What was the last NEW kit AMT did ?

[Greg Myers]

Was just wondering . 

[Vince Nemanic]

maybe the snap Dukes Charger?

[Rob Hall]

The 2016-2017 Camaro SS..full detail and snap versions. 

[espo]

The last kits AMT issued I think were the '60 Ford Starliner and the '62 Pontiac Catalina. There may have been others but these are the only ones I can think of. 

[Casey]

When was the last time AMT existed as a company, rather than a brand name?

[Daddyfink]

25 minutes ago, espo said:

The last kits AMT issued I think were the '60 Ford Starliner and the '62 Pontiac Catalina. There may have been others but these are the only ones I can think of. 

Catalina was issued originally in 1998 and I think the Starliner dates back to the 60's

 

[Daddyfink]

3 minutes ago, Casey said:

When was the last time AMT existed as a company, rather than a brand name?

I think it was around 2012 that Round 2 bought them out. 

[Rob Hall]

5 minutes ago, Casey said:

When was the last time AMT existed as a company, rather than a brand name?

1978 before Lesney (Matchbox parent) bought them.

Edited December 11, 2020 by Rob Hall

[Mark]

10 minutes ago, Casey said:

When was the last time AMT existed as a company, rather than a brand name?

1978, when Lesney stepped in.  Not sure what the last all-new kit was, but the Super Stones version of the Ford F350 pickup may have been the last release prior to the sale.  I'm pretty sure I have a flyer for that kit with the Troy, Michigan address on it.

[Casey]

56 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

1978 before Lesney (Matchbox parent) bought them.

I tend to agree. From the Round2 website:

"The company’s production stayed in Troy until 1979 when they were bought by Lesney’s Matchbox Toys division. At this point, production was moved to Baltimore, Maryland and remained there until 1996, despite AMT being bought again by another company in 1982. In March of that year, the AMT line and its tooling were sold to The Ertl Company of Dyersville, Iowa."

So, the last new kit prior to the Lesney acquisition would've been one of these, from 1978?

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by Casey

[Casey]

9 minutes ago, Mark said:

1978, when Lesney stepped in.  Not sure what the last all-new kit was, but the Super Stones version of the Ford F350 pickup may have been the last release prior to the sale.  I'm pretty sure I have a flyer for that kit with the Troy, Michigan address on it.

Here's the final page of the '77 catalog, but I don't think any of these are all-new:

[Mark]

I think I have a '78 catalog, will check later.  The VW Rabbit may have been the last all-new kit.  The Scirocco shares some parts with it as I understand.  The '41 Plymouth was issued as a stock only version prior to the street rod.

[Rob Hall]

That list makes me wonder what the first issue of the Ford van was..it would have been all-new around '77.    1979 was the first AMT catalog I got, and it has Matchbox kits listed in it.

[Mark]

First version of the Ford van was the Vantom (Round 2 reissue calls it the Phantom, box art and decals otherwise the same).  That one was on store shelves in early '75, as the 1:1 van was first showing up on dealers' lots.  I think the '77 Cruising Van was the next version, followed by those three oddball custom-only kits (Disco Van, Hyper Hut, Cuckoo Nest). 

[Classicgas]

3 hours ago, Daddyfink said:

Catalina was issued originally in 1998 and I think the Starliner dates back to the 60's

 

There was a new tool  60 ford starliner  in the late 90s early 2000s.

[Force]

9 hours ago, Daddyfink said:

Catalina was issued originally in 1998 and I think the Starliner dates back to the 60's

 

Yes the old Starliner did as it was new 1960.
The one we have on the shelves today is an all new tool from 2000, and these 1960 Ford Galaxie Starliner kits are among the best they did and surpasses the old 60's tool kit by far, it's highly recommended as the custom and 2'n1 kits has lots of goodies for 1960-64 Galaxies and is perfect to update the older 60's tooling kits.

[moparfarmer]

1962 Chev Bel-Air bubble top mid 90s

 

[Classicgas]

6 hours ago, moparfarmer said:

1962 Chev Bel-Air bubble top mid 90s

 

Seriously? There have been a couple dozen since then.

[Rob Hall]

The original poster didn't give any qualifications to 'last' or 'AMT', so I'll stick w/ the '16-17 Camaro SS..it's the most recent all-new tool with the AMT branding that I can think of...

Edited December 12, 2020 by Rob Hall

[Plowboy]

56 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

The original poster didn't give any qualifications to 'last' or 'AMT', so I'll stick w/ the '16-17 Camaro SS..it's the most recent all-new tool with the AMT branding that I can think of...

Right. MPC is long gone too. But, their logo is still on the box of the reissues. 

[keyser]

22 hours ago, Greg Myers said:

Was just wondering . 

Are we there yet? 
Are we there yet?

Alzheimers and intransigence. Horrible diseases. 
??‍♂️??‍♂️

[Daddyfink]

9 hours ago, Force said:

Yes the old Starliner did as it was new 1960.
The one we have on the shelves today is an all new tool from 2000, and these 1960 Ford Galaxie Starliner kits are among the best they did and surpasses the old 60's tool kit by far, it's highly recommended as the custom and 2'n1 kits has lots of goodies for 1960-64 Galaxies and is perfect to update the older 60's tooling kits.

I guess I need to get me a Starliner and compare it to the old one. 

Thanks for the info 

[Oldcarfan27]

Interesting question. I didn't think there was so many "provisos" to it's answer though. 

But I never really considered a separation of AMT between owners.

A company is a company. Chrysler isn't owned by the same company that it was back in the 70s, but it's still Chrysler. 

[espo]

4 hours ago, Daddyfink said:

I guess I need to get me a Starliner and compare it to the old one. 

Thanks for the info 

The '60 Ford Starliner I'm thinking of was offered in two versions. I have a AMT-604 2 in 1 kit that lists a lot of different companies in the fine print at the bottom of the instructions.  Nothing I can find says for sure when it was printed but it does mention 2008 Learning Curve Brands Inc. having all rights reserved. I have never heard of this company but maybe some else has. The other kit is #099 30045 and is the Custom reissue of the Starliner. This one says right on the instruction sheet that it is an AMT/Ertl product. At the bottom of the instruction sheet it lists 2001 Racing Champions Ertl, Inc. in Dyersville Iowa. The Custom kit was a later release and since it's dated 2001 I would think the original 2 in 1 kit would predate it. Either way they are both great kits. 

[Force]

AMT has been owned by several other companies,  it was bought by the Brittish Lesney Co who owned Matchbox, then it was sold to ERTL who also bought MPC and all kits was branded AMT/ERTL, and then AMT/ERTL was sold to Racing Champions who later bought Learning Curve and became RC2, and now last AMT was sold to Round 2 who owns the AMT, MPC, Lindberg and Polar Lights brands.
And most of the really good AMT kits was developed right before the Racing Champions/Learning Curve/RC2 era and not much has been done after that as almost all of the kits issued after that has been repops with a few exceptions, so most of the good kits are developed 20 years ago or more.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Force