Mike999

Stumbled across an Internet ad from them some time ago, and almost ordered something. Then I saw some of the complaints. IIRC, they were also using slightly different names on several different websites. But the Contact Info on all of them was the same address in Mayfield, PA, and they all had that pitch about "founded by modelers in 1995." I got suspicious and dropped the idea of ordering from them. Here's a thread about them at Fine Scale Modeler, from last year: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/general_discussion/f/50/t/182060.aspx

Thanks for another great article that managed the impossible - made me interested in MPC Monza kits. At least for the time it took to read the article. I will now go back to ignoring them. I do have to say: of all the lunk-headed, ham-fisted "styling" fads inflicted on innocent model cars, that "IMSA panel" nonsense was one of the worst. With the Monza, it took a basically sleek little car and turned it into something that looked like the misbegotten offspring of a Russian bulldozer and a Dually pickup truck. Back in the '80s I often went to the DIY junkyards around Los Angeles, looking for Pontiac parts. One yard had an area of "movie cars." They were not what you might think from the phrase "movie cars." No Barris-type customs. These were mostly vehicles cobbled up for long-forgotten (or never released) sci-fi movies. Just sad old junkers with extra body clutter pop-rivetted on, to try and make them look futuristic and/or "alien." The IMSA body panels remind me of those things.

They need to bring back both the Thomas Flyer and the Stutz Bearcat. Then we can use the Bearcat fenders to build a stock Thomas Flyer. Or maybe not. I just did a quick drive-by of eBay "Completed Items." Both of those kits sell for an average of about $25 to $30. Though this is eBay, so there are some outliers with prices from $50 to $80. Looks like there's no shortage of either kit. So to put that in perspective, we can get either kit for about the retail price of yet another '40 Ford or '23 T Delivery Wagon re-issue. (But with Coke decals!)

Just did a great deal with Dr. Kerry. Fast and smooth and I got some parts I needed to make a kit complete.

Knew I was forgetting something! That Hummer. In case anybody is interested, MENG also did "Upgrade Kits" for the F-350 and Hummer H-1.

I've bought a couple of '62 T-Bird promos for $10-15 on eBay, which is amazing. Not long ago I parted out one of those, and sent some of the parts to another board member for his restoration. I want to do a stock '62 hardtop, so (along with a resin body), I only needed the hubcaps and interior. Including that spiffy, working "swing-away" steering wheel in the promo.

It sure is, as a quick check on eBay will show. Appears to be discontinued and Unobtainium from any vendors. I think MENG has only done 2 kits in 1/24, the F-350 and the Jeep Rubicon. They also did that F-350 in 1/35 scale, which is their main market, military kits. I wonder if MENG decided they didn't want to chase the 1/24 market anymore. Sort of like Trumpeter, who did a couple of good car kits (the '63 Novas) and several not-so-good ones ('60 Pontiacs and '65 Falcons). It's a shame, for them and us.

Here's another rare version of the MPC '67 Charger: the hideous (IMO) customized Charger from the 1967 movie "Thunder Alley." Complete with "psychedelic car art decal." And if that wasn't ugly enough, a bottle of paint and brush so you could create your own psychedelic paint job, after you had sniffed enough glue. MPC's 1966 movie tie-in kit is much better known to us. That was the "Fireball 500" Barracuda, used in the movie of the same name.

Thanks, that was interesting. Back in 1990s California, a screenwriter mysteriously disappeared while driving from Northern to Southern CA. There were lots of rumors that he had been carjacked, robbed and/or murdered, since he was driving a brand-new SUV. Plus all the usual conspiracy theories that he might have been running drugs etc. etc. During one of the droughts in the 2000s the mystery was solved, when the water level dropped and uncovered his SUV. He had been driving on a road that parallels the California Aqueduct and went over the side. An autopsy didn't show any foul play, so the best theory was that he just fell asleep at the wheel and went off the road, into the water.

I also hate to think of all the fuel, engine oil, coolant and other poisons that leaked into the rivers because of these dimwits.

Ha! That wasn't us in SC. It's the Tualatin River, near Portland, Oregon.

'73 Mustang Mach I pulled out of an Oregon river, along with an RX-7 and Chevy LUV pickup. "The Adventures with Purpose team says it has recovered 326 cars, six guns, two bodies and a tractor, among other things." https://www.yahoo.com/autos/watch-divers-pull-1973-ford-120000765.html

All the time, if the price is right. Checking eBay's "Ending Soonest" one night, I found the Revell "Monster Machines" double kit. That's the Mickey Thompson "Challenger" and Tommy Ivo "Showboat" in one big box. I already had both of those kits, with the pre-painted figures. But the minimum bid was only $15.00 and nobody had bid on it, with the auction ending in about a minute. I placed the minimum bid, expecting to get sniped at the last second. Nope, I won it. So now I have a lifetime supply of vintage Buick and Pontiac engines. Around here I've been lucky at finding kits with just a little assembly in thrift stores. Like a pair of AMT-ERTL '67 Mustangs (in different stores) for just a couple of bucks. That kit is a parts gold mine.

I don't believe the PYRO '32 Ford coupe was ever re-issued by Lindberg or anybody else. If so I'd like to know about it too. That coupe seems pretty hard to find. I just searched eBay, both current and completed listings. None have been on eBay for the past month. The good news is, if you can find one it will probably be cheap. Even original PYRO 1/32 scale car kits that are 50+ years old don't sell for very much. Including the more rare and unusual vintage kits with engines, like the Mercer Toy Tonneau and Lozier Briarcliff. Last year I put several lots of PYRO 1/32 kits on eBay with reasonable starting bids. None of them got a single bid.

Thanks. Sometimes tracking down the origin story of our kits is almost as much fun as building them. Along with their other links, those kits are another project of Squadron Models, the giant mail-order vendor that has been around forever. It has put its brand on foreign kits since way back in the 1970s. Squadron has always been creative. Their "Encore Models" brand takes old but basically good aircraft kits and adds resin parts, photo-etch and other useful extras. Their Encore re-work of the old Monogram 1/48 Cessna A-37 is really nice. Then there's the Encore 1/32 scale kit of the Pfalz D.III from the movie "The Blue Max." It comes with the usual extras, plus 2 figures from the movie. https://www.squadron.com/1-32-Encore-Models-Blue-Max-Pfalz-EC32004-p/ec32004.htm

If you're looking for an interesting '27 T project, this Jimmy Flintstone roadster body and track nose is designed to fit the AMT '27 chassis. It's item number NB-175 and sells for about $12.

For comparison, the PYRO '32 Ford coupe in 1/32 scale looks a lot better. PYRO designed its 1/32 scale kits by researching and measuring real cars, just like the bigger companies. PYRO also turned out a '34 Ford that looks right in 1/32 scale, something the big boys have never managed to do in 1/25.

Good for you! I have tons of Carolina Wrens in my yard. I LOL watching them and the other birds harass my neighbor's Tuxedo Cat. He tries to stalk them if they're sitting in the yard or in a tree, which never works. They take off, then swoop down on his head like dive bombers. He leaps up into the air yowling and swipes at them with his paws. Stupid cat is never going to catch any of those birds. He's also trying to figure out how to eat the turtle that sometimes crosses my back yard. That's not going very well for him either.

Here's another great on-topic book: "Mercedes-Benz Parade And Staff Cars of the Third Reich" by Blaine Taylor. In the book, IIRC, Taylor says he wrote to Daimler-Benz and asked if they could help him with photos etc. The answer was a very firm "NO!" https://www.amazon.com/Mercedes-Parade-Staff-Third-Reich/dp/0938289934

? Food Lion's pretty good here, or was before the crisis. Prices seem to be generally lower than Ingle's or BI-LO and they have some stuff other stores don't sell. Like their house-brand canned potato sticks, a great, greasy snack treat. Their bakery and meat sections were a little better too, IMO. Ingle's does have one advantage: it sells "Hemmings Classic Car" magazine.

Went to the closest Food Lion a few days ago, then again yesterday. What a difference! The store has installed big, clear plastic "sneeze shields" in front of every checkout. Also warning signs, something like: "To Maintain Distancing, Wait Until Belt Is Empty Before Placing Your Items On It." The paper products aisle was completely empty. No TP or paper towels. Even though the store restricts purchases to 2 per customer. I was lucky and got to the (almost empty) meat aisle, just as an employee wheeled out a cart full of low-fat ground beef. I've been craving home-made burgers. But last week the store had no ground beef at all. Then to the (nearly empty) bread aisle for sesame-seed hamburger buns. They were sold out, and only had the store-brand regular buns. But if that's all I have to complain about, I'm way ahead...

Back in 2017, I put one of those Entex Wankel kits on eBay. I found it a flea market cheap. I put it up twice and it didn't get a single bid. The third time was the charm and it sold for $26.00. I don't know anything about the transmission differences, but it sure is a puzzler.

Or the misspellers. Here, I'll give away a secret: since the "T" and "Y" keys are right beside each other on the keyboard, you might want to also search for "AMY 1969 Impala." ? Thanks for the feedback, everybody. It's just what I wanted to see in this thread.

As mentioned before, I buy and sell scale models on eBay. I'll be putting up an eBay sale soon (I hope), and I was just wondering: Do you prefer eBay auctions, or Buy It Now? You can answer as a buyer or seller or both, I'm interested in every angle. I've been selling on eBay since 1999, and have almost always used the 7-day auction format. But for this next sale, I'm thinking about putting up more Buy It Now items. What say you?

Yay! Another Zombie Thread resurrected! I love it when that happens! Don't know if this will help you, but here are couple of G4 hardtop "sedan versions." As I mentioned above, in real life only 2 of these were built, both used in Hitler's traveling entourage. The first photo below may be the luggage car (or a Photoshop of it.) The second one looks like the radio car; it has cooling grilles cut in the bodywork for the 1930's vacuum-tube radio gear.