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markbt73

Old NIB plastic model kits - anyone else have any?

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Long before I ever even saw an RC car, I was building plastic models. I started with the little 1/32 scale Monogram Snap-Tite cars, and went from there. Over the years I built everything from F-4 Phantom jets (four of them, in formation, in Blue Angels livery) to a Space Shuttle, to a 1/8 scale Chevy Camaro, to a Pocher 1908 Fiat that my dad started and never finished (still wish I knew what became of that one).

And, of course, a couple hundred 1/24 and 1/25 scale cars. Revell, Monogram, AMT, MPC, Lindberg, Tamiya, and more. I don't know where they all went; likely into the Dumpster along with too many other things when my mom moved out of her house after I had moved away. But honestly, I didn't really "display" the finished models anyway; they were just sort of piled up around the room. I just liked building them.

Fast forward to maybe 10-12 years ago, and this arrives in the mail, from my dad:

DSCF1942.JPG

My first 1:1 car, in 1:24 scale. He spotted it somewhere, and sent it to me as a birthday gift. I haven't gotten around to building it yet, and now I think it will be a while longer still. Because yesterday, I also got this:

DSCF1941.JPG

$15 at a local vintage/antique/junk shop. Copyright date is 1982. There was a Lindberg '36 Ford as well, but I couldn't find a copyright date on it, so I couldn't be sure if it was an old model, or a new model of an old car. Need to do some research before I go hunting again.

I'm thinking that if I collect anything NIB to dig into when I retire, it will be these. Strictly '60s, '70s, and '80s kits. They're just now starting to turn up in vintage shops, and even on ebay the prices aren't absurd. Plus, they take up less space than RC kits...

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I collect 1/24 and 1/25 scale car model kits since the early eighties, but it started off differently. My first encounter with plastic model kits was with 1/87 scale house kits, that my father built for me for my model railroad. My crazy grandparents gave me my first Märklin train set at the age of 3 (way too early) and my father bought some houses for it and I have vague memories of watching him build a Faller brand Esso gas station for it and some other buildings too.

The first model I more or less built myself was a Revell 1/32 snap Opel GT (Buick GT for those of you in the US) at the age of 5-6. Little did I know that I almost 30 years later would work at the development centre in Rüsselsheim (Germany) where the GT was once developed. While it was fun, I was still not really ready for plastic model kits, and it took another 3-4 years before I got an Airfix 1/16 Ariel Golden Arrow (motorcycle) and Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant kit. The Defiant got me started and in the following years I built masses of 1/72 scale planes and helicopters, before really starting to collect 1/72 scale models with the naive intention of having a model of every plane and helicopter model ever produced. Mind you, the selection of kits in this scale wasn't by far as large in the mid/late 70's as now, but still far to large for me to collect them all, which I later discovered.

Getting a bit tired of planes, I built all sorts of plastic models for some years before finally settling on 1/24 and 1/25 scale car kits. I sold the plane collection of partially built and unbuilt 1/72 kits and have since mainly concentrated on cars in 1/24 and 1/25 and models in all scales of aircooled VW's, but with some "special interest" models of different kinds, like for instance the Airfix hovercrafts, the Tamiya Apollo, amphibious vehicles in 1/35 scale, Monogram Tom Daniel caricature kits and some more.

The last 20+ years I have built very few plastic models as RC kits have more and more dominated my building activities. When I started with RC in 1976, I had ample time to build plastic models too, but since the mid eighties, I build more and more RC models for myself and others. I dream of eventually cracking open the NIB 1/24 and 1/25 kits I have, but I still buy them much faster than I could possibly build them even if I had no job, other hobbies or obligations, which makes the current buying of kits a bit silly.

Most of my NIB 1/24 and 1/25 kits are stored in my father's house, about 1400km away from where I'm currently living, but I have some NIB plastic model kits in my current home. 1/24 and 1/25 scale models that I've bought during the last years. I mainly collect European and Japanese cars, but have a weak spot for Corvettes, US pickups and 4WD's too.

12277337_10153142172937407_1704509423_n.

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Btw markbt73, your 1/25 scale VW Scirocco is a pretty rare and valuable vintage kit as you surely know, but Round2 (who has taken over the old AMT and MPC moulds), finally has or is about to re-release the Scirocco kit. It's your decision of course, but I would keep the vintage kit NIB and get a re-re if I hade the intention of building a Scirocco.

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That Scirocco looks juicy! I remember building Porsches back in the day, and lately I have been wanting to get into statics but I don't seem to have enough time or money to go that way. Heck, I don't even have space to display them either, but would LOVE to get into that. As a matter of fact, one or two years ago a group of former students gave me this fantastic kit. And it's been gathering dust waiting for me to finish my RC projects :( Hopefully, as I finish my 2nd Masters' I'll be able to lay my hands on this beauty :)

122813-10911.jpg

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Btw markbt73, your 1/25 scale VW Scirocco is a pretty rare and valuable vintage kit as you surely know, but Round2 (who has taken over the old AMT and MPC moulds), finally has or is about to re-release the Scirocco kit. It's your decision of course, but I would keep the vintage kit NIB and get a re-re if I hade the intention of building a Scirocco.

It has been sitting here unbuilt since about 2003, so I'm clearly not in a hurry. I had heard it's a rare one; I certainly never saw one back in the day. If I ever build it, it will be 20 or 30 years from now, and by then I won't be as worried about the monetary value. I didn't realize that the AMT and MPC kits were being re-released until I started doing some research this morning. That makes the prospect of collecting a bit trickier, but more fun in a way.

BTW, that's quite a collection you've got there. It looks like the shelves at a hobby shop I used to frequent back in St Paul, who specialized in oddball import kits (at least , they're oddballs in the US). I recognize a few of those boxes.

I also have a couple of Tamiya 1/24 kits, a Lotus 7 and a Mazda Eunos Roadster, but they're just "sorta old," not really vintage...

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I collect 1/24 and 1/25 scale car model kits since the early eighties, but it started off differently. My first encounter with plastic model kits was with 1/87 scale house kits, that my father built for me for my model railroad. My crazy grandparents gave me my first Märklin train set at the age of 3 (way too early) and my father bought some houses for it and I have vague memories of watching him build a Faller brand Esso gas station for it and some other buildings too.

The first model I more or less built myself was a Revell 1/32 snap Opel GT (Buick GT for those of you in the US) at the age of 5-6. Little did I know that I almost 30 years later would work at the development centre in Rüsselsheim (Germany) where the GT was once developed. While it was fun, I was still not really ready for plastic model kits, and it took another 3-4 years before I got an Airfix 1/16 Ariel Golden Arrow (motorcycle) and Airfix 1/72 Boulton Paul Defiant kit. The Defiant got me started and in the following years I built masses of 1/72 scale planes and helicopters, before really starting to collect 1/72 scale models with the naive intention of having a model of every plane and helicopter model ever produced. Mind you, the selection of kits in this scale wasn't by far as large in the mid/late 70's as now, but still far to large for me to collect them all, which I later discovered.

Getting a bit tired of planes, I built all sorts of plastic models for some years before finally settling on 1/24 and 1/25 scale car kits. I sold the plane collection of partially built and unbuilt 1/72 kits and have since mainly concentrated on cars in 1/24 and 1/25 and models in all scales of aircooled VW's, but with some "special interest" models of different kinds, like for instance the Airfix hovercrafts, the Tamiya Apollo, amphibious vehicles in 1/35 scale, Monogram Tom Daniel caricature kits and some more.

The last 20+ years I have built very few plastic models as RC kits have more and more dominated my building activities. When I started with RC in 1976, I had ample time to build plastic models too, but since the mid eighties, I build more and more RC models for myself and others. I dream of eventually cracking open the NIB 1/24 and 1/25 kits I have, but I still buy them much faster than I could possibly build them even if I had no job, other hobbies or obligations, which makes the current buying of kits a bit silly.

Most of my NIB 1/24 and 1/25 kits are stored in my father's house, about 1400km away from where I'm currently living, but I have some NIB plastic model kits in my current home. 1/24 and 1/25 scale models that I've bought during the last years. I mainly collect European and Japanese cars, but have a weak spot for Corvettes, US pickups and 4WD's too.

12277337_10153142172937407_1704509423_n.

WOW that is impressive!!

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I don't collect them, but there's a small pile up in the attic. Mainly Tamiya 1:12 bikes and 1:24 cars, plus some older Monogram pickups/hot-rods and some quirky bike stuff from Japan.

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