Met my first Palmer kit today.....

[JollySipper]

Wow, is all I can say. Not only does it not look like the subject ('71 Charger) but it's the worst engineered kit I've ever seen. The body top half and interior are all one piece. Dad was given it as a Christmas present..... he has a '73 Charger.... He wants I should build it for him. I'm just going to tell him that I'll get an AMT kit and build that instead......

Are these old Palmer kits worth anything to a collector?

[1930fordpickup]

Some people do collect them. How is the box art? Some of these kits have nice box art, as in better than the kit inside. 

[JollySipper]

The box art is actually pretty cool, I'll try to get a pic up of it later on...... The Charger is "poppin' a wheely" with a cloud of smoke behind it....

[58 Impala]

The only thing a Palmer kit is good for is firecracker fodder.lol.

 

[Bainford]

Yup, that's a Palmer. I had the '71 Charger when I was a kid, as well as a couple of others. Pretty crude stuff. Even as a kit hungry little kid, I wouldn't touch a palmer. I have often been amused how Palmer used the image of a micrometer, the mark of precision, to form the 'P' in their logo.

[Tom Geiger]

1 hour ago, Bainford said:

Yup, that's a Palmer. I had the '71 Charger when I was a kid, as well as a couple of others. Pretty crude stuff. Even as a kit hungry little kid, I wouldn't touch a palmer. 

When I was a kid my grandmother would drag me to Bingo with her. Across the street from the church was a small luncheonette and she would give me money to get something to amuse myself and a snack.  

I’d come back with a chocolate Yoohoo, a pack of Drakes Cakes, a Palmer kit and a tube of glue.  That was the only circumstance where I’d buy a Palmer. 

[Mike999]

Ah, good old Palmer.  The dream...the reality...the nightmare...

 

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by Mike999
goof

[Snake45]

One of my very first model cars was a Palmer '66 Mustang GTO. Yes it actually said GTO on the box. I bought it because it was 99 cents and the AMT kits were $1.50. Fifty cents was a lot of money to a 11 YO kid in those days. 

I never made THAT mistake again. You get what you pay for. 

[Motor City]

"Are these old Palmer kits worth anything to a collector?"

just a lot of laughs ...

[Tom Geiger]

13 minutes ago, Motor City said:

"Are these old Palmer kits worth anything to a collector?"

The box art is nostalgic cool.   Back when I'd find them at shows for $5 and $10 I'd buy them if the box was cool.

[Carmak]

The highest paid person at Palmer was the illustrator

 

[OldNYJim]

13 minutes ago, Carmak said:

The highest paid person at Palmer was the illustrator

 

That’s why he was the only guy trusted to see the actual car before doing his job, I assume ?

[John1955]

9 hours ago, 58 Impala said:

The only thing a Palmer kit is good for is firecracker fodder.lol.

 

Exactly right. When I was a kid, Palmer kits were so inexpensive that we would buy them, build them, then blow them up. Half the time, the chromed parts were a weird brown color and they all had the same tires and wheels and chassis, no matter what make or model the kit was supposed to be. And a Corvette was the same size as a Ford Galaxie was, LOL. 

[Mike999]

5 hours ago, John1955 said:

...And a Corvette was the same size as a Ford Galaxie was, LOL. 

 

[Snake45]

The Corvette's actually not too far off in size. SHAPE, however, is another story. 

[Impalow]

So has anyone ever made something acceptable from one of these? 

  I'm not going to lie.... every time these threads come up, I see a challenge... ?

[JollySipper]

This isn't my pic, but here's what the box art looks like....

 

[NOBLNG]

2 hours ago, Mike999 said:

 

 

WOW! What?!

[vamach1]

45 minutes ago, Impalow said:

So has anyone ever made something acceptable from one of these? 

  I'm not going to lie.... every time these threads come up, I see a challenge... ?

Well - yes and no.  If yo want something that resembles a replica stock forget it.  This was the Lindberg (ex Palmer) kit which compared to some others pictured maybe isn't as bad but I only saw one choice for this half-breed 69/71 Mustang was to give it the MadMax treatment.  No amount of SnakeFu would help this hot mess.  The Zoomie pipes and junk in the trunk was added.

[Impalow]

1 hour ago, vamach1 said:

Well - yes and no.  If yo want something that resembles a replica stock forget it.  This was the Lindberg (ex Palmer) kit which compared to some others pictured maybe isn't as bad but I only saw one choice for this half-breed 69/71 Mustang was to give it the MadMax treatment.  No amount of SnakeFu would help this hot mess.  The Zoomie pipes and junk in the trunk was added.

That's what I'm talking about!     I can see some off these being starts for some strange customs...

So wait... Thats a 69 fastback rear with a 71 front?    It just came like that?   and is that from the box pictured above? 

Edited March 17, 2020 by Impalow

[vamach1]

It is what it is and I cannot explain it.  However, I think Foose did a pretty good attempt to recreate the Palmer kit with all it's quirks (well except for maybe the GM taillights he added).  It makes we wonder - did his crazy uncle work at Palmer? ?

[89AKurt]

All I can say, this was before my time, never heard of this brand, and so glad I never wasted money on one.  ?

[Impalow]

1 hour ago, vamach1 said:

It is what it is and I cannot explain it.  However, I think Foose did a pretty good attempt to recreate the Palmer kit with all it's quirks (well except for maybe the GM taillights he added).  It makes we wonder - did his crazy uncle work at Palmer? ?

 

Oh thats fantastic!    I don't want to start any rumors but I did run into Mr. Foose crusing the Model Car vendor Area at Detroit Autorama last month.... ?

 

[unclescott58]

Ah! Palmer kits. I have never purchased one myself. But, I sure got a few of them as gifts growing up. Well meaning, mainly older relatives and family friends who knew nothing about models, would give them to me. And in many cases, two at a time. I'm sure they thought two Palmer kits would be better than just one AMT or MPC kit, for the same amount of money. Little did they know. 

The only good thing I could say about Palmer, is they did offer a few subjects other model companies did not. I've always been a big fan of personal luxury cars. And was disappointed after 1971, that AMT quit offering kits of the latest Thunderbirds. Well, Palmer to the rescue! For Christmas of 1972, I got a new Palmer '73 Thunderbird. It was not great. But it at least look fairly close to the real thing. Plus, with its separate roof, it made it easy to paint it a separate color. Representing a vinyl roof. (Though I like the real '73 Thunderbird with a vinyl roof better.) Still, it and the other Palmers were bad. No two Palmer kits were ever worth the price of one AMT or MPC kit of the time. 

[ChrisBcritter]

As I've mentioned before, the only useful Palmer kits for me are their '64 and '65 Plymouths - but only because they have the Sport Fury scripts that Jo-Han left off their kits.