Robberbaron

I was going to be near one of my local Michaels yesterday, so I checked their website and was surprised to see a 50% coupon. That clinched a drop in! All they had was one Revell X-KE Jaguar and a handful of the Monogram "Classic Cruiser" '55 Ford F100's. Hard pass. They had moved the models from their previous spot, and this now nearly empty section was about a quarter the size of the previous area. They've never had a great selection at this store, but this was a new low. My other local Michaels has never carried model kits that I've seen. On the flipside, I stopped at one of my local Joann stores and they now have a very limited selection of Atlantis kits. Unfortunately, nothing that interested me. About the best thing they had was the old Revell "opening everything" '57 Chevy, but I'm not that crazy.

Merrillville, IN store is down to just a couple Atlantis airplane kits. Nothing automotive right now.

Sorry to say there really wouldn't be much to leverage from the Monte for a Grand Prix. About the only thing could be the chassis, which is prototypically incorrect for a 1:1 '77, along with its goofy multi-position suspension. Possibly the window unit, but the GP quarter windows are larger, so I'm not even sure if that could be used. Even if Revell were to do a GP, it would probably be more efficient to just tool a new curbside-type chassis and window unit to go with everything else new, just so they could avoid having to mix and match components from different sets of tooling. Except for the roof skin, all other external sheetmetal is different between the two. Nothing from the Monte interior could be used either. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a '77 GP kit. (Truthfully, I would love to see ANY new '73-'77 A-body in styrene). However, the reality is that there's at least a hundred other kit subjects that are more likely to get kitted than a '77 GP.

Stopped at the Merrillville store again yesterday, nothing but a handful of 007 Galaxie police cars left. I'll probably never need to buy another one of those Galaxies, I still have half a case of the Hobby Heaven reissue from about 20 (?) years ago...

Stopped at the Merrillville, IN store tonight. Had the '74 Roadrunners, 007 Galaxie police cars, PL Charger funny cars, and Godzilla Jeeps. Good number of all those. In a separate location they had about 4 of the Ala Karts (RC2 tool). Almost picked one up one for hot rod parts, but started thinking it's probably not worth it, with the weird air suspension and the teeny tiny under scale engine. A Roadrunner and Jeep ended up following me home.

I'm no Ford enthusiast, but that engine looks about a scale foot too wide. If this is like most other mid '70s to early '80s Revell kits, there's probably not much usable for an accurate build.

The original '65 altered wheelbase had the scripts, since it was the the first butchering of the '65 annual/promo body. So in that regard, the new retooled version differs from the orignal. Since it's not based on any 1:1, it's personal opinion whether they should be on an AF/X car or not. On a 1:1, the quarters would need to be respayed after the extensive metalwork, so I suspect it's more likely the emblems would have been left off and the holes filled. But since this kit is all about pure nostalgia/duplicating a lost kit, I am a bit surprised at the deviation from the original.

Chances are if there were any semi truck kits, those were priced at $19.99. Seems like typical Ollies employees aren't too motivated to exert beyond the bare minimum effort (at least at my local store). So I suspect it was a "that's good enough" situation.

Gotcha, sorry for the presumption on my part.

Not quite exact matches: the red one has the vents molded open.

Hehe...how dare they provide exactly what's shown on the box, to match the car in the movie that they are licensed to promote? I'll show my indignation by registering on this forum so I can voice my disgust in a single post...

https://www.moparaction.com/2019/10/19/tommy-can-you-hear-me/ Crazy stuff...

Where I am in Indiana, I have 3 different Walmarts within my regular work/home orbit. I've only seen kits at one of them, and the last time was probably 2 years ago. Seems like they sold quickly at the time, which is why I'm surprised I haven't seen them again. I've pretty much given up trying to understand the reasoning.

Had to pick up some materials at Lowes today, so stopped in at the Merrillville Ollies across the street. Literally NO kits of any kind.

I'm with Steve 100% on the above. In particular, the Skylark seems likely, considering that they've already done several other sixties GM A-bodies ('64 Cutlass, '65 and '68 GTO's, now the upcoming '64 Malibu). Prices are crazy for the original Cyclones. I think the only difference between '70 and '71 is the hood vents and the decals, so once again they could easily create both model years using the same body mold.

My 2 cents regarding the original post: 1. Charger III: Don't see widespread interest in this one. Think it would be tough to recoup the costs of retooling. 2. 1970 Cougar: Would be nice to see this one again, but the subject matter is quite close to the existing AMT 1969 Cougar. From what I understand, the chassis/drivetrain and even the wheelcovers got carried through to the 1973 annual, which is the reason for the incorrect FE engine in that one (recently announced to be reissued). So that might be a plus in the column for this one. Not sure if the chassis plate was modified for the new body style (seems like the 1:1 front/rear overhangs are quite a bit longer on the '71-'73) Having said that, I think a much better argument could be made to clone the AMT 1967/1968 Cougars. There seems to be more 1:1 interest in this original body style (IMHO one of the best FoMoCo designs of the sixties), and there would be more of a differentiation from the AMT '69. They could probably get away with a single body tool and do the various badges/side markers with decals. One big upside is that there are a bunch of variations they could do off the basic tooling: base model, XR7, GT, GT-E, XR7-G. Possibly even a Bud Moore Trans Am version. 3. AMC AMX III: As you stated yourself, too obscure. This is a subject taylor-made for 3D printing for the few people who would be interested.

Would also be nice if they gave us a factory-stock rear bumper with correct wagon bumper guards.

While MPC kept reusing the chassis/drivetrain for each new annual through '76, the '68 body tooling wouldn't have been modified. All exterior sheet metal was changed on the '69 full size Chevies. I'm sure the MPC '69 body was updated to the '70 as you stated, since sheet metal was mostly the same between those years. I always wondered if the '68 body tooling survived, but I think we would have seen it by this point if it had. Guessing since MPC didn't use it for a funny car (like the '69 GTO) or butcher it into a custom, they decided to scrap it. I agree that the '68 and '69 Impala annuals BOTH need to be recreated! I'd even be happy with curbsides, but with the popularity of the 1:1 versions, I think full detail would be warranted. They could definitely share the chassis/drivetrain between the two. I'm looking at the new '71 Demon as the method to go. Clone the annuals with some improvements like separate clear headlights, etc.

Interesting factoid with the Monogram '32 Ford: contents of each kit doesn't take up very much space, so I managed to combine three into a single box. Always helps to conserve some space in the stash...

Never knew that some of those Catilinas used the GP grille. I thought the original kit already depicted a lightweight? Did a little looking and found plenty of pics of both types, but not an explanation. Does anyone know if it was something they did later in the model year, trying to shave off a few more pounds?

And this was the magnificent selection at the Merrillville, IN store tonight. The lone Round 2 offering was an opened Rupp 1/20 Snowmobile. Orbited through the entire store, thinking there had to be a second grouping, somewhere. Nope! Apparently even the casual shoppers know to steer clear of that Firebird. They did have a couple of the old Monogram '32 Fords so I snagged another one of those for parts, since it was 20% off.

Huh, wonder why all the '73-'77 Grand Prix brochures list the wheelbase as 116"? Guess GM couldn't figure that out...?

Aside from the stretched wheelbase, I believe the '69 to '72 GP chassis components were standard GM A-body. So I would say that they do share underpinnings such as front/rear suspension etc. With the '73 redesign, the Grand Prix switched to the same 116" wheelbase as the Monte Carlo.

Unfortunately, no. The '69-'72 GP's had a unique 118" wheelbase. Aside from the butchered body, I believe the rest of the kit remained fairly intact. So theoretically if the tooling was in hand, they could clone the factory-stock body and chrome. This is all academic though. I seem to recall Steve Goldman commenting that they had not found that one in Round2's tooling inventory.

Buy some of the new Atlantis kits. The Chevy 283 is in the Mooneyes dragster. The "Yellow Fever" Fiat coupe has the Caddy and the 427 Ford. The "Skorpion" Studebaker funny car (former "Miss Deal") has the Chrysler Hemi like it previously did, but Atlantis also added the Pontiac engine. Atlantis also paired up with Gofer Racing, who offered the 427 Ford as a standalone parts pack. Sometimes Atlantis also offers some of the parts packs bagged as standalone, for direct purchase on their website. They currently have the chromed Chevy 283 listed at $8.99. There are several more "Keeler's Kustoms" kits planned, and each one should include two different engine parts packs.