Box art.

[cobraman]

How much if at all does the box art influence you to purchase a particular kit ? When I started building models in the 60's the box did help me decide which kit to buy. I learned pretty quick that sometimes the box art has little to do with what the finished product would look like . I point to Palmer. They had some very cool looking boxes but the kit did not resemble even a little what was actually what the finished product looked like. Now I wait and read reviews here and in the magazines before I put down money on a "new" kit.

[Ramfins59]

The Box Art doesn't influence me at all. I buy kits based on whether or not I like that particular car. While I do read the magazine kit reviews, they rarely if ever influence my kit buying.

[Ben]

If I had a choice of an original issue with the cool box art or a rerelease with a picture of the actual model on the box. I would go for the original even if it cost more. The box art means a lot to me as it brings back memories. A lot of box art back in the 70's especially on truck kits was more art than just a box to put a kit in. I love having all those great old boxes to look at!

[martinfan5]

The Box Art doesn't influence me at all. I buy kits based on whether or not I like that particular car. While I do read the magazine kit reviews, they rarely if ever influence my kit buying.

Pretty much my answer as well, I also use http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/car/ to see what the kit contents are like, and see what I am getting

[trogdor]

As a kid, box art was everything to me. Now that I'm much older I don't give it much thought unless I'm looking to buy an original from the early days

[pharoah]

Yep,same here. When I was a kid,box art was great. There were no photos on the box,just paintings. But like they said,it led to some disappointments,too. Palmer being one of them. But overall I loved the old box art.

[mikemodeler]

I bought a lot of Daisy Duke Jeep kits and a couple of Charlie's Angels vans because of "box art"

[MAGNUM4342]

Box art has had little influence on me. Sure sometimes it's cool looking but back in the seventies I bought alot of the plain-brown wrapper kits like the Aurora mailers. Probably as many as printed boxes. It's all about the plastic.

[Guest]

Box art has little influence for me in purchasing. Reviews of contents are much more persuasive for me. But I do enjoy well done box art

[Roadkill2525]

I got these for pretty much because of the box art.

[slusher]

When l was a kid the box art was everything and while in my 20's some art or picture would influenceme some. Now l knoe most of the relisted models and tend to buy what l like or want. lf i waited for some reviews l would be waiting a while. the reviews does not matter what kit l buy but l still read them for information...

[johnbuzzed]

Box art can be cool but I wouldn't base a purchase on box art. Magazine and forum reviews are helpful in separating the wheat from the chaff. Unless, of course, I really wanna build the subject of a particular kit; then, it don't matter...

[cooltoys1]

Even though i am 100% familiar with the contents, i do buy all my vintage kits with the box art in mind. I even buy all the reissues solely on the box art. Some kits i think the box art is worth more than the kit inside. Its really based on the kit. I have every issue of the 65 Chevelle wagon, but bought all of them, other than the original issue, soley on the box art.

[Monty]

AMT's box art of the late '60s undoubtedly had an influence in my choosing one kit over another when I was young. The way the various options were depicted could inspire you to get creative with your own build. Later (early '80s?) photographic images (Brown '32(?) Ford, dark gold '57 Ford custom) actally negatively influenced my buying decisions.

The only time I really got burned was when I saw the Palmer '74 Thunderbird. The box art implied that it would have wide wheels & tires as well as engine upgrades. My normally non-assertive self stormed back to the store and told the owner that he needed to quit selling junk like that.

[IMSANUT]

A recent purchase on Ebay brought back a flood of positive memories from child hood. I scored a rebox of two Heller single seat Formula racers with awesome box art. As an early builder, I was heavily influenced by the box art of many kits. AMT's was some of the best, as was much of Tamiya's. Now, at 55 years of age, box art of current kits does not influence my purchases, though I still love the art of the older stuff. Nowadays, the box is merely a storage place for the parts.....

[Tom Geiger]

I think most of us are too much of insiders for the box art to affect us! We know what's going on from the rumor stage of a new kit, so we know what we will and won't buy before it ever hits the market.

Box art is a big seller to the general public, those that see kits for the first time on the hobby shop shelf. We seldom see stuff we don't already know about. Remember the excitement as a kid when you went store to store to look at the model selection. You'd find new kits you never knew existed and that was very exciting. And there was box art that absolutely sold kits! For me it was the Revell '57 Nomad kit. That beach scene got me time and time again. I really wanted to have the car on the box top!

Here's the box. Note the Bob Paeth autograph in the sand!

[Dr. Cranky]

When started building models, it was all planes, and I remember loving all the box art. I'm all for illustrations on box tops.

[Harry P.]

Box art doesn't make one bit of difference. I buy kits of subjects that interest me. Box art is competely immaterial.

[Casey]

I got these for pretty much because of the box art.

Ditto:

I'd buy a few older kit boxes just because of the artwork, too:

[Scuderia]

I can't say I'm interested art either. Since my favorite cars were released in an era of photos of the actual car, or studio built-ups I got a lot of boring box art lol.

[martinfan5]

Hmmm...box "art" versus photos of the actual contents. I'll admit that in many cases box "art" can be eye catching and can cause one to stop and look at a model they might not have. However for me, I would much rather have photos (non re-touched) of the actual kit. I could care less if it's a professionally built box-top-model if it's done decent. Show me what i'm getting, not an artists conception of what it could be.

Agreed

[Junkman]

Half of my collection consists of stuff purely bought for the box art.

[sjordan2]

In my estimation, nearly all model kit box art -- especially the paintings -- is second-rate when it comes to technique. That covers everything that isn't a photo on page one of this thread. One of the very few pieces of excellent painting that I've seen is this one... I have this kit, and it's as excellent in its production as the taste of the manufacturer who okayed the box art.

I think most of the Revell of Germany art of the past few years has also been quite good.

Edited January 19, 2013 by sjordan2

[Eshaver]

A M T's gorgeous art prints in 1969 were the all time high point in their history. Monogram had a few hits , so did Revell. A M T blew it period when they were held hostage by Racing Champions . I dunno how many times a box art model was depicted on a box , only to be something ENTIRELY different with in the box .

[Von Don Koolkat]

I've talked with several modelers who already had this kit - but bought this version just because of the box art.

http://images57.fotki.com/v300/photos/4/504634/10207040/62_pontiac_beswick-vi.jpg