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Richard Bartrop

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Everything posted by Richard Bartrop

  1. I'm not taking that bet. They already tried selling niche bits of boomer nostalgia, and we already know how well that went over. Round 2 is basically catering to the same dwindling market of people who built models in the '60s, and they can do it because they already have a stockpile of existing moulds they can squeeze a few more kits out of. On the other hand, there might be a market for one of the newer Buicks. Especially the China only models.
  2. And I still think it's like Moebius got a focus group together and told them to think of the least interesting car they can, but I wish them luck all the same. Interestingly enough, looking through the website of one of my local hobby shops, Moebius kits are going for about the same price at Round 2 kits. Maybe even a little less. Moebius also seem to be more of a niche company than Trumpeter. Maybe their mistake was to try to offer models that nobody else was. You look at their catalogue, and there are planes and tanks that are offered by everyone else. There's a reason certain subjects get done over and over again, and that's because most people know them, and most people like them. Maybe there would be a market for yet another '55 chevy kit, if it was the best '55 Chevy kit that anyone had ever seen. It may be that China just didn't have much of a car culture, though this could be changing. GM already sells more cars in China than they do in the US, and apparently Buick is an aspirational brand there. There are a lot more people with disposable income than there used to be, so maybe there's a opportunity here.
  3. I have the Heller edition of this kit. This is probably the nicest Bentley kit you're likely to find in this scale. Exercise a little care, and it builds up really nice.
  4. Up to a point. I'd love a kaiser-Darrin kit, but the only one anyone ever made was Premier, and scratch building would be easier than turning that into a passable replica. And when you're charging what Trumpeter was charging, then people have every right to be picky about what you're offering. I'm also going to suggest that the folks at Trumpeter are big boys and girls, and that sales were probably more of a factor than hurt feelings. Every company has critics, and yet they somehow carry on. For me, it was simple. They were charging way too much for subjects I had no interest in.
  5. The subject matter didn't help either. I'm sure there's a '77 Monte Carlo fan out there somewhere who was excited as all get out, but you have to admit they're pretty much nonexistent on most peoples' wish lists. The one Trumpeter car kit I did buy was the Red Flag limo, and it was the subject matter that attracted me.
  6. One of Monogram's shortlived foray into metal kits was a '53 Corvette, but where the body was metal, everything else was plastic, so the almost complete opposite of the real thing.
  7. I don't see anyone losing a lot of sleep over metal bodied cars being modeled in plastic.
  8. Hold the model upside down, and let gravity work fro you instead of against you.
  9. It was mentioned in another thread that it scales closer to 1/25, so the Mooneyes kit might be just the thing for upgrading the detail.
  10. I'm sure you could make excuses for age, but the Monogram kit came out about the same time as a the Parts Packs. Even back then, some kits were better than others.
  11. A little correction on on Monarch history. While they did skip 1958 with the idea that the Edsel would replace it. Monarch production resumed in 1959, and continued until 1961
  12. And if people think they can do better, and there are some very talented artists in this group, maybe they should send a portfolio to Atlantis?
  13. If the only thing people have to gripe about is the box, then I'd say Atlantis has a winner here.
  14. I still think the ex Monogram '56 T-bird is still one of the best T-Bird kits you can get, so Revell made a good choice bringing that one back.
  15. If that's what's in the box, or even close, there's lots of useful parts, even if dragsters aren't your thing, and it'll be a bargain compared to trying to get those parts packs separately.
  16. I'm just happy some of the Parts Packs are coming back in some form. I'm not going to gripe about the details
  17. And using nice art to sell not so nice kits is what made Palmer the model company it is today.
  18. Sure, you can entice people with a nice box, but at some point they are going to open the box, and what's inside is going to determine whether they buy another one. I'm going to suggest that Atlantis can ill afford to put new customers off of modeling.
  19. 2. Tamiya x-18 has always worked just first for me, or is there something specific you're trying to do? 3. Up to you how you want to go, but for some cars, the mechanicals are what make them interesting, and Italian supercar engines do tend to border on abstract sculpture.
  20. On the other hand, there does seems to be a market on eBay for empty boxes, so maybe that's the way to go to cater to the box art connoiseurs. Instead of wasting money on expensive moulds, release a line of empty boxes featuring art from leading automotive artists. Offer a deluxe line where you toss in some plastic scrap give it the heft and sound of the total model box experience.
  21. Could the art be better? Possibly, but it really is a non-issue. Back in the hobby's heyday, when you could expect to sell a million copies of a kit, you could afford to hire someone like Jack Leynnwood to do your box art. Now, it means asking Flo in shipping if her kid is still taking art classes. Choices have to be made, and I'm just fine with Atlantis putting the priority on what's in the box. I wish certain other model companies would follow their example.
  22. It's nice to see these back, and it looks like some nice vintage parts for the kitbashers. As for the box, what's inside the box is what counts. If you want art, buy a poster.
  23. 77.9 percent sure sounds like most to me. In any case, podcasts are more like radio, and if you can see this, then you can do podcasts.
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