2/3 checkerboard-1/3 Dryvit wall texture boxes weren't helping much, either. I don't think the wording was ever proofread, either, as those don't appear to be Rally Wheels, and while you can't even see most of the hood due to the presence of that massive hood scoop, there are no louvers present. And in low-res, semi-blurry pictures, and cheapen the AMT logo even more while you're at it...

Not only does it state Rally Wheel (only one wheel ?) , but the (fugly , 80's throw-up throwback) car is also right-hand-drive !

[slusher]

On December 25, 2018 at 5:43 PM, Snake45 said:

I just rediscovered one of those in the Snakepit stash, apparently bought decades ago. Having just finished an AMC beetle (after nearly 50 years!), I'm kinda in the mood to build it. And if it's molded in pink, so much the better--I really enjoy polishing plastic, and I don't have a pink car in my collection. 

I have one of the Revell pink beetles and I plan on painting it pink and bought the paint a few years ago....

[<profile removed>]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

Racing Champions era-AMT wasn't exactly moving the bar in the upward direction, and the 2/3 checkerboard-1/3 Dryvit wall texture boxes weren't helping much, either. I don't think the wording was ever proofread, either, as those don't appear to be Rally Wheels, and while you can't even see most of the hood due to the presence of that massive hood scoop, there are no louvers present. And in low-res, semi-blurry pictures, and cheapen the AMT logo even more while you're at it...

 

Wasn't this style box exclusive to Walmart? Seems like they are everywhere now, but I thought they were discounted Walmart offerings.

[<profile removed>]

49 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

I'll explain. 

The fat guy's not necessarily a mechanic. Back in the old days, you didn't pump your own gas. There were people who performed this service for you, called "gas station attendants." I worked as one in high school. (Probably many of you did.) 

Look at the gas pump. The sale reads 00 dollars and 25 cents. Mr. Village Person has just ordered and received 25 cents worth of gas, and is flipping the attendant a quarter in payment. 

The attendant is dumbstruck as he realizes that Mr. VP probably at that very moment probably has more than 25 cents worth of "product" of some kind in his manly mustache.

Every picture tells a story. 

And yet it's the other release that has the pink triangle graphics...not that there is anything wrong with that.

[Fabrux]

On 12/22/2018 at 12:24 PM, Erik Smith said:

“California Pickup”???? Not sure stars and bars were ever real popular there...

I believe that the California Pickup descriptor is supposed to reference the bed, which is not a factory piece but an aftermarket item from a conversion company.

On 12/25/2018 at 6:16 PM, highway said:

Though I think reading through this thread, a few of these were already mentioned, but my vote for the all time worst box art is AMT's RC2 days in the late 2000s like this one.

I seem to remember reading on here that a lot of box art from this era was requested on such short deadlines that the kits photographed came from collections and were not actual box contents. So you end up with the Nova and Mustang already mentioned, wheels on the box that aren't even in the box, a longbed C10, etc.

Edited December 28, 2018 by kataranga