mikos

That’s a little concerning. I thought the Coronet would be sales success. However, me thinks the Grand Prix would do a lot better. I wonder how the ‘68 GTO is doing?

I don’t know if we should use the example of original kit/promo prices for these new resin kits. They should be at a price point under what the original kits/promos go for. The reason those original kits/promos are expensive is because they are not being made anymore in plastic and there is a high demand for them in the hobby. A resin kit, even though they can get pricey, is just not the same as an equivalent vintage kit made in styrene. If they charge what the originals are going for, it’s probably better just getting the original. Either way, you’re the spending the same amount of money for either one. I was hoping they could get enough capital investment to do small runs in styrene. Of course, that would take money for tooling and distribution. However, we have a lot of smart people on here that could do it. What they need is someone to clone the original kits/ promos like what Round 2 is currently doing. Make some parts a little different as to not step on the toes of avid collectors like Round 2 is doing with their cloned kits. Then, it would just require an investment in tooling to have it done in styrene plastic. I hate to sound pessimistic, but this “made to order” Johan kits in resin on a Facebook page with no chrome and vacuumed formed glass for a hundred and a half sounds a little dubious.

Atomic City now owns the Johan LLC rights that Okey used to own?

The subject matter they offer is more desirable than the Tamiya example you provided. If Round 2 cloned (or fixed the Kotter tool) the ‘72 Grand Prix and offered it for $37.99, would it sell better than the Tamiya Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA in sales? I’m thinking it would be a land slide over the Alfa Romeo kit here in the U.S. No doubt the Tamiya kit would offer more detail since it’s a more modern kit. However, what would sell better? A kit that hasn’t been reissued in stock form since the early ‘70’s annual or the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA? I’m thinking it would be the ‘72 Grand Prix hands down. I would love to be proven wrong, though.

The last version for that tooling would be the Canadian RCMP 1973 Caprice tool. Mounting holes were added to the roof for the light bar. If they could find the original body mold, we could have the ‘73 Caprice back again. Unfortunately, for the ‘71, that was modified into the ‘72 and then that was modified with even more changes to the ‘73 Caprice. Of course, they could always clone them and we could possibly see the ‘71-‘72 Impala again. The question would be, would it be the ‘71 or the ‘72? They could do both, perhaps. However, I don’t really see that happening. The question remains, whatever happened to the original 1973 Caprice body tool? The ‘74-‘76 is a completely different body mold. Since the ‘74’s had so many changes done for that model year, MPC just decided to make a brand new body tool for that car. The ‘75-‘76 Caprice was based upon the new for ‘74 body tool.

I was hoping to see the “ProStreet ‘80/‘81 Camaro Z28” that was promised several months ago. I guess they couldn’t find the molds or they were damaged or something. Oh well…

I hope they follow this up with a curbside/promo style version as well.

Wouldn’t it be great if somebody put up the money for some of that old Johan tooling? Hmmm, does he like Johan kits too?

I wonder why they decided to move the tooling to another location? Is that location here in the United Sates instead of China? Or, is it a different location in mainland China? If it’s been put on hold, that probably means 2025 at the earliest which is a shame because except for the AMT ‘70.5 Camaro Z28 and the now discontinued custom “Cheverra”, there is really no scale representation of a stock late ‘70’s early ‘80’s Camaro Z28 in the Round2 portfolio. Revell has reissued their Z28, but that one leaves a lot to be desired with its incorrectly rendered round Firebird Trans Am style wheel wells.

Me too!

Was the tooling found not usable?

Nice box art. I will definitely have to get one or two or perhaps three. Buy the aftermarket resin grills so I can do a Nova SS/RS.

His stuff is good, but I’d rather have Round2 clone an original kit that was done using the factory blueprints of the real thing. You can’t get any more faithful to the original than that. Then, combine the cloned body with the correct interior and then use the rest of the parts from the ‘70 Impala. It’s much less expensive to do it that way than tool up a brand new kit with Tamiya like level detail. You don’t need a hundred parts count to make a kit look good.

They could clone it.

Yep, you’re right, I guess they went back down to 116” for the ‘73-‘77 models to reduce production costs. I always thought they were 118” like the ‘69-‘72 models.

That’s the AMT version. Look at the chopped upper greenhouse. The MPC kit did it much better (more accurate) in this area. The MPC version is the one to get.

If they could find the original tooling inserts for the front and rear bumpers, they can easily do any Firebird GTA from ‘88-‘92. For the earlier Firebird Trans Am, they would need to find the front bumper for the ‘82-‘83 models. The rear bumper on the recent Knight Rider reissue is the original ‘82-‘83 style so it seems they never lost that bumper insert. Then, if they can find the ‘85-‘87 front/rear bumpers and side ground effects, those models could be covered too. The only problem would be the incorrect later interior for the earlier variants, but that didn’t stop Round2 from the last Knight Rider reissue with the incorrect ‘90-‘92 GTA interior. The earlier style Camaro may be more difficult because the front bumper and the ground effects were molded with the body on that one. So, as they made the various updates over the years, they were molded in with the body tooling. However, the ‘92 Camaro Z28 would be nice to see again if they could find the tooling. Also, the promo based ‘91-‘92 Camaro Z28 from the old “SnapFast Plus” series line would be nice to see again as well. That is, if they can find the promo tooling inserts for it like the molded in hood with screw stand supports on the inside, solid roof insert and the one piece promo style chassis. They could market it under the new Craftman Plus series.

Actually, no. The redesigned ‘73 Grand Prix still had the unique (slightly longer) 118” wheelbase of the ‘69-‘72 models. When they were downsized in ‘78 with the rest of the intermediates, they then shared the same 108” wheelbase with the rest of the GM A-body variants.

The ‘72 Chevelle based on the MPC tooling would be great to have again. I’m guessing the tooling is long ago missing or damaged since we haven’t seen that one since the mid ‘80’s. The MPC Pro Street Camaro Z28 would be great to have again as well. However, since we haven’t seen that one yet, I’m guessing the body tooling is damaged. That’s a shame because it would be very easy to convert it to a stock late ‘70’s early ‘80’s Camaro Z28 if you can find the original annual 1981 cowl induction hood insert. If not, then you could still do a stock ‘78-‘79 Camaro Z28 with it. That would compete very favorably with the current though inaccurate in wheel well shape Revell reissue.

Those Monogram Caddy’s are getting expensive, though.

How about converting the Sweathogs Dream Machine back into a stock Grand Prix?

If they did that, then we’d lose the ‘70. I’d rather not lose anything these days. If they could clone the ‘69 body, hood, bumpers and interior, I’d be all in for that.

The Revell Charger is a competitor product and the Snap kit has no engine detail. A full glue based “MPC” 68-‘70 Charger would have tremendous ROI if they cloned an original annual body. It’s a no brainer with that one.