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Older/Oldest Boxing or New/Newer Boxing?


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Hello all,

 

 I am curious how others approach buying older kits. When looking at purchasing a classic or older kit, such as Monogram, Revell, Airfix etc do you prefer the older or oldest boxing of the kit or do you try to pick up the most recent boxing of the kit? Or...do you not care and go solely on price? Often times I find the older boxing to be better because the molds were newer, so I tend to get less flash, better detail(s), and most often less warping. But the decals tend to be shot in the older kits, which isn't a huge issue with aftermarket available for most kits. I only bring this up because I was just flipping through EBay looking for a certain older kit and I noticed the newer releases of the kit (flashier box art color wise but the same picture)  I was interested in tend to get more bids and fetch more money then the older releases. Now this works in my favor with me preferring the older boxing(s) but it got me thinking how others approach this.

 

Regards all and enjoy the weekend.

 

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Builders opt for early releases with less mold wear / flash. 

 

Collectors opt for old releases with mint box condition.  They won’t likely ever build it. 

 

New releases preferred for the new decals if markings are unique / desired. 

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Well you're probably going to think that I am crazy (and I've been called that before LOL!), but all that talk about GB's and a possible Monogram/Revell GB got me thinking about those old ship kits I used to build when I was a kid. Like...

Image result for revell ship model box art

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Image result for revell ship model box art

 

Image result for revell ship model box art

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Image result for revell uss missouri model box art

 

Anyways, I know their accuracy can be called into question and they can be bears to get together but to me they harken back to simpler times and I find them very nostalgic. So, I was thinking of picking a few up for a good price just in case that GB takes off. If it doesn't then I will probably go ahead and work on one or two of them anyways just for fun. I actually grabbed a sealed Arizona today for $8 and change shipped! I am looking at an aircraft carrier too...wouldn't mind the Yorktown having been on it a few times while down in South Carolina (although that one is CV 10 and I believe the Revell kit is CV 5...).

 

See...told ya...certifiable crazy...:woot.gif:...LOL!

 

Thanks fellas for chiming in.

Regards.

Edited by Don
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Very cool, You are not crazy at all.  When I was in high school I built the Monogram New Jersey from the same generation of boxart as that Missouri. I remember it was pretty easy.  Getting back to your original post, maybe people are turned off by the 80s boxes with a picture of the model instead of the paintings. 

 

I hope the Monogram/Revell memorial group build happens, but I am not sure what I will build. 

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That's a fun question.

If I can find an early boxing for a fair price, I'll go with it. Chances are that the tooling, back when it was still fresh, had less gunk in it, and so less flash and other junk on the parts.

 

 

That said, I build older kits mostly for the sake of nostalgia, and so I look for the boxes I remember from the time I built them as a child. I was thrilled when a fellow on ARC sold me the Monogram AV-8A with the box art of the plane taking off against an orange sky, and the SU-25 in the Monogram gray box. Nothing particularly outstanding about either kit, but they reminded me of back to school clothes shopping with my mom in 1990, and Christmas of 1991 respectively. I miss those times very dearly. I'll probably never build either of these kits, but I treasure them and whenever I pull them out to look at, they bring a great smile to my face.

Edited by RKic
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One example I can think of where older is better is the Revell F-15E. If you can find the older boxings (like the ProModeller) go for them. The older boxings were molded in Korea, and were of a lot better quality. The newer boxings are molded in China, are of a different, more brittle plastic, and are showing their age. 

 

Aaron 

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2 minutes ago, RKic said:

No; you've just got good taste in classic kits. 

Damn, I miss those days! 

Thank you Sir...you're too kind!

 

I  too miss those days. Just a simpler time with fairly basic yet extremely fun kits and a lot of imagination (lots of aircraft got taken for "flights" around my room LOL!). Heck a lot of the excitement was earning enough money  working around the neighborhood cutting lawns or doing chores around the house  to take down to the hobby store to buy a model. I'd buy whatever suited my fancy at that time. A ship kit one time, a car kit another, an aircraft kit. Airfix, Monogram, Revell, Lindberg were my go-to kits then (raised panel lines, blobby pilots and all). I love the classic kits and their box art. Good memories!

 

Regards.

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On 7/15/2018 at 5:18 AM, habu2 said:

Collectors opt for old releases with mint box condition.  They won’t likely ever build it. 

 

 

Yup - this is my approach to my Matchbox 1/72 aircraft collection.

 

In the 70's I grew up in a small Australian country town and the Newsagent stocked model kits, mostly Matchbox, the odd Airfix.  And Humbrol paints.  The Matchbox Box Art always got me in. Just like Don, I loved going down and buying a new kit.

 

Now have about 65% of the original boxings of all the 1/72 Matchbox aircraft.  I have a few duplicates & newer boxings which I gradually build as per my current Walrus build.

 

OruqTQs.jpg

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Yeah simple times Don.  The world is BS crazy now....which is why I do my best to escape it building the odd model, tying flies, fly-fishing out in the bush, cycling & MTBing alone.

 

 

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