Register now to get rid of these ads!

Remember when AMT Model Car Kit was $1.50

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by fordstandard, May 2, 2010.

  1. With the resin models made today, you can get things not previously
    available thru the kit makers.

    I bought this 46-48 Plymouth on ebay - cost $50 would you believe??

    But, where else ya gonna get one if you want one?

    Had to finish it myself.

    [​IMG]

    (1) Before-------

    (2) R & R Vacuumcraft made the Plymouth coupe. That one was about
    $35. I've learned never to say "never".
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 3, 2010
  2. twofosho
    Joined: Nov 10, 2005
    Posts: 1,153

    twofosho
    Member

    1961 convertible AMT 3 in 1 kits cost me 1.25 at one of the larger drug stores in the neighborhood. They aways had about 30 kits in a small end bay in pockets that held about 10 each. 2.00 for the Styline and Double kits sure seemed like a lot back then, but I remember biting the bullet and purchasing the Ranchero Styline kit. Hated the filler putty that came in the kit because it wouldn't feather edge, no what you tried. Didn't start building the HT/sedan kits until about a year later when I was delivering two paper routes because those cost more, buck and a half I think.

    Never did care for the Revell 1/24 stuff because it always looked a little out of proportion around my AMT, MPC, and IMC 1/25 stuff.

    Haven't been into models since I was a kid, but I still have a couple of promos and bits of a Big T laying around along with a box of various built and unbuilt 1/25 models and a couple 1/8 scale Camaros from my daughter's childhood. I also have her O/T Mustang and my sister's early Camaro (she's had it since she was 14, but it has lived in my back yard for the last 10 or 12 years) to put back together in 1 to 1 scale, but that's another story.
     
  3. jcmarz
    Joined: Jan 10, 2010
    Posts: 4,631

    jcmarz
    Member
    from Chino, Ca

    I was making so many car models that sometimes I would blow them up with a firecracker then I would just go back to the store and buy a new model. I built mostly Chevys but I also liked those custom rods like: The Paddy Wagon, Quicksilver, Lil Coffin, Beer Wagon, and those Cartoon cars with the monster.
    I am thankful that I grew up in the time that I did and was able to enjoy model building, slot cars, and my all-time favorite, those cox gas cars. Didn't need no violent video games. We had bb guns and sling shots.
     
  4. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,757

    Deuces

    I have an original 1962 vintage Big T stashed away along with the Big Drag T and Big Deuce from 1963. Those were some great kits back in the day. All 3 were designed by Darryl Starbird for Monogram.
     
  5. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,757

    Deuces

    I still have my old Aurora and A/FX HO slot cars plus my BB gun. :D
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2010
  6. Swifster
    Joined: Dec 16, 2006
    Posts: 1,455

    Swifster
    Member

    In the early 70's, the price was up to $1.98. The first model I did (with help from dad) was a '69 Chevy Impala. No paint, just glued it together. I did more collecting of the promos back then than building cars, but it was all fun. My favorite kits were the '49 Ford with the Joie Chitwood stunt team stuff. I must have build 5 or 6 of them.
     


  7. Oh yes, I remember those days too. Used to buy the AMT 3-in-1 kits, a couple bottles of Testors paints, a brush & thinner for about 2bucks total - and if anything leftover I'd get a comic book or 2 for 12cents each.

    The D&C dimestore in the small town I lived in would have model car contests, they'd put the kids' cars in their display window for a week or so and the winner would get a free model.

    I can't remember how many of those old models we'd get, just to get tired of 'em after awhile then we'd roll 'em down the sidewalks with 2 or 3 blackcat firecrackers in them. Oh the pain . . .
     
    Last edited: May 3, 2010
  8. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,606

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You guys are bringing back memories for me. I remember going to the local D&C to look at the models, and once in a blue moon to actually buy one for under $2.00, and of course a tube of glue and some paint. I was really styling if I had enough for some actual spray-paint. I was the oldest of 10 children. In the hot summer months of the mid to late '60s, building models in our basement was a way to escape the heat, and my 9 siblings, into a world of my own. I used to enjoy raiding my "parts box" for pieces left over from previous builds. I remember the "Ohio" George Montgomery '33 Willys coupe came with hard plastic tires. I just had to replace them with the rubber ones from another car. In fact, I think the slicks were off the Red Baron...a little wider than the ones that came with the Willys, but hey...bigger was better. To this day, if I'm spraying laquer from a can, it takes me back to those times.
     
  9. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,757

    Deuces

    Here's one I'd like to tackle one of these days.. It's a 1/6 scale RC '41 Willys body..... The little guy decided to curl up inside and count some rats while I was working on another project. :) Gotta love those Kodak moments! :D
     

    Attached Files:

  10. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    We all did that,it's the glue fumes :D
     
  11. Hey Guys-- idea, how about we suggest to our local clubs to include model car contest open for kids only and give out trophies --
     
  12. Russian
    Joined: Feb 16, 2010
    Posts: 261

    Russian
    Member

    well, i live in God forgotten country, there newer was cool american model kits here an till 2004 or something... so i made my own model cars from paper (1998-2004) and i have build more then 300 cars in that period (scale of the cars is A4 format and a little bigger).... now i build 1:1 scale models :D
     

    Attached Files:

  13. FANTASY FACTORY
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 256

    FANTASY FACTORY
    Member

    I think i will look for my "WHEELO" when i get home tonite!
     
  14. ZomBrian
    Joined: Jan 24, 2008
    Posts: 1,143

    ZomBrian
    Member
    from in IN

    Yes. Then there was the upgrade to model airplanes...with the model rocket engines attached. Then the hybrid, model cars w/dead axles with rocket engines attached. It got real bad when instead of saving it all up for one grand July 4th show to just a weekend thing. Not one model survived a blaze.


    Meeeemmm-rieeeeess.....:D
     
  15. gnichols
    Joined: Mar 6, 2008
    Posts: 11,345

    gnichols
    Member
    from Tampa, FL

    Between 1962-65, I worked in a discount hobby / toy store. $1.00 MSRP kits sold for 88 cents. A great many Aurora / Lindberg, Misc. kits sold for less than that, especially in the smaller scales, like 1/32. Later, Gary

    And... 1/8th scale Big T kits were something like 12 bucks. But.. when you consider that the newer versions are about $80 bucks now at most discount stores, the cost of a new one doesn't seem so bad, eh, given how many years have passed? And 15 cent McBurgers, remember them?
     
  16. Shoot, I used to do the same thing. Yard work @ 50¢ an hour, soda bottles (and we had to wash them out), mowing lawns, chores. My aunts would send me a $1 for my birthday, so I'd have $3 at times. Flush for sure. My dad would pick up Trophy Series kits on his way home from Grumman for $1.09 (he'd kick in the 9¢) or I'd go up to Sally's Cycles in town and grab a kit for $1.27 or $1.77 for the $2 list price kits.

    Testors jar paints were 10¢ then went up to 15¢. AMT spray paint was 69¢ per can. A good week's worth of work in the summer got me 2 kits, a can of paint.

    Bob
     
  17. Can't hardly afford the new kits so I keep pulling out old ones (previously built or unbuilt) and do them. I just finished re-building a couple of old Hubley metal Model A's (roadster and roadster p/u) that I had originally built when I was 11yrs old. I'm almost 60 now (gulp) so do the math. I also just finished a '65 Mustang convertible, AMT 3-in-1 kit that had been sitting unbuilt in the box literally for decades in my basement. The price tag still on the box reads, Bill's Hardware, $1.27.
     
  18. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    I got started and got hooked with the Revell highway pioneers. Stutz bearcat, Detroit electric coupe etc. 98 cents with 2 cents tax for an even George Washington or 4 quarters found on the back of the washing machine. Back then nothing was priced at even money around here it was always 98 cents 1.49, 1.98 etc. Just like gas. I think they were trying to fool us.:rolleyes:

    Can you image the uproar from the toy police if a company brought out a kit that instructed the kids to light a match, heat the end of the axle and mushroom the end to keep the wheel on?

    I still remember building a 58 Buick 3 in 1 kit even though I thought it was ugly and I still do.:D The only decals worth a shit were the Nascar decals. The flames were really dorky looking.
     
  19. Papa Tom
    Joined: Jan 27, 2010
    Posts: 94

    Papa Tom
    Member

    my parents grounded me from buying kits as punishment in the 60s the last kit i bought at aswap meet was a 67 corveette i paid 100.00
     
  20. F&J
    Joined: Apr 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,222

    F&J
    Member

    The early $1.50 AMT 3 in 1 must have been the first lesson that we could take a stocker and rod it. I am sure most of us kids from the late 50s early 60s did not have the extra money for a rod magazine.

    My favorite was the 40 Ford coupe as it was the one kit I bought several times.

    Around 1963 or 64, going fishing with my cousin at the lake, we looked in Harvey Smith's junky repair shop lot and spotted a hot rod 40 deluxe coupe with custom emerald green big flake metallic paint..with a few small primer spots. I still can see the flake sparkle on those curvy front fenders. I got my cousin to ask the old duffer how much....it was $600.. I was so bummed...but what was I thinking; I rarely had more than one or two dollars saved up. All his other cars were broken 50's sedans priced at 5 or 10 bucks.
     
  21. Mazooma1
    Joined: Jun 5, 2007
    Posts: 13,598

    Mazooma1
    Member

    don't "get me started"............:D:D:D

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  22. 117harv
    Joined: Nov 12, 2009
    Posts: 6,589

    117harv
    Member

    I gave a buddy $6.00 for a big box of parts from smashed or blown up builds, and parts from the models that included extra parts so you could build them in different styles. I then had extra blowers, body chunks and wrinkle wall slicks so i could build custom altereds or gassers. I know i wasn't the only one to make roll cages out of the plastic frames that held the parts or felt for carpet and thread for plug wires or paint the gauge needles orange with a sewing needle?
     
  23. Trophydash
    Joined: Mar 12, 2010
    Posts: 247

    Trophydash
    Member
    from Tulsa, OK

    I'm 43.....still remember my first kit, at least the day I bought it.....June 8th, 1974.....
    Easy to remember, that was the afternoon and night there was a massive tornado outbreak in the area including Tulsa. My family had been visiting my grandparents that day and were there when the worst of the storms hit. I can distinctly remember the whole family preparing to make the run to the storm cellar in the yard....and I had my model car box under my arm...after a long time of talking my parents into the purchase, I wasn't gonna' loose it.
    When I was a kid, the most expensive kits were the Monogram armor series.....$4.00!! I know kids today don't have much of an attention span or patience, but it bothers me that even Wal-Mart doesn't offer model kits for the few possible car crazy kids left.
     
  24. Bob Heine
    Joined: Nov 16, 2009
    Posts: 17

    Bob Heine
    Member

    Yeah, I'm old too. I saved my $0.25 lunch money each day and at the end of six days I had enough to buy another model or model paint. Ended up with a couple of hundred customized Revell and AMT models.

    I also remember working for $1.25 an hour when I bought my Edmunds manifold with two Ford 94s for my 56 Chevy 235 six. Paid $35, leaving me with $15 to live on for the week. Cigarettes were $0.25 a pack and a quart of Old Bohemian beer was another $0.25. Never had enough money to buy a set of sockets so I bought the sizes I needed to repair the car.

    What cost $1.25 in 1962 would cost $8.77 in 2009.*
    *Inflation calculator at:
    http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
     
  25. jcmarz
    Joined: Jan 10, 2010
    Posts: 4,631

    jcmarz
    Member
    from Chino, Ca

    Like I said, I rememember paying $12 for a large scale 57 Chevy but I don't remember the cost of a Mcburger, but I do remember when people smoked at McD's. They used to have tinfoil ashtrays. Getting back to models, I also remember building a few models that were 1/64 scale (the size of a hot wheel) anyone remember those?
     
  26. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,757

    Deuces

    You got some great kits Mazooma! I can see the the 1/8 scale vintage Monogram Big T and the Lindberg Exterminator dragster kit.. Both are very cool! :D I have a few of those also. :)
     
  27. resinjeff
    Joined: Aug 25, 2008
    Posts: 93

    resinjeff
    Member
    from detroit

    ah model cars..its what i do fer a livin....:} not much profit, but i dont have a boss any longer.(dont let the wife know i said that)
     

  28. excellent way of looking at it.... models cost more, but minimum wage is close to/over 8 times as much.
     
  29. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,564

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    I didn't want to put the flame decals on the car, so I soaked them and applied them to the corners of the bathroom mirror. My mother never appreaciated my artistic efforts, though.
     
  30. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,564

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    At the beginning of my model building career (1967), they were $1.27 at the FBC (Family Bargain Center--the precursor to Jamesway/K Mart/Wal Mart in the NE). Loved those AMT 3 in 1 kits--plenty of spare parts to glue on other models. After going to the dry cleaners with my mom to pick up my father's suits, and seeing the stock car models that the owner had on display, I rushed home and turned my '62 Catalina model into a late model stock, complete with crash bars made from pieces of parts trees and realistic looking dents, created with a candle and one of my mom's butter knives.
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.