Nascar Models?

[letsgobrowns82]

What the heck happened to Nascar Models? Since coming back into the hobby 3 years ago I've spent most of my time building Aircraft and got into tanks recently. A couple weeks ago I got the itch to do a Nascar model since I hadnt built one in probably 15 years. I remember really enjoying building those cars and decided to go online and pick up a few kits. I was shocked to see that nobody seems to make them anymore. I ended up buying a handful of kits on ebay since it seems they are going to be extinct soon. So does anybody out there know what happened to all the kits they used to produce?

 

[Junkie]

I've only seen them on ebay. Tons of em there.

 

[Tony lee]

What happened?
The drivers die cast cars are big buck makers. How would you like plastic models to take the bread off your table?

Tony lee

 

[Grendels]

That is probably the same reason you cannot find a good BMW model. The metal car market has sucked them all up!

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

In a nutshell, it's because of licensing costs.

There is absolutely no more money to be made when one stops and considers how many different brands a model company has to pay out in order to have a decal sheet to place those brand names all over the car.

When a model company wants to make an accurate model of say a Jeep, they have to pay Chrysler/Jeep a fee for using their name on the kit, or change it slightly and call it something like 1/4 ton 4X4 etc. Now think of that in the terms of a NASCAR vehicle, which is covered in brand names all wanting a fee in order to use their name.

Revell was one of the biggest manufacturers of NASCAR kits in the end and they made this announcement some years ago:

Over the years we have been pleased to provide you with the finest NASCAR plastic model kits featuring the most popular drivers. Regrettably however, over the last several years we have faced increasing licensing costs that are greater than our increase in sales. Despite our best efforts to secure reasonable licensing terms for NASCAR model kits in general, and the Car of Tomorrow in particular, we have been unable to develop a program that allows us to market the product at a viable price point. Consequently, we will not be issuing a kit on the Car of Tomorrow and, in fact, will be exiting the NASCAR business altogether. We will discontinue all sales of NASCAR plastic kits by February 28, 2009.

This has been an extremely difficult decision to make as we are fully aware of the avid fan base of NASCAR model kit builders and truly appreciate your support over the years. We trust you will find other model kits in our line that will be of interest and that will provide you with the model building enjoyment you desire.

This is the reason those die cast collectors cars are so expensive, most of that cost is offset by the outrageous fees everyone from DuPont/Gatorade/Amp/MountainDew/Bic/Gillette ad nauseum require to be paid before said product is allowed to be sold.

 

[letsgobrowns82]

Thanks ScaleModelMadman! I guess I'll stick to ebay and put a few more in the stash.

 

[StyreneStylist]

well AMT is making the COTs, you can still find all the older kits around on the internet.

and you can buy high quality decals and kits from here, http://www.mikesdecals.com/

i order from him all the time, great service always comes in 4 or 5 days.

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

Aren't those all pre painted, 'snap tite' kits though?

 

[StyreneStylist]

Aren't those all pre painted, 'snap tite' kits though?

the first issue was, but they can be stripped, I used a mark martin kit and built this

the newer release of kit now is unpainted and comes with the new style "normal" spoiler

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Yeah, all due to licensing issues.

With the Round 2 kits (which are pre-painted snap tite kits with no engine detail I think),

A. you get a snap tite kit

B. They pay not only Nascar, but also Hendrick motorsports for licensing, thus only the Impala has ever been made, and only the 4 Hendrick cars issued (unless you want to do aftermarket decals) there is now a blank car in white, but essentially the same kit just devoid of the Hendrick decals (no cheaper though)

C. they are about $10-$15 more than Round 2's other car kits which are full glue kits with lots of the usual detail that goes along with them.

Round 2 were supposed to come out with these kits in a full detail glue kit, but have never seen the light of day yet, and doubtful we ever will. They did say that they might re-release a couple of the kits that AMT last put out, the pre-COT Impala in Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson markings, but they again haven't seen the light of day.

Basically if you want to do a modern COT car other than an Impala/Hendrick car, you either have to use aftermarket decals (easiest of the 2 options) or purchase one of the cottage craft industry's resin bodies to retrofit onto the chassis.

The plain white version of the Round 2 kit was in the latest FSM for review.....and not a favorable one at that.

Many of the older Nascar kits can still be found on Ebay and in people's stashes. I have many of the old Revell, AMT and Polar Lights kits. Couple of years ago Model King re-issued the old AMT '72 Monte Carlo, '72 Torino, '71 Cyclone and '75 Laguna, all with fictitious decals to keep the licensing costs down but these have been OOP for awhile but can still be found on Ebay, although not for cheap.

 

[Chris S]

Wasnt Revell talking about re releasing some of the old ones ?? thought I read that somewhere ,but maybe Im wrong ?

Chris.

 

[Junkie]

That car looks dope StyreneStylist. Sweet.

Nascar would be a fun groupbuild sometime in the distant future.

 

[Captain Caveman III]

If I may put in my 2 cent. The AMT/Ertl NASCAR Car of tomorrow kit. Is still out there. An I'll look through my books and info paper stash. An come back and post a list companys' that still have that Unpainted kit.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

If I may put in my 2 cent. The AMT/Ertl NASCAR Car of tomorrow kit. Is still out there. An I'll look through my books and info paper stash. An come back and post a list companys' that still have that Unpainted kit.

Yeah, it is put out by Round 2, and has nothing to do with the AMT of old, as it is one of the few kits Round 2 has built from the ground up since they came onto the model scene.

They have 5 kits, 4 Hendrick Motorsports (Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin) and one plain car with no markings so you can do one of the other Impalas in the series, like StyreneStylist did with the Earnhardt Sr. car above. They are all snap kits, the Hendrick cars are all pre-painted, little detail and a highish price for what you get.

They were also supposed to re-release a couple of the pre-Car of Tomorrow kits with the Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson schemes, these were some of the last kits that AMT produced before they leased off their molds to Round 2. They haven't been re-released as of yet, not sure if they are even still on the plate to be done, however MSRP I saw for the kits, I don't think I would bother bringing them into the shop here.

 

[Captain Caveman III]

What I was talking about was, when the AMT NASCAR model frist came out it was labled: The Car of tomorrow. In Blueprinter. Any way it's now called by the it's bran name: Nascar 2010 Chevrolet Impala. This is what I was talking about after seeing "StyreneStylist" Goodwrench NASCAR.

I hope it's ok to post this company link: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=AMT739

An I was thinking, why buy a prepainted kit. You would have to remove all that paint. That's when the 2010 NAS Impala poped in to my head.

Sorry for butting in guys!

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

What I was talking about was, when the AMT NASCAR model frist came out it was labled: The Car of tomorrow. In Blueprinter. Any way it's now called by the it's bran name: Nascar 2010 Chevrolet Impala. This is what I was talking about after seeing "StyreneStylist" Goodwrench NASCAR.

I hope it's ok to post this company link: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=AMT739

An I was thinking, why buy a prepainted kit. You would have to remove all that paint. That's when the 2010 NAS Impala poped in to my head.

Sorry for butting in guys!

Yes, that is the plain one, comes with the Autoworld markings. Although it says AMT on the box....it's not an AMT kit, as this was created (and is the same as the other 4, other than the paint) under the Round 2 banner, but because Round 2 owns the rights to the AMT, MPC, and Polar Lights brand names, they decided to put the AMT logo on the box. Just don't want people thinking that this is a rehash of some of the old AMT Nascar kits when it is a new tool that Round 2 did.

When these kits first came out, they had the rear wing in the kit, they have since been re-released with both the rear wing and the spoiler.

The reason for the pre-painted was to market it to kids, all they had to do is snap the pieces in place and instant Sprint Cup car. As far as that goes...the plain white car that you posted is also pre-painted....just painted white instead of the Hendrick team colors.

 

[Captain Caveman III]

Ok I didn't know that. :-\

 

[Captain Caveman III]

Sorry Elm I had to remove that photo as it was under copy right and some how it or some one had a block set up aginst my IP addy. I will replace that photo soon. Thank you.

Any way I'm going to order that kit and take photos of the kit's parts. An post them here.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Not really sure why they are bugging you about copywrite stuff....but I can post them.