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Archive for the ‘NASCAR’ 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/
Jimmie Johnson Wins Nascar Title #5!
Jimmie Johnson has been a force to be reckoned with, these past 5 years. With unwavering precision he has kept his winning grip tight on the Nascar circuit, when all was said and done. Johnson was behind by 15 points to Denny Hamlin prior to the Homestead race in Miami, but ended up claiming the championship yet again with 39 points over Hamlin. Johnson was noted as being very thankful for his race team and the lucky position he has found himself in.
AMT is proud to be producing a pre-painted snap assembly kit of Jimmie Johnson’s #48 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The feedback on the this and the other 3 kits in AMT’s Nascar series has been fantastic, with many enthusiasts being very receptive to the inclusion of both peel and stick markings for the young or novice modeler as well as water-release decals for the adult kit builder.
Don’t miss out on this great kit. It’s an easy kit to build, thanks to AMT’s engineering. It ensures a very rewarding display model to celebrate Jimmie Johnson‘s 5 Nascar title wins! Click here for more information.
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!
Round 2 Models: Only 10 laps to go! Time For Another NASCAR Update!
I don’t want to get you too excited, but… we just received our first round of photos for the deco body samples last week – including the Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin bodies! For “first round” samples, they’re looking pretty good. Take a peek. We have a meeting scheduled this week to do an official review and make any adjustments/tweaks to get the bodies looking accurate and sweet as candy. All parts development is just about “there” as well. Only a few minor adjustments left to make, and we’ll have one SNAPPY kit to offer all our great customers. After all, you’re the ones keeping us in business – so making you happy is our number one priority!
We’ve also received final proofs of the packaging from the factory for both Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.. PLUS, we received a fully loaded sample of each racer’s box (with all parts and instruction sheets included) to analyze and make sure everything fits comfortably into the packaging (no damaged parts allowed here). Decals and stickers are close to being completed as well. With only a few minor tweaks left on the insert pieces of the box, I’m happy to say – we’re close to final approval for both the Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. packaging.
FYI: packaging for the Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin kits have already been designed, approved by the licensors AND shipped off to our factory for production. We should be receiving proofs to review in the weeks ahead.
That’s all for now. Thanks again for all your support!
Round 2 Models: It’s Time For A NASCAR Update
Round 2 Models is so excited about the progress of our NASCAR 2010 Chevrolet Impala Snap it model kit – that we just had to share it with you!
Over the past month our staff has made leaps and bounds, seeing assembled and unassembled test shots of this “Car of the Future” AMT model kit, which overall, look great (check out the photos and see for yourself). Our assessment thus far: the model feels great, has a crisp detailed body, chassis and interior, and it rolls beautifully. However, just like any new model kit, there are still tweaks to be made in order to meet our high expectations and yours too. For instance, we’ve conducted our “assembly review” of the NASCAR Snap it kit, checking for parts that need slight adjustments (and there’s always a few that need tweaking) in order to make sure everything snaps together precisely. Once all the test shot corrections have been made, we will pass on our feedback to the factory, where the proper adjustments can be made. Once that’s completed, the factory will send us pre-painted bodies and sticker/decal sheets (we are offering both options with this kit) to review.
The same process basically holds true for our packaging. The initial layouts are developed by our creative staff. The designs are then sent to the licensors for any changes to be made and final approval. Once all the changes are made and approved, we send the electronic files to the factory to be printed, assembled, filled with product, then wrapped up and sent back to us for distribution.
On the creative side of things, we have been making great strides on our packaging for the NASCAR kits as well! So far, both the Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. package designs have been licensor APPROVED, and are already at the factory to be printed – with instruction sheets soon to follow. In fact, we’re so happy about the progress – we’ve included a couple “sneak peeks” of the packaging and instruction sheets for you to check out! The Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin package designs are also well on their way and looking good.
We should be wrapping things up soon and can’t wait for the NASCAR Snap it kits to hit the shelves. Thanks for all your support, and happy modeling!
