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Archive for the ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ Category
New York Comic con is just around the corner!
New York Comic con is just around the corner – October 10-13, 2013!
Round 2 will be there – stop by and see us at booth 443. You won’t want to miss our new model kits, die-cast cars, slot cars, Forever Fun, Captain Action, and even the Wicked Witch of the West will be in display.
http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/
Round 2 Models: Sneak Peek Announcements
Here are some early “sneak peek” announcements for the original issues of three classic kits, from two different eras.
From 1962, the Auto World Custom Club announcement for the 1949 Ford coupe kit. Another kit was announced along with it, but since that one isn’t available right now we ’ll focus on the 1949 coupe. This kit hasn’t been changed too much over the years, probably because the original AMT Customizing Team got it right in the first place. Most of the customizing features shown are still in the Round 2 issue of the kit, along with nice white plastic. Original issue kits were molded in medium gray, or light blue.
Next up, just a year later, AMT introduced another customizer’s favorite, the 1949 Mercury. Presented here is the original dealer “sell sheet” that hobby shops received. This was likely created before the kit tooling was finished, so some minor details differ. The bumperettes shown on the custom version didn’t make it into the kit, though similar parts can be found in the ’49 Ford coupe mentioned earlier. The Mercury kit has actually had parts added to it over the years, with most of the original options staying in the kit. The exact combination of optional items for the upcoming Round 2 reissue has not been finalized yet.
Finally, from near the back of a 1979 mid-year MPC catalog, here’s the original announcement for one of the best-selling model car kits of all time: The Dukes of Hazzard “General Lee” Charger. Molded in red? We guess the copy writer hadn’t seen the show yet!
Round 2 Models: Revvin’ It Up! A Look At The Automotive Side Of Things At iHobby 2010
Another iHobby has come and gone, and as Jamie said, it seemed a little quieter this year in comparison to last year’s all time high attendance record. Although I wasn’t there this year on consumer days, I did see photos of Round 2’s booth stuffed with people checking out all our products. No doubt, the new Auto World John Force Drag Strip Slot Car Set was a huge hit. I finally got a chance to try it myself on the trade days and absolutely loved it. Gotta’ have one myself! Clearly, there was much excitement over all our product lines and we are very happy about that.
A nice selection of die cast and slot car products was on display from the Auto World brand, including a new 1/25 scale slot car chassis we’re developing. We plan to release it in conjunction with plastic bodies from our 1/25 AMT and MPC car and truck kits. We’ll post more information as the project progresses. It’s gonna’ be good!
There were many upcoming 1/64 slot car bodies on display too, including the ’66 TV Batmobile, some awesome funny cars and pro stocks with amazing deco detail and even the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine! Auto World has some very exciting programs coming indeed.
For plastic car and truck kits, we of course showed the mockup of the 1/25 ’66 Snap-Together Batmobile kit and the excitement is just as strong as when the announcement was made that Polar Lights would be doing a 1/25 scale kit in both snap and glue versions.
As always, we showed built up models of some current and upcoming kits. The upcoming 1962 Thunderbird kit with the ‘never before released’ custom and additional parts added was on display – a fabulous build by Mike Wherry. Mike’s box art models of the 1966 Olds 4-4-2 and 1969 GTX were also on display, as well as his build of the upcoming 1/16 scale General Lee. Bruce Pearce built a super cool Depth Charger for us, and a fantastic green chopped ’25 ‘T’. Great stuff to see!
For 2011, we’ve got some great kits cookin’. We’re planning on doing the necessary backdating to reissue the clear-bodied Richard Petty Nascar Charger kit in 1/16 scale. I also hope to fill in the T-top roof of the 70’s AMC Gremlin kit, and potentially backdate it to the 1976 “stock” version it once was. If you want to see this happen, send an email to [email protected] and tell us!
If all goes well, the Opel GT will be reissued with more of its original parts. I am looking at including real aluminum injector stacks for the drag motor option. We’ll see!
For the MPC Road Runner Rail Rider, Beep ‘T’ and Wile E. Coyote with his Wile E. Willys, these kits are going to all include pre-painted vinyl figures. Warner Bros. would not approve the original snap-together plastic figures originally included in the kits in the 1970s, and we found they didn’t assemble well anyway. The new vinyl figures look amazing and the kits will be great for attracting youngsters to the excellent hobby of building models.
To follow up on the great success of the AMT 1925 ‘T’ “original version” reissue with its chopped body and other restored parts, we’re planning a release of the second “Tall ‘T'” issue with all its related parts for 2011. By the way, if you want to see the ’25 ‘T’ Fruit Wagon and Paddy Wagon versions reissued in the future, email us!
Probably my favorite mockup on display was the ’40 Ford Coupe, for a new program that will be called the “Original Art Series”. Over the past few years we’ve been fortunate to gain access to some original AMT box art paintings from the 1960s and 1970s. We also have a great group of “new-retro” paintings from Brad Leisure. The plan is to use these vintage and yesteryear styled paintings and reissue some of the corresponding kits, in a box size similar to the vintage AMT Elegance Series kits of the 1960s. While we won’t be including any spray paint like the Elegance kits did, we WILL be including special prints inside the kit, printed on the same card stock as the box lids, giving you a robust piece of classic artwork that you can frame or just display as is. This is some of the coolest and memorable automotive artwork ever created and we want to share it with all the modelers who remember it so well.
For the big rig truck fans, a built up by Tim Ahlborn of the upcoming Kenworth K-123 kit was on display, as well as the Fruehauf flatbed trailer, Transtar 4300 Eagle and White Freightliner Dual Drive tractor. We’ve got more great truck and trailer kits planned for 2011 such as the Diamond Reo and White Western Star.
Overall, it was a great show, and I think 2011 is going to be even better than 2010.
Thanks to everyone who came out to give us feedback.
The pedal is to the metal!
Dukes of Hazzard: Not Just For Daisy! by Mark Budniewski
One of the muscle cars that bridged the gap between the true early muscle cars and the “tape stripe muscle car” era was the ’73-’74 Plymouth Roadrunner. Governmental regulations were putting a damper on horsepower, and the manufacturers were still getting a handle on how to deal with all of the new rules and still build in some excitement. The basic hardware was still there under all the hoses and wires for anyone who was able to do a few sub rosa “workarounds” in order to find it. And the styling was still quite good, even behind those “five mile per hour” bumpers.
Starting with the 1971 models, MPC was handling all of the scale promotional model business for the Plymouth Division of Chrysler. They had produced the Barracuda promo models starting in 1968, but now had the midsize Plymouth too. As in most instances, what was offered as a promo usually made it into kit form, and the Roadrunner was no exception. The Roadrunner was pretty typical of the MPC promo-turned-kit in those days: accurate body styling, good engraving, and standard interior and chassis detail including the molded-to-the-chassis exhaust system. The ‘Runner had been reissued a couple of times before Round 2 Models entered the picture, but some of the details weren’t quite right. Some parts were altered for use in later kits and not backdated to correct ’73-’74 spec for the reissues.
Until now! The box might read “Dukes of Hazzard“, but what’s inside is 100% stock Roadrunner, with stock stripe decals in three colors so you can lay the body color of your choice over the white plastic. There are even extra air cleaner decals in case you want to do some parts swapping and use a different Mopar engine from some other kit. For the first time since 1974, you get not only a chassis pan with dual exhaust detail, but also the correct instrument panel. So, if you aren’t a Dukes fan, you can still add this generation of Mopar muscle to your collection!
