Mark

The 1969 reissue was the last go-round for the '62 Galaxie hardtop. It presumably no longer exists, as, if it had been in good enough shape to be reissued, it would have been at some point. Either issue seems to sell for about the same money, the annual has many more optional parts however.

Wheels might be dated, but they look "right" to my eyes. The larger diameter wheels tend to not leave much of the tire sidewall exposed, they're just "all wheel" with no really visible tire from a side view.

As I understand, Heller now owns the tooling for those kits, and has issued them in the distant past without plating on the appropriate parts. I believe AMT (the original company, prior to Lesney or Ertl) saw 1/43 scale trucks as something of a solution to rising kit prices due to increasing plastic costs. But the truck builders already had sizeable collections of 1/24-25 scale trucks, so those people didn’t buy into the smaller scale.

The reason the remaining examples sell for good money, is because at some point all of them were expendable. Only the super-high-end stuff like Cobras, most Hemi cars, and the like escaped that. GTO Judges got turned into dirt track cars, same as any other big-engine intermediate car. The same is true with parts. As an early teen, I assisted in cleaning out a two-car garage. The pile at the curb included TWO big-block Chevy tri-power setups. I'm not sure if any air cleaners were included, but at least one of the intakes had the carbs still on it. I'm sure there were other goodies on that pile, but those intake setups stuck out in my mind.

With those first issue Revell '29 pickup kits, you get, at no additional charge, those toxic tires that turn styrene into bubblegum. And the first issue is the only one with stock tires and wheels.

These particular cars do have certain issues that can keep the value down. The exhaust manifold deal for example. Not easy for the average guy to handle, expensive to pay someone else to fix. The quick flip artists won't want to bother with something like that because they want something they can half-ass together cheaply and quickly. All those people steering clear = low demand. On the other hand, those who are capable of fixing such an issue, and are patient enough to work their way through it, can get themselves a good deal on one of these cars. With the average guy, they just want something to cruise around in, and will avoid what they might think will need a lot of work. That's where the flip farms do their business, preying on those folks. It's only after the sale when those buyers start seeing expensive issues.

Well, a modern (2024) build would most likely use an LS engine...

The kit manufacturers usually put headers low on the priority list because they'd then have to rework the rest of the exhaust system to match. The headers were often in a tight space and not readily seen on the finished model, and didn't show up well in box art photos. Instead, they'd photograph other, more readily seen features for box art. Heck, some of the Monogram multiple version 1/24 scale kits even had supercharger setups while still having exhaust manifolds. I've got a built MPC early Seventies Mustang pro stocker (not an annual kit but the dedicated pro stocker) that has exhaust manifolds on the engine! They were even illustrated on the box side panel.

Bad electrical in some instances, also hidden/difficult to fix structural rust. I'd avoid auction cars, lots of issues hidden with expanding foam covered with undercoating.

'63 was the final year for acetate promos at Jo-Han. They were late to switch (AMT and SMP did so during the 1961 promo run). There are two types of acetate promos: those that are warped, and those that haven't warped yet (a number getting smaller with each passing day). Acetate doesn't just warp; it shrinks too. And it shrinks inconsistently. Don't waste time trying to "un-warp" one. Jo-Han again made Rambler Classic four-door sedan and wagon promos for '64. Best bet would be to locate a damaged '64 promo, and either accept the slight styling differences or convert it to '63 spec. The bumpers on the '63 promos are styrene, and could be adapted to the '64 body. I have seen the '64 sedan body in resin, but it was poor quality.

The annual kit had an incorrect chassis, it's a full length frame when the 1960 Chrysler cars (except Imperial) were Unibody. The USA Oldies reissue had a more correct chassis, though everything is molded in much as with the annual pictured.

Seems like the guys plowing driveways always overbook themselves. When it isn't snowing, they're raking in the money. But, when there is a halfway decent snow storm, they're caught off guard and left unable to take care of everyone who contracted their services. The people who don't get taken care of in a timely manner will sign up with someone else, but they're probably just switching to another overbooked guy.

Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas...

Andy Warhol meets Red Green?

Are the Iceman items 1/24 scale? That right there will add about 2" in scale.

The Monogram kit was a snapper, but it had decals, not stickers.

The annual kit also had V8 emblems on the body, and had a slant six engine under the hood. I believe the MPC '68 repeated the error, with "340" hood inserts and a slant six.

Someone mentioned awhile back (here, I believe) that the exclusive Atlantis kits would be figures, not cars.

The fuel truck is 1/48 scale. I saw a few of those yesterday, hadn't seen them before. The same store still had quite a few of those Fireball dragster kits from about a month ago.

I'm surprised nobody has built a rat rod with one of those vertical engine setups...

There are a couple of YouTube channels where they open "unused" food, wisely not attempting to eat it. From the looks of some of those items, I'm glad we don't have "smell-o-vision"...

I just bought one of those '71 Cyclones a week or so ago. Nothing built, body and interior are brush painted and should clean up nicely once I get some new stuff to put in the dunk tank. The '71 annual kit never included the stock striping (the '70 annual did), good thing the Model King issue stock car has it on its decal sheet.

All are the same kit. I'd get the newest issue (pictured at bottom) or the one at the top. Some of the pre-Round 2 kits have poor chrome plating, and/or the convertible front bumper which lacks the W-30 air inlets.

The drag version parts were in all of the annual kits except the '77. They were in a lot of the reissues too. They are not in the original thrill show car, the IMSA GT racer, or the custom-only Python.

Never seen that before. If you've got plastic on the lower side, don't bust it out. I'd fill with two-part epoxy filler on top. The first layer would fill most of the divot (pack it into the corners, don't leave gaps), then grind or sand the edges of it to feather in the final fill.