Revell 30 Model A Ford Production Halted?

[Modelbuilder Mark]

I would not worry about the kit not coming back. A few days ago, I sent an email to Revell simply telling them that there were a lot of different rumours milling around, and asked if any were true, and if the kit would be back around. This is the response I got.

 

"Hi,

We have some issues involving this kit we cannot discuss at the moment. We are working to resolve them. When we have resolved them and have established a firm direct, we will let everyone know. Until then, please stand by. Sorry we can’t say more until then.

 

Regards,

Ed Sexton

Revell, Inc."

Edited October 26, 2016 by Modelbuilder Mark

[Intmd8r]

Coincidence that AMT recently rereleased their double kit of the ’29 Ford Roadster after the (perceived) success of the Revell ’31 Ford Coupe & ’29 Ford Roadster??????????

I love a good conspiracy story! Lol

[niteowl7710]

Coincidence that AMT recently rereleased their double kit of the ’29 Ford Roadster after the (perceived) success of the Revell ’31 Ford Coupe & ’29 Ford Roadster??????????

 

 

I love a good conspiracy story! Lol

 

 

Not the first time Round2 has reissued something out of the vault to "compliment" something Revell is doing.  I mean the AMT '29 was announced back in February, which is between the '29 & '30 kits being released, and obviously was in the planning stages prior to the announcement.  As been proven here numerous times Round2 can milk mistalgia (the misremembering of great a kit was 40 years ago) for all it's worth, and there are those of course who will insist the original kit is better than any newer kit.  Likewise Revell's seemingly constant inability to get basic shapes like curves correct, and/or which items on any given part should be raised vs. engraved detailing, those folks have a point.

[horsepower]

It has already started

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/30-Ford-Model-A-Coupe-2n1-sk5-/302106538076?hash=item4656f3f05c:g:65IAAOSwpLNYAJrA

This is a Japanese seller and states that the kits are in Japan and will be shipped from there. Checking his other auctions you'll notice that this isn't someone trying to capitalize on the shortage of these kits, it's just life as normal for him as all of his auctions are in the same price range as far as starting prices go.

Edited October 27, 2016 by horsepower

[Lunajammer]

After doing a little checking I was informed by a reputable industry source that the tools were indeed damaged. But are already in the process of being repaired. The tooling will be repaired in a few weeks and new shipments of both kits will resume as normal.

What's worth doing once is worth doing again. It would be a no-brainer to salvage this, even if it meant starting over. It would be funny if Revell said, "RATS! Well that's the end of that. Let's move on to that '66 Dart."

[horsepower]

What's worth doing once is worth doing again. It would be a no-brainer to salvage this, even if it meant starting over. It would be funny if Revell said, "RATS! Well that's the end of that. Let's move on to that '66 Dart.

Well.....maybe if it was a '64 Dart GT slant six version it'd be worth it.  ?? 

Edited October 27, 2016 by horsepower

[Jon Cole]

Would Revell have insurance on their tooling?

 

[my80malibu]

I would not worry about the kit not coming back. A few days ago, I sent an email to Revell simply telling them that there were a lot of different rumours milling around, and asked if any were true, and if the kit would be back around. This is the response I got.

 

"Hi,

We have some issues involving this kit we cannot discuss at the moment. We are working to resolve them. When we have resolved them and have established a firm direct, we will let everyone know. Until then, please stand by. Sorry we can’t say more until then.

 

Regards,

Ed Sexton

Revell, Inc."

I guess I can resume building the other 400 plus kits in my garage cabinets.

[Nova-ss]

I hope they fix the problem . I never got one...but people love these and any other future releases coming from revell on this tooling....Chris 

[Skip]

Having worked in a tooling shop (for a large formerly Seattle based aircraft company, maybe you've ridden on one of their planes.) for a few years. I can already say without a doubt the hard tooling (molds) are nowhere as big an issue as would have been in the 60's or even 90's.  Now if the real proprietary item (the digital files) were damaged or corrupted, that would be a huge loss.  In industry, Tooling gets lost, damaged, destroyed and just plain wears out all the time most companies plan for such incidents with hard tooling knowing that they can only pull so many units of anything off a mold; especially tight tolerance injection molding equipment.  With the digital files in hand, the hard tooling can be recreated either from scratch and or damaged portion(s) of the tooling restored.  In this day of four and five+ axis machining fixing or recreating a damaged is sometimes weeks away versus months away (years ago).  The real time consuming part of any type of Injection molding tooling is the hand work required to bring the tool to production, this is getting less and less  as machining technology advances along with digital technology.  My point, don't believe everything some guy in your local hobby shop tells you and never believe the line some scalper on eBay trys to use to sell an overpriced anything.  I totally agree with time to bring production back to the USA where there is better control over it.

[Jantrix]

Would Revell have insurance on their tooling?

 

That's an excellent question.

[mademan]

I figured it was just Revells typical story to drum up sales.... Look at the Cadillac lowrider kit.... Huge demand for it..... goes discontinued..... people start selling it for 80-120..... Revell Re-issues it...... immediately goes Discontinued..... as soon as the demand is up there again.... OH look its comming out again this year.......

[GaryR]

Please.

Fact is, NONE of us know ANYTHING about this.

I predict the kit will be back in a few months. Such drama.

[Skip]

Gary, that was exactly my point, since this tooling is so new it's gonna get fixed.  Revell hasn't even seen a full year of amortization on it yet, they're going to get their money back, so you will see the kit back on the shelves too.

[Dave Ambrose]

What's worth doing once is worth doing again. It would be a no-brainer to salvage this, even if it meant starting over. It would be funny if Revell said, "RATS! Well that's the end of that. Let's move on to that '66 Dart."

I, for one, would love a '66 Dart. That was the car I learned to drive in.

[Mark]

For all any of us know, Revell may have just been caught off guard with demand for the coupe kit, and haven't got another container load of them on the way yet.  If it's as popular as it seems to be, they'll get more of them onto the shelves however it has to be done.

Some guys were complaining about the short availability of the Blue Bandito kit.  Last time I was at my local shop, there was one on the shelf there, maybe more than that.  I'd bet he has a couple of the A coupe kits too.

[niteowl7710]

I've talked with enough people who have direct contact with people who would know the story in Illinois and at this point I believe that the tooling was indeed damaged, and it currently being repaired.

Revell has too much investment in this tooling to scrap it, and it was of course incredibly popular, getting people such as myself - primarily modern car/foreign kit builders - to purchase them (I have both the '29 & '30).

I think a few vendors tried to spice up the story by adding in some sordid details - it was stolen, it was maliciously damaged - and a game of internet telephone quickly erupted from there.   

[Ace-Garageguy]

I guess I can resume building the other 400 plus kits in my garage cabinets.

A wise course of action.   

[Tom Geiger]

Please.

Fact is, NONE of us know ANYTHING about this.

I predict the kit will be back in a few months. Such drama.

Amen!  And the reason I haven't thrown wood on this fire!

[Casey]

I've talked with enough people who have direct contact with people who would know the story in Illinois and at this point I believe that the tooling was indeed damaged, and it currently being repaired.

How is that even possible!??? "NONE of us know ANYTHING". 

Some guys were complaining about the short availability of the Blue Bandito kit.  Last time I was at my local shop, there was one on the shelf there, maybe more than that.  I'd bet he has a couple of the A coupe kits too.

I picked up a '30 kit Thursday, so we have not yet reached Desperation Level 1...yet. I have no doubt by the time the holidays rolls around we will, though. 

[Dave Van]

Kinda on topic. Go out there and look up the laws in China.  Some interesting and scary laws about true ownership of items CREATED in China. Lets say I hope we stay friendly with them.

[stavanzer]

I stopped by Hobby Lobby last night to see if the had the '30. No Luck. They did have the '29. My H.L. has not gotten the Pacer Wagon or the Squad Rod yet. Hopefully by Christmas.  I may try the LHS for the '30, but I've got one already, and can wait until there are more.

[Snake45]

I picked up a '30 kit Thursday, so we have not yet reached Desperation Level 1...yet.

Hence to be known as DESPCON 1.  You just created a new word, my friend!

[stavanzer]

Way to go Casey! 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Kinda on topic. Go out there and look up the laws in China.  Some interesting and scary laws about true ownership of items CREATED in China. Lets say I hope we stay friendly with them.

Yeah, and last time I looked (which was a while back) their attitude towards respecting "intellectual property" rights (like patents in other countries) was a joke...so much so I wondered why ANYBODY would want to do business there.

Oh yeah...it's cheap.