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Box Top Blunders, Omissions, False Advertisements...


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8 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

It's on the tree with the seats, bed lower suspension, etc. 

I found it right away, didn't even need my glasses. Maybe it fell off the tree in your kit.

It must have grown legs and crawled out of the box too because I looked everywhere. No big deal. You can't even see it when the model is completed.

Don't get me started on those 2-piece tires. Maybe the worst tires I have ever come across. That includes when I was a kid. Third time I had to glue them together. Maddening! 🤬

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6 hours ago, junkyardjeff said:

Back in tbe early 80s I built a larger scale 69 Charger that on the box was supposed to be a Dukes of Hazard car so I was expecting a stock Charger with a roll cage but ended up being a race car and was very disappointed but still built it.  When I find it in the attic its going to be thrown in the trash.

If you find it, you should put it up for trade here. Probably somebody else who'd want it. I hate seeing models go to the trash.

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4 minutes ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

What about Revells misleading box art from the 80s? Best thing they promoted was the [BBS-style] wheels and they didn't even have them. 

I can only attest to the 1956 F-100: it did have the BBS-style wheels. I recall my installing them on an AMT '53 F-100; that they were moulded in that dark blue.

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1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

I can only attest to the 1956 F-100: it did have the BBS-style wheels. I recall my installing them on an AMT '53 F-100; that they were moulded in that dark blue.

Unless I didn't get them, the one I have has the BBS wheels (in 13" scale) on those giant, split in half radial tires. Not even like the big inch, low profile wheels shown on the box.

The BBS wheels shown on the BMW kit were in fact white spoke wheels with the aero covers included. 

Edited by Oldcarfan27
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1 hour ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Unless I didn't get them, the one I have has the BBS wheels (in 13" scale) on those giant, split in half radial tires. Not even like the big inch, low profile wheels shown on the box.

The BBS wheels shown on the BMW kit were in fact white spoke wheels with the aero covers included. 

Now that I think about it, the wheels did seem undersize compared to those presented on the built-up on the box. I don't recall what tyres it had; must've been those junky two-piece dungs. 
I don't even recall what tyres I used with them on my build of the AMT '53 F-100. However, they must've fit, otherwise I'd have abandoned them.

 

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15 hours ago, Mike C. said:

It must have grown legs and crawled out of the box too because I looked everywhere. No big deal. You can't even see it when the model is completed.

Don't get me started on those 2-piece tires. Maybe the worst tires I have ever come across. That includes when I was a kid. Third time I had to glue them together. Maddening! 🤬

Well, I got to thinking and I took your advice Steve and went into the trashcan where I had thrown the plastic bag that the sprues were in and low and behold, there it was. I have since glued it onto the top of the engine and plan to paint it. Thanks for reminding me to use my brain. 😄 

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I think this one was already mentioned. From the Racing Champion days of "We don't care what's inside the box, just fill it!"

77 Nova. Stock on the box, Pro Stock racer ONLY in the box!

20220913_142618.png.b9df05bc7b6917df2c9869172145b7f9.png

77 Mustang II. MPC kit on the box, common AMT kit in the box. This one bit me!

20220913_142256.png.70da9b90d4d6702689f244515bb26ae5.png

73 Mustang. MPC on the box, AMT race car in the box.

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72 Chevelle SS. MPC on the box, AMT in the box. The one with the butchered mess of a grille. 

20220913_142320.png.fed7e06f00f33b06bb67efda991d0c39.png

No reasonable explanation on why they could possibly get so many wrong except they were just totally clueless or absolutely didn't care.

Edited by Oldcarfan27
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On 9/12/2022 at 10:00 AM, Jordan White said:

To bring this thread back up, the AMT Chevy Tahoe snap kit has a minor blunder, but an annoying one for me. Basically up to 1995, the Tahoe/Blazer/K1500 had exposed fake lugnuts on the center caps whereas 1996+ they were smooth. The 1995 promos had the correct center caps, and the snap kit which is apparently a 1996 model, also has the correct center caps. However, the box shows the earlier center caps, which are what I wanted since I am making it a 1995 model (since I don't feel like trying to make the Vortec engine that was introduced in 1996). Did they make a 1996 promo that warranted them doing the extra work to change the wheels?

The only visible difference between a '95 and a '96 in that kit is the wheels. The promos Ertl did were all 1995 model year, no idea why they labeled the 'kit' as a 1996. The pickup promos did get the upgraded dash for '97-'98 but curiously used the S-series mirrors that were only used on South American C-series trucks.

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4 hours ago, Fabrux said:

IIRC a lot of those RC2 era kits had such short turnarounds for the box art that the builds photographed are ones people had already built from previous issues.

They could've used photos of real cars like they've done before. Instead, they used the absolute wrong kit. Not even close to the one's on the box. I'm sure at the time somebody built the kits that they were promoting. Lazy, just lazy! These were the reason I wasn't buying RC2 kits for a long time! False advertising has it's penalties. 

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20 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

 

No reasonable explanation on why they could possibly get so many wrong except they were just totally clueless or absolutely didn't care.

RC2 wasn't putting much effort into the AMT/MPC kits at that time.  Apparently the procurement of box art kits was assigned to some office employee who had little to no knowledge of the subjects, and whenever a kit was needed they reached out to whatever contacts they had in search of a built-up they could buy/borrow (?).  Who knows if the builders whose kits they used were paid. 

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Racing Champions had 0 interest in the model kit business. They just bought AMT/Ertl for the licensing that they held at the time. They didn't care at all if the box art was correct ot even if there was a model in it. 

AMT/Ertl held licensing for a lot of car manufacturers and NASCAR teams and they got it all in one shot for a fraction of what it would have cost them to actually go out and make the deals for themselves. The model kit side of it was just something they didn't really want that came along with what they really wanted. 

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  From the Lindberg F-150 thread in the truck news section.

3 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Something I noticed on this boxart is that Revell has the kit grille and bumper photo shopped on the full scale pickup.

1950616496_Revell85-7621Tb97F150sle.jpeg.02beb4b516e7027256f0703bea91b5de.jpeg

You can actually see the glue on the lense on the left headlight. 

Once you see it, you can't unsee it! I know they did it because the box shows a 4WD version (kit is only 2WD), and this grille was not used on the 4WD XLT models. 

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On 9/16/2022 at 11:42 AM, Jordan White said:

  From the Lindberg F-150 thread in the truck news section.

Once you see it, you can't unsee it! I know they did it because the box shows a 4WD version (kit is only 2WD), and this grille was not used on the 4WD XLT models. 

Well. Lookie here. I found this.

87264052_1997-Ford-F150SuperCab-FrontSide_FT15E973_505x375.jpg.680f1c254ac56273e5f4f0ee5d314400.jpg

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I just got this kit.

20220917_230714-1.jpg.e75cd84bd8e8f70041b0b4371977d154.jpg

It was this image that made me immediately dismiss it. No use even picking it up to look at it. If I had, I would have discovered that it actually contains a short styleside bed instead of the longbed depicted on the box. I would have also discovered that it came with a 4.6L instead of the 4.2L I thought it had.

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There's one more goof on the box.

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Those are not styled aluminum wheels. Kit wise, it looks like it's done quite well. 

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6 hours ago, Plowboy said:

I just got this kit [AMT 1997 F-150]

What's its year-of-release? [EDIT: I just saw the '1996' on the box's side] I seem to recall that the then-new F-Series -at least the F-150- were arriving at dealerships in January 1996 (sold and V.I.N.'ed as 1997 model year). If this kit was released in 1996 -let's say, 2nd quarter- then that may explain some of the errors:
1.) No photo of a short bed available at the time of the box art's image's creation
2.) Mistaking aluminium-painted steel wheels as being of alloy construct 
3.) I don't see mention of the 4.2 litre V6 (I can't tell by the photo of the 1:1 if that's a 4.6 litre V8 or the 4.2 litre V6)

I'd be miffed about the de facto false advertising, too. Open the box and find a short bed! I'm glad that you posted this, as I've been wanting to get a copy of this particular kit. I'll spend my bucks elsewhere.

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4 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

What's its year-of-release? [EDIT: I just saw the '1996' on the box's side] I seem to recall that the then-new F-Series -at least the F-150- were arriving at dealerships in January 1996 (sold and V.I.N.'ed as 1997 model year). If this kit was released in 1996 -let's say, 2nd quarter- then that may explain some of the errors:
1.) No photo of a short bed available at the time of the box art's image's creation

Short beds were much more common.

 
2.) Mistaking aluminium-painted steel wheels as being of alloy construct 

One side of the box states 16" styled steel wheels (second photo). The other side states styled aluminum wheels (third photo)


3.) I don't see mention of the 4.2 litre V6 (I can't tell by the photo of the 1:1 if that's a 4.6 litre V8 or the 4.2 litre V6)

It has the 4.6L V-8 and states it on the box. For some reason, I thought it had the 4.2 V-6. I had never looked past the box top photo. I just saw a longbed F-150 and knew I didn't want it.

I'd be miffed about the de facto false advertising, too. Open the box and find a short bed! I'm glad that you posted this, as I've been wanting to get a copy of this particular kit. I'll spend my bucks elsewhere.

I wouldn't have bought it if it was a longbed. The Revell kit is a long bed.

 

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1 hour ago, Plowboy said:

Short beds were much more common.

Maybe it's a regional thing, but I saw mostly -almost exclusively- long beds. I drove, for a short time, a 1998 F-150 long bed XL model (rubber mats, heavy duty cloth seat) at work. This was while the 1994 F-150 Custom which I normally drove was getting a new transmission (220,000 miles).
I actually preferred the '98 for the simple fact that it had the 4.6 (the '94 had the 300 I-6), and it rode & handled better. 
What really pee'd me was that, when I was on holiday, one of the other delivery drivers commandeered it, and totally thrashed it. Seat was ripped, door card was beat (apparently, the idiot put an axle for a Dana 60 inside the cab, and just let it run amok. If that wasn't enough, the same idiot chucked some 10 F-450 brake drums into the bed and didn't secure them. They slid back & forth, and beat the cr@p out of the tailgate and the forward bed header. 

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