Stranger things blazer

[WillyBilly]

Seems like they are starting to release some of the stranger thing's vehicles. The Blazer isn't one of them..... Yet.

Stranger Things

[Rob Hall]

Yeah, looks like the pizza van and Camaro are out in Europe..a bunch on eBay from sellers in Europe...they will be here eventually.

[Luc Janssens]

2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Yeah, looks like the pizza van and Camaro are out in Europe..a bunch on eBay from sellers in Europe...they will be here eventually.

Yep, was at a show today and several vendors had them for sale, I'm waiting for the blazer tho.

For those of you who wish to know what's in the box, here a review by kits review online germany

https://www.kitreviewsonline.de/argyles-vw-t3-revell-125-07725/

 

[av405]

On 12/15/2024 at 6:38 AM, WillyBilly said:

Seems like they are starting to release some of the stranger thing's vehicles. The Blazer isn't one of them..... Yet.

Stranger Things

I'm guessing it's because the Blazer is the only new kit of the bunch, so they're working out last minute details?

[tim boyd]

The Stranger Things Blazer, to my understanding, is complete and ready for distribution.  Apparently, a sample has been provided to at least one source that does kit reviews (this info is not directly from Revell, just so we are clear, so take it as secondhand info rather than gospel....). TB  

[Radretireddad]

It’s very clear from the recently posted test shots that the newly tooled Revell Blazer is a fantastic, state of the art, fully detailed kit that has had a sizable budget of time and resources devoted to it. I’m eager to add one to my stash and I look forward to seeing any other future versions that may also be in development. My only criticism of it is that the resources necessary to bring a kit of this caliber to the market weren’t devoted to a more exciting subject. The only reason, it seems, this subject got kitted is because of a TV series, yet it isn’t hard to think up plenty of other more interesting subjects that would not have needed any show biz connections to justify the same effort and could easily be branched off into other versions. For example, Revell appears to have spent the same level of resources on its two fabulous new Corvette and ‘71 Mustang kits but the only 2015 and up Mustangs we’re offered are a simple beginner’s snap together kit and Tamiya’s road race version. We also have only a single version of a fox body Mustang from a modern tool. IIRC The only Current gen Camaros, Challengers, and F-150 Raptors tooled are also beginners level snap together kits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy we’ll all soon be getting the Blazer, but I wonder why we’re getting it instead of same level kits of subjects of equal or even broader appeal.

Edited January 7 by Radretireddad

[martinfan5]

4 hours ago, Radretireddad said:

 The only Current gen Camaros, Challengers, and F-150 Raptors tooled are also beginners level snap together kits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy we’ll all soon be getting the Blazer, but I wonder why we’re getting it instead of same level kits of subjects of equal or even broader appeal.

AMT did a few full detail glue kits for the current/last gen Camaro, the 2017 MY, as well as the snap kits.

[av405]

6 hours ago, Radretireddad said:

My only criticism of it is that the resources necessary to bring a kit of this caliber to the market weren’t devoted to a more exciting subject. The only reason, it seems, this subject got kitted is because of a TV series, yet it isn’t hard to think up plenty of other more interesting subjects that would not have needed any show biz connections to justify the same effort and could easily be branched off into other versions. For example, Revell appears to have spent the same level of resources on its two fabulous new Corvette and ‘71 Mustang kits but the only 2015 and up Mustangs we’re offered are a simple beginner’s snap together kit and Tamiya’s road race version. We also have only a single version of a fox body Mustang from a modern tool. IIRC The only Current gen Camaros, Challengers, and F-150 Raptors tooled are also beginners level snap together kits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy we’ll all soon be getting the Blazer, but I wonder why we’re getting it instead of same level kits of subjects of equal or even broader appeal.

Brian, while I respect your opinion, I must disagree. At the end of the day, what kits we find to be exciting or of broad appeal is subjective since we look at this topic from our own personal lens. I for one am excited to get such a highly detailed kit of this subject vs. one of a sports car or a "popular" and "sexy" type of vehicle. From my view, those are a dime a dozen and we truck guys don't get as much love.  I think the Blazer checks off a lot of marks: 

- Tie-in to a long running popular series. Some people will buy the kit merely for this reason.

- With the aftermarket, this kit essentially covers a 10 year design (1981-1991). A lot of people will be able to replicate a Blazer/Jimmy that they may have had or know of.

- This will appeal to emergency modelers like me as they were heavily used by police/fire/EMS.

- At this point, Blazers are "old school" cars that have cross-generational appeal.

Many of us are REALLY hoping that this tooling leads to pickup truck and even Suburban versions. If that happens, the potential for return on investment on this kit would be BIG.

To get back to your point: If I was king of a model car company for a day, I would invest equally into new tooling for both modern subjects and older subjects. Like a 1985 Blazer AND a 2023 Durango

[StanGlover]

Heads up, the Blazer is available for preorder at Model Roundup! It has a March availability date though… hopefully won’t take that long.

[Luc Janssens]

18 hours ago, StanGlover said:

Heads up, the Blazer is available for preorder at Model Roundup! It has a March availability date though… hopefully won’t take that long.

The latest Revell (Europe) newsletter mentions CW08.

[av405]

Here's some photos, straight from Revell's website.

And a video:

https://revell.de/en/shop/product/077249090-stranger-things-1985-chevrolet-k5-blazer

All I can say is that I'm still trying to recover my jaw from off the floor. 

[Fat Brian]

I've spent so many hours in that engine bay over the years.

[Daddyfink]

 

[stavanzer]

Note that the Grille and hat are a small , separate sprue together, and look to be easily swapped for a different grille, at a future date.

Also, the 5 small round Driving Light/Fog Light/ Auxiliary Light lenses on the Clear tree.

Good things will be coming from the tooling for years.

Edited January 9 by stavanzer

[slusher]

Blazer looks really nice, better then I expected!

[Carmak]

I hope this kit leads to a series of square body variations the way that Moebius has been releasing variations on the 65-72 Ford F series.

This has the possibility to be a kit with wide interest. People my age (late 50's) to my son's age (late 20's) are all generally into the square body trucks.

I am looking forward to getting one (or more).

[DZ7581]

I'm happy to see this. I had an 86 and from what I have seen it matches perfectly to the real thing. Interior looks right, has the air conditioning unit and a correct air breather extension.  I'm in for a bunch

 

[Radretireddad]

On 1/7/2025 at 6:34 PM, av405 said:

Brian, while I respect your opinion, I must disagree. At the end of the day, what kits we find to be exciting or of broad appeal is subjective since we look at this topic from our own personal lens. I for one am excited to get such a highly detailed kit of this subject vs. one of a sports car or a "popular" and "sexy" type of vehicle. From my view, those are a dime a dozen and we truck guys don't get as much love.  I think the Blazer checks off a lot of marks: 

- Tie-in to a long running popular series. Some people will buy the kit merely for this reason.

- With the aftermarket, this kit essentially covers a 10 year design (1981-1991). A lot of people will be able to replicate a Blazer/Jimmy that they may have had or know of.

- This will appeal to emergency modelers like me as they were heavily used by police/fire/EMS.

- At this point, Blazers are "old school" cars that have cross-generational appeal.

Many of us are REALLY hoping that this tooling leads to pickup truck and even Suburban versions. If that happens, the potential for return on investment on this kit would be BIG.

To get back to your point: If I was king of a model car company for a day, I would invest equally into new tooling for both modern subjects and older subjects. Like a 1985 Blazer AND a 2023 Durango

From the looks of how the parts are arranged on the sprues, the possibilities for multiple pickup, 2wd and 4wd versions looks quite promising. GM square body trucks are coming in to demand as collectable classics right now, and the current crop of GM square body truck kits leaves plenty of room for fresh material just as the ‘71-‘73 Mustangs did before Revell released their two world class kits last year. If Revell has plans to kit multiple versions of this caliber from across the range of this generation, I’ll withdraw my criticism and join everyone in line to snap as many of them up as I can. My personal faves are those built from ‘73 to ‘80. Can’t wait to see what’s on deck next.

[Radretireddad]

16 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Note that the Grille and hat are a small , separate sprue together, and look to be easily swapped for a different grille, at a future date.

Also, the 5 small round Driving Light/Fog Light/ Auxiliary Light lenses on the Clear tree.

Good things will be coming from the tooling for years.

Note that the separate left and right side frame rails and interior panels along with the 4wd suspension and drivetrain pieces are also on separate dedicated sprues. The multi piece frame is also unique and suggests the possibility of different cross members being tooled for 2wd versions. The chrome sprue has unused center caps that look like the ones on the factory spoke style wheels of that era. The only other thing I note are the multi piece quarter windows on the pictures of the built kit but the unboxing reveals one piece quarter glass. Probably a preproduction change. Lots of clues. Who will be the first to build a camo military spec version or adapt the Moebius snow plow to the front of this thing?

Edited January 9 by Radretireddad

[chitownbri]

Looking at the pics of the finished build I already have a few minor gripes: the mirrors are inaccurate( there should be a slight bevel on the end of the mirror housings) and the pedals look a lil big. But other than that this kit is gonna blow the MPC kits out of the water!

[Can-Con]

On 1/9/2025 at 4:19 PM, Radretireddad said:

Note that the separate left and right side frame rails and interior panels along with the 4wd suspension and drivetrain pieces are also on separate dedicated sprues. The multi piece frame is also unique and suggests the possibility of different cross members being tooled for 2wd versions. The chrome sprue has unused center caps that look like the ones on the factory spoke style wheels of that era. The only other thing I note are the multi piece quarter windows on the pictures of the built kit but the unboxing reveals one piece quarter glass. Probably a preproduction change. Lots of clues. Who will be the first to build a camo military spec version or adapt the Moebius snow plow to the front of this thing?

The way the interior panels and frame rails are laid out to me suggest that it will be easy to modify the kit into a pickup with either 2 or 4 wheel drive in the future. Also it looks like it will be easy to delete the Blazer side windows for future pickup releases.

Also the 4 smaller headlight lenses for the upmarket grille.

I know a lot of you guys are looking forward to a more "mainstream" civilian Blazer kit but the way this is all engineered, I'm looking a little farther ahead.

Edited January 11 by Can-Con

[Model Builders Mafia]

Stranger things is a huge money maker, and revell want to get in on that $$$ The subjects you mentioned maybe be exciting to you, but don't have the wow factor on the shelf. Sorry but the 65 and up mustangs are incredible boring cars. especially the latest generation. 

[niteowl7710]

5 hours ago, Model Builders Mafia said:

Stranger things is a huge money maker, and revell want to get in on that $$$ The subjects you mentioned maybe be exciting to you, but don't have the wow factor on the shelf. Sorry but the 65 and up mustangs are incredible boring cars. especially the latest generation. 

Wouldn't 65 and up Mustangs be all of them? 🤣

[Radretireddad]

19 hours ago, Can-Con said:

The way the interior panels and frame rails are laid out to me suggest that it will be easy to modify the kit into a pickup with either 2 or 4 wheel drive in the future. Also it looks like it will be easy to delete the Blazer side windows for future pickup releases.

Also the 4 smaller headlight lenses for the upmarket grille.

I know a lot of you guys are looking forward to a more "mainstream" civilian Blazer kit but the way this is all engineered, I'm looking a little farther ahead.

Precisely my point. The grouping of the parts on the sprues portends the other versions we’re all hoping for will be offered as well. Given that these trucks are gaining popularity and the poor state of previously tooled examples, I think Revell really did make a smart choice.

[Fat Brian]

13 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

Wouldn't 65 and up Mustangs be all of them? 🤣

The 64 1/2 Mustangs are cool but after that? Straight trash.