Remember when AMT Model Car Kit was $1.50

Here's some pics of Revell's latest releases....
I forgot to mention about the Sox&Martin '67 GTX S/S car...

 

Like many towns our local hobby shop had an anual competition for cars, boats, & planes.
Even in the service while stationed in Sicily we had a model club on base.

 

This '50 Olds,new release by Revell is a must have too!

 

Yep! I would love to rape that kit just for the motor...

 

nope! they were 1.87 in my town for yrs.

 

No kidding, went looking for a beginners model car kit for my 7 year old grandson, WOW walmart is starting to carry a few kits, nothing kool $19.95! When i was buying them in early 60's $1.50 and lots of kool ones. Always liked the 3 in 1 kits, could really put together some neat stuff

 

That's the price that I too remember . I wonder what if I'd never bought that first model kit , how many thousands of $$$ it would have saved me ? It was probably the best $1.29 that I ever spent ! By doing that I've met some great people and have had the time of my life not to mention having made a fairly succesful career out of a hobby .

 

Yep! That's what paid for kits back in '71 from S.S. Kresgi's(sp) or Federal's dept. store in Dearborn...

 

ya know, i was just thinkin. i'm 53 years old. how come i can remember that price and cant remember what i was doing an hour ago? kinda scary ,aint it!

 

I have a few of the large scale '57 Belair coupes... Nice kits!...

 

bump....

 

I remember building a large (and I mean large) scale 65 Corvette fastback. If I remember correctly, it may have been 1/8 scale. That was the biggest model I ever built. Remember those old Chopper models? Or those see thru model engines? It was a great way to learn how a engine works.

 

I remember riding bikes into town on Saturdays ( easy to do ALL DOWNHILL) collecting pop bottles on the way, enough to get movie tickets 15 cents , popcorn, candy bar 10 cents, and a Monogram balsa model airplane kit ---85 cents -- now and then another 15 cents for glue. This was in 1950- 51 --- no car kits made yet. The way home was a bitch --had to push the bikes almost all the way --UPHILL!
I remember then a few years later when Revell brought out the "highway pioneers" about 1957 or there abouts , they were 1/32 scale and had a deuce cpe. and roadster --- they cost about 69 cents and I built a bunch of them , before the 1/24 --1/25 kits came out. I built a lot of those at 1.50 or so , still have probably 75 or so unbuilt kits from that time -- nothing later than about 1953 model cars , mostly 30's and 40's . Now I am retired , I will build them.

 

Was the '65 Vette kit molded in blue or red styrene???... I might have one of those Chopper models also....

 

Any chance you could post some pictures of those kits????...
Thank you sir!...

 

....And another bump...

 

I did not read through all the posts but wasn't the retail price $1.49?

 

Yeah, I remember $1.44 at K-Mart. Of course mom would give me a buck and send me to the store for a gallon of milk and I could get a candy bar with the change, a full size one too, not the sown sized ones they sell for a buck and a half today! Heck I think I still got a nickel back!

 

it was red. I remember building a large scale Trike. It was really cool with a King/Queen seat that was encased in a body with a skull at the top.

 

Yeah, I know that trike kit... It has a wide set of Cragars and rear tires to match... It also has a Triumph motor I believe... I have it!.. I might put it up for sale...

 

You want to see the kits or the boxes ? Anyway right now they are in a big box truck that is hauling a trailer with my '64 Mercury from Las Vegas up here to the high country. Probably be a week or so before I could get to them.

 

The boxes would be cool....

 

I went in the local hobby shop for some paint last week and looked at the 50 Olds coupe kit and it was over 20 dollars.

 

You guys are just too young. The first AMT kits I remember were about 75c at the Sub base PX in Pearl Harbor (heavily discounted to the military). I also worked in a hobby shop in the early 60's in Illinois, and the boss discounted the $1.00 AMT 3n1 kits to 88c. Bottle paint was 15c and the Testor's sprays were around 39c. Gary

PS Burger King Whoppers were 39c, too!

 

I remember when I bought them at Wally World for .99 when we built our new house my ex wife threw out all of my models. Was close to a hundred of them. I spent hours building them. That was the good ole days.

 

I bought the AMT Double Dragster kit (the new re-issue) and it was 24 bucks and some change...
I got a deal on the new '25 T coupe 4'n1 kit for half price at hobby lobby...

 

After my son gets them here and I sort through all the hot rod parts he is bringing , I will see about putting some pics on.
I have a number of the old 3 in 1 kits, a couple of the deuce "Bonnie and Clyde " kits -- that was deuce roadster with "bullet holes" in the box! Really odd as I don't think B&C ever used a deuce roadster.
I have one kit that is a 32 Chevy roadster kit put out by MPC that Bud Anderson is credited with designing. I always tried to buy two of a kit so I could hot rod, customize, build one and still have a stocker . I could not manage to find another of this 32 Chevy kit, I called MPC and they claimed I COULD NOT have one because ALL that kit had been recalled and NONE were sold--
" if you have one please send it to me ( I was talking to the president of MPC) I would really like to see it , that deal happened before I was here and I would love to see the kit". Of Course , I didn't send it to him but I did talk to Bud Anderson before he died and found out that because MPC screwed him over in what he was promised when he went to MPC from AMT that he sued to stop them from using his name in their model business. MPC DID produce the 32 Chev Roadster kit later but not with Bud Andersons name on it.

 

My very first kit was a '58 Chevy Impala Convert , AMT , and in 1958 it was $1.00 up here ....when they expanded to kits WITH motors , it went to $ 1.25 .
Wish I still had the 1/8 '32 Deuce , 23 T , and 65 Vette .....they were $18-20 range .
I still have 60 unbuilt 1/24 kits on a shelf , mostly Fords , for that "rainy day ".

 

Got my first model in 1967 when I was 13 at Snider's Bicycle Shop in Bakersfield, CA. Rode my bike a couple miles across town to check out the new bikes and the shop was sponsering a model contest.

Bought a few bottles of paint for the details and stopped at Kmart on the way home for a can of spray paint for the body. Paid for everything with money earned from my newspaper route. Don't remember how much it cost though.

Cut up a pair of dad's socks to make seat covers and door panels. Used mom's thread for spark plug wires. Entered the car in the show a couple months later and got a 2nd place trophy.

Next model was Lil' Coffin.

 

I first saw a model "40 Ford done orange body and black fenders. Was a friends older brother's. I got myself a 1/32 63(?) Ford Falcon. It didn't look right; too small. The next kit was a 1/25 AMT '56 Ford (with the Meteor grill). I was off and that hobby consumed my life when I was a kid. I started watching the drags on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Got my dad to take me 45 miles to the drags at Mission Raceway even though he wasn't really into them. Collected posters for Mission from Western Auto Accessories on Kingsway. Bought the model mags and Car Craft and Hot Rod. And that is how I became addicted. Now I have too many(?) cars and over 100 model kits. I'm doomed!!!