Round2 reissues the '74 Road Runner kit for the umteenth time, SNUBS 71-72 Road Runner Kit once again!!! BOO!!!

[CapSat 6]

4 hours ago, drksd4848 said:

Those are gorgeous... How did you get rid of the air grabber?

I looked at the toy version of Dom's 71/72 Franken-runner.  The rear bumper is terribly molded... but, it's the only 1/24 '72ish bumper that is out there.  I'm surprised a scale model version hasn't been released... I was hopeful it would...

Thank you! The green and gray cars were built early 90’s. The hoods are MPC, with the centers cut out and replaced with flat plastic. As you can see, the one on the gray car has warped. Those hoods are available in resin now. 

I have looked at using a spare MPC ‘72 bumper to try to modify it for the Revell kit. I just don’t think that will work. The piece on the Jada car might be closer to fitting. Or maybe somebody could sketch it up in 3D...

Edited October 10, 2019 by CapSat 6

[gtx6970]

5 hours ago, larman said:

Not to be a wise a$$, but the last reissue of the MPC 1971 Roadrunner is not that hard to find, nor that expensive is it? I think they are around in the $30 to $50 range on line and probably a lot cheaper at shows. That translates to a little more than retail. There are tons of aftermarket parts, donor kits and decals for mopar stuff to make them better too. It sounds like you love the car and I get it, but it may just be easier to find what is out there. 

I personally think your price ranges are a tad light.

Ive not seen one for under $50 in a while.

I own 3 unbuilt 71 Road runner kits , and not one was purchased in the last 3 or 4 years. Cheapest one was $25 maybe 5 or 6 years back and I think I got really lucky. The other 2 were $45 and $50 ea.

Now as for the 72 kit.

Be prepared to dig deep, really deep for one. Unbuilts will easily pull $200 - $ 300 range and clean builders top over $100 . Ive seen the guys parting kits out and just the grill typically pulls $20- 25 range.

 

PS, to tool a 71 off the 74 kits is more than just the body , hood and grill and bumpers. The interior pattern is different as well.

 

I was told many years ago by someone connected to the inner workings of the  hobby at the time and was told the 71 kit was damaged a long time ago and will NOT return without a MAJOR investment by the manufacturer

[gtx6970]

There are several on the Bay now.

here is a decent builder for someone ( not me btw )

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MPC-1971-PLYMOUTH-ROAD-RUNNER-MODEL-CAR-KIT-1-25/153677580510?hash=item23c7e5c8de:g:dwMAAOSwrQtdnLo4

 

['70 Grande]

Quote

I was told many years ago by someone connected to the inner workings of the  hobby at the time and was told the 71 kit was damaged a long time ago and will NOT return without a MAJOR investment by the manufacturer

Seems to me like you just answered the question that started this post in the first place!  Dollars invested vs. potential dollars profited are the basis for every business decision made... I don't think the future reissue of this '71 Roadrunner kit is based on "someone at Round2 not liking '71/72 Roadrunners"; its based on projected dollars and cents profited... its that simple.

Edited October 10, 2019 by '70 Grande

[larman]

1 hour ago, gtx6970 said:

I personally think your price ranges are a tad light.

Ive not seen one for under $50 in a while.

I own 3 unbuilt 71 Road runner kits , and not one was purchased in the last 3 or 4 years. Cheapest one was $25 maybe 5 or 6 years back and I think I got really lucky. The other 2 were $45 and $50 ea.

Now as for the 72 kit.

Be prepared to dig deep, really deep for one. Unbuilts will easily pull $200 - $ 300 range and clean builders top over $100 . Ive seen the guys parting kits out and just the grill typically pulls $20- 25 range.

 

PS, to tool a 71 off the 74 kits is more than just the body , hood and grill and bumpers. The interior pattern is different as well.

 

I was told many years ago by someone connected to the inner workings of the  hobby at the time and was told the 71 kit was damaged a long time ago and will NOT return without a MAJOR investment by the manufacturer

If you do an ebay search for the '71 RR that was made in 1987, the one I was talking about, you will see that according to the items that actually SOLD, my range is accurate. I simply looked at the ones with the price marked in green and that is what they sold for. I am also not talking about the original issue or the '72, they bring big money.  It doesn't really matter anyway because the original poster has said he is more interested in getting the model to the masses than to get one or more for himself.  I did not know that when I originally posted.

[Oldcarfan27]

I think another hurdle is licensing.

First they'll have to get Chrysler LLC, then Warner Bros. (for Road Runner), Good Year for the tires, and on and on.

Everybody wants a little piece of the pie. And that pie needs to guarantee a return on the investment. 

Same reason we keep seeing reissues of Pontiac Firebirds and not Trans Ams.

Now if Coca Cola would make their own cars and tires - we'd be all set!

[Dave Van]

6 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I think another hurdle is licensing.

First they'll have to get Chrysler LLC, then Warner Bros. (for Road Runner), Good Year for the tires, and on and on.

Everybody wants a little piece of the pie. And that pie needs to guarantee a return on the investment. 

Same reason we keep seeing reissues of Pontiac Firebirds and not Trans Ams.

Now if Coca Cola would make their own cars and tires - we'd be all set!

Major road block is still cash. R2 holds licenses for all the above already....and while it would need approval for final product R2 has a good working relationship established.  The Trans Am issue is the SCCA being aggressive with that trademark....not a group R2 works with. 

[Straightliner59]

19 hours ago, drksd4848 said:

The demand is there.  I mean, seriously... where did the tooling for this kit come from?

That is about a butt-ugly MF!

[Dave Van]

During the RC2 days when Model King was re-issuing every NASCAR stock car we could.........we asked about the Road Runner. RC2 said they'd pull a test shot for us. After a month or two we were told the tool was not usable any longer. Not sure if the NASCAR tool BODY and stock tool BODY shared the internals but they could. The cam action inside of tooling is REALLY expensive to fix....most time you just make new. 

Best bet is let R2 know you want the RR kit...in a polite way....maybe if enough folks do they will spend the $$$ to fix.  

[drksd4848]

12 hours ago, CapSat 6 said:

Thank you! The green and gray cars were built early 90’s. The hoods are MPC, with the centers cut out and replaced with flat plastic. As you can see, the one on the gray car has warped. Those hoods are available in resin now. 

I have looked at using a spare MPC ‘72 bumper to try to modify it for the Revell kit. I just don’t think that will work. The piece on the Jada car might be closer to fitting. Or maybe somebody could sketch it up in 3D...

Well, since you aked: 

3D 1972 Plymouth Road Runner

8 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

I think another hurdle is licensing.

First they'll have to get Chrysler LLC, then Warner Bros. (for Road Runner), Good Year for the tires, and on and on.

Everybody wants a little piece of the pie. And that pie needs to guarantee a return on the investment. 

Same reason we keep seeing reissues of Pontiac Firebirds and not Trans Ams.

Now if Coca Cola would make their own cars and tires - we'd be all set!

What Dave Van said.  If they are making the '74 Road Runner, the '68 Road Runner, then they have the licensing.  BTW, you don't need WB licensing to call it a Road Runner.  If you want decals, there are plenty of aftermarket decal makers.  Or, bust out a printer.

1 hour ago, Dave Van said:

Major road block is still cash. R2 holds licenses for all the above already....and while it would need approval for final product R2 has a good working relationship established.  The Trans Am issue is the SCCA being aggressive with that trademark....not a group R2 works with. 

 

41 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

During the RC2 days when Model King was re-issuing every NASCAR stock car we could.........we asked about the Road Runner. RC2 said they'd pull a test shot for us. After a month or two we were told the tool was not usable any longer. Not sure if the NASCAR tool BODY and stock tool BODY shared the internals but they could. The cam action inside of tooling is REALLY expensive to fix....most time you just make new. 

Best bet is let R2 know you want the RR kit...in a polite way....maybe if enough folks do they will spend the $$$ to fix.  

Dave, respectfully, I just don't understand - they retool parts all the time.  And they even make kits from scratch.  Their stated reasons couldn't be the problem.  It's something else...

The last time I asked them was three years ago and I was very polite, but I got the stone wall.  The only way you get obtuse companies to acknowledge anything - I have seen - is to wadge a campaign.  I'd even be happy if they acknowledged all this with a real answer... or a good reason. Like, "We really don't like the kit and Tom isn't a fan of the '71/'72 B-bodies.  He'd rather put the resources elsewhere."  I could actually accept that one with a bit of resignation, because their other reasons seem flimsy:  they do 'X' for other products, but say they can't do it for for this one?  Yes they can.  What is it really?

 

BTW, aside from this, is it possible to 3D print polystyrene?  Because with advances in manufacturing, there's got to be a better way to do this now than the traditional injection mold method.

[drksd4848]

13 hours ago, gtx6970 said:

I personally think your price ranges are a tad light.

Ive not seen one for under $50 in a while.

I own 3 unbuilt 71 Road runner kits , and not one was purchased in the last 3 or 4 years. Cheapest one was $25 maybe 5 or 6 years back and I think I got really lucky. The other 2 were $45 and $50 ea.

Now as for the 72 kit.

Be prepared to dig deep, really deep for one. Unbuilts will easily pull $200 - $ 300 range and clean builders top over $100 . Ive seen the guys parting kits out and just the grill typically pulls $20- 25 range.

 

PS, to tool a 71 off the 74 kits is more than just the body , hood and grill and bumpers. The interior pattern is different as well.

 

I was told many years ago by someone connected to the inner workings of the  hobby at the time and was told the 71 kit was damaged a long time ago and will NOT return without a MAJOR investment by the manufacturer

GTX just saw your post...  I had also heard that the interior from a '71 Charger would work.  To that point though, I should test this out.  I have both a gluebomb MPC '71 kit at home and a recent release '74 kit.  I will confirm what fits and what does not.

[Lunajammer]

I'd love to see a '72. My only hope would be that the body type is reaching a younger audience through recent video games and movies. If that helps keep it relevant and contemporary, maybe that will improve interest. I don't think R2 can count on sales among the long established builders alone to generate a profit.

 

[Dave Van]

3D printing a body will not work for mass production. A body can take 12 - 14 hours to print plus basic clean up.  For R2 to make money they need like 3 bodies produced a minute minimum.  

[PettyKW43]

If Round 2 is going to tool a body for a 71-72 Road Runner, I would hope they would put it on the AMT 71 Charger kit. I love all the old MPC kits but they were not very accurate under the skin. The chassis is from the mid 60’s and was under just about every Mopar kit they did. You can bet if that tooling is remotely salvageable they will do a 71-72 Road Runner. The body took a beating when it was modified to do the Petty Plymouth. I personally am happy that we have anything to critique at all , this hobby isn’t no where near popular like it once was !

[Chris in Berwyn]

23 hours ago, drksd4848 said:

The corporate misinformation about why they're not just doesn't add up.  Someone in the company doesn't like the car and doesn't want it out there.  They could fix the issues if they wanted to,

Obviously they could fix it if they wanted to. But they only want to if they can make money.  Obviously they thought they’d sell a lot of 2016 Camaros - not sure that happened.  And it’s pretty obvious they don’t think your Plymouth idea will make them enough money - and not to be rude but my guess is they have a better pulse on demand and costs than most of us do. And there is no way some personal dislike of a car will keep them from doing something to make them money. 
 

BTW their other new tools include the Batmobile, the COT NASCARs, a couple promo type kits, and maybe another one or two.  

[Luc Janssens]

As others said in this tread, I too prefer basing an all new '71-'72 (with a slight preference for the latter) Roadrunner on the '90s designed Amt/Ertl '71 Charger, but not holding my breath.

Photo's courtesy of Hotrod magazine

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/something-different-1972-plymouth-road-runner-gtx/

 

[tim boyd]

I remember when I was .... oh well, let's just say I didn't really understand the kit modeling business.  Then I was hired by AMT do to various projects in the mid 1970's, and interviewed with AMT and Monogram upon graduation before I went another direction.   What I found to be the case then (and it remains true today) was that how things and decisions appear to the public was often much different than what was actually going on in the companies,.  And while communication between the kitmakers and us (their consumers) is far more open today than back then, there are still topics they keep pretty close to the vest.  So....

I don't know any specifics about the '71/'72 Road Runner tool, but I can assure you all of the following....

* The Round Two people are car nuts, and they are also very astute business people.  I STRONGLY doubt they have any preconceived bias against the 1971/72 Road Runner; in fact, I personally find the possibility to be inconceivable. 

* Round Two has many projects in the works and only so much tooling money, and staff time, available to make them a reality.   New project ideas are evaluated against existing ideas on the list, and only a certain amount make to the stage of tooling and production.  And at least a few of these projects, some announced and others not announced at this time, are pretty ambitious projects coming down the pike. 

Bottom line, continue to respectfully express your preferences for this or any other potential kit topic.  But I also urge you take advantage of the insights from many on this board who have industry experience and/or insights, It can help to explain why certain things happen, or don't happen, in this fascinating hobby of ours. 

My 2 cents...hope you find it helpful.  TIM