Recommended Sites
Archive for the ‘MPC’ Category
Round 2 Models: Get ‘em While They Are Hot!
Sorry for the long gap between posts but it has been a busy month here at Round 2 Models. We have been super busy wrapping up our new model kit catalog and our national sales meeting. With all that behind us, it is back to work.
One thing dawned on me while working on the catalog… Well, two things actually.
1) The Bigfoot and Strange Change Mummy and Vampire are in production as I type and they are being manufactured here in the US. With a couple hiccups overcome, I hope to see pre-production samples soon. We hope to have the kits released by the end of October. That leads me to…
2) We are starting a new initiative that we are calling “1 RUN OF FUN”. Basically, what we have found is that there are certain kits in our tooling banks that we get requests for that are too cool not to bring back out, but they won’t necessarily appeal to everyone. So we will be running the kits once and that is it! In the case of popular kits, we might do several runs as our inventory gets low and sales on a kit continue steadily. We have seen some cases where we soon find out that after the first batch, they will never be run a second time. With history on our side, we can predict which kits will likely fall into this category. In a few cases, there are kits that we might run because we want to backdate the tooling to an earlier version so we’ll first run it one last time in its current condition for anyone looking for a later version. Then, we’ll rework the tooling to its original condition with no hope of changing it again. So, from now on whenever you see a 1 RUN OF FUN sticker on one of our kits that means “get ‘em while they are hot” or you might miss out. The Strange Change Mummy and Vampire and Bigfoot are our first kits released under this program.
Round 2 Models: Things They Are A Changin’
Sorry for the delay in posting once again. We are just beyond the peak of a hill of changes going on around here at Round 2. In the last two months, we have moved the entire creative team into one central area, added two new creatives and a creative director, a creative department intern and two staffers for our new marketing department along with a couple more interns to help them out.
So how will this affect us and me and the sci-fi model kit development specifically? I have been able to hand off marketing responsibilities so I don’t have to sink time into advertising and the marketing people can assist in copywriting for packaging. They have also taken over all publicity and handle some of the execution of the 1701 CLUB stuff too. I will continue to write blogs, check in on message boards and supply content for our newsletters and 1701 CLUB updates. In addition to the marketing help, one of the creatives and the intern has been assigned to work on the model kit lines. Between John and myself we’ve got plenty of stuff to keep them busy. This brings our total number of people working full-time on model kits to four (not including the intern). The end result will be better quality, on time product and more product releases. Thanks to the influx of talent, I’m nearly caught up with my workload. I haven’t been able to say that in well over a year. The new workspace seems to be working out great too. I had to sacrifice an office of my own to move into a cubicle but I never needed that much privacy to begin with. We still have some settling in to do and work to do while we do it.
Let’s run down some product updates so this post has a little bit of news.
Barnabas Collins– Tooling adjustments have delayed the release but the changes made ended up being a lot nicer than I had envisioned. Both Barnabas and the werewolf should arrive in August or September but not necessarily at the same time.
Leif Ericson– I need to finish up the packaging and as soon as it is done, it’ll be on its way. All of the tooling adjustments have been made and it looks great.
Batmobile (Glue Kit)– I’m refining the decals a bit today. Otherwise it is done and should arrive on time.
We’ll be adding more kits to our website soon like the Enterprise C and some returning kits like the Strange Changes and Bigfoot (finally).
I should have my first update out to 1701 CLUB members by the end of the month as well. If you haven’t signed up for the Premiere Edition 1:350 TOS Enterprise kit yet, don’t delay. Slots are going fast.
Round 2 Model Kits: This just in…
It seems like I can go on for months doing packaging artwork for our Round 2 model kits or working up PR plans and not have anything of great import to share on the blog. It sucks because I like to show the progress on stuff when I can. I received a package in the mail today that I thought would draw a little interest. Then I looked at what else was sitting around on my desk and thought, “hey, that’s not a bad lot of this and that.” So, there it is.
First, the thing that came in today is the mockup of the Lief Ericson. This is essentially the proof of concept model that the factory developed. Essentially, what it shows is that they understand and can execute all of the tooling changes I asked for to the UFO tooling. Usually, no tooling work is done at this point but this case may be an exception. I believe they are showing test shots for the first time of the clear parts. I hadn’t seen them before now but they’ve had the file long enough and the parts look crystal clear. I’ll be checking on that over night.
I’m also showing the Batmobile snap buildup that arrived the other day. Mike Wherry put this together from a resin mockup and parts from the early test shots. He did an awesome job especially the way he handled the striping. I’ll need to touch up some spots in photoshop including adding the doorbats, etc. The Corvette came in the same shipment. The Batmobile snap box is a package mockup that you’ve probably seen before (Makes for a bigger picture though).
Lastly, you see the Dark Shadows boxes. Barnabas comes from Tom L’s collection. The Werewolf is new to us. We found it just as we needed it. I haven’t started retouching the werewolf yet but I did Barney a while back. Anyone with appreciation for photoshop work should note that I edited out all of that type on the side of the box in order to re-typeset it. It was a bit of a challenge. Like I said. Some of this stuff isn’t so exciting…
Oh, one more thing. We like to put up polls on our website but we haven’t updated it in a while. The Batmobile buildup inspired one that will let you give us a little input on the final kit. Check it out on the Round 2 Models homepage.
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!
Polar Lights Model Kits: iHobby Recap!
Our shows for the year have wrapped up with our attendance at the international iHobby Expo last weekend in Chicago. October has been a busy month for us with our two biggest shows of the year falling within the same month. iHobby covers the entire gamut of the hobby industry and is open for industry days on Thursday and Friday and open to the public on the weekend. For the past few shows, I’ve ended up working on consumer days which suits me because I’d rather talk to the guys building the kits than sitting around a conference table talking to guys with ties on. It turned out that I was assigned to help set up the booth and then return to work the last day of the show and tear it down again. Overall the show seemed less attended than previous years and I was surprised to see many booths close up mid day on Sunday and some had closed up even before consumers even had access. (Shame shame on a couple of our distinguished competitors…)
At the show we announced our plans through mid 2011 and gave a sneak peak at a couple things beyond that. Let me run down the highlights…
Batmobile– With the kits going to tooling, we were able to unveil our packaging plans. All are still subject to licensor final review. Of course we showed off the beautiful Alex Ross painting in support of the kits. Many have asked about prints of the poster. Sorry to say that that is not allowed under our current agreement. We gave a hint at what will be included in the deluxe version of the kit. If you didn’t get a chance to see it, ask your friends who did. (yes, that is a tease)
Star Trek– As usual we had plenty of buildups and box mockups and/or preproduction samples on display. We featured a buildup of the Klingon Bird of Prey sitting comfortably atop its new landing gear as well as other buildups previously on display at Wonderfest. We announced the classic Klingon Battle Cruiser would return this year. We are looking into what little bits of accurizing we can do to the kit. Also announced was a re-release of the classic AMT Enterprise. Sure we brought that one back once already but we have put a nice spin on this one. We are calling it the Tholian Web Commemorative Edition. The kit comes injected in glow in the dark plastic along with the usual decal sheet complete with decal dressing to create the ship as the U.S.S. Defiant. To cap it off, we are including two new Tholian Web Spinners. We showed a buildup of the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-B and showed a coupld of the revised parts, specifically the lower saucer and rear deck. We had no announcement regarding the 1:350 TOS Enterprise though the kit is still under consideration. Though we did have a prototype of the new movie Enterprise, it could not be displayed due to an error in the output. I’ll be showing that off in my next blog post though and explaining why it couldn’t be displayed.
Marvel Comics- We showed a buildup of our re-release of the Captain America kit. We will also be bringing back Spider-man (actually sooner than Cap) and a few other Marvel surprises later in the year. We will be doing these kits in Comic Scenes style boxes complete with cardboard backdrops and full color comic book instruction sheets. The faces in the Captain America kit will be resculpted. One of the resculpts is shown on the buildup but is subject to licensor approval.
Strange Change- We’ll be bringing back the Vampire and Mummy versions in the first half of 2011. The buildups on display showed how great they look when a great modeler gets ahold of them. The kits function really well (though I had my doubts as I was putting together test shots.) Look for the Time Machine version later in the year probably. And please also note that these kits will be made in the USA.
Dark Shadows- All three kits will return in 2011 with Barnabas Collins leading the way. We had great looking buildups of the figure kits on display. We are planning on reproduction boxes and glue parts just like the good ol’ days and we’ll throw in both soft PVC and styrene sets of arms.
Leif Ericson- When we brought back the UFO kit, most people asked if or when we would bring back the LE. Here it comes complete with reproduction box art, clear engine parts and lights (this time LEDs.) What I would like a little bit of feedback on is would you guys like the engines injected in red or clear so you can paint them whatever color you want? Or maybe a couple different color options. I’m listening for feedback on this.
Man In Space set- This set of historic NASA spacecraft will return with its original packaging art as well as the cardboard gantry that had been included in the first release of the kit. We had a mockup of the gantry on hand but just ran out of room to display it.
KISS and Yellow Submarine- We’ll be bringing back the stars of each band in a series of pre-painted model kits. As you may see in the photo the packaging offers a different twist to appeal to collectors. We’ll be doing the Yellow Sub in a lunchbox tin later in the year and we are exploring the possibility of doing prebuilt models of these subjects as well.
So that’s the plan Stan… or Bobby… or Richard… or Steve… (I’m getting slap happy now after so much planning and work) Thanks to everyone who stopped by and were universally complementary of our display.
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!
MPC Model Kits: Wonderfest Count Down. 3…
One of the cool things about working for a “legacy” model kit brand is discovering and bringing back all of the obscure stuff that hasn’t been out in a while. The topic of today’s Wonderfest preview focuses on a couple MPC model kits. As far as MPC sci-fi kits go, most of the well-known efforts were Star Wars subjects. We’ve uncovered a few cool kits that many folks, even seasoned modelers, may not have known about.
First is the Pilgrim Observer. This is a highly detailed kit of a “real” space station concept. At least it could have become real in the eyes of her engineers. The kit includes a booklet explaining the science behind the concept. The kit itself is really cool. It comes with a lot of parts in white, chrome and clear parts and builds into a nice size model. It ends up with moving pieces and it can be shown in flight mode, like a rocket, and in orbit mode with all of its pods and antennae extended. As great as it builds, it will also be a kit-bashers delight with all of the non-descript yet definitely sci-fi/ space influenced parts. The kit also comes with a few added goodies just like its first release. Of all of the kits we are offering, this is one of my favorites.
Speaking of the Pilgrim Observer, we are still trying to decide how we would like to package it. We liked the original box but our buildup expert, Jim Small, did a great little digital composite sing the buildup that we really like too. If you are at the show, stop by and fill out one of our questionnaires and let us know which one you think is better. As usual, the show questionnaire has a few meaty questions on it we’d like feedback on. As usual, once filled out, it becomes your entry into our show drawing for some great model kits. Be sure to stop and fill one out while you are at the show. We really appreciate the feedback.
Ok, back on track… Secondly is our upcoming release of the Haunted Glo Heads which come in four styles- Werewolf, Vampire, Mummy and Ape Man. These are fun little snap together kits that feature the head and hands of each creature. The have cool detail to paint or build them unpainted for glow in the dark fun. They are simple little kits, perfect for young modelers. I think they have a lot of appeal to advanced modelers too.
Okay. More tomorrow focusing back on Star Trek.
