Tom Geiger

I'd be dead without a pool heater... actually was a few years ago when mine was broken. Pennsylvania summer along with my pool being under trees in the woods. It just doesn't heat up on it's own.

I once was in Home Depot and mentioned poor quality to a guy who worked there. He got it, and said that there wasn't a decent thing in the store because the 'general public' wouldn't pay for quality. Everyone wants the cheapest price, thus junk. And you're right, most of the herd just don't kinow any better.

About a month ahead of us here in PA! Currently 57* outside, not exactly pool weather just yet. I once wanted to see how high my pool heater would go. Had the whole pool up over 100. Ya don't wanna do that, it burns your eyes!

I am used to the vast variety of inhabitants in our modeling menagerie. I was not irked, I just am amused by them sometimes.

In my family we called those "Uncle Dan" cars after my uncle who would always buy the cheapest, most stripped down car on the lot! That Chevy probably has manual steering and brakes too. I bought my first girlfriend a '64 Biscayne 2 door sedan like that, only it had the luxury of having a powerglide transmission.

Here's the official NNL East photo album. Something like 1,950 photos... http://public.fotki.com/tssmcc/nnl-east-photo-albums/nnl-east-28/ And if you back up one level, there are albums for every NNL East since 15 http://public.fotki.com/tssmcc/nnl-east-photo-albums/ That should keep you busy for awhile! Thanks to all who attended. Without you, we'd just have a room full of tables!

Gregg, I love that plate! The HHR van looks good in red too!

People show up early and late for NNL East. This year I had a guy who called to verify the show was the Saturday before it actually was. I told him, no the show was the 26th. He argued with me that it was the 19th and he had a flyer with that date! He said he was going to get it and call me right back. He never called. And he was soooo sure of himself. As if I wouldn't know. I also had a guy call this year to verify the show was on. Someone told him it was cancelled. Probably somone who didn't want to give him a ride! Other years I've gotten calls from people standing outside the building, waking me up at 7 or 8am on a weekend.... the week before, Sunday after the show (it couldn't have been yesterday, NNL is ALWAYS on Sunday... um, it's NEVER been on a Sunday) and the weekend after too! (I KNOW it's today... um, why did a thousand people show up LAST Saturday then?) This year I got a 7am Sunday call from a guy who lost kits at the show... yea, we had them. Someone turned them in. And my very favorite... people who call up to complain about another NNL in another state... or a John Carslile swap meet that's held in the same building. (We went to your show in April, but your July show was so small and there weren't any models on display?) And my favorite question... "Why don't you hold NNL East there every month?" Yea, that would work!

As Bill said above the Tri-State group has missed the last two GSLs, having been to the four or so prior to this. For me, in 2011 I had just got a new job and was busy moving my life from NJ to PA. By 2013 I had lost the job that caused that move, so I wasn't going to spend the money while unemployed. I am currently working a good consulting gig, so as long as it lasts, I'm there!

hobby shop / liquor store ... maybe!

That describes half my collection!

Floyd...Summer of 1976, Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ! What a concert! And since we're sharing-- first album I ever bought was "Let It Be". I still have it. First cassette I ever bought was "Hair" both around 1970.

the Chevette was tooled up because GM bought promos from MPC. The kits followed as usual practice.

I paid $39.99 for mine. I also got the newer Trabant kit (with engine) at the same time. That's when I realized that I was within $2 of free shipping. So I added the Revell Beetle sedan, which was the same price as they wanted for shipping, so it was free. The entire order was like $75

Sorry to hear that! When I was between jobs I did a quick analysis on opening a hobby shop since there isn't a decent one near me. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't make the numbers work. I once worked at a deli when I was young. Came in one morning and my key didn't work. Out of business with no warning at all.

Cool. Did Motor City get the rear window right? Knowing him I'd say yes. Resin coupes I've had in the past from other casters just popped a 66 roof on and called it done, the rear window shape is quite different on a 67

Tucker has been done both in resin and die cast. A few seasons ago I had a summer intern named Tucker. He had never heard of the car but I got him into the history and he thought the whole thing was cool. I got him the die cast as a parting gift. A Tucker would be a disaster as a new kit, but it would be pretty cool to get that helicopter engine on scale!

Very nice! I used to have a 1:1 1960 Electra 2 door hardtop. I think the 60 is a much prettier car than the 59.

A funny thing, when John posted this I was already at the hall for an hour and a half setting up the show. I'll bet I got about 4 hours sleep too. Many thanks to John for bringing the Barracuda over to me. I didn't get to see much of the show since I was running most of the day, but this build is spectacular!

My 1960... I guess you could chrome that part if you wanted to.. don't know if it would cause glare back at the driver, but with a custom anything goes!

First, I don't intend to get into a debate. You would have to produce the article that Bob Eaton was quoted in. And even at that point, Eaton was the putz that sold Chrysler to Daimler-Benz and we all know where that went. In fact Eaton was only CEO through 1998, before the Prowler program actually gained legs. Note that 1997 production was only 457 units. There were no 1998 cars, with the program finally producing vehicles in 1999 with 3,921 units. The entire Prowler program only produced 11,702 cars including export versions.Note that Prowlers were hand assembled. No company would do that limited production under the "we hope to sell as many as possible" guise. In that case they would have pumped out tens of thousands to their dealerships and you would have had another Daytona/Superbird situation. That was not the case at all. Bob Lutz was the head of Chrysler development at the time. Lutz led all of Chrysler's automotive activities, including Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Manufacturing, and Procurement and Supply. Lutz also served as President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Chrysler's car and truck operations worldwide. He was responsible for the Viper and Prowler programs. There are some very colorful stories in his book "Guts" about his time at Chrysler.I suggest you get the book and read it for facts. In fact, he was considered the heir apparent to Lee Icococa instead of Eaton, but he and Lee were at odds a the time. Later on Lee was quoted as saying Lutz "would have eaten Eaton for lunch." if given the chance. Lutz left Chrysler disenchanted, and joined GM for a while. The use of the V6 wasn't for 'cost cutting', here's a quote "While criticized for featuring a V6 only, Chrysler's High Output 3.5 had a horsepower rating similar to (or higher than) the company's Magnum V8s of that era. While not making nearly as much torque as a V8, Prowler's light weight translated into very impressive performance figures, including off-the-line acceleration." The Prowler was a test bed for the use of aluminum for vehicle lightening.

Oh that was sooooo dangerous!

No, I think your thread is valid and the game has changed a bit since Luke did the $25,000 kit challenge. BTW, I won it twice with a 1965 Barracuda and the split window VW. Funny thing is that nobody has ever done a split VW in 1/24 or 1/25 ever! The game today is that nobody can turn a profit off a tool in a single run of kits. The cost of tooling vs the small runs the market can absorb today make that a necessity. I've recently been told they need a minimum of four different potential kit releases to be viable. Look at the Moebius strategy for the Hudson tool... Up front they released a 1953 Replica stock car, followed by a 1952 Convertable Replica stock car. Then they got into the old Nascar cars.... 1952 and 1953 Marshall Teague cars, 1952 Tim Flock car. That's five so far, and with the announced two body styles of the 1954s, bet your bippie that those will be followed with race versions as well. Figure we will see at least 10 versions. And it's a given that guys will do kit bashes for 1952 stock coupes and 1953 convertibles. 12 possible versions so far. Revell's recent strategy has been to invest in new tools of timeless classics that you will build over and over again. The world was clammering for a good 1932 Ford and they responded. So far we've had a 3 and 5 window coupe, a 2 door sedan, Highboy convertible in both standard and Good Guys boxes and now the Rat Roaster/ Gearz version. That's six versions so far and the possibilities are endless. Never mind that this kit's chassis will be used under countless other bodies, both plastic and resin. Note that this isn't a car that will go out of style. We all know tooling can last 50 years, so there's no reason why this kit won't sell forever. Revell has also done the Tri-Five Chevys, 1957 Ford, 1970 Nova to name a few. We've already seen the '57 Ford as the Custom (wisely not competing head on with the classic AMT Fairlane 500), the Police version and Fireball Roberts stock car. People are asking for a new Ranchero (to put Revell's classic but tired kit out to pasture) and a Ranch Wagon. I'm putting money on some '58s as well. No end to what they can do off this basic chassis! And I won't even get into the Chevys. So as you think what you would tool up, think in this kind of strategy. No Tuckers or other one offs. The companies are realizing that the Baby Boomers are retiring and will be taking up hobbies and spending more time and money in pastimes. So we should see a renaissance over the next 10-20 years. And the hobby has taken interesting turns. Someone recently said, "Who would have thought we'd have a Hudson shelf in our collections?" We do live in interesting times!

Yea, my HOA would have a coronary over that Mustang! The bylaws specifically mention "no outdoor maintenance of motor vehicles". My driveway is long enough and sheltered enough that they can't see what I'm up to anyway.

Another vote for eBay Motors. Companies selling restored cars sometimes take 25-100 photos of every little detail. I used to spend Sunday morning just browsing with my coffee and saving off interesting photo sets. Search the cars available, if you don't find it check back in a week, the entire inventory has changed! And two more thoughts... don't forget to search the eBay International sites, especially if you are looking for details on a foreign car. Or check countries where American cars are popular like Australia, Sweden, Netherlands and South Africa. You'd be amazed what you find. I swear that half of our collector cars are out of the USA at this point. AND if you're looking for small details, check the eBay parts categories. You may find detail shots of that specific part. 1934 Ford firewall. Plymouth Flathead six ignition wire guide piece.