Mike999

Well, there seems to be SOMETHING weird about that Hobby Lobby price of $39.99. I just checked several on-line stores: HobbyLinc: shows full retail price of $31.49, their price is $21.29. Showing as "Out Of Stock," but that probably means it just hasn't arrived yet and can be pre-ordered. MegaHobby: shows full retail price of $31.95, their price is $26.20. Model Roundup: no full retail price shown, their price is $24.90. Not in yet, expected to arrive Aug. 31. Spotlight Hobbies: no full retail price shown, their price is $25.95. "Expected the last week of August. You can order now and the order will be shipped as soon as they arrive."

I think these are pretty obscure - the BANDAI 1/35 scale "U.C. Hard Graph Series." 1/35 makes them compatible with other military kits. But they are sci-fi themed. Each kit comes with futuristic weapons, vehicles, figures, etc. I have the 3 kits shown below. In the "Rampa-Ral Commando Set," that big round thing is the head of a giant destroyed robot. It comes in the kit.

Thanks, I like to read about what's available at Hobby Lobby etc. in other places. No REVELL 30 Ford coupes at Hobby Lobby here in Upstate SC, either. Also none at a local hobby shop that usually gets new kits pretty fast. Maybe the kits are still working their way down to the South, or something. At one Hobby Lobby here (Easley, SC), that "Lawman" Plymouth was also priced at $39.99. Next time I go in, I might ask them to price-check that. IIRC, other people on here have said it's a pricing mistake. This Hobby Lobby only had a couple of AMT 1/32 scale Avantis on the Clearance aisle. I noticed some kits that were Clearance-priced a few weeks ago are back up to the regular price. The Barris Surf Woody is one of those.

Welcome! Are you from Greenville, SC?

THarrison351 said: "There was another couple of shops in Greenville, SC that I would patronize when my tanker was at Donaldson Center for inspection and maintenance. They went under also." Every hobby shop in Greenville is gone, AFAIK. Not so many years ago, it had a couple of Hobby Towns and the big shop inside The Great Escape, a bicycle/sports store. In 2014 The Great Escape sold out to the TREK company and they closed the in-house hobby shop. I grew up in SC, but I lived in Los Angeles for many years and spent a lot of time working overseas. I would hit all the Greenville shops whenever I visited Upstate SC. The only hobby shop left in that area is The Hobby Connection in Easley, located right on Hwy. 123 if you're ever in the area. They do have a pretty good model car section. Conveniently, that store is just a couple miles from a Hobby Lobby. I can't even remember all the hobby shops and toy stores that closed in Los Angeles. I think I'd rather NOT remember! Up thru the mid-1990s, the PlayCo toy store chain had a good selection of models, and so did the K-B toy stores in every mall. K-B also had several big outlet stores, where you could find recently discontinued kits very cheap. Until SavOn bought out all the local drug stores in SoCal, some of those stores also had good model sections. I remember one drug store that even had some VERLINDEN items and books.

Just to confuse things further! Loren James, stunt driver on "Bullitt," says there were THREE Mustangs. As for the Chargers... "Further research on his part showed that there were two Chargers purchased by Bill Hickman from Glendale Dodge in Southern California. One was a blue non R/T with an automatic transmission that was used in the final scene where the Charger was blown up as it crashed into the gas station. The other was a yellow R/T with a 440 Magnum engine and a 4-speed transmission. Both cars were painted black for the movie. For some reason the surviving R/T Charger ended up back with the dealer and was re-painted yellow and sold." https://jimsgarage.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/the-missing-bullitt-charger/

Looks like that anime cross-marketing has been going on a long time. Here's some vintage anime goodness from GUNZE-SANGYO. I found these kits on a business trip to Taiwan, back in the 1990s. I'm not a big fan of either VW Bugs or Fiat 500s. But these things were just irresistible. I see these kits on eBay occasionally: Kit #K1 - Fiat 500 "Euro Lover's Club." 1/24 scale plastic kit, with engine detail. Comes with 3 multi-piece resin figures of the cute little Anime Girls. The kit also includes exactly 2 photo-etch parts: the hood hinge (probably not a good idea). And the glasses for that Anime Girl who's checking the engine! Kit #K-2 - VW Bug, molded in red, also 1/24 scale. No engine detail but does come with the roof rack shown on the box. This one has 2 Anime Girl figures; these are 1-piece figures also done in resin. Photo-etch parts include the "VW" emblem and...yep, a pair of glasses-frames for the girl on the left.

"Pathetically slow," yes. Some rude people called this era of Corvette - "a two-seat Cadillac Coupe de Ville." Thanks for another great, entertaining review! Not sure I'll grab one of these. I already have several Malaise Era Vettes, including some builders/beaters. That miniature box has been standard in many Round 2 kits since they started up, so I'm surprised this is the first one you've seen.

Since I have that exact kit, I just measured it and weighed it on a Postal Scale. You can go to the USPS website, enter his location and yours, then enter these specs to see ROUGHLY how much shipping should cost. Keep in mind that his shipping box will have to be bigger than the kit box, and he will probably add some packing material. Also, while USPS shipping cost used to go by weight alone, now it's calculated on weight and size. Dimensions: 15" Wide x 10" Deep x 10" High Weight: 2.9 pounds

Here's a TONKA Winton diorama kit that recently sold on eBay. Correction to my post - it has THREE human figures. And Bud The Dog wearing his goggles! http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-IN-BOX-TONKA-DIORAMAS-FIRST-AUTO-CROSSING-THE-1903-WINSTON-VNTGE-COLLECTABLE-/232049385967?hash=item360738a1ef:g:PXgAAOSw-YVXk~Q8 Long as I'm here...also around 1975-ish, TAMIYA jumped on the instant-diorama bandwagon with its "Time Capsule" series of 1/35 military kits. These built a diorama...in a bottle. In the box you got one set of TAMIYA's awful "Zombie Dwarf" figures; a printed cardboard backdrop; and the goofy plastic bottle. AFAIK, six "Time Capsule" kits were released: #610 Dunkirk, #620 El Alamein, #630 Berlin Headquarters, #640 Leningrad, #650 Remagen Bridgehead and #660 Last Word. I think only hard-core TAMIYA collectors would want these things. eBay sellers often flog them as "rare, still sealed!" They're not rare, and they're still sealed because nobody bought them when they were new. Just a few years ago, TAMIYA tried this trick again by packaging some of their slightly newer figure sets with the old ITALERI ruined-building kits from the 1970s. Those seem to have flopped as well.

I love that Vanship too. From a quick buzz around Mr. Google - it's 1/72 scale. And there are TWO kits in that box - the Vanship and "Fam's Vespa." Which looks like a Steampunk version of a motorcycle or scooter. I might have to get one of those. And thanks to Daddyfink for bringing the TONKA post over here.

Thanks! I'd nearly forgotten about that series. Poor old AURORA - about 40 years ahead of their time. I'm saying that because of the many modern rods decorated with WWII aircraft insignia and nose art. On-topic: today was Flea Market day. I found a shrink-wrapped AMT-ERTL '55 Nomad "Johnny Lightning" issue for $5. Comes with a 1/64 die-cast of the '55 Nomad. I'm guessing the AMT kit is the same as every other version, with the drag/custom parts. So I probably won't open it up right away. Also found a very cheap REVELL '64 Impala 2-in-1 for parts, since it's partly built/painted. The box was very heavy. No wonder - crammed in with the kit was a can of TESTORS Grape Pearl spray paint, 2 paintbrushes, 2 tubes of glue and 9 small bottles of TESTORS paint.

Good points that I wondered about too. You can see some of TONKA's marketing thinking in the subjects - 2 trains, 2 aircraft, 3 cars. Pretty good coverage for most of the modeling world. On an aircraft modeling site, I found a discussion of the TONKA Wright Flyer kit. They said it's very well done, and true 1/48 scale. The classic MONOGRAM kit of the Flyer is in an odd "box scale," 1/39 IIRC. A friend of mine has a whole outbuilding dedicated to his O-scale trains. He would love to have those 2 train dioramas to display on the shelves. But most people have limited display space, and these things are pretty big. I have the same problem you do with the Winton (which I would really like to find!). I want to build this Model T, but really hate to break up the set because it's so unusual and interesting.

Background: In 1974-75, the famous metal toy maker TONKA released a series of "Diorama Kits." The kits were produced in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution. Each included a plastic kit of a historical subject, along with parts to build a shadow-box for the finished scene. The Diorama Kits were sold with 2 different kinds of shadow-box: kits for the general variety-store trade had black plastic boxes and clear plastic viewing panels. Those for the hobby-shop trade included real wooden boxes and real glass. The kits were not a success and disappeared after the initial run. As near as I can tell, these were all the TONKA Diorama Kits produced and their kit numbers: 7011 Moment of Flight, the Wright Flyer (1/48 scale) 7013 1913 America, Model T Ford (molded in black, with street scene & figures) 7014 Landing at Paris, The Spirit of St. Louis (1/48 scale) 7015 Railroading in 1853, The Pioneer Locomotive (O scale, 1/48) 7016 First U.S. Auto Crossing: The 1903 Winton (1/24 scale, complete with 2 human figures AND Bud the dog) 7017 Confederate Attack on Chambersburg (O scale, 1/48) 7018 1913 Model T "Four-Alarm Call" (molded in red, with Fire Dept. scene) Here's an ad for kit #7013 "1913 America," from the Jan. 1975 issue of Boy's Life magazine: #7018 1913 Model T "Four-Alarm Call" I found this kit recently at a local flea market, for a very good price. It's the hobby-shop version, with the real wood and glass shadow-box parts: Overall picture of the contents: Here's one sprue of red parts, for the 1913 Model T, building stair rails and nifty vintage street-lamp. 5 globes for the lamp are on the clear sprue. The Model T is pretty basic; the engine only has 3 parts, 2 block halves and the head. Still a pretty nice little kit, and rare in being a pre-1920's kit of the Model T: The second sprue of red parts, with wheels and the rest of the Model T: Here are the tires, molded in the right color - greyish off-white. And the brass parts sprue (there are no chrome parts in the kit): Clear parts. For the Model T, only 2 windshield halves and the headlight lenses are needed. The globes are for the street-lamp, with extras - probably because the clear parts came directly from the earlier "America" Model T kit #7013, which had more lamps in its street scene: Vintage 1/24 firefighters! These little guys are not too bad for 1975. 2 sitting, 1 standing, 1 running: The instruction sheet is a monster, about the size of a tabloid newspaper. Along with detailed instructions including part numbers AND names, it includes a history of the Model T; a history of American firefighting; and "How To Drive A Model T," taken from the Ford owner's manual: Finally, here's the wooden parts of the shadowbox and some extras, like the nameplate and "Fire Dept." stickers:

Not sure if everybody knows this - but the Model T in the TONKA "Four-Alarm Call" kit isn't really a fire truck and doesn't have any fire equipment. It's just a basic 1913 Model T Touring Car, molded in red. It does have an engine, and some other nice details. And 4 firefighter figures. I found that kit cheap at a local flea market, with the real wood and glass display case. Untouched with all inner bags sealed, but in a pretty ratty box. Here's Anthony Hazelaar's great build of the TONKA kit: http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/tonhazelaar/wwwhome/model-t-1908-1927.html

This story may or may not be true. Well, I read it on the Internetz, so it must be true... When Meg Whitman left eBay, her replacement talked about making eBay more like Amazon. He allegedly said: "Right now, eBay looks too much like a flea market." The story says he got several thousand angry e-mails, most of them saying: "eBay IS a flea market, you idiot!"

Had to go to a dentist today for an oil change and lube (checkup and cleaning). Fortunately his office is near a Hobby Lobby and one of the very few local hobby shops in this entire area. So... Hobby Lobby, Easley SC: REVELL '67 Nickey Camaro RS/SS 427 with 40% off. Off-topic: ACADEMY 1/48 Hughes 500D Ca. Highway Patrol helicopter, which includes a CHP trooper and his Kawasaki motorcycle. OK, so not completely off-topic. Neat little kit, and I probably couldn't beat the $12.99 price on eBay, after shipping. Real Hobby Shop: AMT Sunbeam Tiger and "Mod Rod" '29 Ford in the flat Art Box. I'm starting to think REVELL is boycotting Upstate S.C. with the '30 Ford Coupe. Or maybe they're really selling like hotcakes. I know others on here have found them at Hobby Lobby, but this store either didn't get them yet or had sold out. The hobby shop didn't have any either, and it usually gets new kits pretty quickly.

According to posts on eBay Community and the general internet - that was a lot easier before eBay created "Stores." I remember one sad story from a woman who quit her job and, for a while, supported herself and her elderly mother with eBay. They mostly found their merchandise at thrift stores, yard sales and especially estate sales. Then marked it up to a Starting Bid that gave them a little profit. But according to her story, once eBay Stores came about, the professional junk-pickers moved in and pretty much blew away all the amateur junk-pickers. They couldn't compete. The woman and her mother also nearly lost their house, and she went back to work at a regular job. I'm not really sure how much blame should go to Stores, but her story was interesting. And a good warning.

Wheeler Dealers - I know parts of it are just as scripted as the rest, but Edd China's an incredible mechanic. I actually learn useful stuff watching that show. Loved the episode where Mike was trying to low-ball an old lady with a '67 Camaro in Calif. and she wouldn't back down on the price. Chasing Classic Cars - I think it's great when Carini is finding old cars in barns and garages. Not so much when he's hobnobbing at the uber-rich auctions and car shows. Leno is good. If you're in the Los Angeles area, drop into the AutoBooks store in Burbank (Magnolia Blvd). Leno sometimes visits. I was there once when he pulled up outside in the 1910 Baker Electric. He was very gracious, and spent quite a bit of time giving autographs and talking to people. You'll want to visit that store anyway. It sells nothing but car and aviation books, and has a lot of rare and obscure stuff. Other famous Car Guys sometimes visit the store too, like Ed Iskenderian and Gene Winfield. Worst Car Show Ever - "Desert Car Kings." I'll never forget those knuckleheads "restoring" a '62 Ford Galaxie. They pulled the whole interior out of a '64 Galaxie and crammed it into the '62. Because it "looked better." They also yanked out the original 292 engine and replaced it with a 352 from their junk pile.

And if you shrunk a '48 Ford, moved the engine to the back, then taught it to speak French...

Slovakia, going by the "SK" and the plate format. Which sounds like there's a REALLY good story here. The 127 (along with many other FIATs) was also license-built in Egypt by the state-owned Nasr car company. Egyptians love those cars, whether real FIATs or copies. One of my Egyptian friends had a nearly new Skoda, but his wife mostly drove that car. He drove his red Fiat 128, which was his first car when he was in college, I think. He lived in Alexandria, so it was pretty rusty and beat-up. But he wouldn't have sold that car for any amount of money.

You're right, several models. I wondered about that too. Here's a 2015 thread with some interesting info. I never knew the Revell chopped LUV was based on a real truck: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/98800-revell-chevy-luv-machine-h-1300-fixed-photos-12716/

When visiting Los Angeles, you can also visit Bugsy! And you can still see Virginia Hill's house in Beverly Hills, where he was shot. Along with the nearby house where the shooter stood. There are old photos of LAPD detectives looking over the crime scene. On the outside, both houses are pretty much the same as they were in 1947. Bugsy's own mansion in Holmby Hills, built in 1938, is also still standing. In 2013 it sold for $19.5 million (original asking price - $49.5 million!!!) You'll find Bugsy at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., in the Hollywood Forever cemetery. He has lots of famous company there, including Cecil B. DeMille, Rudolph Valentino and Marion Davies - mistress of William Randolph Hearst, and the model for "Susan Alexander" in Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane." Rosebud... Col. Griffith J. Griffith is also buried there. All that stuff named "Griffith" in L.A. is named for him, including Griffith Park, Observatory, etc. In Sept. 1903, Griffith became convinced his wife and the Pope were plotting to kill him. He shot his wife thru the right eye, but she lived (to divorce him). At his trial it came out that Griffith, who publicly claimed to be a teetotaler, was a secret alcoholic with serious mental problems.

One thing that's always bugged me about this kit - the lousy fit of the hood on the passenger side. Did anybody get one with a hood that fits right? A few years ago, one of the TAMIYA model magazines ran a built-up of a 41 Woody on the cover, showing the kit from the right front. The gap between the hood and the fender line was very obvious. I have a stock version half-built with the same gap. IIRC, the left side fits OK. Which is weird. If you want to do something different with the '41 Woody, take a tip from that TAMIYA magazine guy. He built his as a Canadian (Right-Hand-Drive) Woody used by the British Army in WWII North Africa. Lots of weird and wonderful things were done to those Woodies. Some had the roof cut off and a cloth convertible top fitted. Some of those tops were folding, but others were permanently fixed in the up position. And still others just had the roof sawed off, with no kind of convertible top. Hardtops often had a rectangular observation hatch cut above the front seat. There are lots of photos on the Internet.

Tamiya's consistent, at least. They do this with their armor kits too. The Tamiya M-51 Israeli Sherman was the third kit on the market, after Academy and Dragon. Tamiya finally nailed the complex muzzle brake that the other two companies flubbed. Their suspension units only had a few parts but looked great. As opposed to the Dragon units, which were very fiddly and had about 20 parts each, including a section of brass tube (and there are 6 of them!). Then we get to a very prominent feature, the jerry cans and their racks...which were molded together as one piece. ARRRGHH! Straight outta the 1970s! You either paint everything black, then mask off the cans and paint the racks. Or paint everything IDF Sand, then mask the racks and very carefully paint the cans. A small gripe overall, I guess, in such a good kit. But Tamiya always seems to do this. The kit's 90-95% great and they drop the ball on a few things that just drive you crazy.