How Do I Find Out Kit Manufacture Date and Issue/Reissue Number

[Miatatom]

I have about 75 kits in my stash. Many of them seem to be older kits. Some of them have dates on the instructions. How do I determine when a kit I have was manufactured and which issue/reissue it is? I've got quite a few Tamiya kits and can't find any sort of date on the box or instructions.

[jbwelda]

well the problem is, dates are often reprinted just as they were originally, especially during the period up to the late 80s or early 90s. so that isn't really a certain date. sometimes there are details that you can spot that will date a kit but sometimes not. mostly you have to have the experience to tell the originals from often near identical issues later on. and Tamiya and Japanese kits in general can be really tricky, as you mention they do not seem to have dates on a lot of them, or at least not in their second or third language, English.

you can find reference books online and in reals that can help with research and you might try posting some photos in one of the forums here (maybe the one on kit reviews and views?) and people can chime in with info

jb

[Matt Bacon]

This place isn't the easiest to navigate, but has lots of the information you want:

https://www.scalemates.com

If you Google <name of kit/original> "scalemates" you'll usually get what you want in the top couple of results eg:

Googling "Ford Galaxie Scalemates" gives you this:

https://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=227920

bestest,

M.

[jbwelda]

that product timeline feature is pretty kool. thanks for pointing that out.

jb

[SfanGoch]

There's also Model Encyclopedia.

[Force]

This place isn't the easiest to navigate, but has lots of the information you want:

https://www.scalemates.com

If you Google <name of kit/original> "scalemates" you'll usually get what you want in the top couple of results eg:

Googling "Ford Galaxie Scalemates" gives you this:

https://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=227920

bestest,

M.

that product timeline feature is pretty kool. thanks for pointing that out.

jb

Well that timeline for the 1965 Galaxie kit and some more I have seen from them are useless as they are not accurate at all, the 1965 kit could not have been a new tool 1961 as the car itself didn't come until the fall of 1964, another thing is that the 65 doesn't share anything with the older siblings, except for the drive train everything was new for that year, the chassis, suspension, body and so on.

The first kit in the timeline is a 1961 Galaxie, the second is the 1965 Galaxie original issue,not a rebox, the third is the 1961 Galaxie reissued, the fourth is a 1970 Galaxie and the fifth is the same 1965 Galaxie as the second one reissued last year...there has been some more reissues of the 65 Galaxie kit but they are missing.

On newer kits you can find a © date on either the box or the instructions...or both...and that can give you a clue on when the kits are made, but on many older kits there are no dates at all so you might have to look in some old catalogs to find out when they are made and what issue it is.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Force

[High octane]

There is also The Directory of Model Car Kits w/price guide for 124th & 1/25th scale kits by Bill Coulter & Bob Shelton. It has been VERY helpful as it lists the year, description, scale, year issued, kit #, and value. I've used it many times when buying or selling kits over the years. The Directory is updated every few years as well. I've bought mine from Model Empire, and I think the Model Roundup has it listed in their inventory as well. I do recommend this publication.

Remember that the value is ONLY a guide and not gospel, as I've seen kits selling for lower and higher prices at times, than what is listed.

[jbwelda]

well that is an interesting detail you point out with the timeline.

on another subject, "price guides" are generally useless, in my experience anyway.

jb