Mark

AMT made the Buick wagon as a kit in '61 and '62. Some time ago, I checked both the Jo-Han Olds and AMT Buick wagons against the '61 Tempest four-door body, and if I remember right the AMT kits matched up better than an AMT/Jo-Han combo. I'd like a Tempest wagon. but don't think I'll ever get around to doing one. Not sure how I would cut the two; whether to slice the Pontiac front clip onto the wagon body, or try to splice more of the Pontiac body into it.

I know one like that...outlived two of her own children (one aged 5), lost her husband when in her mid-forties, raised four kids then aged 6-17, beat cancer twice, was in three or four pretty nasty car wrecks (two of which could have killed her), several heart surgeries, and spent the last four or five years of her life dealing with the side effects of radiation treatment, and then memory loss. Never felt sorry for herself or asked "why me". Easily the toughest, most resilient person I have ever known. And, had the most common sense though she only finished tenth grade. My mom. BTW, those last few years involved massive effort on the part of the three remaining children (though even that didn't come close in terms of paying back)...

My '67 Sting Ray (coupe) annual box shows no signs of tape marks, nor do a couple other '67 kits I checked. I bought two '67 Mustang annual kits in the Eighties that were both shrinkwrapped, one remains that way to this day. I have a sealed '67 Barracuda kit that I got in the early/mid Seventies, and I know where it was prior to my getting it. The '66 AMT annual kits were definitely taped. I'd put the beginning of AMT shrinkwrapping kits in mid-late '66, with the '67 annuals. Maybe the first one or two releases were taped, but the vast majority were wrapped. The Trophy Series kits were probably phased in as they were re-boxed in the '66-'67 period, when many went from their first-issue boxes to the "portrait" boxes with wording only on the ends and side panels.

Revell did their original '57 Ford Ranch Wagon in '57, the Eldorado Brougham was probably '57 also. SMP did a couple of bagged/unassembled promotional models in '57, with a tree of custom parts added. I've never seen one in person but I understand those were molded in acetate, same as the promos and friction toys. Those weren't around long, SMP/AMT came back in '58 with the boxed, molded in styrene, 3-in-1 kits. Only eleven kits were offered that first year (Ford, Edsel, Buick, Pontiac, and Chevrolet in both hardtop and convertible, and an Imperial convertible). Jo-Han started in '59, with only four hardtops (Plymouth, Dodge, Cadillac, and Oldsmobile). SMP/AMT pickup kits started in 1960 (Ford, Chevy, and Chevy El Camino). AMT offered some 3-car kits in '53, those were unassembled promos molded in acetate. They also offered a "Styling Kit" with an unassembled '57 Thunderbird promo, plus some clay and styling tools. Unless someone thinks of something earlier, I'd probably peg the Revell '57 Ford Ranch Wagon as the first 1/25 scale full-detail car kit, even though it didn't include any windows...

Buick kits were all AMT. SMP did Chevys and Chrysler products (Imperial, Valiant). A handful of SMP-boxed '62 Imperial convertible kits slipped out, and about half of the Styline '62 Valiant kits are branded "SMP" as well. The '62 Impala kits have "SMP" engraved on the custom license plate, and the body might have an "smp" logo on the inside as well.

Yes, the automatic was a Powerglide. Get under one of these, look at the outer case of the transaxle, it has "Powerglide" cast into it, plain as day. Another weird thing about these Tempests was that they used 5-on-4-1/2" bolt circle wheels, which Ford, Chrysler, AMC, and Studebaker used. I don't think any other GM product ever used that pattern. The other GM compacts used four-lug wheels. On top of that, the Tempest used left-hand thread lugs on one side, which I don't think GM did much, if at all otherwise. Chrysler was getting away from that around this time. GM was doing some experimentation back then, and gave the divisions latitude to do their own thing. I'm pretty certain the transaxle/rope drive was floated on one or two GM concept cars in the Fifties. Buick had the aluminum V8 engine, Olds got it too (but got to do their own cylinder heads), Olds and Chevy messed around with turbochargers, and early Chevy IIs had monoleaf rear springs which they had been experimenting with for a few years prior.

Two Guys was based in New Jersey (original name: "Two Guys from Harrison"). They didn't operate all of the departments in their stores; if you remember that far back, at first some departments had their own cash registers within the store. They probably didn't operate the jewelry/watch department, as they started out selling TV sets. Two Guys came to my area around 1967, had two stores here that I know of. One of the hobby wholesalers in my area operated the toy/hobby department in the stores here, as well as in another department store based here that operated in much the same way as Two Guys. Both Two Guys and the local operation closed all of their stores in the early Eighties; both reshaped themselves as real estate management operations, and both are still in business doing just that.

Of the three stores in my area, only one had anything marked down. My travels took me past all three earlier today, and that's what I encountered. I'll pass one of the "other two" again Monday afternoon, maybe they'll still have that '57 Ford on the shelf.

The Round 2 Color Me Gone Dodge (and Lawman Plymouth) do not include the slant six. Both have a number of newly tooled parts. The Dodge has the bench front seat which was not in the last Lindberg issue of the stock version (red car on the box).

Ford had a 255 (or close to that) V8 in the early Eighties. I'm pretty sure that was a 4.6, because at the time I had an AMC 258 six which was also a 4.6. Ford's 221 small-block was the very first one, in '62. I don't think it lasted through '63, it was replaced by the 260. Ford never went that small with that engine again.

Nope, I believe the bore/stroke were changed making the 396 a 402. Not the first time the "wrong" number has been used. I believe one of the 351 Ford engines (Cleveland?) is actually a 352, but Ford didn't want it confused with the earlier 352. I've heard the late-Seventies Pontiac 301 is closer to 302, but 302 was more closely associated with Ford at the time, so 301 it became...

Chevy had a 400 small-block, and the 400 (402) big-block which was also used in "SS 396" Chevelles and Camaros for the last couple of model years. Years ago, one of my brothers parted out two '71 Caprice station wagons, mainly for the engines and transmissions. One was a big-block, the other a small-block. Both had "400" emblems on the front fenders.

And, oddly, the other day I saw a story about the owners of the K-B Toys name thinking about reviving that brand. They claim to be looking into doing it in a way that avoids both Toys "R Us' missteps, as well as their own past mistakes. If it happens, I'd guess it would be as a mainly-online store, with a brick-and-mortar outlet here and there...

They did have them (never a fantastic selection as I recall). They got out of kits in the late Nineties around here. For some reason they had a boatload of AMT/Ertl new-tool '57 Chevy kits at the time, every version that was available (basic, Pro Shop, Coca-Cola, and street machine versions). They blew them out at $3.33 apiece. I snagged all of the Pro Shop ones, probably ten or twelve in all. I've got one, maybe two left that I didn't resell later on. After that, they had a limited selection in a free-standing display at Christmas time for a few years. I did see a couple of AMT Ecto-1A kits scattered among the diecast cars in recent years, that's about it.

The one pictured is a copy of the original kit. The front wheel openings are incorrect (they're carried over from the Duster; 1:1 had Dart fenders, front and rear wheel openings are a mismatch both in shape and detail). The kit's hood is too flat also, as the underside tooling was shared with the Duster, right down to the center bulge (the Demon hood is flat down the center but extremely thin there as a result)....

And now, here's a late entry from Buffalo, NY, sponsored by Mighty Taco... (if you're from around here, you'll put two and two together pretty quickly)

If it fails to start, do you jiggle the handle?

The Revell John Buttera T kits are correct. The Buttera '33-'34 Fords are undersize because they use the same chassis as the Ts.

The trim around the windshield is unique to '63 also...except AMT never changed it on their '64-'67 promos or kits!

First thing: if I had one of those, let alone two, they wouldn't be stored anywhere where they were visible to the general population. Second thing: I wouldn't post stuff like that on FB, unless they were heavily insured and I wanted them gone...

Modelhaus did repop the original bumpers (they pretty much did bumpers for every annual kit!), but I recall there being a notation about the early (pre-Modified Stocker) rear bumper not being a good fit on the "repaired" kit. AMT did a number on the GTO in creating the Modified Stocker; so much was changed that Ertl had to tool an entirely new interior bucket and chassis also. This was one of their earliest efforts, so it didn't come out nearly as good as their later work like, say, the '66 Nova kit.

You should be able to pull up the instruction sheet on the Round 2 website, that should confirm yes/no...

But is that a "Revell" release, or a Revell of Germany release that was planned long before the buyout? Revell of Germany kits imported here were typically a few bucks more than the Revell USA equivalent. A local HS did get the German issues of kits readily available here, and had no trouble selling them. Apparently some buyers wanted the different packaging, and as I understand it some of the kits of foreign subjects got better decals in the German version.

The only '65 Riviera kit with "way less content" was the Barris Cruisin' USA issue, which was one of those Lesney deals where they blocked off all of the parts not used in the version shown on the box. Ertl put everything back, except for a pair of chrome headers. I'd bet Round 2 puts those back. The annual issue had a clear display base too, but as I remember the car didn't really fit it very well.

Looks like a little bit through the doors, and a bit in the front fenders both in front of, and behind, the gills. The elongated rear wheel openings help draw attention away from the front end stretch. Looking there, I'm wondering if a couple of inches weren't added behind the door area as well, just above the rear wheel openings. They did a great job on it, it really flows nicely.