Mark

That Kombi hadn't been done before, at least in 1/24 or 1/25 scale. The kit manufacturers always went for the 21 or 23 window version. Revell Germany did that Lufthansa shuttle version a few years back; the 1:1 shuttles were Kombis yet they used the 23 window because that's what they had. I've got one of each version already offered, but will snag one or two of these also, and would pick up any other versions they choose to do.

The Fiat was 1/12 scale, fairly decent body, so-so engine, chassis was shared with a futuristic bubble top show rod and not related to anything that ever saw a drag strip. Guys who like 1/12 scale stuff will buy built ones and part them out, and build more realistic drag cars using Monogram 1/12 scale kit engines and other parts.

1959 Edsel. It's not obvious because you can't see the front end! For shelf models (I haven't entered a contest in about 35 years) I'll mix and match centers and outer rims from parts box wheels. Sometimes a kit will have "trendy" optional wheels that are out of style but have nicely done outer rims that can be salvaged. Those can be matched with centers from other wheels, even ones with damaged outer rims. I've taken single wheels and made castings to get full sets of centers. If you have two sets of matching (or very close) outer hoops, you can use the second set to make the back side of the rim look more like the front. Don't throw away those wheels that someone twisted off of the parts tree leaving chunks of the outer rim missing; those can be recycled into a new wheel if you like the center.

Check Scale Motorsports, I believe they offer wheel sets made up of turned aluminum outer rims with cast resin centers. If I remember right, they are sold in pairs so that you can mix/match wheel sizes.

But can the toilet app jiggle the handle?

#5 are Jo-Han custom wheels, those were in some 1961 and 1962 kits. #2 is from an AMT annual Corvette kit, 1969-77 probably all had them. If #4 fits into an AMT or MPC car tire, it is from an AMT Econoline van kit. The pickup wheel covers were larger, 16-1/2" if I remember right. The tires in those pickup kits may have been shared with 1/32 scale big rigs, I'm not positive about that though.

There was also a Monogram '66 Shelby GT350 kit with the dull finish plating. Revell-Monogram had a display at a Toledo toy show that year, I asked them why that was done because it was actually extra work (dull spray over the plating). The reply I got was "we did that because the engine parts on the plated tree needed an aluminum finish, you can apply clear gloss over it to get shiny chrome on the bumpers". My reply was "it's easier for the builder to make bright plating dull, than to make dull plating bright", also that the other Shelby kits had bright plating so they should have been consistent. The T-Bolt kit was out around that time too, as I understand the guy who commissioned that production run had the brainstorm to ask for dull finish chrome. That kit was the first issue of the 'Bolt to be molded in white plastic.

So there was overlap between the mid-size and full-size wagons for '64, but not for the rest of the decade. The longer wheelbase and Vista roof gave Buick and Olds a unique identity, separated them from Chevy and Pontiac, and justified their higher price tags. This was back when GM was still very good at separating each division with different features and identity while still sharing unseen, relatively mundane items like chassis and inner sheet metal.

Enough difference that someone will point it out if you don't include it! I'm pretty sure they also offered non-Vista wagons also. Why the longer intermediate wagons? Because Buick and Olds weren't offering full-size wagons in those years.

If you are patient, it is possible to drill out the flattened headlamp areas in the Modified Stocker bumper, and put headlamps in again. Of course that does nothing about the body, or lost parts like the taillights. The bottom two box art pictures are different panels of the same box. Prior to the Modified Stocker, only the annual and that 1969 "SSS" version were issued. The latter has some changes, including a switch from compact car tires to Polyglas tires. The stock wheel covers are larger in the SSS issue.

I haven't seen one of the newer kits without plating, but I'm betting J. Lloyd used the old box art still showing plating! This isn't a first, though. There's a Revell-Germany issue of the Monogram 1/8 scale '32 Ford that has some usually-plated parts furnished in silver plastic. The old Revell double car kits (the ones made up of Custom Car Parts packs) have some of the parts trees in silver or black plastic that were plated when issued as separate packs. I haven't got any of the boxes for those kits, so I don't know how those parts are shown in the box art. If I remember right, the SSP reissue of the Mickey Thompson Challenger I from the late Nineties has the "plated" tree molded in silver. And then there are the Advent issues of Revell car kits, some of which have plating and others that have silver plastic instead.

Who's up for a Vista Cruiser wagon conversion? It'll be expensive...two Cutlass bodies and two Chevelle wagon roofs and chassis (all to get the extra length in the wheelbase and rear doors)...

I read somewhere (and it sounds plausible) that GM went with the aluminum engine for the Vega to use foundry capacity left idle with the demise of the Corvair. GM didn't use a whole lot of cast aluminum prior to the Corvair, they made a big investment in facilities for it, as did Reynolds Aluminum. The silicon impregnated block was something GM was toying with for a while. GM's habit of using its customers as guinea pigs (particularly on the cheaper cars) and treating buyers of cheaper cars as second-class citizens cost them big time over the long haul.

If your interpretation of AMT is as the original, stand-alone company located in Troy, Michigan, the 1978 catalog lists the VW Rabbit kit as a March 1978 release, and a 1/48 scale Martin B-26B as a September release. I'm not sure the plane was even issued, let alone whether or not it was an AMT item and not shared with (or tooled by) some other company. The last all-new car kit would have been the Rabbit. The last scheduled releases by the original company would have been the two Firestone Super Stones Ford pickups (F-350 and Courier) in October 1978. The 1979 catalog cover reads "AMT Hobby Kits" and "Lesney Products Corporation 1979". At that point AMT had become a brand name which was the property of another company. However the mid-year 1979 flyer calls the company "Lesney AMT Corporation", so the argument could be made that it was still a stand-alone operation. But the purchase by Ertl in 1982 signifies a definite change to being strictly a brand name under the control of a larger entity.

Sometimes the yellowing is due to the display area being contaminated by smoke (being in the home of a smoker) or even fluorescent light. I'd treat the parts as though they were painted, and clean them the same way. You'd clean even brand new parts before priming or painting, these would be no different.

Rock Auto, baby...all the parts your car will ever need! I bought a few parts for my '62 Fairlane (with a '74 250 I6/C4 automatic) a few weeks ago...spark plugs a buck and a half apiece (platinum, yet!), motor and transmission mounts under $4 each, universal joints under ten bucks (USA manufactured, too) and a water pump for $23. All name brand stuff, too. You do have to watch the shipping to make sure you aren't paying for another package while saving ten cents on a gasket, but the website gives you that information.

First version of the Ford van was the Vantom (Round 2 reissue calls it the Phantom, box art and decals otherwise the same). That one was on store shelves in early '75, as the 1:1 van was first showing up on dealers' lots. I think the '77 Cruising Van was the next version, followed by those three oddball custom-only kits (Disco Van, Hyper Hut, Cuckoo Nest).

I think I have a '78 catalog, will check later. The VW Rabbit may have been the last all-new kit. The Scirocco shares some parts with it as I understand. The '41 Plymouth was issued as a stock only version prior to the street rod.

1978, when Lesney stepped in. Not sure what the last all-new kit was, but the Super Stones version of the Ford F350 pickup may have been the last release prior to the sale. I'm pretty sure I have a flyer for that kit with the Troy, Michigan address on it.

MPC Firebird annual kits ('67-1/2, '68, '69), all reissues of the '69 including the one (1982) issue of the convertible, and one early Eighties issue MPC '69 Camaro (the one molded in black). Most issues of the MPC Daytona Transporter Truck have one also (except the one sold with the Ramchargers dragster).

The 153...the engine that should have been used in the Vega!

The size of the package has always been a big deal with USPS, but has gotten more so in recent years. I remember in my eBay selling days, changing the box on an item I sent to England because the original shipping box was something like 1/4" too large one way or another. Changing boxes cut the shipping cost by several dollars.

The original kit did not include a raised convertible top. Had one been added, it would likely be included in the test shot photos.

My understanding is that the last "run" of police car kits was packaged from already-molded parts obtained in the sale. All of the already-molded clear parts were the green tinted ones, so Okey had someone do the vacuform glass in order to include a set of clear windows in those kits. The vacuform in the one kit I bought was unusable. The only kits newly molded under Okey's ownership were the '59 Rambler wagon and snap Chrysler Turbine car. I heard somewhere that the '66 Rambler wagon was intact, but nobody ever backed that statement up. Who now owns the tools that Moebius displayed at that one trade show, who really knows for sure?

I cheated on this one, as I never had any of those double kits complete...I looked at the Drastic Plastics instruction sheet scans. The tooling alterations were probably done to allow the use of one or two fewer parts trees in these kits. For a typical double kit, I count two engines, two chassis, one chassis accessory pack, one wheel pack, and one body (dragster body is included with the chassis pack). Add four tires and four slicks, and that's it.