Toy Fair Day 4: Super Modeling
Tuesday, February 17. 2015
Along with all of the new building sets on display throughout Toy Fair, there were good old fashioned styrene model kits there as well.
The big one on everyone's radar from Revell is, of course, the Starsky & Hutch Torino. The enthusiasm for this kit is perhaps matched only by the number of people crying out for corrections, which is why the kit has been delayed from its original October 2014 release date. Revell knows that it's not quite right, and has been working to get the troublesome character lines corrected without negatively effecting any other parts of the kit. Having now seen the kit in person, it seems like photos exaggerate the kit's flaws. It has a good presence, and is still far better than the MCW resin transkit that is currently the only option for those wanting a later Gran Torino for their collection.
Revell has also started the rollout of their Fast & Furious series, which sadly does not seem to include a new version of Dom's Charger but has some other high performance vehicles on deck. We also might see an AAR version of their recent '70 'Cuda at some point in the future, which could be re-purposed as Dom's car from F5 or (with a new front & rear fascia) Letty's car as seen in the trailer for F7.
They also had some of their predecorated kits on hand, which have gotten some good reviews from builders (and are something I wish had been around when I did my Last Stand Camaro). I still like the idea of prefinished kits, both for newer modelers and for those with more experience that either can't (for weather or health) or don't want to bother with painting bodies. Revell had this to say about these kits:
Round 2 continues to mine their kit archive, this time bringing us the Man from U.N.C.L.E. Piranha. I ended up using the Classic Reproductions resin kit for this car, and am curious about how the upcoming styrene kit will look by comparison.
They also had a classic Mack, Dune Buggy, and Cosmic Charger on hand, all of which have been eBay and yard sale exclusives for years now.
In new kit news, they had a Flintstones family car to go with their Mystery Machine and Jetsons ship, plus a railroad version of the Polar Lights Back to the Future DeLorean. One oddball was the "Batman Stock Car," which appeared to be their standard CoT in black primer. I'll have to see if there's anything more to it once it's released.
Overall, 2015 looks like it will be a great year for model builders!
The big one on everyone's radar from Revell is, of course, the Starsky & Hutch Torino. The enthusiasm for this kit is perhaps matched only by the number of people crying out for corrections, which is why the kit has been delayed from its original October 2014 release date. Revell knows that it's not quite right, and has been working to get the troublesome character lines corrected without negatively effecting any other parts of the kit. Having now seen the kit in person, it seems like photos exaggerate the kit's flaws. It has a good presence, and is still far better than the MCW resin transkit that is currently the only option for those wanting a later Gran Torino for their collection.
Revell has also started the rollout of their Fast & Furious series, which sadly does not seem to include a new version of Dom's Charger but has some other high performance vehicles on deck. We also might see an AAR version of their recent '70 'Cuda at some point in the future, which could be re-purposed as Dom's car from F5 or (with a new front & rear fascia) Letty's car as seen in the trailer for F7.
They also had some of their predecorated kits on hand, which have gotten some good reviews from builders (and are something I wish had been around when I did my Last Stand Camaro). I still like the idea of prefinished kits, both for newer modelers and for those with more experience that either can't (for weather or health) or don't want to bother with painting bodies. Revell had this to say about these kits:
"Our new Pre-Decorated 2013 Dodge Challenger SRT8 and 2013 Camaro ZL-1 are the lead items in an all new program started by Revell. Our goal is to get more people to experience the fun of model building. But as with many things getting started can be difficult. So with exciting new products Revell is offering new ways to get started in model building. Our first product was the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang and a snap kit that was easier than our previous snap cars. We now have 4 different easy to build snap cars for the beginner. However getting to full glue models is where the real fun begins. But full glue models can be intimidating. So Revell has designed a series of car models that makes this transition easier. First, our new Pre-Decorated Dodge Challenger and Camaro have a manageable amount of parts. Plus we made sure there are no very small parts that can be very difficult to assemble. But in the end we also wanted to make sure the finished model had many of the details of a full glue model. At the top of the list was for each kit to have a detailed engine. Next we realize spray painting the body and getting a beautiful smooth finish can be the most intimidating part of all. So we decided to handle that step for the builder. We believe getting a few nice looking models under your belt can be just the thing to making the next step. So transitioning to a full, molded in white car kit shouldn't seems as difficult. In the end it is all about the fun of building models. Revell wants to see everyone find out just how much fun it is."
Round 2 continues to mine their kit archive, this time bringing us the Man from U.N.C.L.E. Piranha. I ended up using the Classic Reproductions resin kit for this car, and am curious about how the upcoming styrene kit will look by comparison.
They also had a classic Mack, Dune Buggy, and Cosmic Charger on hand, all of which have been eBay and yard sale exclusives for years now.
In new kit news, they had a Flintstones family car to go with their Mystery Machine and Jetsons ship, plus a railroad version of the Polar Lights Back to the Future DeLorean. One oddball was the "Batman Stock Car," which appeared to be their standard CoT in black primer. I'll have to see if there's anything more to it once it's released.
Overall, 2015 looks like it will be a great year for model builders!
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