MPC Dodge 'Country' Charger Open Box Review

[1972coronet]

2 hours ago, mikos said:

I think Round2 needs to do the (General Lee/City Slicker/Coca Cola) Charger snap kit with stock wheels/tires and some stock decals.  That would be a nice addition to their recently released cloned Craftsman style kits.

I agree completely. The tooling for the Duke of Prunes (or whatever its name is) is so ancient as to be unsalvageable ! Last one I built was the "1970" version from the F&F series of +/- 20 years ago. That kid was run ad nauseam prior to that, and ad infinitum since -- retire that thing ! 

[doorsovdoon]

4 hours ago, mikos said:

I think Round2 needs to do the (General Lee/City Slicker/Coca Cola) Charger snap kit with stock wheels/tires and some stock decals.  That would be a nice addition to their recently released cloned Craftsman style kits.  

For the old (ex General Lee) Country Charger glue kit, I think they should just clone an original annual body and use that instead.  Then, if need be remake some of the custom parts that the original annual kit came with.  They would have the late ‘60’s Charger market covered since it doesn’t seem like Revell will be reissuing their Charger kits anytime soon.  

I agree. The snap kit, though not perfect, is a huge improvement over the Country Charger. Some minor tweaks would have it back to the quality of the annual body. Reproduce the custom parts, which I think are super cool especially the revolving headlights and one piece rear light, and R2 would have a fun and simple alternative to the Revell offerings. I love the Revell Charger but I need my 'serious face' on when building those cos they're so detailed, a simple version with those unique custom parts would be loads of fun to build.

[doorsovdoon]

4 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

I agree completely. The tooling for the Duke of Prunes (or whatever its name is) is so ancient as to be unsalvageable ! Last one I built was the "1970" version from the F&F series of +/- 20 years ago. That kid was run ad nauseam prior to that, and ad infinitum since -- retire that thing ! 

I've seen pics of the F&F charger and it looks like a toy.. the '70 front grille/bumper looks like a Lego piece! I do wonder if the original annual '70 grille still survives as it was the last of the annuals before it became the Richard Brooks (or Bobby Issac Nascar) not sure which came first.. that tooling pretty much doomed the original annuals to what it is now, a patched up worn out mess that makes model builders gasp in horror when someone says "Country Charger" lol

Edited November 7, 2023 by doorsovdoon

[Joe Handley]

To me, this tooling just needs to be retired, there snap kit and the Revell ‘68-‘70 are better and a much more suitable option.

[doorsovdoon]

3 hours ago, Joe Handley said:

To me, this tooling just needs to be retired, there snap kit and the Revell ‘68-‘70 are better and a much more suitable option.

Even though I love the kit I have to agree with you. The poor thing has seen a beating. Even the chrome tree has seen changes beyond repair.

[Luc Janssens]

Just wondering; when using the underpinnings of the newly designed Coronet, isn't half of the work done to create a "new" Charger kit while using the mpc annual as a template for the specific to the Charger parts?

Big question however will be, is there still ROI with their Snap kit and the Revell's Chargers just waiting to put into production again?

Edited November 26, 2023 by Luc Janssens

[mikos]

9 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Just wondering; when using the underpinnings of the newly designed Coronet, isn't half of the work done to create a "new" Charger kit while using the mpc annual as a template for the specific to the Charger parts?

Big question however will be, is there still ROI with their Snap kit and the Revell's Chargers just waiting to put into production again?

The Revell Charger is a competitor product and the Snap kit has no engine detail.  A full glue based “MPC” 68-‘70 Charger would have tremendous ROI if they cloned an original annual body.  It’s a no brainer with that one.

[Joe Handley]

I would still buy the Revell kit over a recreated MPC, especially if it has the chassis plate from the ‘68 Coronet kits instead of the Road Runner/GTX/‘70 Coronet kits.

[bobthehobbyguy]

11 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Just wondering; when using the underpinnings of the newly designed Coronet, isn't half of the work done to create a "new" Charger kit while using the mpc annual as a template for the specific to the Charger parts?

Big question however will be, is there still ROI with their Snap kit and the Revell's Chargers just waiting to put into production again?

That's a good question.

Round2 snap kit provides an easy build. 

The Revell kits are really good. Hard to believe there's an big enough market for another Charger kit of the same year. I think there would be much better projects that Round2 could do with those resources for some their to do list.

[bobthehobbyguy]

On 9/22/2017 at 4:59 AM, CapSat 6 said:

It's somewhat the same body as the original '69 Annual. The scoops in the doors, the cowl vents, the emblems, front fender edges and the rear window have been revised back and forth quite a bit since 1969, so these areas are not too good anymore, but the basic body still has a good shape. Yeah- maybe starting all over would be best?  

The problem is: people like me have been buying this kit, warts and all, pretty consistently over it's run. It's a sentimental favorite of mine, since I first started building as a kid in the '70's. I built TONS of these, converting many of them to stock '68's, Daytonas, race cars, & street machines (fat tires, traction bars, loud paint, the works) back when they were the only game in town.

I think they'll always have some buyers, so there is no real incentive for Round 2 to do any heavy revision to the body. We're lucky as it is that RC2 revised the back window back when they did the Fast & Furious car. I just wish they would find the Charger 500 hood (aka- the real stock one they included in the first issue of the Charger 500 kit, circa 1987), and the original '69 Grille inserts (not the '72's we've been getting all this time). 

 

Although an older post this hits the nail on the head. As much as some complain about this kit being worn out it still sells well well enough. It just makes it a lot harder to building a case to invest money in fixing the tooling.

[doorsovdoon]

Some good points raised. I don't think there is anyone more than me who would love to see this kit come back in it's original annual form, but with the mould being so badly worn out, not to mention the inaccuracies, it would probably mean a complete redo like the '68 Coronet. Unless R2 included all the custom parts that originally came with it I doubt it would sell much better than it already does if they just repaired the body and left it there. With that said, I'd recon it would sell extremely well if the custom parts were repaired and included. Maybe there's a licencing issue with the custom parts. Did Dean Jeffries actually design a Dodge Charger like that on the box art or was it just a marketing thing? ...like the Dirty Donny '71 Charger? 

Edited November 29, 2023 by doorsovdoon

[1972coronet]

14 minutes ago, doorsovdoon said:

Did Dean Jeffries actually design a Dodge Charger like that on the box art or was it just a marketing thing? ...like the Dirty Donny '71 Charger? 

I can't speak to the Dirty Donny series ; however, the AMT and MPC kits of the 1960s-early 1970s were indeed designed by the popular customisers of the day. Ostensibly, Jeffries's Monkeemobile was kitted by MPC in 1966 / 1967.

[doorsovdoon]

10 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

I can't speak to the Dirty Donny series ; however, the AMT and MPC kits of the 1960s-early 1970s were indeed designed by the popular customisers of the day. Ostensibly, Jeffries's Monkeemobile was kitted by MPC in 1966 / 1967.

oh for sure, Jeffries was pretty prolific, the Monkeemobile is super iconic. I was just wondering if he did a custom Charger like that on the box art. 

[1972coronet]

12 hours ago, doorsovdoon said:

oh for sure, Jeffries was pretty prolific, the Monkeemobile is super iconic. I was just wondering if he did a custom Charger like that on the box art. 

Ah ! You're enquiring about in 1:1 scale . Totally over me crust . I don't believe so ; I don't believe that any of those were based upon a 1:1 .

[doorsovdoon]

On 11/26/2023 at 10:26 AM, Luc Janssens said:

Just wondering; when using the underpinnings of the newly designed Coronet, isn't half of the work done to create a "new" Charger kit while using the mpc annual as a template for the specific to the Charger parts?

Big question however will be, is there still ROI with their Snap kit and the Revell's Chargers just waiting to put into production again?

The Charger chassis is still pretty good I found, even the engine isn't all that bad. Though saying that, the Coronet is crisp and new and does have a much nicer wheel and axle fitment compared to what the Country Charger has. A clean scan of the annual bodies and a redo of the custom/chrome parts would make it a big seller. The annual kits sell for nearly £200, with the promos going for twice or even three times that. Would definitely be a strong competitor to the Revell.

[crowe-t]

The annual Charger body is more accurate than the Revell Charger.  The Revell Charger's grill is too high.  The nose doesn't slope down enough.  Round 2 should locate an original Charger annual kit and scan the body and even the parts to make a new re-issue.

Edited November 29, 2023 by crowe-t

[doorsovdoon]

47 minutes ago, crowe-t said:

The annual Charger body is more accurate than the Revell Charger.  The Revell Charger's grill is too high.  The nose doesn't slope down enough.  Round 2 should locate an original Charger annual kit and scan the body and even the parts to make a new re-issue.

oh for sure. The body is spot on, they even had the little latches on the smokers windows! Absent on the Revell version.

Edited November 29, 2023 by doorsovdoon

[iangilly]

On 11/29/2023 at 5:59 PM, crowe-t said:

 Round 2 should locate an original Charger annual kit and scan the body and even the parts to make a new re-issue.

Not happening. The original tooling is long been changed.  Also hard to justify the cost of new tooling when so many 68-70 charger kits exist already.

Edited December 1, 2023 by iangilly

[bobthehobbyguy]

On 11/29/2023 at 2:59 PM, crowe-t said:

The annual Charger body is more accurate than the Revell Charger.  The Revell Charger's grill is too high.  The nose doesn't slope down enough.  Round 2 should locate an original Charger annual kit and scan the body and even the parts to make a new re-issue.

 

15 hours ago, iangilly said:

Not happening. The original tooling is long been changed.  Also hard to justify the cost of new tooling when so many 68-70 charger kits exist already.

I have to agree. All the kit parts are worn out not just the body. It would require all new tooling(cloned). With other kits available that is a tough sell for minimum return.

Those resources should be spent on a project that will give a better return. There are lots better options for Round2 to do. Better suited projects will help finance more desired projects down the road.

Added thought. There are 2 good examples that come to mind. The new Demon kit and the Coronet kit. Let's say that Round2 has those 2 kits in mind and a clone of the country Charger. The Demon and Coronet had no current kits available. If Round2 had the budget for doing 2 of the 3 the Demon and Coronet are much better choices.

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by bobthehobbyguy
Added thought

[doorsovdoon]

18 hours ago, iangilly said:

Not happening. The original tooling is long been changed.  Also hard to justify the cost of new tooling when so many 68-70 charger kits exist already.

Don't know. True, the tooling is probably beyond repair but If it was remade as accurate as the annual, maybe even with improvements including all the custom parts, would you not buy one? 😏

[Stef]

On 11/30/2023 at 10:25 PM, bobthehobbyguy said:

There are lots better options for Round2 to do... the Coronet kit.

Agreed. I heard it mentioned here awhile back that the guts of the original 68 Coronet kit ended up in MPC's 74 Super Charger. Several dudes were excited at the thought of bringing back the 74 Charger, so perhaps it could be done economically via scanning, and leveraging the new 68 Coronet chassis and engine?

[Can-Con]

3 hours ago, Stef said:

Agreed. I heard it mentioned here awhile back that the guts of the original 68 Coronet kit ended up in MPC's 74 Super Charger. Several dudes were excited at the thought of bringing back the 74 Charger, so perhaps it could be done economically via scanning, and leveraging the new 68 Coronet chassis and engine?

Put a set of Magnum 500s in there, fix the wheel openings, get the licencing and  BANG, TV tie-in baby. 😎

Instead of "Southern Charger", this one would be "Westen Charger". 😉

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Can-Con

[Bainford]

I think Round2 took the wrong tack when they 'fixed' the rear window on the MPC Charger. With Revell's far superior 68-70 Chargers available, any attempt to directly compete with the MPC Charger is wasted money and effort. They should have gone in the other direction and improved the Charger 500 version of the MPC kit. Ditch the R/T stuff and give us a good 500 grill with separate headlights. That's something Revell does not have, and is therefore a potentially viable product. Over the years, I have built more MPC Chargers than anything else, but as long as Revell produces their excellent Chargers, I won't buy another MPC. Make it into an accurate Charger 500, and I'd buy one. Thankfully I still have an MPC 500 from the last release in the 90s, though the grill is only so-so.

Bottom line, there seems no point in spending money/effort in improving the MPC Charger R/T when there are so many other great projects for Round2 to tackle. My 2 cents.

[Bainford]

On 12/2/2023 at 5:14 AM, Stef said:

Agreed. I heard it mentioned here awhile back that the guts of the original 68 Coronet kit ended up in MPC's 74 Super Charger. Several dudes were excited at the thought of bringing back the 74 Charger, so perhaps it could be done economically via scanning, and leveraging the new 68 Coronet chassis and engine?

I would think if a new '73/'74 Charger were to be created, the excellent AMT '71 Charger would be a better place to start. I do, however, appreciate this issues with revising Mueller era tooling.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Bainford

[Stef]

3 hours ago, Bainford said:

I would think if a new '73/'74 Charger were to be created, the excellent AMT '71 Charger would be a better place to start.

Agreed, @Bainford it would be super awesome to have a fully updated 73/74 Charger built upon the excellent 71. I'm unsure whether it would be cheaper to go that route, or the cloning route, though most of us would be particularly happy with a clean, modernized body. In either case, I'm sure Round 2 will work their magic!