Old AMT model kits... why not to reissue those?

[Drago]

OK guys, I would like to put aside financial point of view, but it seems is always linked. Weel, my question is: why some old AMT kits aren´t reissued? I mean, always the same that are reboxed. For instance, why not the 1964 or 1966 Lincoln Continental kits are beeing reissued? Is it a financial issue or some of the old tools are damaged? 

[Mark]

They can't reissue something that doesn't exist anymore.  Anything can be reconstructed (like the '63 Nova wagon, and the upcoming '68 Coronet convertible, which are all new copies of old kits with improvements).  Or do a partial reconstruction on a kit (like the '64 Cutlass and 4-4-2).  But they have to see enough sales potential to do any of that.

The '64 Continental was reworked to create the '65 that exists to this day.  The '66 was updated through 1969.  Often a particular generation of a given car only exists as its final model year, as the tooling got revised for each year's promotional models.  That was the primary reason many annual kits existed at all, the promo business was what drove the selection of cars available as kits for many years.

Over the years there were several purges of old tooling thought to not have potential for future reissues.  Other tools were stored carelessly and were later found to be unusable due to rust or other damage.  And that's the AMT stuff.

Over at MPC, more often the tools were altered to create something new, to the point of sometimes combining parts of two kits to create one.

Current owner Round 2 certainly doesn't seem to be scrapping anything, and has in recent years restored older kit tooling that previous owners hadn't gotten around to for whatever reason.

[Oldcarfan27]

What Mark said is spot on. They can't reissue what they don't have. However, Round 2 constantly surprises me at how much they've found and brought back from the dead! We don't know exactly what all they have, but they're making the best of everything that they've got and they've brought back stuff that we thought we'd never see again and were told was lost forever. 

Alexandre, I've asked the same question as you. Why don't they reissue the last version of some very unique kits that haven't seen the light of day in decades. My thread got linked with another thread and kind of got lost to history. It wasn't the same as the other one, so the significance was lost once it was merged.

Here it is, my thread starts on page 5.

 

[vincen47]

Yes, great answers above, for sure.

Tooling availability is key.

But, with enough time, money and interest, modern tech has been able to bring back some kits that have been long dead through 3d scanning.

Can’t say the most obscure projects will come to fruition, but some highly sought-after kits with partially or fully non-existent tooling may again see the light of day. The Ertl IH 4070a, for example. We thought we’d never see it again, and there it was.

Edited October 19, 2022 by vincen47

[oldcarfan]

My suggestion for AMT would be to leverage the kits they have, such as the Ford Pinto and the MPC Pinto Wagon or the Caprice. They could invest in backdating the tooling or create a new version based on the current tooling. I would buy many copies of a 1971 Pinto or Vega. As they were popular in the SCCA, they could even add some Minilites, racing tires, a simple roll cage and some period decals for another version. As for the MPC vans, how about recreating the early issues of the Dodge and Chevy vans? Maybe add the high top for the Chevy and add window van versions along with the extra seats and such. The Dodge pickup could be changed with a new grille and hood. Also how about versions of the Trans Am? With a little new tooling they could have a 1976 version, then they could do a flat hood and remove the side vents and do a base model 'Rockford' Firebird.

All these things would be (relatively) inexpensive to do and give them new variations to sell.

[1930fordpickup]

 What if  AMT  went the 3d printed route?  They have the tooling to get the best measurements so that the grills should fit well. Package the 78 Ford truck with a corrected for say 76 grill.  Same with the Dodge trucks . A few 3d printed parts right from AMT in the box.  Yes I understand this would not work for a lot of what needs changed in some of the tooling  but give the guy in the Videos something else to do between release video's/ LOL 

[MeatMan]

One of the problems I've read about lately regarding reissues is the licensing of trademarked names, logos, etc.

It seems that some folks want premium return on their TM products and ask a kings ransom for permission. Greed kills...dreams.

[oldcarfan]

16 hours ago, 1930fordpickup said:

 What if  AMT  went the 3d printed route?  They have the tooling to get the best measurements so that the grills should fit well. Package the 78 Ford truck with a corrected for say 76 grill.  Same with the Dodge trucks . A few 3d printed parts right from AMT in the box.  Yes I understand this would not work for a lot of what needs changed in some of the tooling  but give the guy in the Videos something else to do between release video's/ LOL 

I've been wondering about that. I have no idea about 3D printing, but if they could turn out parts with it that were about the same cost or cheaper as doing them the old way, that would open up some really cool versions and would allow them to respond quickly to market demands.

[Can-Con]

They couldn't just 3-D print parts to put in kits. IIRC, it takes hours to print a part, depending on it's size. Can you imagine how long it would take to print out just one grille each for several thousand kits?

[Ace-Garageguy]

27 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

They couldn't just 3-D print parts to put in kits. IIRC, it takes hours to print a part, depending on it's size. Can you imagine how long it would take to print out just one grille each for several thousand kits?

Exactly. 3D printing is great for prototypes, very short runs, or made-to-order parts.

For mass production, nope, nope, and nope.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy