Robberbaron

I also recall looking at pictures of built Revell J-10 kits vs. 1:1 examples and thinking that the Revell kit would need about a 2 or 3 inch section taken out of the body to start looking proportionally correcf, among other issues. It seems very similar to their Fox-body Capri from the same era. You can use it as a starting point, but if you want it to look correct you're going to end up modifying almost everything on the body. For me, I've got to really love the subject matter to go through all that work (which isn't the case for either one of those).

Agreed that the '87 Monte is most likely the Aerocoupe. As stated, the taillights and rear bumper should be different. All 87 and 88 Monte SS also got a different profile rear spoiler that debuted on the super limited production (qty 200) 1986 Aerocoupes. Changes are quite subtle, so its tough to spot. I never got the original Aerocoupe kit, so I don't know if Monogram accurately made all these changes. The orignal issue kit is pretty uncommon, so there's not too many build pictures on the internet to judge from. 1987 striping is also different from 1986. The interior is a whole separate can of worms. The interior in the original issue (notchback) "1986" kit is actually from an '84 or '85. 1986-1988 should have a different dash and gauge cluster, different console, and different door pulls. Not sure if the upholstery pattern changed. From the few pictures I've seen of built Aerocoupe kits, it looks like all of that stuff remains unchanged from the original kit. I suspect Monogram originally used an '84 or '85 model year car as reference when developing the kit, then did a quickie change to the '86 style door mirrors and aluminum wheels. All it takes to build the original notchback kit as an '85 is to swap out to earlier style sport mirrors and the steel wheels from the AMT '86 El Camino SS. In reality, the interior issues are somewhat minor. Although lots of details changed from '85 to '86, overall they look very similar. Only someone intimately familiar with these cars would even spot the differences. I've never seen anyone else on this forum even note these issues, and as we all know we're the "lunatic fringe" (myself included).

The original Monogram GMC "High Roller" kit was the pickup, which basically was reissued as the "Big Game" GMC under the Revell name. Since this new kit is listed as an '85 Jimmy, it must be a variation of the new 1/25 Stranger Things Blazer. Suspect they might be using the "High Roller" name as a play on their legacy kits.

Yeah, got a chuckle from that too. Also noticed that the Jeep J-10 is listed as 1/24, but of course it's actually 1/25. Seems like it doesn't matter who owns the old Revell and Monogram tooling, they always seem to get confused on scale.

I seem to recall that the Galaxie tooling was located in South Korea. Wonder if Moebius will keep it at the same molding facility or relocate it to China? That may be the reason for the limitations on modifying the tooling, and would obviously also factor into pricing. No idea one way or the other, just speculation on my part.

Would be cool if someone offers 3D prints of the Chrysler Marine and Chrysler Industrial versions too:

Yup, not even close. Seems tailor-made for 3D printing. I'd be surprised if someone doesn't already offer correct ones.

OK everyone, before you get too excited, let's actually look at Revell's handiwork on that new "hardtop" roof: How do you like that "flat as a board" side window profile compared to the real car? I'm taking a hard pass on this one.

Thanks for the insight, Tim. Now I'm even MORE intrigued!

Just resurrecting this thread to see if anyone has any insight into what became of the AMT '66 C10 tooling? Judging by Casey's post, since American Satco didn't end up marketing these, I'm guessing the small run of "Wheat's Nostalgia" retro promos happened shortly afterwards in the late nineties. So probably about 25 years ago? Is Roger Sill still alive? Seems like this tooling should still exist, somewhere. Would be great to see Round 2 reaquire this tooling and get these in production again. As popular as vintage trucks are, seems like these would do well. And since it's a longbed with the side trim, there's enough to differentiate it from the Revell kits. Plus the Revell kits fall short in some proportional/detail issues.

In the past, someone on this board claimed that they had it on good authority (from someone with insider knowledge) that the original annual 1958 Edsel tool DID still exist, although it was only the body (no chrome/glass/chassis). If the Unreal Edsel never included those parts, it makes sense that they would no longer survive, even if the body did. This is definitely a "someone told someone who told someone something" situation, so take it with a spoon of salt. My fuzzy memory says the source might have been someone back in the Ertl days, so there have also been 20-25 years and several ownership changes where tooling could have gone missing and/or been left behind. We know some stuff that was run in the eighties and nineties isn't around anymore, for whatever reason.

Yes, got the same notice. Not a surprise since I heard that Hemmings Classic Cars was also getting killed off. By sheer coincidence, my subscription was set to expire with the Feb 2025 issue.

Unfortunately, the front end was altered for the Superfly car. When MPC then brought out the Sweat Hogs version, the roof was then also hacked. It's unfortunate, since most of the body remains completely stock, down to the factory Grand Prix emblems, etc. Steve Goldman from Round 2 posts here regularly. He has previously stated that they have NOT found this tooling in their inventory. Too bad, since it looks like it wouldn't have been that hard to return it to a full stock '72 GP.

Followed your build thread. Great job, I'm sure your BIL will be impressed.

Another great build. Gotta love those full width tail lights.

Outstanding! So great to see one of these getting built, love everything down to the stance and the wheels. I agree re: the colonnade A-bodies. Think a lot more people are finally starting to appreciate them. The 73-74 Gran Sports were special cars, especially the Stage 1 models.

Chuck, both very cool! I'm sure Roger would approve. He was also one of my favorite builders. For the Mercury, I would have missed the "standard" flat rear window if you hadn't pointed it out. Very nice job. That sent me to the Google machine to research, and apparently the flat window versions of the unibodies were more common than the "big window" version depicted by the AMT kit out of the box. Crazy to think that Ford was offering both the flat window and "big window" versions of the unibodies in both short and long bed, in addition to all the other non-unibody trucks.

Looks like the stock wheels and tires remained available in the reissues of the '31 Woody variation. This is the one variation of the Revell 1/25 Model A's that I don't have, but it looks like it hasn't been available in quite a while. Spotlight Hobbies lists this version as copyright 1997. Cripes, that's 27 years!

"Reviving an old thread…….Round 2 has officially announced the rerelease of the classic Mustang II. AND it will come with optional drag parts." Thread here. And it's the AMT kit, not the MPC pictured above.

Pretty sure interiors stayed the same from 71 to 72. Originally the next generation "colonnade" A-bodies were planned to debut in 1972, but they got pushed back a model year. So all the divisions had to do quickie updates to their 1971 models. Most of the cars had minor changes such as grills, front turn signals, taillights, etc. Pretty sure the only noticeable difference on the Chevelles was the front turn signals and the grills. Similar situation with Cutlasses: grill and taillight changes. 71 and 72 442 even used the same grill, just painted black vs. silver.

Crossing my fingers that we will see that happen! With minor alterations to the body tooling to make the turn signals separate, it could be easily reissued as either a '71 or the '72 with just a change of the grill and turn signal lenses. After all, we haven't had a styrene '71 Chevelle in 53 years. This could also allow the height and shape of the turn signals to be corrected. From what I've seen in pictures online, it looks like even the original '72 kits and promos were off in that regard.

With the volume that HL sells, this could be the singular reason that the '60 is outselling the '63. While it's totally subjective, my own personal opinion is that the styling of the '57-'60 generation is also just much more pleasing than the following generation's unibodies.

Mine had no automotive kits at all, just a small selection of Atlantis miltary ships and aircraft. Been that way for months.

I'll fully admit that at first I didn't understand what you were referencing, I thought it was a magazine. (guess I was mixing the magazines Hot Rod and Street Rodder together in my head?) I also had no recollection of the name "Henry Gregor Felsen". However, the moment I saw your build, it instantly clicked that you were referencing the book I read in junior high. I vividly remember picturing in my mind the pink paint combined with the copper trim. I stumbled on "Hot Rod" in our school library, and enjoyed it so much to that I immediately checked out "Street Rod" afterwards. This was late '80s, so I think these books were at least 35 years old at the time. However, similar to you, I was heavily into building models at the time (and reading any car magazine I could get my hands on), so I poured over every page. I never knew anyone else my age that read them, so I didn't realize they had been so popular in the '50s and '60s. Also didn't know there were additional books in the series. Very nice job on your build, matches what I remember the book describing.

Nice! Even have the hinge detail! Huge improvement over the Craftsman kit. Someone mentioned (maybe in a different post) how crude the original promo/Craftsman was. If you zoom in on the next photo, you can see that there are no door lines in the roof pillars on the original. Looks like this one is going to be a huge improvement.