What would YOU like to see as a model

[Luc Janssens]

40 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

Another one I'm not holding my breath for with each passing year. Looks like I'll just end up making my own using the '75 Ford Torino as a starting point. A lot of work for sure, but doable!

Bill, the more you show this T-bird the more I want it. anyway do hope more big cars of the '70s get kitted, maybe they were unreliable and slow, but then....there's still such a thing called nostalgia, especially to us who were kids in the '70s, they were the cars we grew up with, no more no less......

Edited December 9, 2017 by Luc Janssens

[Art Anderson]

On 12/4/2017 at 3:26 PM, #1 model citizen said:

I always find licensing a curious thing. While I understand the car companies would want their products accurately depicted, and I guess collecting their dime for use of intellectual property, it seems a lot of it is like free product promotion and they would be eager to encourage product development of items such as models & toys. After all, as some of us older folk remember, the car companies use to to commission the model companies to to produce models to used as promotional tools.

Except that "product promotion" isn't the key phrase here:  There are those of us here that will remember back in the early 1980's, when outfits in Korea and Taiwan were suddenly flooding the auto parts stores with counterfeit GM parts, right down to the GM logo and parts number on the boxes.  GM went to court over that, as we'd expect them to have done, and ultimately won in the US Supreme Court.  The gist of the decision is that any company (or for that matter, any person--and legally,  corporations ARE persons) having products and/or trademarks they wish to protect from unauthorized copying, has every right to do just that--but they must do so by taking on all comers.  Any manufacturer or other entity owning what is called "intellectual property" (and automobiles and their designs are exactly that:  Owners of intellectual properties) simply must take steps to "protect" those properties, or face seeing them fall into what is called "The Public Domain".  Can you imagine, for example, GM losing say, the Corvette to becoming something that anyone can manufacture, call it what it is,  even slap "Chevrolet" on it?  Or Ford,  or what is now FCA?   Chaos,  as far as all manner of industry, of all kinds and types.

For automakers doing business in the US, that means requiring anyone wanting to produce products that replicate their products, their marques, submit such product for examination and approval--and then require those persons to apply for permission to reproduce whatever it is they want to manufacture.  While as a general rule, the automakers have never been bothered by the micro-small model car aftermarket people (Although I did have a run-in with GM, over a certain GMC pickup grille and a 1970-72 series of Cutlass 442 W-30 convertibles).  Basically, how automobile model kit licensing works is, the model company submits a tooling mockup to the licensor (or their agent) for approval of the design (is the model a reasonably good, accurate representation of the real thing?  Will it have the correct badges and/or scripts?  Those sorts of things).  Once the automaker (or its agents) approves the proposed model, then a licensing fee (OK, royalty if you will) will be on the table:  "How much is the MSRP to be?"  "How large a production run is anticipated?" --those are critical issues to be addressed by both parties.  The bottom line becomes that in the end, a set fee is agreed upon, payable up front, for whatever the expected production number(s) will be; and for a specified period of time (could be months, could be multiple years).  Over that time frame, there will be moments of accounting, where the licensee reports the actual production of such product, and at the end, there may well be some negotiating if the expected production and sales didn't meet the expectations  going in.  Such royalty payments, while not small in their aggregate,  generally exorbitant, but they are necessary, for all the reasons stated above.  And, if a certain model car subject failed to meet the expected sales number, by the end of the licensing period, often times the unused funds can be moved forward,  as part of the royalty for a new subject  (saw that happen more than once when doing product development of Johnny Lightning diecast miniatures.

 

[JollySipper]

I like ALL Thunderbirds! Would love to see a kit of one from the early '80s, so I could build something along these lines......

 

[Luc Janssens]

3 minutes ago, JollySipper said:

I like ALL Thunderbirds! Would love to see a kit of one from the early '80s, so I could build something along these lines......

 

Maybe you can by combining Monogam's '87 Turbo T-Bird  and one of the pre-facelift T-Bird Drag cars.

Think that's what Art did, back in the day of AAM.

[Art Anderson]

1 minute ago, Luc Janssens said:

Maybe you can by combining Monogam's '87 Turbo T-Bird  and one of the pre-facelift T-Bird Drag cars.

Think that's what Art did, back in the day of AAM.

That I did, Luc--using parts and panels from Monogram's Pro-Street '86 TBird, then cast in resin as a complete transkit.  Sales were, shall we say,  "underwhelming" though.

 

[Paul Hettick]

Another vote for the '77- '79 T Birds. Three years, Replica stock, Nascar, Lowrider, demo derby ect ect. Had a '79 as a daily driver about 9- 10 years ago and never had to put a dime in it. Have started to master a resin kit using the main body from a JoHan 72 torino and lots of cutting and pasting but it is still miles away from completion. Would be an awesome styrene kit.

Edited December 9, 2017 by Paul Hettick

[426 pack]

What about a 1978 newyorker I have a 1:1 with a 440 would be neat to build a replica of the old hunk of junk

[MrObsessive]

Here's another that I'd like to see, although there are some diecasts and 1:43's out there to be had.

1980 Cadillac Seville. Actually, any of the '80 to '85's would be great to see. This is a love it or hate it design----I personally LOVED it!

It came out at a time when we were in the dark days of car manufacturing as far as American makes were concerned, and it would be one of Bill Mitchell's last hurrahs.

I'd make mine a solid color......I wasn't a fan of the two tones I saw, and DEFINITELY NO DIESEL! That engine (along with the dreaded V8-6-4) nearly put Cadillac in its grave among other things.

[MrObsessive]

34 minutes ago, Paul Hettick said:

Another vote for the '77- '79 T Birds. Three years, Replica stock, Nascar, Lowrider, demo derby ect ect. Had a '79 as a daily driver about 9- 10 years ago and never had to put a dime in it. Have started to master a resin kit using the main body from a JoHan 72 torino and lots of cutting and pasting but it is still miles away from completion. Would be an awesome styrene kit.

Paul, I'd LOVE to see sometime your take on this! My idea was to reshape the current kit Torino--------of course lots of re-proportioning would need to be done, but at least the wheelbase, windshield shape, and running gear would be the same.

With the different guises that car came in, maybe there's hope. I know it shows up a number of times on Revell's "Wish List" that they put out at the NNL East each year.

We'll see..................

[StevenGuthmiller]

31 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

 

This is a love it or hate it design----I personally LOVED it!

You're correct.

I HATED it!!

 

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

I remember these from the 80s too!

 

 

 

So who was the first one to come up with this very unfortunate "bustle back" rear end treatment, Chrysler or Cadillac?

I have to say, while many of you seem to remember this era with some fondness, all I can do is look back & think, "YUCK"!

This was my era.

I got my drivers license in 1979 when these behemoths were everywhere.

I can't think of a single one that I liked the looks of!

This is what I refer to as the "box on a box" era.

Somewhere along the line, all of the auto designers must have decided that if the design couldn't be cut from a cardboard box, it didn't belong on a car!

Personally, and mind you, this is just me, I wouldn't buy a single kit of any automobile, or a 1:1 for that matter,  that I can think of from any later than 1975.

 

 

Steve

[Richard Bartrop]

Cadillac did it first, and I think did it better.

The Spyker and the Panoz are examples of modern cars that, love them or hate them you certainly can't call them boring.

[MrObsessive]

Steve, I think that originally debuted as an '81 model, while the Seville was intro'd as an '80. The Seville would have been on the drawing boards as early as 1976-'77 to be ready by the fall of '79. Bill Mitchell retired from GM in '77 so that would have been one of his last cars.

[Rob Hall]

1 minute ago, MrObsessive said:

 

Steve, I think that originally debuted as an '81 model, while the Seville was intro'd as an '80. The Seville would have been on the drawing boards as early as 1976-'77 to be ready by the fall of '79. Bill Mitchell retired from GM in '77 so that would have been one of his last cars.

And the third w/ the deck style was the Continental sedan, introduced for '82. 

[Rob Hall]

A '77-79 Thunderbird would be neat, my Mom had one back in the day.      

As far as new tooling, I'd like to see a more balanced mix between old and new...not enough modern subjects get kitted, IMO.    So many current subjects that would be great to see in 1/25th (for US models) or 1/24th (imports).   

[MrObsessive]

8 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Somewhere along the line, all of the auto designers must have decided that if the design couldn't be cut from a cardboard box, it didn't belong on a car!

Personally, and mind you, this is just me, I wouldn't buy a single kit of any automobile, or a 1:1 for that matter,  that I can think of from any later than 1975.

 

 

Steve

I liked the razor sharp looks on some of the later '70's cars-------in high school we had three cars for Driver's Ed..........a '77 Olds Cutlass Supreme, '77 Pontiac Grand Prix, and '76 Chevy Caprice which was a holdover for some reason from the previous school year. I'd DEFINITELY take a model of the '77 Cutlass and Grand Prix, and the Cutlass is one of my dream projects to build someday using the Johan '75 as a base.

[MrObsessive]

Speaking of razor sharp lines..........I was crazy about this one too when these were new!

Not everyone's cup of tea for sure, but when's the last time you've seen one on the road?? I liked this sooooo much better than the previous Mark IV.........despite its size (and huge overhangs) I think this is an awfully handsome car!

[Luc Janssens]

25 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

I liked the razor sharp looks on some of the later '70's cars-------in high school we had three cars for Driver's Ed..........a '77 Olds Cutlass Supreme, '77 Pontiac Grand Prix, and '76 Chevy Caprice which was a holdover for some reason from the previous school year. I'd DEFINITELY take a model of the '77 Cutlass and Grand Prix, and the Cutlass is one of my dream projects to build someday using the Johan '75 as a base.

STOP IT Bill!

No one, I mean no one, can share the same notion or have the same wacky idea that a '77 Olds Cutlass is a great looking car , but then again what was again, the best selling nameplate back in the day??

BTW for some reason that one and the '72 Buick Century are the only Colonnade style cars I truly like, the Pontiac versions for instance do absolutely nothing to me, and the Chevy Malibu only sparks some interest when it has ample open cargo space (Elky)

From the Ford company I like the great "marquis" from their top of the line big cars, especially those with hidden headlamps, like the '76 Mercury Marquis brougham, '77 Ford LTD country squire

Looking at the Chrysler corp, I'm voting for the '74 Dodge Monaco but also '76 Plymouth Fury and also an all new tool, for the Coronet from 71 on to 78 when they carried the Monaco nameplate,  can't think of a car more widely used as a police vehicle as that one (except maybe the Ford Interceptor from the end of the 20th century) but then again it was probably the government way of keeping them afloat until Iaccoca took over...

Edited December 9, 2017 by Luc Janssens

[Luc Janssens]

28 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

As far as new tooling, I'd like to see a more balanced mix between old and new...not enough modern subjects get kitted, IMO.    So many current subjects that would be great to see in 1/25th (for US models) or 1/24th (imports).   

Personally I'm not moved by today's offerings of the automotive world, pre- 2000 one could see and say, this is an American/European/Japanese/Australian car, now one has to look at the nameplate.

Truck wise, the once tough looking outdoor fun and work vehicles, turned into an fashion appliance with too much brightwork, bling bling show off vehicles...Tonka toys for "grownups"

[MrObsessive]

Luc, you don't like this one??

I absolutely LOVED this one when it came out for '73! It was by no means a fast car compared to the GTO from several years earlier, but I just thought it was flat out sexy! This Grand Am's out in resin (DrKerry?), but I have at least five of those Johan '75 Cutlasses to try my hand at this since I'd want to work in plastic................the '77 Olds Cutlass Supreme would come first though!

Mine MUST be a solid roof however! No vinyl roof for this!

[High octane]

4 minutes ago, Luc Janssens said:

Personally I'm not moved by today's offerings of the automotive world, pre- 2000 one could see and say, this is an American/European/Japanese/Australian car, now one has to look at the nameplate.

Truck wise, the once tough looking outdoor fun and work vehicles, turned into an fashion appliance with too much brightwork, bling bling show off vehicles...Tonka toys for "grownups"

While some trucks have a lot of "bling," many others have the "cop car" look with black grilles, black bumpers, black wheels, etc. I don't car for this look at all. A number of people around here have "high dollar" trucks as the dealers sold them what they had left on their lots and the owners took it from there and added new wheels, new this, new that,and of course raised the vehicle a lot also.

[Luc Janssens]

12 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

Luc, you don't like this one??

I absolutely LOVED this one when it came out for '73! It was by no means a fast car compared to the GTO from several years earlier, but I just thought it was flat out sexy! This Grand Am's out in resin (DrKerry?), but I have at least five of those Johan '75 Cutlasses to try my hand at this since I'd want to work in plastic................the '77 Olds Cutlass Supreme would come first though!

Mine MUST be a solid roof however! No vinyl roof for this!

Sorry, but no....too fishy for my taste, I guess.

[Erik Smith]

I’d be up for more 80’s square cars. I really like the box design of some from the dreaded era...

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

55 minutes ago, MrObsessive said:

 

Not everyone's cup of tea for sure, but when's the last time you've seen one on the road??

There's probably a very good reason why you never see any of these on the road.

Nobody wants them!

Personally, it will not hurt my feelings when all of these late 70s & 80s cars have all been crushed & are long gone.

Sure, they're part of our country's history, but not a very good part in my opinion.

My mother had one of these in '79.

I took my drivers test in it.

Couldn't wait to get home & get behind the wheel of my rusted out '68 Buick Skylark!

 

Steve

 

 

[Luc Janssens]

In the early 80s Chrysler cars were boxy and dull, but then suddenly the '87 LeBaron happened, and put Chrysler back on the map in Europe, coupe and convertible.