stavanzer

Yeah, well the new one is a definite step backwards. All Gee Whiz and Glitz, but lousy to use. Harder to see what is both New and a Kit. Too Jumbled. I dislike having to choose so many filters to try to find what I want, when the website could just be set with tabs to the categories. Another case of Too Much Show and not enough Go.

It is all Sergio Marchionne's Fault. Greedy so&so, just want's to "monetize" all the brands he retains control of. There is your problem.

Thanks, Matt. I'd never seen that TZ2. What a looker! I think I like it better than the Prancing Horse.

What Alfa is that Matt? I want one. I'd settle for the Italeri, Revell, or Heller version, if there is one.

Thanks, for the Photo's, Cap'n.. The tyres could at least have been pad-printed. I really like the M/T Cheaters, however. Wish Round2 would sell those in an 8 pack. DEcals look OK to me, but Kinda 'meh' compared to some of the other Retro Deluxe kits. Looks like this was the work of the "B" team....... Not a bad kit at all, but Round2 will want the same price for this one, as the Home Run Deora kit. This "un-eveness" in consistancy drives me Bonkers. 4 new Rims, and some period sponsor decals and a few black stripes, don't live up to the billing, at least to me. I don't mind there being 2 'levels' of retro kits. Just be straight about how much, (or how little) we are really getting when we shell out $25.00 now for 35-45 year old tooling. And price accordingly. The Deora Kit is rightly worth $25.00. The Charger, not so much. It is a good $20.00 kit. A bit of a let down as a $25.00 one.

Outstanding, Tim. What great review of what will be my next kit purchase. Thanks, Alan

Thanks for the photos, Bill! Got any pics of the Tyres abd Decal Sheet? Looks like I can get on of these when it shows up here in town.

I had that "Super Charger" kit back in the 1980's. Wish I had never sold it! It was a pretty neat kit. Lousy Harry Bradley graphics and all.

I did a side by side comparison of the parts layouts of the two kits at the LHS on Friday. Thanks to Round2's policy of showing the contents on the box bottom, you can do an easy sprue layout check. Both kits appear to contain exactly the same plastic. The only difference I could see was the Decals, and Tyres. The USA-1 kit has 4 extra tyres that the '63 Street Rods does not. Two of those are the "steamroller" rears". From a scan of the USA-1 directions posted somwhere (maybe here) there is quite extensive modifications needed to fit those tyers to the old Vette chassis. Lots of cutting and fettling involved. Oddly, the USA=1 kits was 5 dollars cheaper than the Street Rods issue. I may have to go back and get it.

I just got back from the Hobby Shop. saw the New Ventura kit. Saw some other stuff that I liked too. I had Thirty Bucks in Xmas (Mad) Money to blow. Guess what I brought home? That's right. Not a Blessed Thing. All those new kits, (boy, that Ventura kit is Heavy), and nothing triggered me to pull out the wallet, and make a deal. I must have rocks in my head. I wanted a new kit, but nothing I saw just screamed "Buy Me!" Maybe I'll wait until the Melrose Missile comes out. I've been buying a lot fewer kits, and not just because money is tight. The desire to buy kits is fading too. The 'pull' of a kit has to be quite a bit more substantial now than it used to be to get me to spend. Heck, I've got plenty already, so I don't really "Need" more anyway. I just thought that it was an odd thing to have Time and cash to go Model Shopping, and come empty handed. I am the only one this happens to?

I'm down to about 600 (both Cars,Big Rigs and 1/48 scale planes) I've sold and am selling off the rest of the 1/72 kits. I just gave all my 1/72 armor kits and diorama supplies to a friend, who only asked to look through the box. He had wanted a couple of the tank kits. I just gave him the whole thing. Out of my shed and into his. I'm trying to consolidate my collection down to a more manageable size. But, I'd buy a kit a week, if I had the $$$. I don't have the disposable income I did ten years ago, and my mortgage is much more than my rent used to be, so I've had to really cut back. Not griping , however. I have a great house, and more kits than I'll ever build. It is fun just to sit and 'grok' the open ones sometimes and plan for the future build. I'll 'third' the motion on cleaning and stacking kits. When we moved from the rental into the house we bought, I found at least a dozen kits that had been ruined in storage. They were either crushed, or eaten (bugs/mice) I lost at least three 1958 SMP kits that had been very close to mint. Dang Mouse had eaten holes in all of them....... Nice way to see $300.00 go up in smoke. I've been much more aware of how my kits are stored ever since.

Joe, I remember a story that floated around the dealerships I worked at in the 1990's about some Yugos. It was probably JUST a story, but it sounded real at the time. Supposedly a Dealer in the Pacific Northwest was left with a dozen or so Yugo's on his lot after Yugo America Folded. By then they were almost impossible to sell, despite having marginally better Quality. So he ordered the In-House Body Shop to have the Gas Tanks filled and bondo over the fuel door, and spot paint the cars. He listed them as "Disposable Commuter Cars", priced them for $999.99 and sold them all in a week. "Just drive it until it's empty, and scrap it" Probably just an Urban Legend, but we got a huge laugh out of it at the time.

Well, the Fiat 128 was a marginal car, made by decently skilled workers with adequate Quality Control. The Yugo was a modified copy of an older version of the Fiat, made by indifferent workers in a plant that had a history of shoddy builds and poor QC. The whole Yugo story was made worse, by extraordinarily bad QC on the first cars shipped. Consumer Repots had the engine fall out of their sample, because the Transaxle to engine block bolts were never installed. Similar reports of unbelievably bad QC fails were legion. The Quote I remember from the CU article was "The Shifter moved with all the smoothness of a Baseball Bat in a barrel of Coconuts" The Fiat was never a Great Car. The Xerox Copy Yugo was much worse, and hobbled from the start by Awful QC and Shoddy Workmanship. Yet When you managed to get a good one, they did do reasonably well. Buddy of Mine used his a commuter car, 125 miles one way every day for five years. He changed oil and tires. Put over 85K miles on it, before it was totaled. So there were a few good ones.

Tim, I was hoping you would do a review of this kit. I'll have to block out an hour of my schedule when I see it posted.

Robert & Steve M, I have to agree with you. It probably won't happen for the very reasons you cite. It would still be nice to have. I'd be satisfied with just getting the hood, fenders, and Ventura nose back, but that would leave the kit a mish-mash hybrid, and the Rep-Stock guys would have a field day picking it to pieces. Much as I want to see it happen, it most likely never will. Ah, well, 'tis ever thus. We lust for the kits we can't have, and overlook the ones we've got.......

That Purple Dragster. AMT Double Drag and Revell Slingster kitbash? A superb build, either way.

Tom, for myself, I'd load this way. 1. One Base 150 (Black Widow), One Convertible, One Bel Aire, and One Corvette. 2 Swap a 57 Pickup for either the Vette or Bel Aire. But that's just me. I'm sure anything you chose will look great when done.

Now, that is a Car I'd drive. Over the Top? Yes. But what a Car. Never lose it in a parking lot, that's for sure. Let me win the Lotto, and it moves to my garage.

Joe, that "Piper/Vette" is even better than the first one. I'm in Love!

Ugh! Not my Cuppa Tea at all. They look like cheap, semi-snap kits. "Snaptite Max"? I don't think so. However, as always, I'll cheer for them to have sales success, if only to subsidize the kits I really want. (29 Model variations, and a 57 Ford Ranchero)

OK, Round2, Can we get this Ventura kit back, please. I know there needs to be some re-tooling, but I'll happily wait until 2017, if that is how long it takes. I just prefer the looks of this to it's Chevy stablemate, and I think it would be a much better seller now, than it ever was then. This would IMHO, make a fine "Retro-Deluxe" candidate.

I can't wait to see one of these? I had the kit in the 80's and botched it so badly that I had to throw it away. I'd like to try building it again.

Man! I wonder if it will be sold again? I'd Own and Drive that thing. Just for the Shock Value.

So, What's the front look like? I've got enough Vette and Caddy kits to do the rear, but, I'm not sure what the front is. Chevy, Maybe?

I wonder if "This" tooling still exists? That 'Face' nosepiece would Make for a great conversation starter.