Round2 -- AMT & MPC Kits for 2021

[iBorg]

Casey's list is really interesting to me.

There's been very few releases from Round2 in the past year to get me to consider adding them to my stash. This list is different.

AMT1253/12 1:25 Tommy Ivo Rear Engine Dragster- THANK you....please be the streamliner with good decals. I've got original releases but haven't thought of screwing up such a rare kit.

 

MPC942/12 1:25 Californian 1968 Olds Toronado Custom- I know its weird, but I've got a built kit. This one will be added to the stash. I can only hope for a stock Toronado. Truly one of the closest to being a custom car from Detroit like the boat tail Rivera. 

 

MPC961/12 1:20 Rupp Super Sno-Sport Snow Dragster- I missed this one the last time. I need one now. 

 

MPC964/12 1:25 Ramchargers Dodge Challenger Funny Car- this one will be interesting. Will it be a reissue of the original Ramcharger or the Soapy Sales with different decals. The Ramcharger used the Logghe style chassis while the Soapy Sales is a digger style. What would be really interesting would be the Ramcharger Dart. 

 

 

[Can-Con]

13 hours ago, SteveG said:

Other than the body and trim parts it's pretty much a stock Toronado underneath.   The dash was slightly modified but passes for stock.  If there were any gates to be unblocked it would be on the plated tree,  but I wouldn't expect to see any stock bumpers included with this kit.   

-Steve

I'd be good with that. I've been wanting a set of the custom wheels from the MPC Toros for a while now. IIRC, they're Mickey Thompson "Super Spiders" and that's the only kits they came in.

[1972coronet]

7 minutes ago, iBorg said:

What would be really interesting would be the Ramcharger Dart. 

 

The 1967 Dart ? 

[Casey]

53 minutes ago, iBorg said:

Casey's list is really interesting to me.

To be clear, I reposted what I saw on Round2's facebook page, so anyone who follows them has probably already seen the list they released.

54 minutes ago, iBorg said:

MPC961/12 1:20 Rupp Super Sno-Sport Snow Dragster- I missed this one the last time. I need one now. 

Are you sure? ? I bought one in ...2011 maybe?, when the were less than $10 on eBay, strictly out of curiosity. It's a very odd subject, but if you need a 1/20 scale Gurney-Weslake SBF, you definitely need this kit. I saved a few of the pulleys/rollers, but nothing else.

I was a bit surprised to see this kit announced, but considering Round2 has now come full circle, reissuing several of their initial issues (which ,were reissues...) like the Stingeree, '70 Super Bee, and now the Rupp Sno-Sport, maybe I shouldn't be. The initial batch from Round2 in 2008:

 

1 hour ago, iBorg said:

MPC964/12 1:25 Ramchargers Dodge Challenger Funny Car- this one will be interesting. Will it be a reissue of the original Ramcharger or the Soapy Sales with different decals. 

I would think the latter. New decals, box, etc., and there's a new kit.

[Daddyfink]

2 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

The 1967 Dart ? 

Nope, this Dart. But I think this is the body that got cut up to do the L.A. Dart 

 

[Motor City]

23 hours ago, Dave Van said:

I'll buy a few Californian's.......I like it's awfulness!

We'll have to wait for the Faust review of this kit.  He picks the real losers.

[Mark]

The original Ramchargers Challenger funny car kit was all wrong.  The Ramchargers were one of the first teams to adopt the Mickey Thompson (Pat Foster) narrow "digger" chassis.  MPC's kit had the old Logghe chassis.  It also had a stock promo style body, but I doubt any of us would mind seeing that now.  The kit will likely have the digger style chassis and smoothed over body, same as the Soapy Sales and Model King issues.

The MPC '70 Dart funny was just another chance to use the '69 Charlie Allen kit tooling.  I believe the chassis was newly tooled for that kit, something MPC seldom did.  They often chopped and reworked existing chassis to fit bodies they wanted to use.  The Ramchargers never had a '70 Dart, only the '67.  The body didn't tilt up on the '67, it was narrowed several inches to ease maintenance.

[1972coronet]

IIRC , the original Charlie Allen Dart was his 1969 F/C ( first of the L.A. Dart  in-nomenclature , vs. the previous Atlantic Dodge sponsored cars ** ) . The 1970 iteration was Wild Bill Shrewsberry's Saddleback Dodge sponsored Exhibition car before becoming the c.1983 Hemi Hunter . I'm not sure if the phantom 1970 Ramchargers Dart came before or after the Shrewsberry car.

** Atlantic Dodge changed names and - or ownership in c.1971 , becoming East Los Angeles Dodge ( 657 S. Atlantic , East L.A. ) . 

[Mark]

The Charlie Allen '69 Dart has Saddleback Dodge sponsorship.  The body from that kit was then converted to '70 spec for the phantom Ramchargers car.  In '71 the body was altered again (trunk lid removed, rear wheel openings enlarged, front wheel openings moved back) and combined with parts of the Hemi Under Glass (chassis, interior) to create the LA Dart kit.  Those are the only three versions of the MPC Dart, the Hemi Hunter is a straight reissue of the LA Dart.

[Mark]

14 hours ago, Can-Con said:

I'd be good with that. I've been wanting a set of the custom wheels from the MPC Toros for a while now. IIRC, they're Mickey Thompson "Super Spiders" and that's the only kits they came in.

I never had an original Californian kit, but I don't think the Super Spider wheels were in it.  Those wheels may have turned up in an MPC early Eighties Firebird reissue, but I'm not positive about that.

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi!

Regarding the Challenger FC, I've been able to build and compare most of them, and in my view, the Johan is the most advanced, body-wise. However, it still has very shallow "cut lines" at the doors and hood, which is odd, since they started from scratch for this specific body. Go figure...

CT

[tim boyd]

I just checked my MPC 1969 and 1970 Charlie Allen Dart funny car kits. 

They have the standard and generic second generation Logghe chassis design that was in most of MPC's 1968-1969 and some later funny car kits.  The only differences I see (beyond the unique wheelbase dimension) are a two piece (vs. one piece in most of these other kits) drag link and pitman arm, and a unique rear interior bulkhead/seat panel.  This is really unique, and includes an engraved shield with script "C" and "A" letters on the vertical surfaces, presumably representing an upholstery treatment featuring the driver/owner's first and last name initials.  The rear roll bar is also unique vs. the other MPC funny car kits of this era.  

These MPC Dart bodies in 1969 and 1970 form (except for the funny car style front wheel opening locations and blanked headlamps, etc.) were really nicely done and would be a great basis for a replica stock Dart conversion.  Sure is regrettable that the tool was so heavily modified for the Shrewsbury kit as Mark describes above....TIM  

[Mark]

I had one of the Charlie Allen Dart kits back in the day, and bought another, sealed, around 1984.  Someone showed up at a toy show in the Cleveland area, he/they had several tables and had cartons of late Sixties MPC kits.  A couple of years later, I thought about moving the front wheel openings back to the stock location and casting the body.  I never got around to either, having chosen to do a '67 4-4-2 body instead.

The Charlie Allen and Ramchargers Dart bodies have the front wheel openings moved forward from stock, while the L.A. Dart and subsequent reissues have the wheel openings a bit further back from stock, to fit the slightly shorter wheelbase of the castoff Hemi Under Glass floorpan.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Mark
Info

[Chuck Kourouklis]

11 hours ago, Motor City said:

We'll have to wait for the Faust review of this kit.  He picks the real losers.

Faust rawks.

[iBorg]

Charlie:

Do you mean the door and hood outlines? By 1970, many of the funny cars had shallow openings or even smooth areas for the doors and hood. 

[Sledsel]

On 8/5/2021 at 2:20 PM, Rob Hall said:

This is the Californian--custom body and trim.   I've never had an MPC Toronado.

 

 

 

 

   In stock form I'd be ordering a case of Toronados.... This one, not so much, but I will get one to support Round2's efforts. 

  There are a few of these on Ebay asking big bucks... 

Edited August 8, 2021 by Sledsel

[Mark]

28 minutes ago, Sledsel said:

 

  There are a few of these on Ebay asking big bucks... 

...the Great Unloading has begun!

[Can-Con]

They're gonna have to re-think the boxing of that Monte Carlo. The "Wheeler Dealer" kit shown is a '79, not an '80 as stated in the caption. 

The '80 kit was the "Class Action" issue.  4 light front end as opposed to the 2 headlights of the '79. 

Still nice to have the kit back again and probably with some great decals and tires.

[Robberbaron]

19 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

They're gonna have to re-think the boxing of that Monte Carlo. The "Wheeler Dealer" kit shown is a '79, not an '80 as stated in the caption. 

The '80 kit was the "Class Action" issue.  4 light front end as opposed to the 2 headlights of the '79. 

Still nice to have the kit back again and probably with some great decals and tires.

Casey was posting the original re-release announcement from 2008. Strange that they originally showed the '79 box art. As we know, they did reissue it with the "Class Action" box art as you described.

[Mike999]

On 8/6/2021 at 9:23 PM, Brian Austin said:

It would appear that people were fond of kitbashing 1:1 Toronados (and Eldorados as well) into car haulers, RVs and the like, so the kit does have some creative possibilities.

I thought of one possibility as soon as I saw the Californian reissue:  using the Toronado frame under a Hess Oil Training Van.  That van was a pretty good copy of a GMC Motorhome, which used a Toronado FWD engine and transaxle. 

Another rear axle will have to be added and a ton of other detail.  But since the Hess van is a battery-powered toy, anything underneath will be an improvement. 

I've been collecting those Training Vans and parts of them for years. Now maybe I can take a crack at building a Motorhome.

For those who don't know what I'm raving about:

[Brian Austin]

For reference:

 

(This one from https://silodrome.com/history-gmc-motorhome/     )

[Brian Austin]

Also, while everyone remembers the GMC RV there was another one using the Toronado drivetrain: 

 

https://barnfinds.com/455-powered-car-hauler-rv-1973-revcon-250/

[michelle]

i am interested in the 71 challenger  ramchargers kit just for the body and glass 
and am interested in that californian custom toronado 

[Bucky]

This is a little off-topic, but are those Hess training vans 1/25 scale?

[keyser]

28 minutes ago, Bucky said:

This is a little off-topic, but are those Hess training vans 1/25 scale?

Close enough. Crude in some ways, but nailed the look. Really nice, one in progress in the massive queue.