Let's play "Speculate"

[Monty]

It's been interesting to watch as Round2 resurrects kits many of us thought we'd never see again.  To that end, there are a couple of kits I'm hoping they can find and modify/clean up so they can be ready for resale soon.  What I don't know is whether these kits were modified into something else before disappearing, so here's a chance for the kit historians to chime in.  Also, to the best of your knowledge, would there be sufficient demand for them?

1) MPC Charger III.  As far as I know, this was released in the early '70s, although I never saw this kit anywhere when I was growing up.

 I ended up settling for the Matchbox car.  

 

2) MPC '70 Cougar.  Never saw this one anywhere near me either, and I'm not sure it was ever re-released.  That said, it seems like it would complement all the AMT 1st gen Cougars nicely.

 

I doubt this third entry has ever been kitted since it never technically reached production, although there are allegedly 6 (+/-) running cars out there.  

3) AMC AMX III.  (My rules - no curbsides)  Gorgeous car, makes me wonder if maybe a newcomer (Moebius?) would take a chance on it.  Do you think it's too obscure to have any impact, or is it a hit waiting to happen because no one has ever offered one in styrene?

 

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

In all honesty, I think the Cougar might be possible, but with the ‘69 already available, I have my doubts.

Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the other 2 either.

My opinion?

I would keep an eye out for these 3 in the not too distant future.

Just a guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Monty]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

In all honesty, I think the Cougar might be possible, but with the ‘69 already available, I have my doubts.

Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the other 2 either.

My opinion?

I would keep an eye out for these 3 in the not too distant future.

Just a guess.

 

Steve

To me, the '70 Cougar is distinct enough to not get lost in a sea of AMT '69 Cougars.  Being absent for +/- 50 years might be a draw as well.

I'd definitely be interested in one or two of those '71 Cyclones you posted. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

11 minutes ago, Monty said:

To me, the '70 Cougar is distinct enough to not get lost in a sea of AMT '69 Cougars.  Being absent for +/- 50 years might be a draw as well.

I'd definitely be interested in one or two of those '71 Cyclones you posted. 

I just have the feeling that the ones that I posted would be viable alternatives based on the fact that the molds of all three still exist to some extent as they were all offered as altered versions some time later.

The Cyclone as a NASCAR only kit, the ‘66 Buick as a “stocker”, and the Barracuda as the “Hemi Under Glass”.

There should at least be a fair starting point with all three, which seems to be Round-2’s MO as of late.

Who knows what remains, if anything, of the ‘70 Cougar.

Plus, it just seems to me that the Barracuda, Cyclone, and Grand Sport have all been very sought after kits for many years.

The Cougar strikes me as being a little bit more of a “niche” kit with probably less of a following than the others.

Round-2 will be looking for kits to reissue that will give them the biggest bang for the buck as possible.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Monty]

Part of my question was in regard to the last known condition of the MPC kits (more often than not we seem to have at least one member  who's got inside info on this kind of thing).  You may recall all the AMT annuals that got turned into low-level "stock cars".  If memory serves, not many were retooled back to original, although the Buick you posted might be one of the few exceptions.

A number of years ago somebody at Round2 found the tooling for the AMT Freightliner COE, and more recently the AMT Mach Won '69 Mustang funny car.  Never thought I'd see either of those again without offering a house payment on ebay.  Kinda what I'm hoping will happen with the MPC kits I mentioned.     

[Can-Con]

Well, we know what happened to the Charger III, or at least the body.

I could go for a Cougar or/and a Barracuda though. 

I already have a '66 Skylark and '71 Cyclone so I wouldn't be surprised to see either one announced within the year.

[stinkybritches]

1 hour ago, Monty said:

To me, the '70 Cougar is distinct enough to not get lost in a sea of AMT '69 Cougars.  Being absent for +/- 50 years might be a draw as well.

I'd definitely be interested in one or two of those '71 Cyclones you posted. 

I would definitely buy at least one each of a '70 Cougar and the '71  Cyclone.

[GMP440]

4 hours ago, Monty said:

It's been interesting to watch as Round2 resurrects kits many of us thought we'd never see again.  To that end, there are a couple of kits I'm hoping they can find and modify/clean up so they can be ready for resale soon.  What I don't know is whether these kits were modified into something else before disappearing, so here's a chance for the kit historians to chime in.  Also, to the best of your knowledge, would there be sufficient demand for them?

1) MPC Charger III.  As far as I know, this was released in the early '70s, although I never saw this kit anywhere when I was growing up.

 I ended up settling for the Matchbox car.  

 

2) MPC '70 Cougar.  Never saw this one anywhere near me either, and I'm not sure it was ever re-released.  That said, it seems like it would complement all the AMT 1st gen Cougars nicely.

 

I doubt this third entry has ever been kitted since it never technically reached production, although there are allegedly 6 (+/-) running cars out there.  

3) AMC AMX III.  (My rules - no curbsides)  Gorgeous car, makes me wonder if maybe a newcomer (Moebius?) would take a chance on it.  Do you think it's too obscure to have any impact, or is it a hit waiting to happen because no one has ever offered one in styrene?

 

 

 Here is the Hot Wheels version of the Charger lll.

[Monty]

21 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Well, we know what happened to the Charger III, or at least the body.

I could go for a Cougar or/and a Barracuda though. 

I already have a '66 Skylark and '71 Cyclone so I wouldn't be surprised to see either one announced within the year.

The deafening roar you hear is me yelling obscenities 'cuz that pic more or less means this thing ain't gettin' retooled back to "stock".

[Monty]

9 minutes ago, GMP440 said:

 Here is the Hot Wheels version of the Charger lll.

I had no idea there was a Hot Wheels version.  Back in the day I would'a snagged that one up quick.  

[GMP440]

Since the Warlock is coming out, I think we will see more trucks.  Speculating; 72, 73 and 74 Dodge Adventurer trucks could likely be the ones we will see down the line somewhere.

For cars;  the 67 and 68 Galaxie's may not be very far off.  67-68 Cougars , 67-69 Falcons could also be subjects in the pipeline as well.     These are all subjects that we see consistently on the highly requested subjects list.

[GMP440]

8 minutes ago, Monty said:

I had no idea there was a Hot Wheels version.  Back in the day I would'a snagged that one up quick.  

 The real name of the car is the Torero.  But, it's nearly identical to the Charger lll.  I received my first Hotwheels set in 1968 for Christmas.  This very car pictured was in that set.  

[1972coronet]

AMT G-Van : I have a feeling that it'll be retooled (or at least partially-retooled) to the Open Road incarnation . Certainly, I hope that the correct rims ( 6 lug ? 8 lug ? ) and accompanying tyres and hubcaps will be included .

MPC : Escort EXP . Why not ? Tooling already exists... 

MPC : 1978 C-10 2WD. Maybe at the very least, the 2WD parts will find their way into the existing 1981 kit ? 

MPC : Dodge B-Van . New tooling (pretty please !) in 1972-1974 model years , extra windows / sidelights and all.

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Can-Con said:

Well, we know what happened to the Charger III, or at least the body.

I could go for a Cougar or/and a Barracuda though. 

I already have a '66 Skylark and '71 Cyclone so I wouldn't be surprised to see either one announced within the year.

That’s why I’m thinking the ‘66 Barracuda is probably coming.......because I have one! ?

 

 

 

Steve

[Tabbysdaddy]

2 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

AMT G-Van : I have a feeling that it'll be retooled (or at least partially-retooled) to the Open Road incarnation . Certainly, I hope that the correct rims ( 6 lug ? 8 lug ? ) and accompanying tyres and hubcaps will be included .

 

The G10 and G20 are both 5 lug, the G30 is 8. 

[Snake45]

19 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

In all honesty, I think the Cougar might be possible, but with the ‘69 already available, I have my doubts.

Personally, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the other 2 either.

My opinion?

I would keep an eye out for these 3 in the not too distant future.

Just a guess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

You can put me down for multiples of all three. 

[Carmak]

I will try to set aside my personal wants for clone kits and discuss the ones mentioned on this post so far.

* We know Round2 is watching the various groups and e-bay to gauge sales demand. I know almost every vintage kit has a group of people that are very passionate about it, I am talking widespread demand (almost everybody wants one).

* We also know Round2 is generally conservative with the cost of their tooling (craftsman kits and/or simplified chassis). Since we are talking about cloning, I will look at the least complicated original kit/promo design. Also note Round2 has stated they PERFER their clone kits to be all new (not a few parts from this kit and a few parts from that kit plus some new tooling) so I am assuming new clone kits will be from scratch (I know there are exceptions).

Let's look at the demand and cost of the projects:

                             Demand                Cost

Charger III           Medium                 Medium

70 Cougar           Medium                Medium

66 Skylark           High                      Low

71 Cyclone          High                      Medium (stock only)

66 Barracuda      Medium                Low

 

Based on this quick review I would say the 66 Skylark would be the best bet of this group.

You can argue with my demand and cost ranking, but I suspect Round2 uses a process similar to this (albeit more detailed) when choosing projects.

[Ulf]

My wish (prayer) is a simple Barracuda or Valiant, the more basic the better.
Round2 reads this ?

[gtx6970]

I would be in for a 70 Cougar. the rest, Not so much

[Rodent]

I have been hoping that Revell would do a Cyclone based on their Torino, but I guess I would take one from Round2 if that is all that was available.

[1972coronet]

I'd love to have a stock (i.e., not a Stock Car , NASCAR, et alia) version of the Cyclone .

[Robberbaron]

My 2 cents regarding the original post:

1. Charger III: Don't see widespread interest in this one.  Think it would be tough to recoup the costs of retooling.

2. 1970 Cougar: Would be nice to see this one again, but the subject matter is quite close to the existing AMT 1969 Cougar.  From what I understand, the chassis/drivetrain and even the wheelcovers got carried through to the 1973 annual, which is the reason for the incorrect FE engine in that one (recently announced to be reissued).  So that might be a plus in the column for this one.  Not sure if the chassis plate was modified for the new body style (seems like the 1:1 front/rear overhangs are quite a bit longer on the '71-'73)

Having said that, I think a much better argument could be made to clone the AMT 1967/1968 Cougars.  There seems to be more 1:1 interest in this original body style (IMHO one of the best FoMoCo designs of the sixties), and there would be more of a differentiation from the AMT '69.

They could probably get away with a single body tool and do the various badges/side markers with decals. One big upside is that there are a bunch of variations they could do off the basic tooling: base model, XR7, GT, GT-E, XR7-G.  Possibly even a Bud Moore Trans Am version.

3. AMC AMX III:  As you stated yourself, too obscure.  This is a subject taylor-made for 3D printing for the few people who would be interested.

 

 

[charger74]

10 hours ago, Rodent said:

I have been hoping that Revell would do a Cyclone based on their Torino, but I guess I would take one from Round2 if that is all that was available.

What i would like revell to do with the torino is a ranchero 

[Robberbaron]

On 1/2/2024 at 5:00 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

My opinion? I would keep an eye out for these 3 in the not too distant future. Just a guess.

Steve

I'm with Steve 100% on the above.  In particular, the Skylark seems likely, considering that they've already done several other sixties GM A-bodies ('64 Cutlass, '65 and '68 GTO's, now the upcoming '64 Malibu).

Prices are crazy for the original Cyclones.  I think the only difference between '70 and '71 is the hood vents and the decals, so once again they could easily create both model years using the same body mold.

Edited January 6, 2024 by Robberbaron