Sleeper Kits

[Casey]

Definition of: SLEEPER KIT

1. An injection molded, mass produced plastic model kit which didn't garner lavish attention when new/current, but whose value you feel will increase significantly over time.

Examples include:

1. Revell '77 Monte Carlo SnapTite
2. Revell Rat Roaster '32 Ford
3. Revell Cadillac Custom Lowrider

 

Let's hear yours.

[Jantrix]

The Revell '67 Charger. A fantastic kit, but as it's not 68, 69, 70, it doesnt get much love.

[stavanzer]

 I'll second the Rat Roaster kit. Very Underrated, even now.

I'll add, the Revell Chevy Pickup and Harley Davidson motorcycle kit. A great 1999 Chevy Truck and the only Modern 1/25 Scale Harley. A great kit, that seems to have just faded away. Unless you want to buy one!

[Phirewriter]

The only Harley edition pick up kit that I know of is the 2000 Ford F-150

It is indeed to bad this hasn't been reissued but Harley can be very difficult with licensing.

[440 Dakota]

I think the 1st gen Revell S-10 pickup kits and the 2nd Gen AMT S-10 pickups and 2 door blazer kits, I remember these all being on closeouts from distributors now look what their bringing on the secondary market and haven't been reissued to death at least not yet, and no not the Lindberg 1/20th that's currently out

[Snake45]

The MPC '70 GTO and '71 (or is it '72) Roadrunner I bought back in the late '80s, as well as every JoHan I bought at the hobby shop when they were common, would seem to qualify. Unless you intended to discuss things much more recent. 

[Richard Bartrop]

The prewar classics from Jo-Han and Monogram don't seem to get a lot of attention, but since it means i can get some of my favourite kits at reasonable prices, I hope it stays that way.

[Mr mopar]

Revell's lil sidewinder pick-up gets no love ,but it's a cool kit with flame tires .

[slusher]

40 Fard kit by AMT and  Revell..

[niteowl7710]

5 hours ago, Phirewriter said:

The only Harley edition pick up kit that I know of is the 2000 Ford F-150

It is indeed to bad this hasn't been reissued but Harley can be very difficult with licensing.

Exactly, the Silverado was teamed with a Jetski.

 

[Robberbaron]

12 hours ago, Casey said:

Definition of: SLEEPER KIT

1. An injection molded, mass produced plastic model kit which didn't garner lavish attention when new/current, but whose value you feel will increase significantly over time.

Examples include:

1. Revell '77 Monte Carlo SnapTite
2. Revell Rat Roaster '32 Ford
3. Revell Cadillac Custom Lowrider

 

Let's hear yours.

X2 on the '77 Monte.  Revell pretty much nailed the body/interior on that one.  A lot of people couldn't care less about those cars, but as a former owner of a 1:1 '77, I just about died of shock when they released it. I got several of the first issue, and have bought at least one of each of the modified reissues.  Now that we have no idea what the future holds for Revell here in the U.S., I really wish I had several more.

I think I'd also put a couple classic AMT curbside kits in the sleeper category.  The '59 Imperial and the '64 Comet were reissued by RC2 for Model King, but they were pretty pricey at the time, so a lot of people took a pass.  So far, Round 2 doesn't seem to have any interest in reissuing these.  I'm guessing they are reluctant because they're curbside, therefore they might not be able to peddle them at the $30-ish MSRP of most of their other stuff.

The stock '64 Galaxie may also qualify.  Its been available a few times, but not recently.  And I'm betting we may not see it again for quite a while.

[Mike999]

AMT '66 Olds 442 W30, hardtop and convertible. With a few EDITS after jogging my memory by looking at the kits & searching...

This nice kit was molded in the 1990s, with a detailed multi-part chassis that can be used under many older, undetailed GM A-body car kits.  The convertible has an air-conditioning compressor and belts, and a 4-barrel carb.  The hardtop is a non-A/C car with 3x2-barrel carbs. The convertible also has a choice of up-top or boot, more parts that might be used on older kits missing an up-top.  The up-top is very well done.

The only gripe I've heard about the body is the hardtop side trim. It's only correct for either a car with a vinyl roof, or a two-tone car with the top painted.  The second-generation hardtop kit has that car on the box art - a two-tone blue 442 with the top painted white. That was a rare combination but was available from the factory.

If you want to build a W30 hardtop, avoid the first-generation hardtop kits with the red car on the box, Kit #6268. The front bumper has the parking lights in the wrong place. 

On W30 cars the parking lights were moved inboard, to clear the air scoops mounted behind the bumper.  Non-W30 cars had the parking lights at the corners.  (Of course, if you need a non-W30 bumper for a project, you might want to pick up one of those.)  AMT corrected that mistake in the second-gen release with the blue and white hardtop on the box (Kit #689).  The boxtop of Kit #6268 also shows a red 442 hardtop with the regular side trim, but the actual kit body has the same side trim as Kit #689. 

These are easy to find and cheap. At the big Ollie's sale in August 2016,  the corrected hardtop kit #689 went for $7.99. A check of eBay "Completed Items" shows that a bunch of hardtops and convertibles have recently sold for $10 to $20 and sometimes even less.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Mike999
errors

[Spex84]

Lindberg '53 Ford convertible pace car might count...I haven't built the single example in my stash, but it appears to be a darn nice kit. Whitewall tire inserts, good detail, body shapes seem to be accurate, separate chrome side trim that fits into recesses in the body a la Revell's '55 Chevy convertible--seems to have a lot more going for it than would appear at first glance.  At one point, around 10 years ago, I visited a hobby shop that was clearing them out for 3 bucks a pop. They had waist-high stacks of 'em! I wish I'd bought a ton as trading material.

Will its value "increase significantly over time"?  I don't know--it's not an especially desirable subject, but with Revell's recent troubles I bet it already has.

Lindberg '34 pickup might count too. Un-interesting box art and general ubiquity seems to have kept prices reasonable...but it's the classic AMT kit inside, a lot of fun to build and full of possibilities even if it's not up to modern kit standards. 

 

[Lunajammer]

[Robberbaron]

7 hours ago, Spex84 said:

Lindberg '34 pickup might count too. Un-interesting box art and general ubiquity seems to have kept prices reasonable...but it's the classic AMT kit inside, a lot of fun to build and full of possibilities even if it's not up to modern kit standards.

Oh, good call on the '34 pickup, too!

How many people have been looking past that awful Lindberg box art for years, while 90-95% of the original AMT Trophy series kit remains intact?  My local Hobby Lobby quit carrying them only about a year ago. With the trusty 40% off coupon, the last one I bought was only about $10, was even molded in white.

I'm sure Round 2 is retooling what they need to get it back to original, but to me it's not worth paying more than double the price to get a handful of additional parts, decals and box art.

[Mike999]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 9:14 PM, Robberbaron said:

I'm sure Round 2 is retooling what they need to get it back to original, but to me it's not worth paying more than double the price to get a handful of additional parts, decals and box art.

Me either.  Maybe if they throw in an enhanced decal sheet with lots of vintage service-station markings and such. Licensing fees might kill that.  But the last 2 Lindberg versions had some nice vintage Sinclair and Red Crown decals, so maybe.  I wish they'd really go vintage and do some Gilmore decals.  Gilmore was an oil company that people actually liked.

For those unfamiliar with this kit...you do NOT want the earlier version, shown below with the red stripe on the box.  The box screams "Molded in Hi-Gloss Plastic."  It sure is, it's molded in a really ugly, hard-to-cover screaming bright yellow. You want the one Robert mentioned, the last version sold at Hobby Lobby and molded in white.   As he mentioned, I think HL's full price on that one was about $15.99, so it was a real steal with the coupon.

 

   

[Casey]

On 7/26/2018 at 5:10 PM, 440 Dakota said:

I think the 1st gen Revell S-10 pickup kits 

Definitely agree. I had to look hard to find a Revell GMC Syclone kit a few years ago, and the earlier Monogram versions of the S-10, as well as the most recent 3'in1 Revell Lowrider kit are easily north of $50.

I'm going to throw in the Revell '72 Olds Cutlass convertible kit(s), even though the Hurst version was released not all that long ago. Excellent Olds V-8, great GM A-body chassis and suspension, and a good donor for updating the JO-HAN '70 Olds cutlass 442.

Maybe the Revell Ford Thunderbird SC Coupe kit, too? Really a beautiful kit, and though it's a bit of a one-off subject, I think that adds to it's sleeper appeal. Zero chance it gets reissued within the next twenty years, too.

 

It's sibling Mercury Cougar...maybe, but I don't see as much desire for it as the T-bird.