Round 2 Aug 2024

[Ragtop Man]

Also - good to have the Falcon LMS back, wondering what gates got opened in the process this time, seems like a few incremental parts seem to surface each time (like the '64 Galaxie Modified. 

[Radretireddad]

20 minutes ago, 1972coronet said:

IIRC, that kit was reissued within the last year or two.

I don’t see it anywhere in the Round 2 AMT lineup webpages. Only a picture of on in the display case.

[Rob Hall]

4 minutes ago, Radretireddad said:

I don’t see it anywhere in the Round 2 AMT lineup webpages. Only a picture of on in the display case.

Last release was 7 years ago, 2017.  It was a 2n1 with stock and custom versions.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amt-1055-ford-starliner--1114879

[Edsel-Dan]

I have another issue of the Modern Tool 57 Bel Air with the Pro-Shop photo-etched and Rubber parts trees.

I got it on Clearance at Hobby Lobby, The Chevrolet 100Th Anniversary Tin collectors box edition.

 

Back when this kit first came out, I was buying the Standard issue, Pro-Shop, & Coca-Cola issues for Only $3.33 each at Tots-R-Us!!

I passed on the street machine as "Not My Thing/Not interested"

[1972coronet]

2 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

Last release was 7 years ago, 2017.  It was a 2n1 with stock and custom versions.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amt-1055-ford-starliner--1114879

It was that long ago already ?!? Wow ! Feels like only a couple of years ago ! 

[mrm]

All I see is a couple of decal donors. OK, maybe some wheels too. 

Edited August 6, 2024 by mrm
Typo

[Justin Porter]

On 8/5/2024 at 1:02 PM, Radretireddad said:

A new kustom krusiers series huh? Who would like to see this reissued shortly as another series member? This kit had a ton of cool high perf FE parts in it.

Just announced on the Future Releases list at Stevens International today. 

AMT-1345 1/25 2023 Ford Bronco Outer Banks (New Tool) $38.99 TBA

AMT-1472 1/25 1960 Ford Starliner Custom $37.99 TBA

AMT-1473 1/25 Mopower Plymouth Funny Car $37.99 TBA

[tim boyd]

3 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

Just announced on the Future Releases list at Stevens International today. 

AMT-1345 1/25 2023 Ford Bronco Outer Banks (New Tool) $38.99 TBA

AMT-1472 1/25 1960 Ford Starliner Custom $37.99 TBA

AMT-1473 1/25 Mopower Plymouth Funny Car $37.99 TBA

The MoPower is a rare kit...featuring a somewhat exaggerated body based on the 1.1 scale 1974-74 Plymouth RoadRunner/Satellite. 

Here's my kitbash build of this kit, with the body/hood area revised to some degree to eliminate of the more cartoonish elements.  Nice kit, will be good to have it back....TB   

[PintoKING]

Humm......  The AMT Plymouth MoPower funnycar, seems that it has a very similar chassis-engine to AMT's "Nitro-Charger" funnycar?

That Nitro-Charger is the second or third model kit that I bought, back in the mid 1970s. Still have it.

[tim boyd]

1 hour ago, PintoKING said:

Humm......  The AMT Plymouth MoPower funnycar, seems that it has a very similar chassis-engine to AMT's "Nitro-Charger" funnycar?

That Nitro-Charger is the second or third model kit that I bought, back in the mid 1970s. Still have it.

Believe it or not, the Nitro Charger chassis and the MoPower (originally tooled for the Larry Fullerton "Trojan Horse" Mustang II F/C kit) as well as the powertrains are entirely different.

IMHO opinion, the Nitro Charger parts are better detailed, but the Trojan Horse/MoPower parts (also used in several other AMT kits of the era) was much easier to assemble.   The engine in the former had one of the few Hamilton blowers, while the latter had what was purported to be a 417 Donovan block....TB

I'll try to post photos of both chassis later...TB 

[Radretireddad]

On 8/6/2024 at 1:05 PM, Justin Porter said:

Just announced on the Future Releases list at Stevens International today. 

AMT-1345 1/25 2023 Ford Bronco Outer Banks (New Tool) $38.99 TBA

AMT-1472 1/25 1960 Ford Starliner Custom $37.99 TBA

AMT-1473 1/25 Mopower Plymouth Funny Car $37.99 TBA

Sweet! ??

Looks like the prices are going up though.?

[stavanzer]

Nothing I want on that list, but it is very nice to see the 2023 Bronco, and the Mopower car coming. One Very New Tooling, with an extension, and one very old tooling, not seen for many, many years.

Good Job, Kats!

[Justin Porter]

10 hours ago, Radretireddad said:

Sweet! ??

Looks like the prices are going up though.?

Round 2 is consistently one of the highest priced non-premium brands across the board. Even the bulk of my imported kits like Aoshima, Fujimi, and even Tamiya tend to be cheaper. Case in point? Just brought the reissue of Tamiya's beautiful full detail Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA into my shop. That's on the shelf for $32. 

[av405]

22 hours ago, Radretireddad said:

Sweet! ??

Looks like the prices are going up though.?

That's MSRP. Most businesses usually sell them for a couple of bucks less, especially online retailers. Hobbylinc, for example, has the 2021 Bronco listed for $28.59. I think Hobby Lobby has them for $32 or $34 (40% discount not included). I think that generally speaking, kit prices have actually remained fairly stagnant these last 10 years.

[deuces wild]

On 8/3/2024 at 9:18 PM, niteowl7710 said:

It's actually the second kit of the "second" kit. Like a lot of the Mueller Era kits of the 90s there was a Factory Stock Kit and then some sort of mild cusrom/street machine version. Thats what this reissue is, and it's been about 19 years since fhe Street Machine version was last run. The Factory Stock '57 was run last in that "Car Culture" series in 2016.

There was also the yellow Coke version based off the new stock tooling.... I have that one in my stash somewhere...???

[tim boyd]

Following up on an earlier promise (sorry it took so long) here are photos of the funny car chassis from the Nitro Charger kit (which came out in 1971-is, and was also the chassis for a 1971 Torino, Nova, and first-gen Camaro funny car kits) and the MoPower (which was based on tooling that came out 1974-5 ish for the licensed Mustang funny car kit and was then re-employed for a series of kits with Corvette, Pinto/Bobcat, Monza, Vega/Astre, and Road Runner bodies, all of which were slightly exaggerated beyond normal (then) funny car proportions.  According to a then-AMT insider, they wore generic graphics because AMT's then-president, Tom Gannon, did not want to pay licensing fees to 1/1 scale  drag racing teams.  (More info on both these kit tools is in my book on Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits).  

Nitro-Charger: 

MoPower:

 

More images of both at this link (see images 180-198):  Boyd Funny Cars Models - The Complete Collection album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. 

Best...TB

[stavanzer]

Man, Tim!

You can sure Detail a Funny Car Chassis! Those are both so clear & sharp.

[niteowl7710]

15 hours ago, deuces wild said:

There was also the yellow Coke version based off the new stock tooling.... I have that one in my stash somewhere...???

Sure but that came out back in 1998, the year after the new tool kit was initially released.  There have been several reissues of the factory stock version of the new '57 between then and the present day, but there's only been the initial release, and one RC2 era reissue of the Street Machine (19 yrs ago).

[mikos]

I was hoping to see the “ProStreet ‘80/‘81 Camaro Z28” that was promised several months ago.  I guess they couldn’t find the molds or they were damaged or something.  Oh well…

Edited August 22, 2024 by mikos

[stavanzer]

1 hour ago, mikos said:

I was hoping to see the “ProStreet ‘80/‘81 Camaro Z28” that was promised several months ago.  I guess they couldn’t find the molds or they were damaged or something.  Oh well…

It's coming, Mikos, It's coming. Steve has said that there have been some minor delays, but work is continuing on it. It'll get here, and then we can plan a group build of the kit.

[mikos]

On 8/8/2024 at 6:20 AM, Justin Porter said:

Round 2 is consistently one of the highest priced non-premium brands across the board. Even the bulk of my imported kits like Aoshima, Fujimi, and even Tamiya tend to be cheaper. Case in point? Just brought the reissue of Tamiya's beautiful full detail Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA into my shop. That's on the shelf for $32. 

The subject matter they offer is more desirable than the Tamiya example you provided. If Round 2 cloned (or fixed the Kotter tool) the ‘72 Grand Prix and offered it for $37.99, would it sell better than the Tamiya Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA in sales?  I’m thinking it would be a land slide over the Alfa Romeo kit here in the U.S.  

No doubt the Tamiya kit would offer more detail since it’s a more modern kit.  However, what would sell better?  A kit that hasn’t been reissued in stock form since the early ‘70’s annual or the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA?  I’m thinking it would be the ‘72 Grand Prix hands down.  I would love to be proven wrong, though. 

Edited August 22, 2024 by mikos

[Justin Porter]

1 hour ago, mikos said:

The subject matter they offer is more desirable than the Tamiya example you provided. If Round 2 cloned (or fixed the Kotter tool) the ‘72 Grand Prix and offered it for $37.99, would it sell better than the Tamiya Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA in sales?  I’m thinking it would be a land slide over the Alfa Romeo kit here in the U.S.  

No doubt the Tamiya kit would offer more detail since it’s a more modern kit.  However, what would sell better?  A kit that hasn’t been reissued in stock form since the early ‘70’s annual or the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA?  I’m thinking it would be the ‘72 Grand Prix hands down.  I would love to be proven wrong, though. 

Considering that the #1 volume seller at my shop is Tamiya kit #24090 which is a full detail Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R, I think you're vastly underestimating the number of builders from what I loosely term the "Gran Turismo" generation of car fans, whose tastes decidedly don't run towards American muscle cars.

I have a pile of unsold '68 Coronet convertibles that tells me that old muscle car reissue hype doesn't always equate to sales. 

[niteowl7710]

1 hour ago, Justin Porter said:

I have a pile of unsold '68 Coronet convertibles that tells me that old muscle car reissue hype doesn't always equate to sales. 

To further Justin's point my local Wally World has the Round2 end caps (well two of them actually) and jointly they must hold a dozen of those '68 Coronet Verts at a $24.98 price tag. There's gonna be a tsunami of those things at Ollie's next Spring when Wal*Mart blows them out of the DC after Christmas. 

[mikos]

44 minutes ago, niteowl7710 said:

To further Justin's point my local Wally World has the Round2 end caps (well two of them actually) and jointly they must hold a dozen of those '68 Coronet Verts at a $24.98 price tag. There's gonna be a tsunami of those things at Ollie's next Spring when Wal*Mart blows them out of the DC after Christmas. 

That’s a little concerning. I thought the Coronet would be sales success. However, me thinks the Grand Prix would do a lot better.  I wonder how the ‘68 GTO is doing?  

[mikos]

2 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

Considering that the #1 volume seller at my shop is Tamiya kit #24090 which is a full detail Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R, I think you're vastly underestimating the number of builders from what I loosely term the "Gran Turismo" generation of car fans, whose tastes decidedly don't run towards American muscle cars.

I have a pile of unsold '68 Coronet convertibles that tells me that old muscle car reissue hype doesn't always equate to sales. 

That’s a shame.  I was hoping Round 2 would have a lot of success with that kit.  More sales would create the justification to do more clone kits from the muscle car/classic car era.

I do like the Gran Turismo and tuner cars, but after 10-12 slightly different variations of the same car it can get a little boring.   Sales are sales though, so I can’t argue that.