Mike999

As a sort of guide, here are prices I recently got for various kits on eBay. All of these were "Buy It Now." For those who don't do eBay, that means they were NOT auctions. I set a fixed price and the buyers paid it. The prices are for the kits only, shipping not included. This was the first time I ever had a "Buy It Now" sale. I've been selling on eBay since the 1990's and always used the auction format. To set the prices, I did a lot of research on "Completed Items" to see what kits sold for. Then priced my stuff in that ballpark. NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PRICE LIST TO SELL STUFF. ALL THESE KITS ARE ALREADY SOLD AND SENT TO NEW OWNERS. PRICES PROVIDED ONLY AS A GUIDE TO CURRENT eBay KIT PRICES. IN MOST CASES I ONLY HAD ONE KIT TO SELL. SO PLEASE DO NOT PM ME TRYING TO BUY THEM, THANKS! AMT '55 Chevy Nomad, Johnny Lightning version with 1/64 scale diecast Nomad $19.99 AMT '59 El Camino, 1989 issue $19.99 AMT '64 Ford Galaxie, Blueprinter issue $29.99 AMT '64 Mercury Marauder, last reissue before Round 2 $19.99 AMT Lot, '96 and '97 Ford Explorers $29.99 AMT Dodge Dually Pickup, Snap-Fast $39.99 Aoshima Range Rover with American SATCO resin left-hand drive dashboard $59.99 Heller Mercedes 300SL Gullwing (crack in cowling) $14.99 Italeri '57 Mercedes 300SL Roadster $27.99 Lindberg Dodge L-700, truck only no trailer $17.99 MENG Ford F-350 pickup, 1/24 scale $109.99 Monogram Corvette America 4-door (bad box) $34.99 Revell Lot, 2 Chevy Caprices, 1 original and 1 "Taxi" kit $34.99 Revell Lot, '67 Corvettes, coupe & roadster $39.99 Revell '48 Ford Woody, first issue $14.99 Revell '59 Ford Retractable "Skip's" (no stock hubcaps) $16.99 Revell Ford F-150 Double Kit "50th Anniversary" $24.99 Revell Lincoln Futura, 2006 "small box" reissue $24.99 Trumpeter '63 Nova hardtop $99.99 Yodel '78 Dodge Monaco CHP (bad box, no Plymouth Fury parts) $19.99

I just stopped into a new Ollie's (in Easley, SC). Either they didn't get any of the good stuff like the '48 Ford, or they already got cleaned out (probably). For anyone thinking about dropping by, the store had: --Lindberg 1/16 scale Stagecoach and Civil War Cannon/Caisson; 1/48 scale Snark missile; Diesel Tug Boat; Sea Witch; Five Senses --Revell 1/32 scale Snap-Tite Fire Engine; 1/48 F-102 Delta Dart & FW-190; HALO and Racer-Z kits --Testors, some pre-painted diecast kits, a couple of cars, helicopters etc.

Sorry to hear this terrible news. Like everybody else said, keep in touch. I always enjoyed your projects and your comments on builds.

Going off-topic but...LOL! I like it when movies take an innocent pop song and turn it into the stuff of nightmares. David Lynch does that a lot. Another good one is near the end of "Boogie Nights." During the violent ripoff of the drug dealer, the song playing in the background is "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield. That scene in "Boogie Nights" was based on a real case, the July 1981 Wonderland Ave. murders. Known to the LAPD as the "Four On The Floor Murders," because 4 people were beaten to death with steel pipes. Some cops who worked it said the crime scene was even worse than the Tate-La Bianca/Manson murders. That was the first case ever where the LAPD videotaped a crime scene. Those police videos are included in the DVD release of the 2003 movie "Wonderland" with Val Kilmer. Which is also worth seeing, for those who like true crime stuff. Somebody out there must be building the '66 Cadillac and/or the clapped-out Karmann-Ghia from "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood..."

Thanks for posting! I've never seen that British issue of the "2-in-1" Harley kits. Incredibly cool! The Harley was originally released as a Revell "Parts Pack" back in the 1960's. The last time we saw it was in the "Grease 2" movie tie-in version, which was a LONG time ago. About 1982. For that re-issue Revell re-boxed 4 of its 1/25 scale motorcycle kits in 2 boxes: the Harley, BSA Gold Star, Triumph and Honda.

That looks fantastic! I've built that kit, but it didn't come out looking half as good. Inspiration to try again... Ladas were very popular in Egypt when I worked there (2005-09). The Egyptian military used the 4-wheel-drive Niva as a staff car and general workhorse. Here's a Lada 1200 wagon, fully loaded with humans and their baggage. The license plate says "Prive," meaning Private Vehicle. But it looks like the driver is actually using it as a taxi. That requires a different and more expensive "taxi" license plate. Lots of Egyptian scofflaws do that.

And the wanna-be "American Pickers." Every time Ollie's has a kit sale, those kits turn up at a big local flea market. Some sellers don't even bother to remove the red Ollie's tag. They just slap their own, marked-up price over it. Others are sneakier. I stopped at a table one day where the seller had at least removed the price tags. He went into a hard-sell pitch about "these model kits cost $30 at Hobby Lobby!" I just laughed and moved on. Unfortunately, the virus has clobbered our flea markets along with everything else. At the biggest market, pre-virus all the tables were sold out and some people put their stuff on the ground. Now there are many empty tables. Especially in the area I like, the "yard sale tables." That's where people come by with a garage full of random junk to unload. Some vendors are there every week and rent their tables permanently.

An eBay vendor used to sell a resin 1/25 scale Airstream Flying Cloud trailer. It even came with a couple of propane tanks. I got one back in 2014 but that seller seems to be long gone. I think somebody in here built that Flying Cloud, but a search didn't turn it up. Maybe the builder will see this thread and speak up.

Incredible score! I've never seen that 1/20 scale Auto Union either. Those old Aoshima Vintage Bikes are a great find, too.

EDIT: confirming David's post that the 40% off ALL model kits is back. My HL email came in at 7:40 this morning and there they are! Looks like the Pocatello Hobby Lobby is sold out of the '59 El Camino. Just like my closest store, 2000 miles away. That store had one lonely El Camino kit hanging around for months. I kept hoping they would mark it down to a Clearance price. This store once marked down a '65 Lincoln kit to $1.95. No such luck. I finally got it (with the coupon) because it's a fave and I'm not sure when it will be available again. Because it's in the big "Art Box," it was down in the lower left-hand corner. Beside the also-big Revell Land Rover. We have 3 Hobby Lobbys in this area, all identical like Rich's photo. Which does look a little Rod Serling-ish, but makes perfect sense when it comes to inventory control/stocking, I guess.

I do the same thing with "Adam-12" that Alan does with "Hawaii 5-0." I have all 7 seasons of "Adam-12" (stored on an obsolete WD TV box). The series first aired in 1968, so it's a real gold mine of Vintage Car Porn. Also great scenes of Los Angeles in those long-gone days. Product placement was very much a thing back then, same as it is now. Just today I watched one of the later shows, when AMC was providing Matadors for the show and the real LAPD. The show had a scene of a car thief breaking into a dealership. An American Motors dealership, of course! A new, bright red '72 Javelin was sitting on the showroom floor. The thief smashed it right thru the front doors of the dealership and escaped. But not for long...

What Leslie said. I have several AMT-ERTL '55 Chevy pickup kits. But I bought an open '55 Cameo kit at a swap meet, knowing it had the original error in the cab. (The tops of the doors were slanted down, should be straight. Fixed in later issues.) Because of the error it was cheap and I have a resin '55 panel truck trans kit. So the bad cab didn't matter. Now I don't have to sacrifice one of the other '55 Chevy trucks, which all have the corrected body. Some kits are "short-run," like the old Model King private re-issues. I usually got more than one of those, because I wasn't sure when/if they'd ever be available again. As it turns out, most have been re-issued by Round 2. Which is OK, I don't have to buy the latest version and the older kits were cheaper. Other kits unexpectedly become short-runs, like the Revell '29 Ford roadster and '30 coupe. Those kits disappeared in a hurry and many people in here probably wish they had bought a case of each. I could only find ONE '30 coupe in my area (at Hobby Lobby), before the kits vanished and eBay scalpers jacked up the prices.

Today I got garbage! Absolute garbage! Also the AMT '60 Ranchero with Coke chest, and an MPC Dodge Monaco CHP. I have a Plymouth Fury grille and taillights, to possibly build it as LAPD instead of CHP.

The CA glues sold at Hobby Lobby come in Thin, Medium and Thick viscosities. Be VERY careful if you use the Thin, it will run everywhere and dries very fast. Especially on any joint between plastic and your finger. The Medium and Thick types work for just about everything I do. Hobby Lobby also sells little plastic bottles with tiny metal needle applicator tips. Those are useful for applying CA Accelerant and other stuff. The Accelerant is very useful. Zap the CA glue with it and it dries instantly. You can buy that J-B Weld Clear 2-part Epoxy at Wal-Mart. I personally hate those plunger applicators shown in the pic. The resin and hardener never seem to come out in equal parts. I like the clear 2-part epoxies that come in 2 separate tubes. Much better control, and you can play tricks with it. Like mixing in a little more hardener so that it dries quicker. One well-known brand is Devcon. You can get it at the link below. The "Dual Pak" is the one you want, the "Dev Tube" is a plunger applicator. https://www.gesswein.com/p-5110-devcon-5-minute-epoxy.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkbjY54T66QIVkIbACh0L-QduEAQYAiABEgKQlvD_BwE

We're modelers, we can do whatever we want. Al's convertible Stude looks so good, now I want to build one. Its swoopy lines remind me a little of the topless Citroen DS19.

Make your own boot to fit exactly, using 2-part epoxy putty. Tamiya makes some good putties, intended for model builders and not plumbers. I just used their "Quick Type" epoxy putty to make a ratty blanket draped over a worn-out car seat. For a convertible boot, you probably want a longer working time. So the regular "Basic Type" epoxy putty might be better. It takes longer to dry. Once you've made the boot and it's dry, you can drill holes for the snaps and make them using miniature pins or something similar. A lot of us accidentally made the '53 Stude a convertible, trying to build the Bonneville version. ? But I don't think Round 2 will ever tool up a convertible option in the box. Here's one thread about using epoxy putty, you can find others in here:

Thanks, I wondered about the rest of the story with WingNut Wings. So I'll ignore all the eBay scalpers and wait for MENG to re-issue that 1/32 scale WnW Gotha bomber. I'll probably never build it and if I did, would need to build an extra room to display it. But I can set the unopened box on a shelf and admire it. There's a lot of confusing ties between the various Chinese model companies right now. A new company called Das Werk releases its own kits, but also puts out different versions of armor kits originally done by TAKOM and other companies. The boxes usually have the original company's logo on them, or say "Das Werk 100% New." With one exception: Das Werk recently released a "new" 1/35 scale Kettenkrad - the weird motorcycle half-track. It's just the old Dragon kit in a Das Werk box. The only "new" part of it is the decal sheet. But the box top doesn't mention that.

The SCMA show has now been postponed until May of 2021. https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Local-Business/South-Carolina-Modelers-Association-154759921252065/

I see Price Creep continues, and always up. Oh well. To be expected, I guess. Maybe the Surfer Van will have the racks/surfboards from the recent '65 Chevelle wagon. As somebody else said, Round 2 is really working that '77 Ford mold, and just in the last couple of years. Maybe the next reissue will be something more interesting, like a Serial Killer Van. I could use some 1/25 scale chain saws. IMO the '53 Stude "Mr. Speed" had some of the best box art ever. After the last run, Hobby Lobby put those on clearance and I grabbed a couple cheap. I'll leave that one for the USPS collectors, being more interested in plastic than tin. ? Monster trucks just don't interest me and I have the stock MPC '88 Silverado long-bed, so no sale there either. Come on, Round 2. Find the molds for the '60 Valiant 4-door and the '62 Imperial. Well, I can dream...

HobbyLinc has 8 different colors of The Detailer washes. But none of them are Black or Brown, which is weird. I checked a couple of other online vendors but they didn't carry The Detailer, or didn't have any in stock. http://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?cat_s=&str_s=the+detailer

Here's a strange kit in my stash of a modern Russian refueller truck, the ATs-5.5. The kit was released many years ago. It uses the old (and not very good) ICM 1/35 scale URAL 4320 kit as a start, but the fuel tank is vac-formed. It also has white metal and photo-etched parts. From a company named "Russian Project," kit number 3504. I've never seen any other kits from Russian Project. And my latest Weird Kit! The Dragon IJN Special Type 4 `Ka-Tsu.` This was the Japanese version of the LVT, a tracked amphibious vehicle. The "Special" variant armed with 2 torpedoes was intended to attack U.S. ships anchored in atolls. The plan was for the Ka-Tsu to launch from a submarine, crawl over the outer reefs of the atoll, then splash down into the inner lagoon and launch its torpedoes. Fortunately for its crews, the war ended before it could be used on any of those missions. I waited a long time for this one. It's a costly kit and I was looking for the best combination of price and shipping cost from a U.S. seller. Finally found that on eBay.

I always wanted to build a '53 Studebaker post coupe, instead of a hardtop. But I didn't feel like hacking apart a Revell "Miss Deal" and Frankensteining it with the AMT kit. Or building those roof posts from scratch, being old and lazy. Luckily, at a kit swap meet I found a resin post coupe body. In whatever century I get around to building it, I'd like to do it as a Studebaker NASCAR racer. I think it would look great in a cream color with a red top, maybe. And some vintage racing numbers/decals, including those neat "Studebaker" decals in the AMT kit. This won't exactly be a fictional build. '53 Studebakers did race in NASCAR, they just didn't do very well. http://www.studebakerracing.com/1953.html

eBay still has a few good deals, every now and then. This 1/35 scale ICM (Mercedes-Benz) L1500A usually goes for somewhere between $25-$45. Since ICM is in the Ukraine, many of the eBay kits come from there, with very high shipping prices. I think the kit may be out of production, since they're hard to find. No U.S. vendor had them. Not even my usual go-to site for military kits, Sprue Brothers. Like all ICM car-ish kits, the chassis builds up from separate side rails and crossmembers, with every gusset, U-joint and other part included. Tricky to build but they look great when finished. The kit also has a detailed engine. ICM released it in 2 versions, top up or top down. But both kits had the parts to build either version in the box. The only difference was the art on the box top. The seller's opening bid was $17.00. In a week, nobody else bid on it. So I won it for $17 plus shipping.

And another Zombie Thread slithers out of the grave! Zombie Music Dept: I found this oldie laying around the internet recently. A real thrill, since I had this album as a kid and practically wore out the grooves. AFAIK, this was the ONLY album ever released with Robert Mitchum singing "The Ballad of Thunder Road." It also includes the "answer" song to "Hot Rod Lincoln," Jimmy Dolan's "Hot Rod Race." Plus many other goodies, as shown on the album sleeve below. "Shut Down" was a "budget" album released by Capitol in 1963. It's the reason the 1964 Beach Boys' album was titled "Shut Down, Volume 2." If you ever wondered what happened to "Shut Down, Volume 1," this was it. The original "Shut Down" album disappeared for decades, with parts of it turning up on various cheapo CD compilations over the years. According to various sites, Japanese fans finally got the original album released on CD in 2012.

Mr. Wiki can do that! The German assault guns influenced it, but the "S" tank was a lot weirder. The gun traversed by engaging the tracks, and elevated by raising the whole suspension. If it needed to go "hull down" the suspension dropped, like a Low-Rider, and the tank had a built-in dozer blade to dig its own firing position. The thing also had 2 engines in it, a Rolls-Royce Diesel and a Caterpillar turbine. It was the first tank powered by a turbine. Like I said, weird. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stridsvagn_103