Johan 1987 prices

[mchook]

I was looking through some old magazines I got from a friend and there was a few "Auto World Modelcars" from 1987 88 89. It's funny, 1987 doesn't sound like that long ago to me but when I look at those prices HOLY COW! Why didn't I buy 2 or 3 of each back then? After thinking about it, I remember back then I was only buying Hot Rods and 50s cars & trucks, I wasn't into the 60s muscle cars yet. Oh well, it's my own fault for not being able to see into the future and buy them. Anyway, check out these kits & prices and compare them to what they sell for today, or maybe don't because it will make you cry. If you want to see more let me know and I'll add more pictures.

[larman]

I had all of those at one time or another and at the time they were quite common. I was around 18 then. Quite honestly, I thought they weren't as good as the AMT and Monogram offerings at the time. The bodies looked good, but some seemed out of scale like the Roadrunner and Superbird. Most had very simple engines, interiors and chassis and sometimes incorrect ones for the car. They were often molded in funky colors like dark green, orange, yellow, etc. and had excessive flash. Wheels and tires were usually undersized and not interchangeable  with other brands. The classic car, Eldorado, Toronado, funny cars and pro stock kits had nice detail and some great parts though. I guess it is because they are old now and won't ever be reissued that people are so interested in them.

[Snake45]

I bought quite a few of those at those prices back in the day. Built some of them ('69 AMX, Maverick), still have others in the stash to be built someday ('70 Olds, Marlin, Mustang and Challenger funny cars). One I missed I wish I'd gotten was the '63 Dodge. 

[Brian Austin]

In the late '80s a couple of friends and I went to an eclectic toy and collectibles store in the Boston area (Mr. Big's Toyland in Waltham) and there was a large selection of Jo-Han kits.  I should have picked up one of everything.  ?

 

I suppose everyone had one of these X-El flyers?  I'll take a '58 Cadillac...

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by Brian Austin

[bbowser]

I spent hours poring over those catalogs when I was a kid.  $5 was a lot of money!

[High octane]

6 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I bought quite a few of those at those prices back in the day. Built some of them ('69 AMX, Maverick), still have others in the stash to be built someday ('70 Olds, Marlin, Mustang and Challenger funny cars). One I missed I wish I'd gotten was the '63 Dodge. 

I bought the '63 Dodge Hardtop many years ago from a guy in Ohio and it still cost me a bundle. Hopefully I'll build it someday as it is a mint kit.

[HomerS]

I tried to as I ordered an AMX and a Superbird....sent my money order.  Reached out several times for an update, but at the one year anniversary, asked for (and received) my money back.  Following year, they actually sent me a catalog which promptly hit the trash.

[Casey]

"THESE MODELS ARE NOT EYEBALLED COPIES" 

Nice dig at Palmer, there. ?

[StevenGuthmiller]

22 hours ago, Snake45 said:

I bought quite a few of those at those prices back in the day. Built some of them ('69 AMX, Maverick), still have others in the stash to be built someday ('70 Olds, Marlin, Mustang and Challenger funny cars). One I missed I wish I'd gotten was the '63 Dodge. 

I'm assuming that you meant the '62 Dodge?

I don't think the '63 Dodge Polara has been available since '63.

 

 

 

Steve

[Snake45]

8 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

I'm assuming that you meant the '62 Dodge?

I don't think the '63 Dodge Polara has been available since '63.

Steve

Huh. I could have sworn I saw '63s on the hobby shop shelves back in the '80s but just did a quick google search and I must be wrong. I must have been thinking of the '64. 

Now I feel less bad about not buying one in the '80s. 

[Rob Hall]

I remember those 80s catalogs.  Bought a few Johan kits from those catalogs back then. The ‘70 Cutlass, ‘66 Marlin,  Superbird, AMX, ‘70 Eldorado, ‘68 Cadillac convertible, ‘74 AMX, and Rebel Machine IIRC.    This was around ‘86-88 when I was in high school.  My first Johans had been about a decade earlier, when I built the ‘60 Plymouth wagon and ‘76 Eldorado.  

Edited September 4, 2021 by Rob Hall

[keyser]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Huh. I could have sworn I saw '63s on the hobby shop shelves back in the '80s but just did a quick google search and I must be wrong. I must have been thinking of the '64. 

Now I feel less bad about not buying one in the '80s. 

63 Fury HT with blue custom on box was around then or prob earlier. I passed then, wanted convertible. Looked like 63 Dodge at glance. 

[BlackSheep214]

Oh man... I remember doing the American  SC/Rambler kit. I remember seeing a number of those kits when they were plentiful back then. The one kit stood out that gave me the "Oh My Gosh" was the Recharged '64 Dodge Dart kit!!! Who knew?! I didn't!!!

[SfanGoch]

The Recharged Dodge SS Hemi Drag Car is a Dodge Polara 440.

 

1964 Dodge Dart.

 

 

[BlackSheep214]

45 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

The Recharged Dodge SS Hemi Drag Car is a Dodge Polara 440.

 

1964 Dodge Dart.

 

 

I know what the ‘64 Dart looks like. I owned one.  I must’ve jumped the gun thinking it was a Dart not a Polara. Oh well... pic was kinda grainy but missed noticing the second set of lenses of the Polara.

[Mike999]

I remember chatting with an employee at Kit Kraft in Studio City, CA, around 1986 IIRC.  Kit Kraft was an old-timey, family-owned hobby shop in business since the 1950s.  

At that time they still had a bunch of "USA Oldies" on the shelf.  The employee told me that one of their biggest sellers was the '60 DeSoto Adventurer.  He said people who never bought models bought that kit, probably just to sit on the mantel unbuilt.  But kids also liked it for the "rocketship" styling, and would often beg Dad to buy it for them.

Also remember going to the big Pomona Swap Meet around 1990, and seeing a guy selling USA Oldies for $20 each.  I thought that price was outrageous and he was crazy.  "Those are still easy to find."  I sure was wrong about that.  

[pack rat]

In the mid-90's I was buying up various Johan USA Oldies and re-issues if the price was reasonable thinking the writing was on the wall and I might regret it later if I didn't pick them up.

I recall one guy laughing his head off at me when I picked up the '63 Fury for about 20 bucks at a swap meet....he told me that ugly kit with the equally ugly box art would never be worth anything.     

[SfanGoch]

Even idiots are entitled to an opinion. He's probably hammering nails with his forehead after checking the present value on ebay.

[Tom Geiger]

Back in the mid to late 1980s I did buy all the Johan Mopars I could find. There was a local hobby shop that had a 20% off sale and I spent something like $50 on kits, which was big money for me at that time. 

Same shop, I walked through the back room with the owner to their office and spied 6 Johan 1962 Studebaker Lark convertibles on a shelf. I asked and was told they were there because nobody would ever want them.. I asked and was sold the stack for $1 a kit.

In the early 1990s I was at a show and bought 5 MPC Pacer kits for $3 each. I really wanted the Goodyear Suburbanite snow tires out of the kits. As I walked around the show with the kits, people were making fun of me for buying them!

 

[Bucky]

I forget what year it was, but I was buying discounted Jo-Han kits from a Woolworth store in Nashville for under $5.00 a kit at the rate of about four or five a week. All the kit boxes had a tiny "Seville" sticker pasted on them. I only bought the subject I was interested in at the time. Had I known Jo-Han was on the brink, I might have tried to purchase them all for under 5 bucks a kit!!

Edited September 6, 2021 by Bucky