Justin Porter

Genuinely makes me happy to see how aggressively Hasegawa is approaching new tooling.

Wow is that an improvement over the Fujimi and Aoshima kits! Plus I am absolutely loving the interior side panels that actually include the C-pillar trim.

I'd be just as happy if they decided not to reissue the Duster and instead explored some alternate decal options for the Hawaiian Charger they released in 2010. I do understand that the Chi-Town Hustler was a particularly unique car so it's not nearly as viable for altered reissue but sure there are other interesting Chargers either in period or on the nostalgia circuit that the kit could represent.

That's definitely a different take on the kit! While I would much rather they were reissuing the modern '55 Chevy hardtop kit seen in the California Wheels line this ought to be fairly popular.

I will say the Moebius '61 Pontiacs don't tend to hang around at my shop. I would be quite pleased if they considered a companion '63 or '64 full size kit. At the same time, a not-horrible '64 or '65 GTO would be lovely and probably more popular.

Jim Henson's works aside from those belonging to the Children's Television Workshop fall under the Disney umbrella so it would come down to Round 2's standing agreements with Disney. That being said, now I get to be reminded of Racing Champions killing off the development of the new-tool Studebaker that AMT/Ertl had cooking at the time of the takeover and how there's no such thing as a 1/25th scale Studebaker tooled up in the 21st century. Thanks guys.

Stevens International just gave the following as open for shops to preorder with the following MSRP's. AMT #1327 Peterbilt 359 California Hauler w/Sleeper $78.95 #1333 Coke 1929 Ford Woody Pickup $43.95 #1334 1964 Mercury Comet Craftsman Plus $38.95 #1360 1957 Chevy Bel Air Pepper Shaker $38.95 MPC #891 1983 Toyota Celica Supra $38.95 #974 LA Dart Wheelstander $38.95 #977 George Barris Raiders Coach $38.95

I don't balk at premium prices on premium kits. I balk at premium prices on barely modified reissues of ancient kits that are then abandoned AFTER the kit has already been sold through traditional channels. For that matter, it's worth noting that the Tamiya kit was produced and licensed while Aston Martin was under completely different ownership. The current Canadian owners of Aston Martin may be more amenable to licensing discussion than David Richards' Prodrive group was. And while we're on the subject of pricing, Tamiya's reissue of the FULL DETAIL Z31 Nissan 300ZX Turbo just hit my distributor with an MSRP of $31 and the all-new FULL DETAIL 2nd gen Subaru BRZ has an MSRP of $46. I think I'm still quite justified in being virulently upset that Round 2 wants me to place a totally uncompetitive MSRP of $54.95 on the Surf Shark Ambulance.

I'd trust Aoshima or Ebbro with it as well. Revell is another possibility as their recent run of European classics (with the exception of the E-Type FHC roof) have been quite nice. Tamiya or Ebbro would be the front runners though. Imagining a DB5 done to the standard of those Citroen DS's is modeling bliss.

I cannot express with enough disgust how much I do NOT want Round 2 handling a classic Aston Martin kit.

In 1/25th there is the ancient Aurora DB4 which has been reissued both by Monogram and by Revell (in their SSP program). That's a kit that badly needs put out to pasture.

I can tell you there are a lot more builders clamoring for a stock Aston Martin DB5 kit with modern detail than there are calling for a reissue of Airfix OR Aurora's James Bond DB5. Keep in mind there hasn't been a stock classic Aston Martin kit in 1/24th scale since Airfix retooled their DB5 to represent a DB6. Granted, there are also a lot of folks clamoring for a nice '77 V8 Vantage kit but that's a bit more optimistic than a DB5 or a DB4 GT Zagato.

Certainly is an advancement if Revell really is supplying this much for underhood and interior decals on this kit. Things like the V-Belt part number or the Caution sticker on the fan shroud really bring these areas to life.

HUGE news on that Kenmeri! Both the Fujimi and the Aoshima kits are pretty well aged and pretty rough tooling. That's an important car that needed to be represented in a modern kit.

My point is that unless they have standing IP rights that another company does not have and cannot acquire more cheaply through negotiations (as in my Atlantis example) then Johan has absolutely NOTHING OF VALUE and no one should consider buying them. A sufficiently motivated individual who had the IP licensing rights from Stellantis could contract T-Rex Studios (the independent kit design firm utilized by Meng, Takom, and a slew of others) and have the CAD of the kit within three months, and test shots in 9 especially since something along the lines of a '68 AMX or a '70 Superbird is significantly less complicated than a full interior King Tiger. You don't need a bloody thing from Johan in the world of modern kit development. The only possibly beneficial thing is if they offer a cheaper way to get the license to produce domestic car kits than to negotiate a new licensing deal with the manufacturers themselves.

It's not a matter of permission from Johan at all. Round 2 wouldn't need the licensing from Johan because they already have operational licensing from Stellantis, General Motors, and Ford Motor Company. A company like Atlantis that currently has only the General Motors licensing is in IP negotiation with Stellantis so that they have the IP rights to release Stellantis product based kits. On the other hand, if Johan had a legacy IP contract with Stellantis or one of its forebears, purchasing Johan becomes a potentially cheaper end run around those IP negotiations. The Pegasus buyout of Moebius was motivated by EXACTLY this sort of IP license possession on the sci-fi side. But, if Spaulding doesn't currently hold any usable IP rights then all he has is worthless old tooling that should be replaced by something modern.

Funny thing to me is that in truth if Spaulding actually HAS anything of value it would lie in whether or not he's maintained any sort of IP Licensing rights to AMC products. The tooling is meaningless at this point. If he's not running it, it can't be either usable or complete and it's all archaic garbage anyways. But legacy licensing rights that are already negotiated, set in stone, and paid for? Now THAT is something worth buying out.

Which - with the baffling exception of the '66 Malibu nostalgia release - are all reasonably modern full detail kits priced competitively with other mainstream manufacturers such as Tamiya, Moebius, Aoshima, Salvinos JR, and Hasegawa. The issue isn't that Round 2 is raising their prices. The issue is that Round 2 is pricing FOR HOBBY SHOPS SPECIFICALLY as if it were a premium brand (genuinely, Hasegawa non-Limited Edition curbsides that still have metal transfers have lower MSRP's than Round 2's Surf Shark) when it's not offering a competitive product and then turning right around and putting the same product on palletized shipper displays for outlets for less than wholesale.

Genuinely great looking E-Type!

Another build wrapped up and this one is a major one for me. This is the Aoshima 1/24th scale MGB roadster converted to a GT coupe using the resin transkit by C1 Models. It's painted in Tamiya X3 Royal Blue and is meant to be a replica of how I wanted to restore the MGB GT that I owned in high school. I am really pleased with not only how it turned out, but also how easy the C1 transkit was to work with.

These made to my shelves and I must say I'm pretty pleased. The box is appropriately tiny so four kits on hand is about the same shelf space as two Moebius kits. Looking forward to seeing how they go out the door.

Definitely looks good regardless of the fight. These kits and their Mclaren and Penske sisters are full of strange engineering choices on AMT's part.

Rear end done and looking great. Just a bit of embellishment left to go. The MGB GT emblem done in PE by C1 Models really is a nice touch to have.

Glass is in, front end is mostly done. Rear details, PE, door handles, mirrors, and chrome side trim left to do. This one is on its home stretch!

Stevens International just gave us official kit numbers for the RoG boxings of a slate of new releases and opened preorders. Here are some of the ones that seem to be the big attention getters. 1971 Ford Mustang Boss 351 - RVL #7699 1971 Oldsmobile 442 Coupe - RVL #7695 1/8th scale 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am - RVL #7710 1969 Camaro SS - RVL #7712 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 - RVL #7708