"Holy Grail" Models?

[Monty]

Built this as a kid and liked it, in part because it was a funny car that wasn't Mopar-powered.  

Haven't seen one in person since, and can't afford the prices they reach on ebay.  

[ChrisBcritter]

22 hours ago, Brutalform said:

My holy grail. I’ve been looking for a Johan 63 Dodge for some time now. I lost out on two kits in the past. But this time around I was lucky enough to score this little gem. Most likely will be built into a max wedge stocker. 

Major score! Let me know if you don't need the wire wheelcovers/knockoffs and four bar spinners... 

[Earl Marischal]

On 7/6/2020 at 1:04 AM, doorsovdoon said:

Mine is the Morris Marina by Airfix, I have three of the real ones! The kit turns up on ebay sometimes but go for silly money and they are only 1/32 scale. I read that the moulds were destroyed a long time ago from a train accident apparently when being transported somewhere.

 

Blimey. I remember that one. I think I rejected it when it came out as was too mundane a car. ? The decisions you make when you're young...

For some reason I cannot for the life of me remember, I didn't build their Capri either. Bet they go for silly money these days!

steve

[Brutalform]

15 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Major score! Let me know if you don't need the wire wheelcovers/knockoffs and four bar spinners... 

Will do. Not totally sure which way the build will go. I’ll keep you in mind. 

[Tom Geiger]

14 hours ago, Earl Marischal said:

Blimey. I remember that one. I think I rejected it when it came out as was too mundane a car. ? The decisions you make when you're young...

For some reason I cannot for the life of me remember, I didn't build their Capri either. Bet they go for silly money these days!

steve

I’m an American but I lived in Europe in the late 1960s and bought the Airfix 1/32s. Great little models with as much if not more detail than US 1/25 kits of that era. 

I never had the Marina but a bunch of the others. I still have the Mercedes SL and Capri.

[larman]

The Monogram 1932 Ford Sport Coupe from around 1960 and the 1968 Impala SS hardtop. Had both TWICE and sold them. Very foolish. 

[oldscool]

My holy grail kit is the AMT 67 Mustang fastback with the Trudell Ford drag car on the box. Running a close second is the MPC King T/Wild Dream double kit.

[Spottedlaurel]

Seeing this topic got me thinking. I couldn't immediately think of any that I MUST eventually have, but there's definitely a couple of gaps in my stash that I'd like to fill at some point:

Datsun/Nissan produed eight generations of Laurel from 1968 to about the turn of the millennium when they killed it off. I've had several 1:1s and I have at least one version of each generation that was offered as a 1:24 kit apart from the above. In the past I have bought from HobbySearch in Japan, but even they don't list any of the three different issues being available. I'm sure one will turn up someday though.

Also the Monogram Corvette America, which doesn't appear to get a lot of love:

I bought one circa 1984 from a local model shop (sadly long-gone) and still have the remnants of it in the parts box. It donated its wheels to the Maserati V8 project. It's way too far gone to rebuild, but it just feels like something I have 'unfinished business' with. I missed out on one on eBay here a few years ago and don't recall seeing any others come up for sale since.

[Bucky]

I have one of those 4 door Corvette kits. They don't seem to show up often on eBay.

[Bucky]

One of my current "Grail" items is a 1/25 scale 1967 Imperial promo. I have four of the 1968 Imperial promos, and they pop up far more often than the '67.

I would probably consider trading one of the '68s for a '67.

[Mike999]

On 7/11/2020 at 2:04 AM, Bucky said:

I have one of those 4 door Corvette kits. They don't seem to show up often on eBay.

Anybody who wanted one missed out recently.  I sold a Corvette America on eBay at the end of May.  It went for $34.99 "Buy It Now" + shipping. 

You're right, they don't come up very often. I always research kits I'm selling, using eBay's "Completed Items."  That gives me a good idea of the prices kits are really selling for. 

My Corvette America was complete with just a few parts off the trees, but the box was water-stained and pretty beat up.  Mint condition shrink-wrapped kits went for an average of about $40, so $34.99 seemed reasonable.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Mike999
omit

[Bucky]

1 hour ago, Mike999 said:

Anybody who wanted one missed out recently.  I sold a Corvette America on eBay at the end of May.  It went for $34.99 "Buy It Now" + shipping. 

You're right, they don't come up very often. I always research kits I'm selling, using eBay's "Completed Items."  That gives me a good idea of the prices kits are really selling for. 

My Corvette America was complete with just a few parts off the trees, but the box was water-stained and pretty beat up.  Mint condition shrink-wrapped kits went for an average of about $40, so $34.99 seemed reasonable.

I wouldn't have argued with your price. Seems it was on the mark. I don't know what condition the parts are in with my kit. I never ripped off the plastic, like I usually do.

[Oldcarfan27]

These would have to be a few that I hope to stumble across someday. 

1. Monogram Dog Catcher. It was a kit I built with my grandfather when I was 6 or 7. I'll never forget his big thumb print on the front of the glass!

2. AMT Bushwacker. Was a birthday present when I was 8, and I built it badly! But that box art calls to me.

3. Lindberg Red Demon/Blue Streak /Hot Canary. I don't know when my dad got it, but I remember as a kid, finding it in a box in the garage - with all the optional parts and trying my best to get it all to work. Alas, another one that I failed. 

And I remember how those decals scared me. Satan is ugly!

4. Aurora Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. I know, this one is unobtainium. I like the colors, the chrome and the  over-the-top features. The fact it's from a Disney movie means we'll never see another one. But it's soooo cool!

5. Aurora Super Spy Car. This is another "Oh, dream on" kit that I could only hope to find at some out-of-the-way garage sale someday. 

6. MPC Ironside van. This one is so obscure that I've never seen a box of it in person. However, I know it exists because I have some of the specific van parts, including the body, roof and the wheelchair. Now if I could acquire the rest of it.

Edited January 11, 2021 by Oldcarfan27

[Richard Bartrop]

This is one I hadn't dared to hope for, since the originals are as hard to find as actual grails, but this one is making a comeback.

 

[doorsovdoon]

On 7/7/2020 at 12:03 PM, Earl Marischal said:

Blimey. I remember that one. I think I rejected it when it came out as was too mundane a car. ? The decisions you make when you're young...

For some reason I cannot for the life of me remember, I didn't build their Capri either. Bet they go for silly money these days!

steve

Yeah, I didn't look twice at these cars when I was younger, they were everywhere! My dad went through two of them in a row in the 80's. If a complete kit turns up I might just take the hit to my wallet and knock a few resin copies out.

[magicmustang]

13 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

5. Aurora Super Spy Car. This is another "Oh, dream on" kit that I could only hope to find at some out-of-the-way garage sale someday. 

 

If I may make a suggestion. Look for the Airfix kit verses the Aurora one. I had them both. The Aurora model is toy like (curbside only) compared the the detailed Airfix kit. I sold the Aurora one and kept the Airfix kit.   

Edited January 11, 2021 by magicmustang

[Oldcarfan27]

Just now, magicmustang said:

If I may make a suggestion. Look for the Airfix kit verses the Aurora one. I had them both. The Aurora model is toy like compared the the detailed Airfix kit. I sold the Aurora one and kept the Airfix kit.   

Technically, with all their out of scale operating features, true modelers would probably call both of them toys. And yes I would love to have both of them, but "needle in a haystack" is too kind a word. And no, I won't pay scalpers' prices for them.

Shame neither one of them was ever reissued again, I guess that's what makes it a 'grail' for me.

I've thought about converting a Monogram DB3 into one, but that's a lot of research and scratchbuilding! Still, might be worth while.

[lordairgtar]

16 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

 

 

6. MPC Ironside van. This one is so obscure that I've never seen a box of it in person. However, I know it exists because I have some of the specific van parts, including the body, roof and the wheelchair. Now if I could acquire the rest of it.

I had this kit when it came out. I remember getting the smart idea to actually put some kind of oil in the clear oil pan. Engine had a crankshaft, pistons and looked pretty decent. I used vegetable oil but my skills then made it impossible to glue an oil filled part to a already painted engine block...oh live and learn. I'd like another crack at it, minus the oil. LOL

 

[ranma]

16 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Disney movie means we'll never see another one.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang wasn't a Disney movie it was United Artist. That kit was one of my grail kit's that I now have built in my collection. I have two Grail kit's I'd still like to have, even though I have resin copies I'd still would like to have the original issue's 

MPC 1971 Impala Coupe, and the MPC '72 Impala/Caprice..

Iv'e lucked out and have both MPC '68 Impala's Both MPC 69 Impala's not to mention the '73,74,75,76 MPC Caprice's which were all grail kit's for me.

[stitchdup]

My grails at the moment are 2 scale production trans kits that have been long out of production. One is the mk4 golf r32 and the other is the t1 crew cab

[Sam I Am]

These two, and both are well above my pay grade. 

[The Junkman]

The Gunze Cobra Daytona Coupe Hi Tech multi media kit.  Better than that, more than one.  But I've not seen one for sale for several years.

Edited January 12, 2021 by The Junkman

[ChrisBcritter]

On 1/11/2021 at 12:25 AM, Oldcarfan27 said:

4. Aurora Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang. I know, this one is unobtainium. I like the colors, the chrome and the  over-the-top features. The fact it's from a Disney movie means we'll never see another one. But it's soooo cool!

As Rick said above: Not Disney (it was United Artists), but it tried very hard to be just like a Disney movie, including casting Dick Van Dyke and hiring the Sherman brothers to write the songs! When I saw it as a kid I thought it was like Mary Poppins with a car .

Edited January 12, 2021 by ChrisBcritter

[Oldcarfan27]

9 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

As Rick said above: Not Disney (it was United Artists), but it tried very hard to be just like a Disney movie, including casting Dick Van Dyke and hiring the Sherman brothers to write the songs! When I saw it as a kid I thought it was like Mary Poppins with a car .

Me too! That's why I thought it was Disney.

Be cool if Polar Lights did a tool copy of this kit like they did with other Aurora kits. IE: The Undertaker, and Addam's Family mansion.

[Matt Bacon]

5 hours ago, ChrisBcritter said:

As Rick said above: Not Disney (it was United Artists), but it tried very hard to be just like a Disney movie, including casting Dick Van Dyke and hiring the Sherman brothers to write the songs! When I saw it as a kid I thought it was like Mary Poppins with a car .

It’s actually more like a James Bond movie! Produced by Cubby Broccoli from a book by Ian Fleming, written by Roald Dahl and Richard Maibaum and with a car and locations designed by Ken Adam, featuring Gert Frobe (Goldfinger)... as well as being a United Artists production... 

I’d still like one of those kits, though!

best,

M.