Aside from "Why don't you build . . .?"

[Greg Myers]

I'm always puzzled with the reasons that come up on the question; What happened to such and such kit? So often the answers given are never really backed up with facts, or the reasons given are easily refuted.

Another interesting question came up in another post recently, why do so many of a certain type kit get reissued but the one you want or one that would seem to be a sure fire winner never show?

The train wreck that took a lot of the great Aurora kits on their way to Monogram was certainly a disaster, and I understand the manufactures do, from time to time clean house, but wouldn't you like to know whats back their in those dark corners of their storage rooms?

[Longbox55]

This sounds like an interesting topic. Some things are a given, like the reason a given kit or subject get reissued. Simply put, sales. If a given kit or subject matter is a hot seller, it makes sence to keep it out there, perhaps with refreshening to keep it up to date (especially with the custom parts). Another reason you see so many retooling or new tooling of a given subject also falls under sales, but also the manufacturers are looking at what's going on with the 1:1 car world. Tri-Five Chevies, Mustangs, '69 Camaros are all hot items in the 1:1 world, as are Donks, Rat Rods, Muslcears. For the most part, mainstreamers are, well, boring. While you will always see the "why don't they make this, the real ones sell like hotcakes" question pop up, just because a car sells wel in the real world doesn't necessarily mean that a scale replica will do the same. Take the #1 selling car in the world, the Toyota Camry. There are no kits of this car, not even the Sport model (which is an awesome looking car, BTW). I have a good freind that's wants one, as he builds the real ones for a living. If the model manufacturers saw that they could make a profit from tooling one up, they would.

OK, now that I've said that, I do like how things have gone from a "Box Store Mentality" on what subjects are to be done, and we are starting to see more unusual kits comming out (Loanstar, Hudson Hornet), so perhaps we may see more mainstreamers in the future.

On another part of you post, I suppose with older tooling of what could be considered a good seller can fall into a few catagories; 1- the tool is worn out/damaged/lost, which would prevent reissue.

2- the original isse was a poor seller. If they had a bad experience the first time out, the bean counters will be hesitant to reissue, even though there's countless modellers asking for a reissue. Good example, the Ertl tractor kits. As Art has stated, they were poor sellers originaly. Granet, if you look at the many times it's been mentioned (I've even mentioned it) that they should be reissued, and Ebay prices are atronomical (especially for the Massey-Ferguson), it really doesn't make sence to reissue something that has a limited market.

3- The tool has simply been forgotten. Maangement/employess change over the years. Records get mixed up/lost. The tools could simply be in that box all the way in the back, you know, the one that the label isn't legible anymore. No one knows what's in it, and they don't want to open it either. Then some manager decides to clean up the "clutter", and then it falls under "tooling lost" catagory. Fortunatly, it seems more and more old tooling is getting found and refurbished.

Oh, and yes, I would LOVE to poke around in the storerooms!

[Chuck Most]

The other thing that's seemed to happen a few times is this- the kit manufacturer looks at what modelers are saying, looks at what original versions of a particular kit are selling for in the collector's market, and reissues the kit... only tho have the reissue be a monumental flop (AMT/Ertl Beverly Hillbillies kit comes to mind on that one).

Granted, there are always exceptions- I was glad to see the Scout II kit in AMT/Ertl's catalog for a few years last decade, that kit had not been available since the late '70's, aside from the resin repop from Hendrix. I don't know how well that kit did in the marketplace, but here in central MI, they sold out rather quickly- I even know of a couple non-modelers who bought some. And those reissues are starting to go up in price, as opposed to the BH kit, I bought a few of those for five bucks a pop on clearance! I'd love to see those farm tractor kits reissued, but I am NOT holding my breath!

I'm convinced it's a cost thing, the majority of the time, as opposed to a lack of interest, keeping certain kits from being reissued. There are all car subjects we'd love to see in scale kit form, question remains, is it worth the trouble of the manufacturer to spend the effort and money? That doesn't just apply to new tooling, but it applies to existing tooling as well. Some kits aren't reissued because the tooling is junk, and beyond repair. The tooling to some kits is still workable, but needs some attention, and the company has to weigh the cost of fixing the molds against how well the kit would sell. Sure some manufacturers (cough, cough, RC2 and JoHan) would reissue them no matter how worn out the tooling was, but I think those days are over. Kit manufacturers these days aren't into producing unbuildable junk. Do I belive there are pretty-much ready to reissue tools of much wanted kits in the manufacturers vaults? Of course I do. But along comes that cost/sales thing. I might want to see that particular kit back on the shelves, and you might too, but we might be the only two guys who want it back...