Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

IMC Model Company


Recommended Posts

i was just surfing and found this web site and reading an old post dated 2011. i am wondering, is IMC still in buisiness and are they really gonna issue a Cutlass and a Tubine model kit? please, i could use an update as i have never heard of any such thing. also i seen a model box art on the net of the George Barris Super Van in a different scheme as The Love Machine by IMC? what the...?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

One of the principals died, never got off the ground is what I read.  There is a thread or two about it around here.  

Steve Goldman knows more about this one, but IIRC Ernie Petit (former LIndberg) wanted to start up this company and release kits from former Jo-Han tooling,  tooling which survived the looting of the company, but like anything Jo-Han, it was like opening a can of worms and the project was cancelled.

A decade or so later Moebius tried the same, but they too failed in their attempt.

So kids....what did we learn here?

Anything Jo-Han is contaminated, it will never,  ever come back, there more chance, that one of you who're reading this, will win the powerbal jackpot.

There I said it

;):D

 

Ps. If one of you do win the powerball, I'll take 20´%, because my positive vibes facilitated your win.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Joe Handley said:

There was a new IMC that had a couple old JoHan kits that they were selling, no clue what happened to them though.

"New" IMC? How could that be? Testors owned the brand, along with Hawk, and sold both to Lindberg. Lindberg owned the rights to the name(s) at that point. Since the acquisition of Lindberg by Round2, it now owns the rights to the Lindberg/Hawk/IMC properties. Re IMC and Johan, see my reply to Luc's comments.

8 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

One of the principals died, never got off the ground is what I read.  There is a thread or two about it around here.  

No threads specifically related to IMC.

 

5 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Steve Goldman knows more about this one, but IIRC Ernie Petit (former LIndberg) wanted to start up this company and release kits from former Jo-Han tooling,  tooling which survived the looting of the company, but like anything Jo-Han, it was like opening a can of worms and the project was cancelled.

A decade or so later Moebius tried the same, but they too failed in their attempt.

How did Johan get tied into the discussion about IMC? Neither company has/had anything to do with the other. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

"New" IMC? How could that be? Testors owned the brand, along with Hawk, and sold both to Lindberg. Lindberg owned the rights to the name(s) at that point. Since the acquisition of Lindberg by Round2, it now owns the rights to the Lindberg/Hawk/IMC properties. Re IMC and Johan, see my reply to Luc's comments.

No threads specifically related to IMC.

 

The new IMC had nothing to do with the old one.   Coincidence only in the name, the acronym was for 'Illinois Model Company'..  and there were multiple threads.   Here is one 

 

Edited by Rob Hall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

 

How did Johan get tied into the discussion about IMC? Neither company has/had anything to do with the other. 

Again, the new IMC company (no relation to the old IMC) was planning to reissue the '75 Cutlass and another Johan tool.    Obviously, going by your posts, the name confused a lot of people.

Edited by Rob Hall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 No love for Union?  The had the old IMC/Testors molds for the Ford MK II and Mark IV kits and probable some others.  Not sure if Union is still around but those were issued in I'm guessing the 1980s.

IMG_2396.PNG

Edited by vamach1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joe Z, you said that Testor's bought IMC, which is true. However the later incarnation of the company that had those same initials had a different corporate name (Illinois Model Company) that everybody just shortened to IMC. Hence the confusion on the names. And with the later IMC announcing plans to reissue two surviving molds from Jo-han (since verified not to be possible) people got even more confused and were reluctant to place orders at the trade show where it was announced. I was there and they did have flyers and built ups at the trade show. They acknowledged that the built ups were original Jo-han kits, but said they had bought the rights for those two kits and were seeing if any other tools could be salvaged. The nearest they came was the '59 Rambler Wagon. And then one of the principles passed away and he was unfortunately also the money man, both real and accounting. I was really hoping they would be able to make a good deal out of their announcement, but alas they never even got started.

But to say Testor's owned the IMC name (albeit shortened to its initials) is like saying everybody with the initials J.Z. for example, has the same name as you. Testor's owns the rights to Industry Motive Corporation, but not the rights to Illinois Model Company.

Edited by socal76
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was already cleared up by Rob Hall yesterday. The "other" IMC, which never produced anything except the Rambler wagon, was not a later incarnation of Industro-Motive Corporation. It was a distinctly unrelated entity which happened to, intentionally or otherwise, share the same initials.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/26/2018 at 5:46 AM, SfanGoch said:

The "other" IMC, which never produced anything except the Rambler wagon

It's my understanding no kits were ever released by Illinois Model Company. Lots of money was spent on molds, but no kits were ever produced and sold to the public. The last publicly available ex-JO-HAN '59 Rambler Wagon kit was the JOHAN Models Curbside classic reissue, from when Okey took over the assets of JO-HAN/SeVille:

johan59.thumb.jpg.51b90594842aa6063ffcc3d2c711bc1f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

I've seen this on ebay when checking for Johan kits. 

Johan 1959 Rambler Wagon

Great example of not knowing what you have...that's "vintage" in the sense of being from what 10-12 years ago?  Seller proceeds to say the company is out of business, when in fact Okey is still going to shows and is a "distributor" for Best Resins - who is certainly still in business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Vintage" is the preferred catchword used to imply rarity and exclusivity of an item in order to get some sucker to overpay for it. This is especially true when it comes to clothing. "Used" is inelegant and "pre-owned" has become played out. So, calling something "vintage" gives it the "gotta have" status that the average clueless dope looks for when shopping for junk. Those sweat stained armpits on the VINTAGE  Hawaiian print shirts you're interested in buying? Oh, they're also VINTAGE . They belong to the original owner. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/25/2018 at 3:02 AM, Luc Janssens said:

Anything Jo-Han is contaminated, it will never,  ever come back, there more chance, that one of you who're reading this, will win the powerbal jackpot.

I think that's an optimistic prospect!

The chances of me winning the Powerball jack pot are probably much, much higher! :)

 

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...