Atlantis Models has bought another lot of tooling/molds.....

[Mark]

I didn't know Varney did any kits.  They made model railroad stuff mostly, like everyone else they dabbled in slot racing in the early Sixties.  The cars were slow and the track design was weird, so they made a hasty retreat to railroading.

[Tom Geiger]

It’s a good thing that Round Two could offload this stuff onto a company that will preserve and possibly issue some of it.

I consult on pharmaceutical facilities maintenance and a rule of thumb is that the carrying cost of your maintenance parts inventory is 25% of value annually. When I lead inventory reduction efforts we are often able to ditch over a million dollars in  inventory for equipment they no longer own! Big savings!  So it does cost R2 a good deal of money to store tooling and that savings can go right to their bottom line!

Regarding Pyro.. John Lester was one of the pioneers in developing injection molding and the model cars were the least of his business.  Pyro is very well revered in the sci fi area as they manufactured space theme toys. Now if Atlantis finds their classic ray gun tooling, they hit the jackpot!

Edited July 18, 2020 by Tom Geiger

[unclescott58]

I mostly build model cars. But, I do build other things, and I love what Atlantis has been offering for several years now. I especially like the reissuing of older sci-fi and speculative space subjects. There are a lot of these subjects that came out way before my time. And I've been building kits since the mid-1960's. Or in several case, they've reissued thing that I could not afford the last time they were out. 

Im hoping they keep on track they're going. Naturally, I hope there are some old, odd, car kits they may have gotten they're hands on too. I'd still love see the Rewal Revival series of cars come back. They may not have been great kits. They only released once that I know of, are subjects I'm very interested and could not afford, or even knew of when they were on the shelves back in the day. 

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by unclescott58

[Tom Geiger]

Scott, as you said those Renwal Revival kits are not the greatest. They seem to be larger than 1/24.

I once thought it would be cool to build a full detail version and the AMT Lincoln chassis was too small.

I remember these on the shelves at Two Guys Department Store when I was 11-12 and not having the slightest interest since they didn’t relate to anything. I believe they sold poorly when new, probably why never reissued and probably scrapped.. but never say never!

I do have a couple of these bought cheap over the years. I won’t buy them at the large collector prices I see. I think this would be one of those cases where a few high dollar collector sales wouldn’t translate to good selling new kits.

[Phirewriter]

29 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Now if Atlantis finds their classic ray gun tooling, they hit the jackpot!

???

I won't be one to dismiss this news, there could be lots of interesting subjects for those of us who build models other than automotive subjects. Looking forward to see what they have coming. 

[unclescott58]

27 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Scott, as you said those Renwal Revival kits are not the greatest. They seem to be larger than 1/24.

I once thought it would be cool to build a full detail version and the AMT Lincoln chassis was too small.

I remember these on the shelves at Two Guys Department Store when I was 11-12 and not having the slightest interest since they didn’t relate to anything. I believe they sold poorly when new, probably why never reissued and probably scrapped.. but never say never!

I do have a couple of these bought cheap over the years. I won’t buy them at the large collector prices I see. I think this would be one of those cases where a few high dollar collector sales wouldn’t translate to good selling new kits.

They may have not sold well at the time. But, are there others like me, who would buy them now if they could? I don't know? Atlantis has brought back a few kits that I believe were not big sellers in their time. Most recently, Mongram's Ghost of the Red Baron. I was at a local hobby shop recently, and saw that Atlantis' reissue from a few years ago, of Revell's old Flash Gordon kit has apparently become collectible already. Luckily I got one of those shortly after Atlantis reissued. 

I don't know if Atlantis has any of the the old Renwal tools or not. I'm just hoping and dreaming they might. And they see it might be profitable to bring the Revival/Exner cars back now. 

Another model, not car related. And not a big seller at the time. But, highly collectible now. Is Revell's 1959 Space Station. I had been told by a person at the old Revell/Monogram company a few years ago, that the dies for that kit were not kept at the time because of the poor sales. I hope this maybe not true. And that Atlantis maybe got there hand on this one too. With the sci-fi/space stuff they've reissued in recent years, this might be right up their alley. But, I'm not holding my breath on that one either. 

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by unclescott58

[Luc Janssens]

43 minutes ago, unclescott58 said:

Another model, not car related. And not a big seller at the time. But, highly collectible now. Is Revell's 1959 Space Station. I had been told by a person at the old Revell/Monogram company a few years ago, that the dies for that kit were not kept at the time because of the poor sales. I hope this maybe not true. And that Atlantis maybe got there hand on this one too. With the sci-fi/space stuff they've reissued in recent years, this might be right up their alley. But, I'm not holding my breath on that one either. 

 

With every move stuff which was deemed obsolete was unloaded, from tools to tooling models, to paper-trail, decals...you name it,  or it  was sold off, went to the scrapyard or ended-up in the dumpster.

A couple of months ago, Casey showed something he bought from an Ebay seller, the latter got it by what is know as dumpster diving.

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by Luc Janssens

[Snake45]

Google-image "adams model kit" and you can see a lot of interesting stuff. Lotta military vehicles, but many seem to be in oddball 1/40 scale. 

Turns out I've actually built an Adams kit--the SAAB J35 jet fighter, but it came in a Lindberg box. 

[Mark]

Adams was briefly tied in with Revell in the mid/late Fifties.  The first run of most of their kits were likely branded as Revell.  When Adams and Revell dissolved their partnership, Adams marketed their kits under their own name.  After that, it would seem that they either sold or rented the tools to other companies.

Back in the Fifties there were a lot of different, sometimes oddball, scales used.  This continued into the early Sixties.  The British branch of Revell tooled a series of British and European cars that varied from about 1/40 to about 1/45.  It finally hit all of these companies to start tooling their "series" to a single scale, as builders wanted to display them together and have them in the same size relative to the 1:1 versions.

[Snake45]

11 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

I can't be the only one thinking that has to be just about the worst possible place to hang a load on a helicopter.

I did a little research and was unable to find any reference, either word or photo, for any H-41 ever carrying anything like that, much less a couple Hawk missiles. 

[stavanzer]

That missile armed Heli, is pure fantasy. Adams had a Hawk Missile Battery kit with the triple launcher on a trailer. The just re-used the missiles on the Cessna, as an attempt to get more mileage out of both tools.

{not that any Model company has every tried that BEFORE!!} 

[Bucky]

26 minutes ago, alexis said:

That missile armed Heli, is pure fantasy. Adams had a Hawk Missile Battery kit with the triple launcher on a trailer. The just re-used the missiles on the Cessna, as an attempt to get more mileage out of both tools.

{not that any Model company has every tried that BEFORE!!} 

So, they kitbashed it before we had a chance to! LoL

[Don Sikora II]

6 hours ago, Mark said:

I didn't know Varney did any kits.  They made model railroad stuff mostly, like everyone else they dabbled in slot racing in the early Sixties.  The cars were slow and the track design was weird, so they made a hasty retreat to railroading.

Varney may have been the first American company to make a plastic model kit, sometime shortly after the end of World War 2. I believe the first was the "Fleet Submarine," and there was a PT boat, an airplane or two, and maybe a couple others. The molds were sold to O-Lin, possibly before 1950, and O-Lin evolved into Lindberg. Think I still have a reissue of the ex-Varney submarine from the Craft House days, but from what I remember the parts are no longer exactly the same as the original issue. 

[Don Sikora II]

4 hours ago, Snake45 said:

Google-image "adams model kit" and you can see a lot of interesting stuff. Lotta military vehicles, but many seem to be in oddball 1/40 scale. 

Turns out I've actually built an Adams kit--the SAAB J35 jet fighter, but it came in a Lindberg box. 

I think the SAAB J35 was the only ex-ADAMS kit issued by Lindberg. Life-Like ran a lot of the ADAMS tooling in the Seventies, but don't know if Lindberg ended up with all of that stuff. Some of it has surfaced in the last few years at Glencoe, where they've reissued a couple of the missile kits, the Roman chariot, and a few of the old 1/48-scale western kits. I wouldn't mind seeing the 1/40-scale military stuff again...

[Dave Van]

1 hour ago, Don Sikora II said:

I think the SAAB J35 was the only ex-ADAMS kit issued by Lindberg. Life-Like ran a lot of the ADAMS tooling in the Seventies, but don't know if Lindberg ended up with all of that stuff. Some of it has surfaced in the last few years at Glencoe, where they've reissued a couple of the missile kits, the Roman chariot, and a few of the old 1/48-scale western kits. I wouldn't mind seeing the 1/40-scale military stuff again...

Glenco had many of the  Adams  tools Life Like had. They issued some of the 1/48 horse wagons recently. Life Like also got the tooling for the Varney rail kits. They were in production up to about 2 years ago......Mantua had them last.......maybe MRC now. Goes to show well made tooling from the 50's 60's has a long life!! 

[Casey]

18 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

Round2 is probably high-fiving themselves all over the office to stop having to store all that old junk and turn a profit in the process.

So basically all the garbage kits Round2 couldn't even move as retail ready kits, and all the other obscure, oddball molds thrown in. Like, the kits which have been on clearance at the Autoworld for a few years now: https://www.autoworldstore.com/Model-Kits-s/3.htm?searching=Y&sort=1&cat=3&show=15&page=2

Good move by Round2.

[Daddyfink]

And the crowd goes... silent.....

 

 

435 BROOK AVENUE UNIT-16 DEER PARK, NY 11729 

** PRESS RELEASE ** Contact: President: Peter Vetri FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tel. (631) 486-9533 Email: info@atlantis-models.com 

Atlantis Models "Preserving the Past while Building the Future" 

LONG ISLAND, NY, July 16th 2020 – Atlantis Toy and Hobby Inc., manufacturer of plastic models and toys has purchased another batch of tooling for plastic model kits. This time from Round 2 LLC. These molds are of kits originally created by Pyro, Superior, Lindberg, Adams, Educational Products, and Varney. They represent Aircraft, Ships, Sci-Fi, Wildlife, Antique Guns, Figures and Science Subjects. 

Peter Vetri, President of Atlantis, states, “This acquisition continues our lifelong dream of owning more historic tooling; to be able to preserve the tooling is a real honor. This acquisition filled a void in the current tooling inventory we have. We look forward to reissuing many classics that have not been available in quite some time. All of the model kits will be made here in the USA. I would like to thank Round 2 LLC for a great transaction. We are looking forward to a great relationship with them going forward. 

The deal was completed On July 15th. 

Rick DelFavero VP of Atlantis, states, “This eclectic assortment of vintage kits are right in our wheelhouse. They are a perfect fit for the Atlantis Line and we will do them justice when we re-issue them. Many model kit fans will be pleasantly surprised when these oddities hit the shelves!” 

Look for some of these molds to go right into production for the 4th QTR 2020. 

About Atlantis Models 

Atlantis Toy and Hobby was founded in 2009 by Peter Vetri and Rick DelFavero with some guidance from former Aurora Project Manager Andrew P. Yanchus. With a combined 60 years of hobby experience, not only are we lifelong hobbyists, we know what it takes to run a successful hobby manufacturing business. Atlantis Toy and Hobby has sold thousands of products all over the world since 2009. Atlantis offers World Class Knowledge and Service in the Hobby Industry. 

[Motor City]

My brother and I had little money to buy models when those Renwal '66 kits came out.  I would have preferred the original Packard, Stutz, Mercer, etc.   I thought it was a waste of tooling on some ugly cars when we couldn't even get a Chevelle SS, 442, Coronet, Satellite, Starfire, Catalina 2+2 or 88 that year.  My opinion on those Renwal models hasn't changed.

[Daddyfink]

[ChrisBcritter]

I was wondering about Varney, too - as far as I can find, all their stuff was model railroad oriented, yet the press release doesn't mention trains. They did make a '53 Ford and Studebaker, and '51 or so Ford trucks - all HO scale.

[Dave Van]

My post above explains Varney model train stuff.

[niteowl7710]

16 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

Which is GREAT news to us automotive modelers because it means more financial breathing room for Round-2, which can be used to:
- a) pay of debt (but doubt that)
- b) generating a bigger operational budget so they can take on bigger resto, resto-mods, and maybe even all new endeavors. (which is much more to my liking and likely)

This news also takes away much (not all*) of my critique towards Round-2 and not only gives me, but I'm sure many automotive modelers a ray of hope, something we can all use in these unreal times!
So really and I mean REALLY the best news in a couple of months and a great move on part of the people of Round-2!

 

Luc

*some of the mediocre releases which IMHO are detrimental to this wonderful hobby we all love, and hope to continue doing till our last breath.

It does make one wonder what they could have gotten from this sale.  I doubt anyone was exactly trying to elbow Atlantis out of the way to buy it instead.  I'm guessing the end of the Fiscal Year came around and someone asked someone else why they were paying $xxx per month in storage fees to ABC Warehouse to store all this old scratch 'n dent legacy tooling from the 1950s that they certainly weren't ever going to use again.  It wouldn't totally shock me if the cost savings from not having to keep around is as much/greater than the sales price.

Edited July 19, 2020 by niteowl7710

[ChrisBcritter]

Best case scenario: Atlantis makes enough coin off all these oddball legacy kits to be able to license and reissue the Revell '62 Mopars!

(Says the genius who's contemplating picking up yet another clapped-out gluebomb '62 Newport for parts... )

[Dave Van]

If R2 got ten cents a pound over scrap value....they made a GREAT deal!!!!! And right now scrap is nothing. 

[Luc Janssens]

10 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

It does make one wonder what they could have gotten from this sale.  I doubt anyone was exactly trying to elbow Atlantis out of the way to buy it instead.  I'm guessing the end of the Fiscal Year came around and someone asked someone else why they were paying $xxx per month in storage fees to ABC Warehouse to store all this old scratch 'n dent legacy tooling from the 1950s that they certainly weren't ever going to use again.  It wouldn't totally shock me if the cost savings from not having to keep around is as much/greater than the sales price.

Bottom line it got Round-2 some extra cash, which can finance new endeavors, didn't I in the past wrote that tooling which is not used or usable is dead capital, thus waste and questioning the leadership of Round-2 for it?

Remember I was even criticized for making that remark, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating!

   

 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Luc Janssens