Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Recommended Posts

Yup, Rod & Custom magazine used to have a regular model column!

Not only that, but they started a periodical called "Rod & Custom MODELS", which ran for about a dozen issues or so....

In 1964 R&C paid a visit to AMT so lets see what they saw:

RCpage1-vi.jpg

RCpage2-vi.jpg

RCpage3-vi.jpg

RCpage4-vi.jpg

Don't 'cha wish you could go back in time? ;)

Really a shame that the current owners of AMT have let it degenerate from a leading force in the hobby to the shadow that it has become? I fault RC2 and all the stupid greedy managers... but that is another story!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the great read! It's really too bad about the state of the company today. I really hope somebody with a passion for all things styrene picks them up and restores them to at least some of their former glory. It's so sad to see the former King dead! ;) (at least for now)

On a different note, wouldn't it be something to find one of those boxes in the last picture of the feature somewhere today, still sealed? Perhaps there's one out there in the back room of an old mom 'n pop hobby shop(or gram 'n gramps, like the one near me) waiting to be discovered. What would be the best find of kits in one of those be? I assume that each box was filled with all the same kit, no? If not, even better! What would you want to find?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The old R&C was a grand thing indeed, even though it lacked focus...They'd do a cover article on anything that didn't move out of the way. The magazine biz is so fragmented that it's hard to start anything new, and readers are kinda difficult at times as well. We've managed to get models back into the big pages a few times, but space is always at a premium, so the READERS have to let the editors know if they like a department. We currently have a 2-page article in Muscle Car Review, for six issues starting with the October issue, on stands now. Model subjects follow the theme of the issue, October has pre-'64 Muscle, November early Camaros, December MoPar E-bodies. We have to include Die Cast as well as plastic, but the text is a bit 'out there' at times and we have fun with it. MCR is a great magazine,lots of detail photos and good info for Muscle types.

Re the AMT piece in R&C Models, look at the history there! Budd Anderson bossing everyone around, John Meuller doing his thing, and all this is taking place just prior to the May '64 mass defection of staff, as they went to MPC! Shortly after this piece was in print, Budd was out of a job! And look at ther numbers! 25 million cars! Amazing history!

Rick Rothermel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
The old R&C was a grand thing indeed, even though it lacked focus...They'd do a cover article on anything that didn't move out of the way. The magazine biz is so fragmented that it's hard to start anything new, and readers are kinda difficult at times as well. We've managed to get models back into the big pages a few times, but space is always at a premium, so the READERS have to let the editors know if they like a department. We currently have a 2-page article in Muscle Car Review, for six issues starting with the October issue, on stands now. Model subjects follow the theme of the issue, October has pre-'64 Muscle, November early Camaros, December MoPar E-bodies. We have to include Die Cast as well as plastic, but the text is a bit 'out there' at times and we have fun with it. MCR is a great magazine,lots of detail photos and good info for Muscle types.

Re the AMT piece in R&C Models, look at the history there! Budd Anderson bossing everyone around, John Meuller doing his thing, and all this is taking place just prior to the May '64 mass defection of staff, as they went to MPC! Shortly after this piece was in print, Budd was out of a job! And look at ther numbers! 25 million cars! Amazing history!

Rick Rothermel

One has to remember, too, that in 1964, AMT was coming to the end of an absolute FAD called model car customizing. While nobody could really predict it at that time, the clouds were already on the horizon--slot cars were already taking the $$ that kids had been spending on customizing kits, they were going slot car crazy. The model companies, AMT, Revell, Monogram, Aurora all put very serious dollars into engineering, tooling, producing slot racing sets, slot car kits, to the detriment of capital available for new model kit tooling.

That sales figure of 25 million kits is, of course, a bit misleading, as in those days of the $2.00 retail kit price, AMT was getting only 95-cents per kit, FOB the factory loading dock. At less than a dollar per kit, their sales don't look all that huge, even by 1964 standards, IMO.

But, the 60's were a magic time to be into model cars, for sure!

Biscuitbuilder

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
Yup, Rod & Custom magazine used to have a regular model column!

Not only that, but they started a periodical called "Rod & Custom MODELS", which ran for about a dozen issues or so....

In 1964 R&C paid a visit to AMT so lets see what they saw:

RCpage1-vi.jpg

RCpage2-vi.jpg

RCpage3-vi.jpg

RCpage4-vi.jpg

Don't 'cha wish you could go back in time? :D

Really a shame that the current owners of AMT have let it degenerate from a leading force in the hobby to the shadow that it has become? I fault RC2 and all the stupid greedy managers... but that is another story!

The same thing goes for R&C! I have taken 1-yr subscriptions 6 years successive now, each time hoping (praying!) it will get back to a semblance of its old self...Hah!

One night, I took a 2002 issue, and opened it up alongside a 1972 issue..."Rod" coverage (as well as accuracy, choice of cars featured...I'm talking about correct to era stuff) The comparison was laughable. Bud Brian and Jim Jacobs doing the "R&C Highboy". The only thing that compared with that 14-month article was the Oct.1974 "1001 Custom & Rod ideas", where Tom Senter took us through an Old-Time, authentic Hot Rod Buildup. Both of these magazines dedicated months of coverage, perfect for the Car Modellor that wanted authentic coverage one could scale from!

Rod & Custom has regressed. Hop Up Magazine is online. Try it. Hop Up is right on, so are the car subjects. Archives go back years, and it's all free. GREAT Model subjects! www.hopupmag.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 13 years later...
  • 2 months later...

I remember a guy named Don Emmonds (I believe) who was the resident modeler for the magazine.  This was my first magazine subscription when I was a kid.  I started getting R&C back in the late '50s.  I still have a few somewhere in a binder.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is cool to see. 

A Flashback of a Flashback of a Flashback.

Looking at how great AMT was in the 60's, followed by a decline in the 70s, to a resurgence in the 80s and 90s, followed by neglect in the 00s and finally a rebirth of magical proportions by a group of people  who have a passion for their products - just like it was in the beginning!

A complete 360° return to it's roots.

I say, "Thank You Round 2!"

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...