Brett Barrow

Revell's recently retooled Rommel's Rod was reportedly reverse engineered. Man, that was some serious alliteration right there.

I read your comments and this is all I see going through my head -

2007. August 21st to be exact. A Tuesday. I remember it like it was yesterday... Nah, just kidding! 2007 seems to be the earliest mention of it when I ran a Google search.

I never meant to imply that I was speaking on behalf of an entire generation, I was just stating that I am under 40 and these are the cars and models I'm into. What I don't get is this insistence every time a thread like this starts is that it's somehow Revell's job to make these models. You'll say "I'll just take my money to Japan and buy Fujimi kits". Well great, if your wants and needs are being served well by Fujimi and the Japanese companies, by all means, buy Japanese kits. Why would Revell bother investing in subjects that are already being well served on the hobby market? Let them have it and worry about those who aren't being served. There seems to be this idea that the hobby companies should all be slugging it out with each other to get your money - and by "your" I mean whoever reads this response, not you personally. You say "Hey Revell, make this model!" and then when they don't make that model you think they're not listening. But they listen. They listen and they make business decisions. They're not on a mission to make a model of every car that ever existed, they're on a mission to make a profit. They're riding a pretty good hot streak, they've been making some pretty good choices lately. You want hard and fast proof, I can give you that. I can see what's sold well and what hasn't sold well over a given time frame. I have that ability. I know off the top of my head that the best selling model car since the start of 2012 has been Revell's 50 Olds. I also know that the poorest selling all new tool kit introduced within that same time frame is the Revell 2012 Camaro. Now that could be because of the Concept snap kit and AMT promo kit already being on the market - see what I mean about worrying about a market already well served?

Is my view the norm? No it's not, and I know that. But also know that selling models is my full-time job and that I've been employed in the business in some way, shape, or form since 2001. I've seen some ups and downs in this business over that time. I've also seen grown men lined up outside waiting for us to open so they could buy those 50 Olds, 57 Fords, 57 Chevy Black Widows, 32 Ford 5-windows and Sedans, Hudson Hornets, 55 Chryslers, reissued Double Dragsters and Double T's, Avantis, Gremlins, etc... These are what's selling now. The industry is riding a major upswing thanks to kits like these. You seem to say that the companies need to go back to making those same bad decisions that nearly put them out of business a few years ago.

Sure, but why spend money on kits of current cars when they don't sell very well now, and they probabaly will never be classics 20 years from now? if they turn into desirable classics then, make a kit then. Witness Revell's all-new Fox Mustang which I'm sure will spawn several variations after the first '91 5.0 LX notch-back hits the shelves in a couple months. They'll have a winner on their hands with that kit, I'm sure. You dance with who brung you, as we say where I grew up. Make today's models for those who are buying models today, and we'll cross that bridge when get there. When folks say that they should make more current cars, this is how it comes across to me, as someone who has spent the past decade in the model business - "Hey Revell and AMT - remember that time you almost went out of business, and that other time you almost went out of business, and that other, other time you almost went out of business? We want you to go back to making he same decisions the way you were that time you almost went out of business and make models like the ones that you made that time you almost went out of business" I'm 35, and I have nearly 0 interest in any American road-going car from later than 1971. My main focus is in 50's and 60's rods, customs, and gassers, with some interest in factory-stock cars of that era as well. There's a declining interest in current cars among younger people, and there is a corresponding decline in model kits of current cars to go along with it. But period hot rods, customs, gassers, rat-rods, suede-rods, what-ever you want to call them are generating much more interest with folks my age and younger. If we're going to get younger folks interested in model cars, we first have to get them interested in cars, then give them models of the cars they are interested in. But why would anybody under 40 be interested in Corvettes or Camaros? When's the last time folks under 40 could afford to buy the real deals? It's the so-called AARP crowd that I see having more interest in Vettes and Camaros nowadays, Vettes especially...

^"But why wouldn't Revell have access to the same data, is what I'm getting at. Would you know? Did GM deny them for some reason?"^ ^"When did they stop getting design info from GM?"^ ^"Do they have to pay for it ?"^ The DoAllSer/AMT promos are the exception, not the rule. GM's marketing dept. wants promos of new Vettes and Camaros out there. They used Revell for their promos from 1999 to 2008 (which included not just the usual Corvettes, but other classic GM cars that now make up the bulk of Revell's SnapTite line), then switched to DoAllSer/AMT. GM's really the one footing the bill for these. It's more a case of they want a plastic promo model on the market and Revell and AMT have the connections to get it done. As for why the switch from Revell to DoAllSer/AMT, I can't answer that. Probably a lowest bidder type of thing. Before 99 it was MPC for many years (since early 70's?) through all the mergers and name changes winding up, of course, as AMT/Ertl. Any full-detail glue kits that Revell or AMT want to make are a different story, they'd have to find a 1:1 and go measure and photograph it, just like it was an old classic. It's possible that they might be allowed some access to design information or to come to the factory and measure a 1:1 on the line, but they'd have to come get it on their own dime and their own time...

There will be a NASCAR supercharged version out (probably by the end of the year) and that's no foolin'. Of course the supercharger parts and "screen door handle" on the chrome tree were a dead giveaway, but this one's been confirmed by Revell - I just don't have any specifics on it yet. And don't forget we have the limited-edition Model King fire/police version to come as well. That will be sometime this summer or late spring. http://www.svensworldofwheels.com/57_ford_police_page.html

Well, thanks to the Game of Thrones watch-a-thon and an unexpected Easter dinner with the in-laws (and my own procrastinating self) i didn't get my little experiment done this weekend, but this is what I'm doing, just changing the colors to a dark, rusty undercoat and the misty overspray to a more road-grimy color and a little more rusty/dirty colored wash as well. Screenshots taken from AK Interactive Weathering Magazine Issue #3, posted under Fair Use guidelines for educational purposes.

I don't know that the Merc Woody was built into that one from the start. That might be an execption, like the 70 Mustang Mach 1. We're talking new ownership since the Merc was designed, but it's possible it was part of the original design, but then that would have made a flathead with speed parts a more likely engine choice for the custom, so that the woody could have stock parts down the road. That's why I think that's an exception. I'm thinking of kits more like 64/65 Chevy Fleetside and Stepside P/U 37 Ford P/U and S/D 56 Delray and Nomad Various hardtop and convertibles of same year/trim level (67 Vette, 68/69 Vettes, 59 Caddy, 59 chevy, 69 Camaro, 55 Chevy, etc...) That top-secret kit they're working on now and that other top-secret kit they're working on now Kurtis V8-60 and Offy Midgets. 66 Elky/Chevelle Wagon You know, the kits that come out within a year or two of the first one. Ones where we get strung out for 6 or 7 years were probably not designed in from the start.

New versions are always saved for years down the road. Milk that first one for all you can get first. Don't bring them all out at the same time and saturate the market *cough* trumpeterfalconsandrancheros *cough*. But they are usually all designed at the same time as the first kit to save on design and tooling costs. Now, do I know what alternate versions were designed into the 57 Ford tooling, or am I just playing an April Fools?!?! I get one day a year to play around, then I have to clam up for the other 364 days of the year. It's such a burden to know what I know...

Not AMT - DoAllSer. They're just branded and sold as kits by Round2/AMT. Designed and manufactured by DoAllSer, who also makes toys and die-casts for a multitude of other companies and brands. DoAllSer owns and controls the tooling, not AMT, and, IMHO, that's the smartest way to do late-model cars nowadays. Quick and easy curbsides/promos, and let the molding house do all the design work and retain ownership of the tooling. That way you're not stuck with a worthless hunk of scrap metal 10 or 20 years from now when nobody cares about 2013 cars...

Nope, won't be a Ranchero, but a Ranch Wagon. Now am I serious, or is it an April Fools?!?!.... I get one day a year I could spill the beans about stuff I know in the pipeline with total immunity. Of course, I could just be April Foolin' too...

Yeah, I guess. Different view from the inside looking out. Been a long time since I paid retail for hobby gear!

You can get them from Model Round Up for $3 a set.* If we still had any I'd sell them to you myself, but we sold the last of them a couple weeks ago. *I have no direct personal or professional connection to Model Round Up, but they do buy from our company.

$7.95?!?! They only retailed for $3.95! At least shipping is free! We did some redlines and cheater slicks about 10 years back, the G70s were done about 3 or 4 years ago.

I know the rarest kit from this century is the cancelled Revell 87 Olds Cutlass Donk kit. I know a few folks who held it in their hands at the iHobby show. There's a crappy cell phone pic floating around, too. A test shot in grey and blue plastic, IIRC. Or it could have been yellow and blue, not 100% sure on that... edit - test shot was grey and blue, built up was yellow.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. I was just poking around your Fotki page the other day, found it through an old post about opening up a 41 Chevy grille. You do some great work.

Yep. Were they bagged and stapled to a little red and white card? If so, they came from Stevens. There's even a slim chance they were packaged by yours truly...

Simple. You start with a finished production piece, and use it to create a new production line. In the context of model kits, let's say a mold has been lost or irreversibly damaged and the original masters can't be found, but company X wants to make that kit again. They go on eBay and find a mint un-built example, then use it to create a new mold from that. Or it could work with parts, too. Find an original kit with the parts and use it as the master for new ones, instead of finding the original molds or masters.

Because GM Design wants those promos on the market. Those promos would exist in some way, shape, or form with or without AMT/Round 2.

DoAllSer is the Chinese manufacturing company that makes the current promo-kits that AMT markets as the "Showroom Replicas" line. Considering what Revell's been through in the past 10 years or so, they're lucky they're bringing anything out at all. They've come back from the brink, and more than once. Catering to the big-box stores by doing subjects like those late-90's late model cars and pickups is a big part of what put them on the brink, but that's a different story for a different day... I think the current Revell brand under Hobbico's ownership has been doing a good job with new releases. They did get a little snakebit with the 2010 Mustangs due to Ford's redesign, which they had no knowledge of. As for their lead times, they're fine. They don't miss deadlines once they're set (and the dates that Tower Hobbies pulls out of their @#$ don't count - I get the official release dates, I have no clue where they come up with what they come up with). A couple recent models even wound up getting bumped up a month. I think they're finally learning the concept of under-promise and over-deliver... Honestly, late models are not where US Revell needs to focus, they're just not strong sellers in today's US market. The 50 Olds, 57 Ford, and 62 Vette have all outsold their 2010 Camaro. Not to say that the Camaro is a dog, it's not, but when you hit a couple home runs a solid single just doen't cut it. Late models have always been solid singles at best, and in the climate of the '90's a handful of solid singles a year could pay the bills. In the 20-teens? Not so much... Need to knock a few out of the park every now and then. Granted, it's a different market now, and we're talking about knocking home runs out of minor league parks today vs. solid singles in the major leagues of the '90's, but that's just how it is now. What Aoshima and Fujimi can do in their home market is a totally different equation, and for the past few years it seems that when Fujimi and Revell-Germany both do a common subject, the RoG tends to come out on top, and are almost always lower in price. And when it eventually comes out in a US Revell box, it's even cheaper. If I'm Revell (and I'm not) I wouldn't bother with late models, the return is just not worth the risk nowadays, IMHO. In a couple years, when the inevitable re-design comes, you're stuck with a kit you can't move. As I alluded to earlier, they don't have the buying power of the big-box stores to amortize those kits now. It's a risk now. Get them back into Wal-Marts or move a few more pieces on Amazon, and maybe it's a different story. But such is the reality of 2013.

If they dove in with both feet and 100% commitment starting today, it'd be at least 2 years, that's just simply how long it takes to make a model kit from concept to store shelves. I would expect DoAllSer/AMT to do a promo since they're actually receiving input and design information from GM, instead of Revell, which gets none. Revell would have to wait until the 1:1 is on the street, then go out and find one to measure (or do it the old school way and work from published photographs, but that ain't gonna cut it these days...)

I've bought some waterslide BFG decals from Scale Equipment Ltd. They do a few other brands of RWL's as well. http://www.seltd.net A while back there was some "super-secret" seller doing whole sheets of waterslide RWL decals of various brands, but you had to know somebody to buy them, I guess they were trying to fly under the copyright/licensing radar. I was never able to buy any, I e-mailed and PM'ed, but I didn't know the right people. That, or my PayPal money wasn't green enough...

Was this sent to the trade, or to consumers? The earlier sheets you posted were clearly for the trade, but it's unclear to me whether those prices are trade price or retail (since there's no mention of a trade discount off of a retail price, I assumed they're straight trade prices). I had just started in the business during the last resurrection of Jo-Han (I started in the summer of 2001), I remember some of the kits (SC/Ramber, Caddy Ambulance, and Chrysler Turbine are the ones that pop into my head - and those stinkin' sho-cases, tons and tons of those stinkin' sho-cases...) But I don't remember the prices.