Revell-Monogram 1994 - A Snapshot Look Back

[Casey]

I found this article in the Chicago Business Times while looking for more info on the Power Modeler CD-ROM they briefly offered. There are some interesting tidbits, and I was surprised to read how much Revell-Monogram invested and lost in the Power Modeler idea alone.

This is a cached Google page, so it took a while for it to load for me:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XzH8mgFvfiAJ:www.chicagobusiness.com/article/19940625/ISSUE01/100011836/revell-monogram-rebuilding-after-cd-rom-model-disaster-interactive-losses-hide-restructuring-push-for-licensing+CD-ROM+Power+Modeler&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Here's a pic of a Power Modeler CD-ROM package:

And a Nazca M12 kit with a sticker affixed to the lid, referencing the Power Modeler CD:

[Deathgoblin]

Actually, I want the Nazca kit. I'm gonna pick one up from Ebay when I get the chance.

[Fabrux]

But the relatively small number of CD-ROM-equipped personal computers and a price near $70 per kit spelled doom for Power Modeler.

Fast forward 19 years and we've actually come full circle. You'd be hard-pressed to buy a laptop with an optical drive these days.

[Jantrix]

I'd never heard of it. But, in retrospect, I was deployed for most of the mid-90's and not building at all.

[Brett Barrow]

Ah, yes I remember that Power Modeler debacle. Had they waited 4 or 5 years it might have turned out OK. I also built that Nazca kit back in the day.

And that article is still live on that website, here's an alternate link to the cached one http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/19940625/ISSUE01/100011836

Edited March 13, 2013 by Brett Barrow

[Brett Barrow]

I think an even bigger debacle than Power Modeler was their MagCliks line of tween girls' jewlery in the mid-2000's. That's pretty much why Revell ended up as part of Hobbico/Great Planes. All those non-core business ventures of the 90's and 2000's were total failures. I also remember a line of toy-like tranformer-type simple model kits, too, around that same time. Can't remember the name.

[Casey]

I also remember a line of toy-like tranformer-type simple model kits, too, around that same time. Can't remember the name.

R.A.M.S.?

http://www.internetmodeler.com/2000/november/first-looks/revell_ram.htm

[Brett Barrow]

Yup. That's the ticket. What stinkers...

[Casey]

A five & dime store I occasionally visit still has most of the R.A.M.S. kits on the shelf, but they also have a Tyco keytar still on the shelf from 1989, so maybe it's more about product movement.

[Rob Hall]

I remember the Power Modeler product, never bought it though....IIRC, 1993 when I first had a PC w/ a CD-ROM....long time ago.

[Brett Barrow]

And don't forget the late-90's botched attempt at a Revell-Monogram line of acrylic paint. Man, they wasted some stacks of cash back in those days. All that money flowing in from big-box stores and they pretty much blew it all...

[Casey]

And don't forget the late-90's botched attempt at a Revell-Monogram line of acrylic paint. Man, they wasted some stacks of cash back in those days. All that money flowing in from big-box stores and they pretty much blew it all...

Wasn't that part of the ProModeler concept?

No wonder we only get two new kits per year from Revell now.