Round 2 Aug 2024

[stavanzer]

How is the Coronet Hardtop selling. Is it slow moving, also?

[Justin Porter]

55 minutes ago, mikos said:

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?  

The '68 GTO does better than the Coronet. I'd say among the "clone" kits it's my third or fourth best performer behind the Nova wagon and the Mustang fastback, and doing about even with the Comet Caliente and the '64 Olds hardtop. 

Among Round 2 kits in general though, aside from the Nova wagon all of the clones get trounced in sales figures across my counter by Mueller era kit reissues like the '71 Duster and the '62 Bel Air. 

[Luc Janssens]

14 minutes ago, Justin Porter said:

Among Round 2 kits in general though, aside from the Nova wagon all of the clones get trounced in sales figures across my counter by Mueller era kit reissues like the '71 Duster and the '62 Bel Air. 

Interesting. Based on customer feedback, do you have some idea why this is?

Curious.

 

 

[Justin Porter]

1 minute ago, Luc Janssens said:

Interesting. Based on customer feedback, do you have some idea why this is?

Curious.

 

 

Several bits of feedback point to it. Firstly, a lot of the Mueller kits are fairly "everyone likes this" subjects like the '71 Duster. Secondly, the Craftsman Plus kits aren't priced at a discount compared to the "full" Mueller kits meaning unless someone specifically wants that subject, they're not as appealing. Thirdly, customers who are shopping for parts donors don't generally rob the clones and Craftsman Plus kits. For instance, the AMT pro street B bodies (either the Super Bee or GTX) are kits that are frequent sellers because their engines and chassis are going under other kits INCLUDING the aforementioned MPC '68 Coronet. 

I have high hopes for the reissue of the '57 Chevy Street Machine and the lowrider '70 Monte Carlo because of the high quality of those kits. Those kits are worth their pricetags AND I can completely see customers sliding the Chevy's frame under other Tri-Fives now that it'll be better marketed.

[niteowl7710]

2 hours ago, mikos said:

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?  

I'm sure it sold adequately in the first initial batch to justify making the H/T, which I suspect would have outsold it 3 to 1 anyways because Convertibles are clunkers of kits most of the time.  That's why it was released in the order it was, get all the initial excitement sales on that kit and then do the H/T people wanted.  If the Convertible came second, I doubt they would have sold very many of them at all (in overall terms).

There's still a bunch of people insisting they're going to wait for the "full kit" of that '68 GTO, that 99.9% will never arrive given Round2 cloned a promo, not an annual to make it (and the '65 GTO).  There's a whole mess of those sitting in the Wally World endcaps as well.

One thing to consider is that Wal*Mart most likely paid Round2 up front at least partially to carry those endcaps in the stores that sell model kits.  Because they've been in there now for several Christmases, so they must sell enough kits at their given prices to justify carrying them.  One thing Wal*Mart does is turn stock on shelves that doesn't sell, they have too many people wanting to sell stuff on too few sq feet of display space to keep poor performing items on the sales floor over the long haul.

[Richard Bartrop]

I've suspected that a lot of the demand for the Coronet was like the demand for the Uncertain T.  in that they saw the original kits going for stupidly high prices, so they wanted it just because they couldn't get it.   All the same, I'm sorry to hear it's not doing well, and I hope it doesn't make the company gun shy about requests.

Personally, if Round2 were to do a '63-65 Pontiac Grand Prix, I'd be all over that.

 

 

[stavanzer]

I've wanted both the '65 & '68 GTO's Just haven't found room in the budget for them. I see no problem with then being curbside.

[Motor City]

21 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

The '68 GTO does better than the Coronet. I'd say among the "clone" kits it's my third or fourth best performer behind the Nova wagon and the Mustang fastback, and doing about even with the Comet Caliente and the '64 Olds hardtop. 

Among Round 2 kits in general though, aside from the Nova wagon all of the clones get trounced in sales figures across my counter by Mueller era kit reissues like the '71 Duster and the '62 Bel Air. 

Justin,

How has the most recent reissue of the '69 XL been selling?  Do the '65 Bonneville and Grand Prix, '66 Wildcat and Park Lane sell decently every time they are reissued?

[Justin Porter]

1 minute ago, Motor City said:

Justin,

How has the most recent reissue of the '69 XL been selling?  Do the '65 Bonneville and Grand Prix, '66 Wildcat and Park Lane sell decently every time they are reissued?

Of that list, only the '66 Mercury has been a mild success on my shelf. The best selling of the classic tooling based full size 60's classics have been the '61 and '63 Galaxies. I brought in the '69 Galaxie but it hasn't moved yet. Likewise the '70 Wildcat. Truth be told, I've sold more of the Aoshima "Game Center" mobile arcade kei trucks than any three of the kits mentioned combined. 

[CapSat 6]

@Justin Porter, it's interesting what you say about the "everyone likes this" phenomenon. I guess it speaks to what we see from the manufacturers doing new tools of the more popular cars.

Deep in the model car hobby, it seems like the people that post on this board (myself included) are always looking for that thing we can't have (like the old full size cars, some Mercurys, and "hole fillers"), but a common complaint from old timers like me is that we see multiple variants and new tools of the same 5 or 10 cars sometimes ('67-'69 Camaros, '55-'57 Chevies, '32 Fords, etc.) instead of new items (like Mopar C Bodies, some never-done Mercurys, etc.). 

What do you see as far as sales of the new Revell '71 Mustangs? That's a good example of a kit that some people perhaps thought we didn't need. I would figure that the '71 Mustangs are something that fit somewhere into that "everyone likes this" category, and certainly, the only existing kits (AMT, MPC) were very meh.  

It's also very telling what you say about the more detailed kits with lots of optional parts. It's obvious that many people like to kitbash, and it seems that some kits are sold more as parts cars. 

Also- what about the old '70's releases that Round 2 has put out (like the Gremlin, Pacer, Monza, Volare, Pinto kits)? How did they sell? 

And yeah- I kind of dig that Mobile Arcade truck :) 

Edited August 23, 2024 by CapSat 6

[Luc Janssens]

Interesting how this tread is developing ?

What is it, which makes a kit desirable?

subject matter, execution, fun factor, kitbash, nostalgia, Tinseltown magic....hmmm

 

[Justin Porter]

1 hour ago, CapSat 6 said:

@Justin Porter, it's interesting what you say about the "everyone likes this" phenomenon. I guess it speaks to what we see from the manufacturers doing new tools of the more popular cars.

Deep in the model car hobby, it seems like the people that post on this board (myself included) are always looking for that thing we can't have (like the old full size cars, some Mercurys, and "hole fillers"), but a common complaint from old timers like me is that we see multiple variants and new tools of the same 5 or 10 cars sometimes ('67-'69 Camaros, '55-'57 Chevies, '32 Fords, etc.) instead of new items (like Mopar C Bodies, some never-done Mercurys, etc.). 

What do you see as far as sales of the new Revell '71 Mustangs? That's a good example of a kit that some people perhaps thought we didn't need. I would figure that the '71 Mustangs are something that fit somewhere into that "everyone likes this" category, and certainly, the only existing kits (AMT, MPC) were very meh.  

It's also very telling what you say about the more detailed kits with lots of optional parts. It's obvious that many people like to kitbash, and it seems that some kits are sold more as parts cars. 

Also- what about the old '70's releases that Round 2 has put out (like the Gremlin, Pacer, Monza, Volare, Pinto kits)? How did they sell? 

And yeah- I kind of dig that Mobile Arcade truck :) 

The new-tool Revell '71 Mustangs have been tremendously successful on my shelf. I attribute this to several factors. 
#1 - Excellent "Buzz" - Revell has done a good job marketing the kit as "all new" and that helps move units, as well as other folks seeing the positive experience of other builders on various forms of social media. 
#2 - Strong Subject Matter - The Mustang is a popular car, and it's a popular car with an excellent media record ranging from Gone in Sixty Second to Diamonds Are Forever (which Revell smartly tied into) to even the Top Gear Patagonia Special. 
#3 - Price Point - The Revell Boss 351 wears an MSRP of $31.95. The Revell "Diamonds Are Forever" Mach 1 wears an MSRP of $25.95. AMT's 1971 Mustang Mach 1 (kit #1262) wears an MSRP of $34.99. 

So, in short, Revell delivered an excellent kit of a "name brand" subject that got a lot of good press and they undercut the old product sold by their biggest rival. That's how you make a sales success. 

The Round 2 "malaise era" reissues have been pretty spotty for success on my shelf. Of that group, the Gremlin sold best and primarily to slot car drag racers. Not awful but nothing to write home about.  

[SteveG]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:46 AM, stavanzer said:

How is the Coronet Hardtop selling. Is it slow moving, also?

We're already filling the fourth order for the MPC975 Dodge Coronet hardtop kits, with more re-orders expected.  Add that on top of the MPC978 Convertible sales and I would say it's doing great for us. 

-Steve

[CapSat 6]

30 minutes ago, Justin Porter said:

The new-tool Revell '71 Mustangs have been tremendously successful on my shelf. I attribute this to several factors. 
#1 - Excellent "Buzz" - Revell has done a good job marketing the kit as "all new" and that helps move units, as well as other folks seeing the positive experience of other builders on various forms of social media. 
#2 - Strong Subject Matter - The Mustang is a popular car, and it's a popular car with an excellent media record ranging from Gone in Sixty Second to Diamonds Are Forever (which Revell smartly tied into) to even the Top Gear Patagonia Special. 
#3 - Price Point - The Revell Boss 351 wears an MSRP of $31.95. The Revell "Diamonds Are Forever" Mach 1 wears an MSRP of $25.95. AMT's 1971 Mustang Mach 1 (kit #1262) wears an MSRP of $34.99. 

So, in short, Revell delivered an excellent kit of a "name brand" subject that got a lot of good press and they undercut the old product sold by their biggest rival. That's how you make a sales success. 

The Round 2 "malaise era" reissues have been pretty spotty for success on my shelf. Of that group, the Gremlin sold best and primarily to slot car drag racers. Not awful but nothing to write home about.  

Thanks for the info, Justin! What you say, especially about the Mustang, makes a lot of sense. It looks like Revell really studied the market on that Mustang, executed it very well, and of course, friendly pricing doesn't hurt

[Carmak]

It is great to hear the clone kits are doing good in the marketplace!

It is possible that a larger than normal percentage of the initial clone kit sales were pre-order internet sales to the more "connected" model builder/collector.

The current retro clone box art on most of the clone kits is aimed at the more connected model builder/collector.

Once the connected model builder/collector market is saturated it is box art that sells kits.

Additionally, the Walmart thing did not help the hobby shops. They fit the market for some clone kits before the hobby shops got them.

I suspect we will start to see current clone kits in the future boxed in less authentic retro box art, themed box art (think "Dirty Donnie" or "Coke"), boxed with modern wheels/tires (current resto-mod style wheels) or some form of "easy builder" box art for the Craftsman clone kits.

 

 

[mikos]

1 hour ago, SteveG said:

We're already filling the fourth order for the MPC975 Dodge Coronet hardtop kits, with more re-orders expected.  Add that on top of the MPC978 Convertible sales and I would say it's doing great for us. 

-Steve

That’s good to hear. I hope the clone kits do very well so you can do even more clone kits from the past.   What I would like to see is molded in color clone kits as well.  Made in a plastic that can be polished out or clear coated.  The City Slicker (molded in blue metallic) and the Coca Cola (molded in red) Dodge Chargers were done this way and they were great. I bought two of each.  
 

Another thing that would be great is offering prebuilt (promo style) Craftsman kits again.  You know, like the pre-assembled pre painted or molded in color friction drive model cars they used to offer back in the ‘60’s.  Since new car and new retro promos are basically dead these days, it would give promo collectors something to be excited about in addition to the cloned model kits.   A pre-painted or molded in color prebuilt ‘68 GTO “Craftsman” style model would be very exciting.  You could do small runs in various colors to encourage people to collect them like they do with diecast cars.  Just some ideas….

Edited August 23, 2024 by mikos

[Luc Janssens]

1 hour ago, CapSat 6 said:

Friendly pricing doesn't hurt

Revell is also a worldwide company and handles their distribution accordingly, while Round-2 is oriented toward the North American market only, and 3rd parties deal with their distribution towards foreign countries. I'm wondering if an old alliance can be restored, meaning Round2 reaching out to Glow2B, so they can handle the distribution in Europe for their products and get them from the country of production. In contrast, Round2 Corp can handle the distribution of Heller products in NA, that way maybe prices can be adjusted towards those of the competition.

Just thinking out loud, no more no less. opinions are always welcome!

 

 

 

[stavanzer]

3 hours ago, SteveG said:

We're already filling the fourth order for the MPC975 Dodge Coronet hardtop kits, with more re-orders expected.  Add that on top of the MPC978 Convertible sales and I would say it's doing great for us. 

-Steve

Thank You, Steve. Proof that selling the 'Vert First leads to more Hardtop sales.

[tim boyd]

I am really, really happy to read that both the new tool Revell '71 Mustangs and the '68 R/T HT are doing well.  I lobbied for both of these behind the scenes as well as publicly (in the "Collecting Muscle Car Kits" book, here, and elsewhere), particularly so the '71 Mustang Boss 351.    Thanks Justin and Steve for your candid feedback on this topic!  Cheers...TIM 

[CapSat 6]

I think this goes to show that a combination of things makes a successful seller. I do think that some subjects are better suited to simplified tools, while others deserve the full detail treatment. 

I do still want to see not just the “everyone likes this”/ “greatest hits” cars, but also the occasional “neglected classics”, and if making some of these as more simplified kits makes the “dollars and sense” work, then I would be certainly happy to get all new subjects, even as curbsides. 

The ‘68 Coronet, ‘68 GTO and ‘71 Demon were an interesting experiment- all new kits designed to be close to the building experience of the originals. While the bodies and certain details on them were GREATLY improved over the originals, I think a few more things also could have been improved: perhaps the air cleaner from the Coronet could have been done to better represent the 1:1 piece (sorry, but MPC got this one all wrong back in the day), and the engine in the Demon could have been designed to look more and scale out more like the one in the AMT Duster. The under hood areas of both kits were vastly improved over the originals, but those old “MPC lookin’” engines kind of hurt all of that hard work in my eyes. 

Here are some ideas for variants of the newer AMT and MPC retro offerings: a Dick Landy Coronet, a ‘68 Super Bee (never before offered- I would be willing to bet that this one is in the pipeline) a ‘72 Mr. Norm’s GSS Demon, and a “Punisher” GTO would be neat offerings that would spark even more interest in those kits. I’m sure the initial offerings for these aren’t the last we have seen of them!!! 
 

 

[mikos]

On 8/22/2024 at 12:39 PM, stavanzer said:

I've wanted both the '65 & '68 GTO's Just haven't found room in the budget for them. I see no problem with then being curbside.

Rob, steal or beg to get the money for the ‘68 GTO.  I got two already with more planned in the future.  It’s a really nice kit if you like the simplified promo-style “Craftsman” style kits.  Like the promo for 1/10th the cost.  I plan on getting a few ‘65 GTO’s as well.

[CapSat 6]

8 minutes ago, mikos said:

Rob, steal or beg to get the money for the ‘68 GTO.  I got two already with more planned in the future.  It’s a really nice kit if you like the simplified promo-style “Craftsman” style kits.  Like the promo for 1/10th the cost.  I plan on getting a few ‘65 GTO’s as well.

And I like that for the ‘68, Round 2 added detail around the hood opening/ front fenders. I haven’t tried it, but I’m willing to bet that the ‘68 GTO could be bashed very successfully with the chassis from the AMT ‘69 Olds Cutlass. 

[Edsel-Dan]

I was shocked when I found the 63 Nova wagon, 64 Galaxie, 65 & 68 GTO Craftsman kits at my WalMart.

I did not buy the Galaxie, because I bought the California Drag Combo for the Trailer & Galaxie.

I did get 3 each of the 65  GTO & 63 Nova Wagon, but only 2 of the 68 GTO.

I got 2 of the 68 Coronet convert. there too.

 

I wish they had added new kits this year, but sales in my store must have been too soft.

I wanted to see the 71 Demon, as well as the Hardtop of the 68 Coronet.

All they have left are clearanced

NO, there are no more GTO's left!!