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

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 minutes ago, drksd4848 said:

Alan, it's not about me though.  It's the greater good (if that makes sense).  If it was about me, then sure, I'd just buy a kit. But I don't believe that. I want it out there. For everyone.   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, but they won't for reasons beyond...   

Well if that's the case, there are about 200 other obsolete kits from days past that are just as worthy as this one.

Do they do them all?

What makes the '71 Road Runner special?

I can think of  about 100 other old kits I would rather see resurrected first.

 

 

Steve

[drksd4848]

3 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Well if that's the case, there are about 200 other obsolete kits from days past that are just as worthy as this one.

Do they do them all?

What makes the '71 Road Runner special?

I can think of  about 100 other old kits I would rather see resurrected first.

 

 

Steve

Because that's one I like and I'm willing to squawk about it.  Tell ya what.  Let me get this one back on the shelf, then you tell me what kit you'd like back and I'll make a stink about that one...

[CapSat 6]

Here's my 2 cents. I hate to jump on the "it won't come back" bandwagon, but...

...the MPC '71/ '72 Road Runner body has some issues. Not necessarily with the proportions or the details (although no lower grille ever in these, and the front bumper has a sort of odd flat-ish shape to it), but any of the builts or unbuilts I have ever seen seem to have (at the least), a slight warp to the windshield opening, and at the worst, VERY BAD warping in this area. I think it was just designed very flimsily in this area, much like the MPC '70 GTO. I'm sure when MPC tooled it up, they didn't think that it would still be viable 50 years later, so quality wasn't their first concern.

It was last reissued around 1987 by MPC/ERTL, AFTER the '74 was reissued by MPC, so I think Round 2 might have the body, interior and trim somewhere.

I think the big problem is that the tool won't produce bodies that won't warp.

The '74 doesn't seem to suffer from this as much, but if you look at a lot of those bodies, they're a bit fragile in the upper windshield, too.

Also, it does share some tooling (chassis, engine) with the '74 kit, which ALSO seems to share some of these things with the Dodge Monaco cop car.    

As much as I'd like to see it back, I think the tool is just a mess.

And unfortunately, the '71-'72 cars never got as much love as the '68-'70 B Bodies in the 1:1 world, so I don't think we'll see a retool.

Like has been mentioned above, builts and even unbuilts of these cars, even the '72's, seem to be still somewhat reasonably priced. Search around a bit and I'm sure one will come up for you soon.    

I hate to say all of this, especially as I'm a fan of these cars, having owned two of them, but I think this is the reality we face in regards to one of these cars in 1/25.

The 1/24 kit that Revell does is widely available and a pretty good representation, too. I would like to see somebody do a '72 rear bumper and grille for that one.   

 

[larman]

4 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

There are several on ebay right now.

Not cheap.

Looks like between $80.00 and $200.00!

 

 

 

 There is a big difference between selling and asking price especially on ebay....plus I am talking about the last reissue from 1987, which actually sells for between $30 and $60 according to recent sales on ebay.

[Rob Hall]

2 minutes ago, larman said:

 There is a big difference between selling and asking price especially on ebay....plus I am talking about the last reissue from 1987, which actually sells for between $30 and $60 according to recent sales on ebay.

Yeah, the most recent '87 molded in yellow issue I bought was $35 unbuilt.. that was maybe 3 years ago.

Edited October 9, 2019 by Rob Hall

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 minute ago, drksd4848 said:

Because that's one I like and I'm willing to squawk about it.  Tell ya what.  Let me get this one back on the shelf, then you tell me what kit you'd like back and I'll make a stink about that one...

If only that would work.

 

Let's think of it this way.

There have been a lot of people wishing for a re-pop or new tool of a 1968 or '69 Dodge Coronet R/T for many years!

You can see how far that has gotten us.

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

4 minutes ago, larman said:

 There is a big difference between selling and asking price especially on ebay....plus I am talking about the last reissue from 1987, which actually sells for between $30 and $60 according to recent sales on ebay.

 

2 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, the most recent '87 molded in yellow issue I bought was $35 unbuilt.. that was maybe 3 years ago.

Like I said, I'm not much of a '71 Plymouth aficionado, but is this the kit?

 

 

 

 

 

There is only one of this vintage that I have seen on ebay at the moment.

Asking price is $80.00 from Switzerland.

 

There are several older issues ranging from around $150.00 to $200.00.

 

 

 

Steve

 

[CapSat 6]

Just now, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

Like I said, I'm not much of a '71 Plymouth aficionado, but is this the kit?

 

 

 

 

 

There is only one of this vintage that I have seen on ebay at the moment.

Asking price is $80.00 from Switzerland.

 

There are several older issues ranging from around $150.00 to $200.00.

 

 

 

Steve

 

That's the reissue from 1987.

If you're looking at these, see if you can see the contents. Many of these came with bad chrome, and in some cases, the bodies had that warp in the windshield area.

To me, a good unsealed one is worth more than any sealed one! 

 

[larman]

2 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

 

Like I said, I'm not much of a '71 Plymouth aficionado, but is this the kit?

 

 

 

 

 

There is only one of this vintage that I have seen on ebay at the moment.

Asking price is $80.00 from Switzerland.

 

There are several older issues ranging from around $150.00 to $200.00.

 

 

 

Steve

 

If you do a search for sold items, you can see what stuff actually sold for in the last 2 or 3 months. This is where I got the numbers I quoted.

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 minutes ago, CapSat 6 said:

That's the reissue from 1987.

If you're looking at these, see if you can see the contents. Many of these came with bad chrome, and in some cases, the bodies had that warp in the windshield area.

To me, a good unsealed one is worth more than any sealed one! 

 

Personally, I'm not interested.

Just trying to help provide information.

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 minutes ago, larman said:

If you do a search for sold items, you can see what stuff actually sold for in the last 2 or 3 months. This is where I got the numbers I quoted.

Yes, I understand.

Vintage kits can vary a great deal.

 

 

Steve

[Mark]

Anyone who is convinced that a company would "sell a million" of (insert item here), should contact them, find out what their minimum order is, then place the order.  You can't lose, you said so!  You'll have people breaking down your door once they find out you've got them...

[drksd4848]

2 minutes ago, CapSat 6 said:

Here's my 2 cents. I hate to jump on the "it won't come back" bandwagon, but...

...the MPC '71/ '72 Road Runner body has some issues. Not necessarily with the proportions or the details (although no lower grille ever in these, and the front bumper has a sort of odd flat-ish shape to it), but any of the builts or unbuilts I have ever seen seem to have (at the least), a slight warp to the windshield opening, and at the worst, VERY BAD warping in this area. I think it was just designed very flimsily in this area, much like the MPC '70 GTO. I'm sure when MPC tooled it up, they didn't think that it would still be viable 50 years later, so quality wasn't their first concern.

It was last reissued around 1987 by MPC/ERTL, AFTER the '74 was reissued by MPC, so I think Round 2 might have the body, interior and trim somewhere.

I think the big problem is that the tool won't produce bodies that won't warp.

The '74 doesn't seem to suffer from this as much, but if you look at a lot of those bodies, they're a bit fragile in the upper windshield, too.

Also, it does share some tooling (chassis, engine) with the '74 kit, which ALSO seems to share some of these things with the Dodge Monaco cop car.    

As much as I'd like to see it back, I think the tool is just a mess.

And unfortunately, the '71-'72 cars never got as much love as the '68-'70 B Bodies in the 1:1 world, so I don't think we'll see a retool.

Like has been mentioned above, builts and even unbuilts of these cars, even the '72's, seem to be still somewhat reasonably priced. Search around a bit and I'm sure one will come up for you soon.    

I hate to say all of this, especially as I'm a fan of these cars, having owned two of them, but I think this is the reality we face in regards to one of these cars in 1/25.

 

 

Alright, I'm going to play devils advocate for a second:

It was last reissued around 1987 by MPC/ERTL, AFTER the '74 was reissued by MPC, so I think Round 2 might have the body, interior and trim somewhere. I think the big problem is that the tool won't produce bodies that won't warp.

Yes, but that didn't stop MPC from reissuing them in '87.  The kits that have been built have held up just fine.  I built three of the '87 reissues when I was a youngster.  I never saw the warping issues and it wouldn't bother me anyway.  So what if it warps?  So what if it's fragile in the windshield area?  Is R2C that obsessed with it that it keeps them from reissuing them?  If they rebuilt the tooling, it could be corrected.  I think they mentioned that there were issues in the '74 tooling that they corrected.  It was one of the selling points.

Also, it does share some tooling (chassis, engine) with the '74 kit, which ALSO seems to share some of these things with the Dodge Monaco cop car.  

Exactly, which is why it would make sense to reissue it.  It wouldn't take much investment.  Again, if they had the resources to make a brand new kit, they could easily do this.  They simply don't want to for reasons that I suspect that make as much sense as "how now brown cow".  (actually, make that a GY9 cow)

And unfortunately, the '71-'72 cars never got as much love as the '68-'70 B Bodies in the 1:1 world, so I don't think we'll see a retool.

Ehh... I think the real car world and the model car world is apples to oranges.  There is much love for the 71/72s  especially now-a-days.  If the 74 sells, the 71/72 will sell.  If there is a Petty version, most definitely.

I hate to say all of this, especially as I'm a fan of these cars, having owned two of them,

BTW, my mom had a '72 RR that I came home from the hospital in as a newborn, and since I was able to crawl, I've lusted after one of these kits because I loved the car. Sure I could buy a used one, but I can't justify paying $250 for a plastic kit that should be back out there in the age of retro-reissues.

The 1/24 kit that Revell does is widely available and a pretty good representation, too.  

I'll cosign on that one.  The monogram Satellite had it all over the MPC.  Beautiful detail.  I built that one too.  I pretended it was a '72  But, MPC was the one that built the '72 and R2C has the rights to MPC...

I would like to see somebody do a '72 rear bumper and grille for that one.

Why they won't is beyond me. Add the standard RR hood to that as well. (It was on the Monogram Satellite.) It is ridiculous that they haven't.  Especially after that FF8  Dom's GTX monstrosity.  They molded the '72 bumper for the Jada version (although not well.)

[drksd4848]

31 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

If only that would work.

 

Let's think of it this way.

There have been a lot of people wishing for a re-pop or new tool of a 1968 or '69 Dodge Coronet R/T for many years!

You can see how far that has gotten us.

 

Steve

I'm putting that one on my list. 

[drksd4848]

8 minutes ago, Mark said:

Anyone who is convinced that a company would "sell a million" of (insert item here), should contact them, find out what their minimum order is, then place the order.  You can't lose, you said so!  You'll have people breaking down your door once they find out you've got them...

Well,  I never said they'd sell a million of them.  But I think they'll sell.  If I had a million of them, I'd sell them slowly.  To keep the market price up

Edited October 9, 2019 by drksd4848

[Dave Van]

I like the old RM 1/24 kit too......

 

 

[drksd4848]

6 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

I like the old RM 1/24 kit too......

 

 

I really liked that kit.  I had one but unfortunately I turned that kit into a glue bomb.  But the advantage the MPC version had was you could put a '72 grille insert in it.  Couldn't do it with this one.

Hmm... maybe I should harass Revell into making a 1972 version of this with the standard RR hood.  Perhaps they'll be more receptive than Tom Lowe, who seems a bit tone deaf.  He should pay better attention to these communities.   His customers are hard-core and loyal and right here.  It would behoove him  to listen and interact with them.

[CapSat 6]

12 minutes ago, drksd4848 said:

I really liked that kit.  I had one but unfortunately I turned that kit into a glue bomb.  But the advantage the MPC version had was you could put a '72 grille insert in it.  Couldn't do it with this one.

Hmm... maybe I should harass Revell into making a 1972 version of this with the standard RR hood.  Perhaps they'll be more receptive than Tom Lowe, who seems a bit tone deaf.  He should pay better attention to these communities.   His customers are hard-core and loyal and right here.  It would behoove him  to listen and interact with them.

I can tell you’re a fan of these cars, like me. I wouldn’t give up hope completely that they won’t reissue the kit at some point, but if it were easy pickings, I think they would have done so by now. 

I never thought the ‘74 would ever come back- I remember when the old ones got expensive (early 90’s) but lo and behold, they did come back. 

For that matter, they brought back the ‘78 Dodge pickup this year. I did stump on that one for a long time- and was told by a few different sources that that tool was too far gone, but we did get it back eventually.

I think Round 2 does listen, they are very astute when it comes to these releases. They don’t leave any money on the table, they just might not have the resources to do every release they want to at once. 

I think mostly they have to shuffle around those tooling inserts for the chassis and engine, wheels and bumpers to bring the ‘71 back. 

I would still be worried about that windshield though. Most of the ones I saw were at least slightly bent there. The ‘87 reissue had supports added to the side windows that the originals didn’t have, so they must have had some idea of that issue back then. 

You did give me a great idea: I might just hunt down one of those Jada (Dom’s Car) die casts, maybe I could adapt that ‘72 rear bumper to the Revell GTX kit and cast it. 

Personally, I think the Revell GTX/ Satellite is a MUCH better building experience. The details are much better on those kits. If I had the itch to build a bunch of these, I would just start with the Revell kits. I do have a G machine build in the works using one of these, and replicas of my ‘71’s were based on the Satellite kit. 

I’m in a posting pics mood: 

First is my last SSP. 

Second is my first car. 

3,4,5 & 6 are replicas of my first ‘71, and a friend’s, both drivers in the ‘90’s. 

The last two pics are of a Revell Monogram Satellite I acquired that somebody else did. A beautiful build, I’m just going to correct a few very minor things. 

 

[drksd4848]

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...

[Xingu]

Didn't see a review in here. Moved to General.

[GMP440]

 

  I understand your desire to see the MPC 71 Roadrunner Runner kit again. Through the years I would write letters to Round 2 about resurrecting the MPC 68 Dodge Coronet R/T. I stated that this subject could be done in different versions.  Stock, Nascar (#99 Paul Goldsmith Car) and a Dick Landy drag version.  I've also written to Revell on this same subject.  They do a 67' Coronet R/T and not a 68 Coronet R/T.  I guess I will never understand why the 67 was chosen over the 68 Coronet.  Would love to see the market research on that.  I think you are onto something when you stated that they never wanted to redo the 71 Roadrunner because the they wanted to push the 74 over the 71.  Think about it; if you were with that company in product developement wouldn't you try to push for some of your favorite subjects to be released.  I know I would.   But, who knows what the real reason was.  Now that we have Moebius and Salvino's;  maybe we all can write to them requesting for the 71 Roadrunner or 68 Dodge Coronet R/T kits.  This is a perfect time for them because they are consantly developing new kits.    Lastly, you mentioned about contacting Round 2 to do a release.  Find out what it would cost for them to do a limited run, say 5000 kits of the 71 Roadrunner.  Then try to raise money for the venture.  Maybe even get a bank loan.  They won't pay attention until there is money on the table.   Someone at Round 2 will pay attention.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by GMP440

[Rob Hall]

7 minutes ago, GMP440 said:

 

  I understand your desire to see the MPC 71 Roadrunner Runner kit again. Through the years I would write letters to Round 2 about resurrecting the MPC 68 Dodge Coronet R/T. I stated that this subject could be done in different versions.  Stock, Nascar (#99 Paul Goldsmith Car) and a Dick Landy drag version.  I've also written to Revell on this same subject.  They do a 67' Coronet R/T and not a 68 Coronet R/T.  I guess I will never understand why the 67 was chosen over the 68 Coronet.   

I'd assume they did the '67 Coronet because they also did a '67 GTX and '67 Charger...lots of parts shared between those 3 kits.    And they had already done a '69 Coronet (albeit in 1/24th). 

[Deuces]

3 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Well if that's the case, there are about 200 other obsolete kits from days past that are just as worthy as this one.

Do they do them all?

What makes the '71 Road Runner special?

I can think of  about 100 other old kits I would rather see resurrected first.

 

 

Steve

I agree big time!!!!!......

[Bucky]

I would like to see the MPC 1972 RoadRunner get re-issued, for no other reason than to fill the void in year models in my stash. I have '68, '69, '70, '71, '73, '74, '75, the pseudo '76 version, '77-'80 Volare versions. I need the '72 to fill in the blank. I just looked on eBay, and there is one seller parting out a '72 MPC RoadRunner kit. There are several '71 kits being offered at around $200.

Doesn't fit my budget.

[niteowl7710]

There really should be a class called "Why the Business of the Hobby Should Be Your Business"...

First of all who's to say they WON'T reissue the '71 at some point?  Just because it hasn't happened YET, doesn't mean it won't happen EVER.

Secondly - the last time the '74 was out was 2012.  7 years ago...in a collector's tin...that everyone wailed to high heaven about because it was too expensive.  7-9 years is a standard reissue cycle for everyone, remember Round2 makes no money off eBay.

Lastly - In the course of this thread you've basically accused some mystery figure at Round2 of intentionally not reproducing this kit..ON PURPOSE.  Amongst the other naïve ramblings...Here's the thing, if they need to cut a new body for the kit for whatever reason, that is LITERALLY the most expensive single part of a the assortment of parts we call "tooling".  If the average model tool costs somewhere between $250,000-400,000 (depending on the complexity and size, 1/32 aircraft for example are more expensive than a 1/24 car), then retooling the body is going to be $80,000-100,000 of that cost.  By the time you add in the other so called "minor" parts you've mentioned it's really almost more cost effective to create a new kit altogether.  Why don't they do that? Well can you show me where you're going to sell say 25k of these Road Runners in say 3-5 kit variations?  Making a NASCAR version is out of the question since Salvinos JR is going to get there eventually, and builders in 2019 aren't going to happily accept one of these 1 kit that tries to be everything to everybody 3n1s that nobody really cared about back in the day - cause everyone building them was 15 years old. The other downside to trying to put new parts into old kits, especially in terms of putting a new body on an old subpar 70s chassis is making everything play together nicely.  There's no CAD data of the chassis, so you're air mailing a hope that it actually all assembles easily enough to not burn off the support of the casual builder.  What if in measuring up a '71 Roadrunner - or even better 3D scanning one - you realize that whoops MPC didn't make the wheelbase correct, or cut some corners on chassis length and width so it could serve as the standardized Mopar chassis under several different cars?  Everyone remember how the newly re-tooled stock grille for the '76 Gremlin doesn't actually FIT the body of the '76 Gremlin?  The 1% Forum Warriors might cry out - Are Ye Not Modelers?!?!?!  But collectively we also only buy about 1% of the kits that you'd need to sell to not take a financial bath in this endeavor. 

The reason the 2016 Camaro kit exists is because there were EIGHT kits produced off that piece of tooling between the SnapTite & Glue releases.  You're going to sell 2,500-3,000 of each of those kits just to HobbyLobby Corporate HQ alone.  Move another 2,500 of each to other hobby retailers globally and *poof* you've sold 40k models off one tooling, which means even though everyone supposedly hates the last Gen Camaro you turned a handsome profit on that investment.

Edited October 10, 2019 by niteowl7710