Remember when AMT Model Car Kit was $1.50

I'm one of the moderators on that site..

 

Rommels Rod! I built one of those, thought it was so cool!

 

I remember building a platform that i put the car on and put nails in each corner of platform then tied colored string connecting the nails/posts to it to make a show display for the car -- some tilted car sideways and put small mirror under it and cotton like material ==== just like the big boys did when they showed their show cars and custom car shows

** anyone have a pic of their model they displayed this way???

 

I started about 1961, $1.49 plus tax came out to $1.53...I used to get a dollar for allowance so could only get one every couple weeks..First one was AMT new 3:1 32 Ford V8, the "Deuce"; reading this right off the box..Almost fifty years old..Damn.. .Used to build them with a friend down the street..He got into it big time, found all kinds of ways to move the plastic around for customizing using solvents, including gasoline, alky, bourbon and Jack Daniels among other things..He moved in 62' one town over about a mile and change as the crow flies, through the fields...Used to walk it, bout thirty minutes, when I didn't have a bike [some cows could be down write ornery, the snakes I could side step pretty good] once a week for build sessions...Can't do it now with out walking on some one's yard, hedges, fences and having to go around the houses..Sigh..I tapered off building and would just help him with his stuff, by then it became high school and since he was three years older than me he got a licence and a job and found girls..Haven't seen him for about forty years.. Gees, amasing what can be remembered with a little prodding!! Would be great If I could remember what I did with my snap ring pliers!!

 

You can still buy those new..... Check out www.revell.com or www.modelroundup.com

 

Sure do. And I wish I had a half dozen of them stashed away. While RM has been slowly reissuing kits, they have yet to do this one. These babies are expensive to find on ebay. Gary

 

Boy, I'll say. I've been hav'in more of those "moments" lately. I think the '32 roadster was my first AMT 3'N'1. Seem to remember that the stock wire wheels were on the chrome tree and looked really nice, but no-one was doing wire wheels in the car mags at the time, much less chrome ones, so I blew them off.

 

Problem was for me, I was into round track racing, and crashed all of them.

 

The local Hobby Lobby has a....mediocre, I guess, selection of models but at least they still have them. Remember Autoworld? Holy cow, an inch-thick catalog of models, parts, and all kinds of everything to build them with. Wish them guys were still around.

As a kid I was easy to buy Xmas / birthday gifts for, a 2 or 3 dollar model kit was enough to make me happy, some years I got a dozen or more at a time. I had kits stashed all over the house, dad would get pretty ticked off about it LOL. Got to where I'd open about four - five kits at a time and pick what I liked from each to build one model.

If I still did that at today's prices building a real car might be cheaper.

 

Hey Gary. Here's a couple more old ones I've been sitting on.. One is the original Monogram BIG T from 1962 and the other, the Monogram BIG DRAG T from 1963...

 

I also have the BIG DEUCE kit from 1963... I'll dig that one out later on and snap a pic of it...

 

Here's an Aurora T-Jet slot car... These cars are a blast if you got a drag strip setup for them.. Also a couple more pics of the huge 1/6 scale '41 Willys RC body.. I'm hopin' to build a gasser model out of this one in the future....

 

Hope ya didn't pay over $15. They re-issued ALL of the Zingers, this summer. You can get them at a lot of online stores or bigger hobby shops.

 

I remember Autoworld....still have a few of the catalogs, I even have one of they're motorsports ( real race car parts ) catalogs. The name has been revived and they sell some repop aurora HO and AMT,MPC, and Polar lights models. Stuff looks good but I haven't tried em yet. When I built my garage I built it tall enough to have a hobby room above, I'm filling it with parts but I haven't had much time to do anything with 'em....kinda like the downstairs actualy..

 

btt

 

Where can i get 50 ford model ?

 

I can remember going to Woolworths and buying kits for $.99. The small bottles of Testors paints were $.15, and rattle can spray paints were like $.79. Some kits were current cars like the 70 Mach 1, Z 28 Camaro, etc., others were hot rods. Somewhere, I still have most of them. The one I remember most was a hot rodded popcorn machine. I rubbed two pieces of hard styofoam together and used theose little grains as popcorn inside the popper. It had a Boss 429 engine with dual GMC blowers on it. The bad news is that my spray painting skills haven't gotten any better over the years.

 

AMT did both a '49 Club Coupe and a '50 Convertible with multiple top choices back in the day. Don't know if either have ever been re-released or not. I've got both. They were molded in a fairly "period correct" gray color so I never painted them. Scout around the web or swap meets or pm Deuces on here for leads. I'm sure with both kits you could at least come up with a '50 Club Coupe using parts from both kits. Keep in mind that I built these in the very early 60's so unless they have been redone you may have to do a little searching......Don.

 

AMT did both a '49 coupe (which was recently re-issued) and a '50 convertible (re-issued about 5 years ago or so). Neither are super-tough to find..... as a matter of fact, I have the recent '50 convertible sitting in my collection now, and just saw the coupe at a local hobby shop last week.

 

The average price of an AMT/Monogram/Revell kit here at the moment is $49. The AMT Double dragster kit re-issue is $68.

I remember the days of a $20 kit and wish it were the same today!

Doc.

 

video games are expenisve too and do not glue or a place to assemble away from younger siblings...

 

I can't resist the temptation to show you the sad remains of my old model car collection as it now appears on the dusty shelf of my bedroom. The 40 was nailhead "powered";the red coupe had a hemi; the Ranchero was made out of a station wagon and featured six two's; the channeled full-fendered roadster had a flatty; the 32 coupe was chevy "powered". I spent countless happy hours building and customizing model cars, much to the detriment of my school grades.
I wish I still had the model cars I got bored with, stuffed with cherry bombs, and blew to smitherines when I was 15.

 

I sure do. I put a many of those together. LOL Tom ( Tired Old Man)

 

I'm 61 and did all this too as a youngster. But I'm with you, Brownie. All this is lost in the fog

And I never seen that big Monogram Chevy V-8. I'm sure I would remember that. Maybe the East didn't get them?

 

I built many as a kid in the late 60's, early 70's.
For quality of fit and detail AMT was the best. Followed by Monogram.
I thought Revell sucked big time because the parts didn't fit together well, and I recall the chrome plating always had bubbles in it.
Trying to get the 2 piece tail gate on the Revell '57 Nomad kit to fit is still indelibly etched into my memory.

At one point I had over 150 models on display.

About 5 years ago I took everything including a box of parts and sold them as a lot on eBay. I got close to $500.00 for it all. Which was way more than I had ever dreamed they would fetch!

I have seen the visible V8 kit is still out there, but I am kind of disappointed it is no longer motorized with the spark plugs that lit up in the proper firing order.
Now it just has a hand crank on the end.

 

Here's a few in my current collection. Yeah, they retailed "back in the day" for $1.50-$2.25, but few of them cost me that! LOL!!! Sorry about the crappy picture quality!

 

I couldn't tell you what models cost when I was a kid because my dad had owned a hobby shop in the 70's so I always just asked him for one a model when I wanted one. I know spoiled brat right. I do agree that Revell was a crappy brand back then. I'm not sure what a good price is now days but everything is over inflated on price now

 

Fordstandard, you must be almost as old as I am. I'll be 70 this coming January and yes I do remember those days.

............Jack

 

Yeah, I remember being OUTRAGED when models went over $2.oo. Now, after buying a $20.oo kit, throw in a Jimmy Flinstone resin body, and a bunch of photo etched goodies, and it's not hard to get up to $50.oo in just parts. When is the last time you built one box stock?

 

FroadyFoad, what's box stock??
I have tried, I just cant do it. Sad isn't it.

The worst thing is I recently lost my entire collection of models, over 2000 models. From un touched kits, started kits, finished models and scratch built projects, tools, paints....everything.
I'm starting my collection again, so far I have bought 10 kits and some tools and have spent well over $1000 bucks. You have to be dedicated or stupid over here.

I don't think I'm dedicated..........

Doc.