Robberbaron

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.

Gorgeous example, Mike. Thanks for posting that, perfectly illustrates now much better the MPC's were. If I had to pick one 74-77 MPC Camaro to be cloned, it would be the '74 since it still had the small back window and no catalytic converter.

I recall the same thing: converted to the sub-par '70 Z28. And yes, it does look as bad as the box art shows: Now probably never to be seen again, since they have the "new tool" Z28 from the mid-to-late nineties. We know they used the old AMT tool, since Round 2 is in the process of bringing back the MPC '81 Camaro. Also FYI: from the pictures I've seen, even the original AMT 1977 had proportional issues, especially the nose (Photos from rayskits.com): AMT seemed to be at a low point in the mid-70s, so almost all their newly tooled or updates annual kits had proportional/accuracy problems (take a look at their Pinto hatchback and the soon to be reissued Pro Street '77 Nova, for example). From what I've seen, the MPC mid-70s Camaro annuals looked much more accurate. Maybe there's hope long term that they may clone one of the earlier MPC bodies to combine with the chassis/powertrain/glass of the surviving tool?

The "Monogram" branded Rat Rod version had the steelies, caps/trim rings, & white wall inserts all on separate small trees, bagged together with the tires. IMHO, that was their way of "gildng the lily" for that release. I have a sneaking suspicion we won't get those parts with this release since they're throwing in the chopper. Time will tell...

I noticed that too. Not sure if those tires have shown up in anything since the Hobbico implosion. I believe they were also used in the related A sedan and the Tweedy Pie reissue. Not sure if they were used in anything else? Also wondering if the steelies/caps/trim rings from the Rat Rod version will be included in this one too?

You're thinking of the MPC 1940 Ford "Fire Chief" Snap Kit, which is a different tool (also copied from the AMT coupe). The MPC is a curbside. Round 2 now has three different 1940 Ford coupe tools: the evergreen AMT, the MPC snap, and this Palmer-turned-Lindberg piece of work. Chances are this one won't see the light of day again since they have the other two in their arsenal. John did an incredible job on his build, I would never guess it was the Lindberg kit.

Not to mention the paint mismatch on the front clip. The rusty split exhaust tips are the icing on the cake.

Agreed on all counts. I'm under no illusion that there's any realistic chance of seeing this in styrene. That window of chance was probably 20-30 years ago. Like it or not, there's now a pretty small fraction of the general public who even knows the variations between these different model years, much less cares. And that percentage gets smaller every year. As the fidelity of 3D printing keeps improving, I think that's where the future lies for stuff like this.

I also agree that the "Trophy Series" AMT '49 and '50 Fords are good, no need for an all new version. I built the '49 in the late '80s, and seem to recall no major problems. In more recent versions, I believe they modified the tooling to eliminate the front metal axle through the engine. I have a pair of the "Gas Man" reissues, but haven't built them. I really wish that AMT had completed the trilogy and given us a '51. If we're talking new tooling, I think that year would make more sense.

While I hate to give AI credit for anything, it is correct that AMT produced a 1949 Ford 4-door sedan promo: And they also did produce a 1950 Plymouth sedan promo: I know, neither one is really a "model kit", and they're both pretty crude by today's standards. Seems like AI is no different from the general human population, which commonly considers any miniature automotive replica a "model car" (or even worse, a "toy car").

Yeah, doubting that one is in the cards. In addition to the longer chassis that Dave mentioned, that also would force them to create a longer driveshaft and exhaust. Dont forget a different interior tub and glass. And all that's on top of the new body. At that point it really is becoming a completely new kit. Probably the biggest problem is that there never was a 1970+ factory stock Swinger kit that they can clone, which is their current standard process. Yeah, they have the L.A. Dart body that they could maybe use as a starting point, but that itself has proportional problems and an incorrect wheelbase. I thought the best hope for a '70s Swinger would have been a variation off the Revell '69/'68 Dart. Unfortunately, with their current ownership I think there's little chance of that now.

13 years ago? Good chance that "new puppy" has already come and gone...

Shouldn't the wheels on the orange and black trucks be 6-lugs? I thought all these 70s and 80s Japanese trucks were 6-lug, like the white truck. (No real knowledge of these trucks, just seem to remember that from back in the day.)

A little bit surprised that they're bringing this one out, since.the '71 Demon and the Duster are both currently available. Then again, maybe it's wise since there's possibilities for parts swapping between all three of them. Box art seems to indicate we will get a proper set of "mags" in this (as opposed to the Pontiac Honeycombs). Not clearly shown what they will be, but they look "Torq-Thrusty". Suspect it will be one of the separately tooled sets that they've already included in a lot of their other recent kits, like the full-bumper '70 Camaro, etc.

Round 2 has managed to put out 3 different versions of the AMT Pinto coupe, so that one has been well covered. However, the MPC "Pony Express" Pinto Wagon seemed to have a short run, so I think they could do well by putting that one out again. The AMT Pinto leaves a lot to be desired as far as details/proportions, so if they could manage to reissue some version of the MPC Pinto coupes, I think those could do well too. Seems to be a lot of interest for some type of pro stock reissue of the MPC Pinto, but it sounds like that might require at least a retooled body similar to the Vega pro stocks (I'm basing this on discussions from others on this board that are more knowledgeable than me on that subject). They did reissue the AMT Monza, but that also was not as proportionally accurate as the MPC version. And I think there is just more nostalgia for all the various MPC Monzas. I also fully agree on the MPC Chevette. There is a certain amount of nostalgia for the Chevettes, since so many people either had one, or had friends/family with them. But I think the real interest would be in all the crazy V8 swap possibilities.

Usually I post my scores either in the "What did you get today?" thread, or the Hobby Lobby thread if I specifically bought it there. Of course, probably more than half the posts in the HL thread concern what they DON'T have.

Nick, here's a link to the ongoing Hobby Lobby thread. You probably didn't see it because it has dropped 4 pages down in the General section: Normally it stays closer to the top of the General section, but HL hasn't been getting much of anything different lately, so interest is naturally falling off a bit.

Checked my local Ollies (Merrrillville, IN). No JJ funny cars, in fact nothing new whatsoever. Same Atlantis ship and airplane kits collecting dust on the shelves, and a bunch of the MPC Wacky Racers. Still had a couple of the MPC trikes too. Thought they'd gotten rid of all those, but they must have found some more (or shifted them around from somewhere else).

I really wouldn't get my hopes up for a Blazer version from Moebius, at least for the foreseeable future. First priority needs to be shortbed Fleetside versions, to match the hottest 1:1 interest. Between all the 67-72 model year changes, short bed/long bed, 2WD/4WD, Stepside/Fleetside, small block/big block, they have years of variations they can do. Easily as much as the bumpside Fords. I would also be very surprised if they are not factoring in GMC variations as well.

Couple other demerits of the AMT Blazer: Incorrect front bumper with no turn signals. I believe it was first issued as a 1970 which had the lights in the grill. When they updated the grill to a 1971/1972 style, they didn't change the bumper. Probably since the bumper was still correct for the Jimmy version of the kit. Also, optional wide steel wheels are correct 6-lug for the front axle, but 5-lug for back. Even with its shortcomings, the Blazer is miles ahead of the AMT 1972 Fleetside pickup, which doesn't even resemble its subject matter from the rear...