What AMT/MPC Molds Might Still Exist at Round 2?

[Snake45]

Whatever happened to the '64/'65 Plymouth Valiant molds? Did they become the Fireball 500 "custom Barracuda"? (I imagine that would have made sense at the time.)

[StevenGuthmiller]

Ultra Violet - 1961 Ford Galaxie hardtop
Peony Pony - 1964 Ford Mustang hardtop
Sunflower Power - 1962 Buick Electra 225 hardtop
Buttercup Bomb - 1960 Pontiac Bonneville hardtopMagnolia Mauler - 1960 Mercury Park Lane hardtop
Bird Of Paradise - 1960 Ford Thunderbird hardtop

Anyway, I screwed up. The '62 Galaxie's last iteration was as the Turista Turismo in the Mexico series, together with these:

Caliente Bandido - 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente hardtop
Mexicali Mudlark - 1966 Buick Skylark hardtop
Tequila Mockingbird - 1963 Ford Thunderbird hardtop
Boondock Bomber - 1959 Buick Invicta hardtop
AMT El Ranchero Grande - 1961 Ford Ranchero

Yeah. And I want them all. Now!

 

Well, that list is a good sign of what could be yet to come.

We've already gotten the '61 Ford, '62 Buick, '61 Ranchero & Model King did the '64 Comet, so we know that tool still exists.

Lets hope for a few of the others.

 

Steve

Edited December 25, 2015 by StevenGuthmiller

[Luc Janssens]

Whatever happened to the '64/'65 Plymouth Valiant molds? Did they become the Fireball 500 "custom Barracuda"? (I imagine that would have made sense at the time.)

It became a '66 before the conversion into the Fireball

[Junkman]

The '64 and '65 weren't fastbacks, like the '66 was.
Also, they were available at the same time. So IMO, one of them must still be intact, if existant at all.

[Bob Ellis]

We got the '61 Ford Notchbach HT from the Styline kit, but the Starliner fastback (cousin to the Sunliner kit that returned in 1967 as a Trophy Series) never returned.

[Rob Hall]

The '64 and '65 weren't fastbacks, like the '66 was.
Also, they were available at the same time. So IMO, one of them must still be intact, if existant at all.

The '66 Valiant may have only been available as a promo..  The fastbacks were the Barracuda, different kit.  The '65-66 Barracuda kits may have shared some parts w/ the Valiant kits, I don't know.

[Snake45]

It became a '66 before the conversion into the Fireball

Huh. I don't recall ever seeing a box for that, and I thought I'd drooled over ALL the 1966 AMT kits back in the day. I just Google-imaged and failed to find a pic of either a box or a built AMT '66 Valiant kit.

Or maybe you meant it became a promo, but not a kit. That's a possibility, I suppose.

[Luc Janssens]

Still standing by the '58 annuals rumor, since they would qualify as "looooooooong time."

When I was visiting a friend last October, he just had in a load of vintage kits, to put on ebay, IIRC none of them were of '58 vintage but many were from the 60s and a few from the early 70s.

When checking them out, I found that the nostalgia factor, you find on boards and FB groups somewhat make (some of) those kits better, then they realy were/are..like the first gen Corvair, which I found a bit crude.

They're neat time capsules but they do have their faults, cuz back then they were mass produced toys.

[Rob Hall]

Huh. I don't recall ever seeing a box for that, and I thought I'd drooled over ALL the 1966 AMT kits back in the day. I just Google-imaged and failed to find a pic of either a box or a built AMT '66 Valiant kit.

Or maybe you meant it became a promo, but not a kit. That's a possibility, I suppose.

Tom Geiger would know, but I believe the '66 Valiant promo was a rare one.  They didn't make many because Plymouth changed the roof and AMT didn't catch that change. Or something like that.   I believe the '64-65 Valiant kits were only available as curbsides, while the Barracuda annuals had engines.  The Barracuda tooling became the Firebowl 500, but the body became the Hurst Hemi Under Glass which reappeared a few years ago...

Edited December 25, 2015 by Rob Hall

[Luc Janssens]

Huh. I don't recall ever seeing a box for that, and I thought I'd drooled over ALL the 1966 AMT kits back in the day. I just Google-imaged and failed to find a pic of either a box or a built AMT '66 Valiant kit.

Or maybe you meant it became a promo, but not a kit. That's a possibility, I suppose.

Oops, I was thinking of the Barracuda fastback...

[Junkman]

When I was visiting a friend last October, he just had in a load of vintage kits, to put on ebay, IIRC none of them were of '58 vintage but many were from the 60s and a few from the early 70s.

When checking them out, I found that the nostalgia factor, you find on boards and FB groups somewhat make (some of) those kits better, then they realy were/are..like the first gen Corvair, which I found a bit crude.

They're neat time capsules but they do have their faults, cuz back then they were mass produced toys.

You can't compare them with modern kits, or you must consider them total tosh.
But in many cases, they are the only game in town!
 

[Snake45]

You can't compare them with modern kits, or you must consider them total tosh.But in many cases, they are the only game in town!
 

Some of the old/original annual bodies are actually more accurate in shape than current-day "superkits."

The chassis, engines, interiors, of course, are generally inferior in the older goodies.

[Junkman]

Agree wholehartedly. Some of the more modern kits are somewhat heavy handed in the body department.
One can always try to modernize an old annual or snapper with more recent interiors and/or chassises.

For me, it's mostly about the cars themselves. I want those cars.

Edited December 25, 2015 by Junkman

[Dave Van]

Dave, I've intended no disrespect to your experience and expertise here. You have been an INVALUABLE friend and influence to this hobby, and are probably the reason many of these molds still exist today, to say nothing of the thousands (tens of thousands?) of great models that have been built (or even just "collected") due to your efforts.

All good here!!!!!   Sometimes my 25 years of technical writing makes my post on the net seem 'snooty' maybe......

But it's been a good discussion.......thx

[disabled modeler]

I've been "down sizing my" my stash for the last couple of years, and I may not be done yet. I'm being more realistic 'bout how many kits I'm going to build and actually finish. Besides I'm tired of trading ca$h for plastic, only to have the kits sit on a pile and grow bigger with every purchase.

Nice...I can understand that...there are some people that have over 2,000 kits sitting on a shelf or in boxes.  Me counting my dads old stuff have probably close to 150 and some of those are build ups or rebuilders...most coming from my dads old collection.  I do believe there is a time where one has to use discretion on what they will buy if any in the future once you have so many sitting and what the budget allows...me I only get things that are ether cheap or something I really want and have been waiting to find and when I can afford it.  I respect one having priorities. 

[Junkman]

That's right, the '61 Starliner only ever existed as an annual "Customizing Kit" and that was it.
If that tool still exists, it must be mint!

I think Jimmy Flintstone makes a Starliner body and interior tub to use with the Styline kit.

There was a batch of "error" models of the original. Initially it had "Sunliner" on the front fenders, not "Starliner".

[Snake45]

Okay, just looking through the Drastic Plastic site, I spotted these interesting looking, seldom seen kits. Where are they now?

AMT Iron Horse Mustang T267

AMT Astro I (Corvette prototype/experimental), T259

AMT Pintera Pinto showcar T225601

AMT Streetle Beetle T205 (could be done in combination with the shorty VW gasser as a 2-in-1)

MPC Astro-Vette

MPC Cosma-Ray (custom Corvette)

MPC Vette Van

[pack rat]

Okay, just looking through the Drastic Plastic site, I spotted these interesting looking, seldom seen kits. Where are they now?

AMT Iron Horse Mustang T267

AMT Astro I (Corvette prototype/experimental), T259

AMT Pintera Pinto showcar T225601

AMT Streetle Beetle T205 (could be done in combination with the shorty VW gasser as a 2-in-1)

MPC Astro-Vette

MPC Cosma-Ray (custom Corvette)

MPC Vette Van

A lot of the Iron Horse parts live on in the '66 Mustang hardtop; AMT essentially replaced the Iron Horse body/interior bits with those of the promo '66 hardtop when they first issued the Countdown kit.     

Edited December 26, 2015 by pack rat

[Junkman]

A lot of the Iron Horse parts live on in the '66 Mustang hardtop; AMT essentially replaced the Iron Horse body/interior bits with those of the promo '66 hardtop when they first issued the Countdown kit.     

So if the Iron Horse mould still exists, it could be re-combined with the obviously available '66 Mustang bits to make an Iron Horse kit.
How's that for speculation? Or Speculatius. Or sumtin.
 

[Luc Janssens]

Agree wholehartedly. Some of the more modern kits are somewhat heavy handed in the body department.
One can always try to modernize an old annual or snapper with more recent interiors and/or chassises.

For me, it's mostly about the cars themselves. I want those cars.

If the they get the worms out of the can and give it a good rinse, maybe Moebius can start copying the bodies of the old Jo-Han Chrysler letter cars.

[disabled modeler]

Agree wholehartedly. Some of the more modern kits are somewhat heavy handed in the body department.
One can always try to modernize an old annual or snapper with more recent interiors and/or chassises.

For me, it's mostly about the cars themselves. I want those cars.

Me too...its about the cars,etc. to me.

[Junkman]

If the they get the worms out of the can and give it a good rinse, maybe Moebius can start copying the bodies of the old Jo-Han Chrysler letter cars.

Moebius could consider to continue the Letter Series they already started with new tooling. They gave us the "A" and B, the C we have from AMT.
D and E can wait for later (or some resin casters could be doing them using the AMT as a base kit), so the next big hit would be the F and G.
This would also yield a proper full size unibody chassis for the first time in kit history. I'd need at least a casepack for kitbashing with old Jo-Hans.

[Erik Smith]

AMT Subaru Brat. It's part of that weird "mini-renaissance" by AMT that includes some detailed odd-ball kits like the Brat, Rabbit, Scirocco, and Capris II. They were kits ahead of their time with separate interior side panels, detailed engines, and cool custom options. The Scirocco is being reissued. The Rabbit probably won't see the light of day since Revell has recently tooled up a modern version of the same car. 

There are other 70s cars that should still exist - Pacer Wagon, Pintos, Matadors...

The 1962 Ford Galaxie was one of the few that didn't get destroyed by an annual update - but hasn't been seen since '69 - that's a long time for a mold to hide. Good opportunity if they could bring that back from the grave.

While the bodies of the annual era AMT kits were pretty nice, the interiors were often incorrect, atleast the HT versions. Many (most?) had convertible tubs.

[Dave Van]

I was able to buy three of those Brat kits when a wholesaler we bought from went out of business and found a stash of old product. 

A decent looking kit....yet to build one.....seems like a no brainer for a reissue but I don't pay the bills and Subaru may not be to license friendly. 

[Luc Janssens]

I was able to buy three of those Brat kits when a wholesaler we bought from went out of business and found a stash of old product. 

A decent looking kit....yet to build one.....seems like a no brainer for a reissue but I don't pay the bills and Subaru may not be to license friendly. 

The only thing "I would like" to see, is that if re-released, the chrome headlamp, are re-engineered so that they become chrome buckets with clear lenses...

Otherwise it's a neat kit, cuz also got one in da stash.

A pet peeve of mine, but you knew that.

;^)