JUNE 2020 ROUND 2 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

HERE'S A LOOK AT THE CURRENT GOODIES now on sale from Round 2. It's well worth watching, even if we're not ultra-keen on the bright intro music!

A VIDEO HISTORY OF THE MPC MODELS COMPANY

HERE’S A CLOSE LOOK AT MPC, short for the Model Products Corporation, an American manufacturer of plastic scale model kits and promotional models that were especially popular in the 1960s and 1970s. 

LIKE NOTHING ON EARTH: PLAN 9 FLYING SAUCER LANDS ON THIS WORLD

FOR THOSE WHO don’t know their science-fiction, this kit from Polar Lights represents one of the ‘flying hubcap’ UFOs that featured in a 1959 B-movie called Plan 9 from Outer Space.

1:25 SCALE JEEP vs GIANT GODZILLA IN 'INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER'

IF YOU LOOK HARD enough, you can usually find an interesting anniversary. And in 2019, Round 2 used the 65th Anniversary of Godzilla, perhaps the most famous of all movie monsters, to add a creature-feature to its list.

INCOMING KITS: NEW ROUND 2 MODELS

THE WONDERFEST SHOW IN KENTUCKY IS A MEGA-DRAW for fans of the linked genres of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror. Here we look at models coming from the Round 2 company.

BLACK BEAUTY FROM AMT: BATWING AIR COMBAT VEHICLE

AMT CONTINUES ITS CELEBRATION OF Batman movies by reissuing the Batwing air combat vehicle. The kit is to 1:25 scale, so it assembles to make a good-sized model, even if it is only a single-seater.

FLOWER POWER RETURNS WITH 1:25 SCALE AMT FORD ’71 FORD THUNDERBIRD

 

BACK IN 1971, FLOWER-POWER WAS STILL the thing. So branding the 1:25 scale AMT 1971 Ford Thunderbird as a ‘Bird of Paradise’ was obviously thought a good idea by the marketing gurus of the time. Now Round 2 have brought back the kit as a Retro De Luxe Edition ‘Enhanced Reissue,’ using the original box-art and ‘Giant Original Decal Sheet.’

LINDBERG FORD ROADSTER RAT ROD FROM ROUND 2 MODELS

HAVING ACQUIRED THE LINDBERG AND HAWK BRANDS, new owner Round 2 has been taking a look at the whole back catalogue to see what can be done, especially with some of the older kits.

ROUND 2 BATMOBILE: ANTON FURST DESIGN RELEASED TO 1:25 SCALE

THE NEW MOVIE BATMAN v SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE is due for release on March 25, 2016. So Round 2 has taken the opportunity of reissuing the AMT Batmobile kit, as designed for the first Batman reboot of 1989.

ROUND 2 ROUNDUP - MORE KITS INCOMING FOR 2014-2015

Incoming, a mouthwatering set of models from Round 2, due for release over the next 12 months or so.

2015 INCOMING - SPACE 1999 SCI-FI KITS FROM ROUND 2 MODELS, AND MORE BESIDES

The Round 2 model spectrum includes not only the AMT, MPC and Polar Lights brands, but now features the Lindberg and Hawk names as well.

DREAM MACHINE FROM THE SILVER SCREEN - AMT 1:25 SCALE ELVIS PRESLEY DUNE BUGGY

Round 2 continues to mine its back catalogue to reissue many of the older ‘Cars of the Stars’, while adding some new ones. This is one of the latter - in this form at least - as it originated as a much older AMT kit of the classic Meyers Manx Dune Buggy.

ANOTHER BLAST FROM THE PAST: ROUND 2 RE-RELEASE SOVIET-ERA VOSTOK SPACE LAUNCHER TO 1:100 SCALE

This is a 1:100 scale model of the classic Soviet A-Type launcher in its best-known Vostok version, as used to launch Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, on April 4, 1961. This time, the MPC kit comes as a Round 2 re-release.

iHOBBY EXPO 2013, CHICAGO: SHOW REPORT FROM MAT IRVINE

iHobby Expo, the main showcase for what’s new in US model-making, returned to the Chicago area from October 3-8, 2013, after a brief relocation to Cleveland, Ohio, in 2012.

PONY CAR REVIVAL: 1:25 SCALE AMT 1966 FORD MUSTANG FROM ROUND 2

MAT IRVINE WEEKENDER:
This 1:25 scale kit reissue from Round 2 Models originates from the time when AMT was producing its range of ‘Annual’ car kits, matching the output of the ‘full-size’ Detroit car companies.

1:25 SCALE AMT PHANTOM VAN KIT - OR IS IT A VANTOM?

KIT REVIEW BY MAT IRVINE
If any decade turned the van from commercial vehicle to a statement of cool, it was the 1970s. Until then, the humble panel truck was most likely seen carrying building materials, making store deliveries, or toting tools-of-the-trade. But in the 1970s, vans were tricked out with custom paint jobs, sound systems, maybe a kitchenette, even - if you were lucky - a double bed. And now in 2012, comes a Round 2 Models reissue of such a custom creation, the AMT 1:25 scale Ford Econoline Phantom van.

IT’S A SMALL WORLD - THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MODEL KIT

TINY VIEW BY MAT IRVINE

You may have noticed some of Round 2’s AMT and MPC kit releases that also include a miniature version of the kit's own 'big box.' A new idea? Not exactly, as AMT/MPC’s previous owner, RC-2, had produced a range of small diecast cars in its Johnny Lightning ‘Classic Plastic’ series.

NEW FOR 2012 - ‘MAN IN SPACE’ ROCKET FAMILY FROM AMT

Mat Irvine reports:

AMT originally became the best-known producer of model car kits, but in the mid-1960s, the company was also known for issuing the first Star Trek kits. And, as an adjunct to the science-fiction, AMT also moved to science fact, producing the first - and to date the only - kit of all five US manned space launchers prior to the Space Shuttle. And now, here they are back again.

IN STORES NOW - HOT-ROD ‘DARK SHADOWS’ VAMPIRE VAN FROM ROUND 2

SMN update from David Jefferis:

Oops, this Vampire Van has been in the ‘passed us by’ department for a while. It’s a fun kit that was released a couple of months ago by Round 2 under the MPC name, and is now generally available. The Vampire Van is well worth a look, not least because it paves the way for the upcoming vampire movie Dark Shadows, starring the excellent Johnny Depp and bodacious Michelle Pfeiffer.

INCOMING - CARTOON COUPE AND STRANGE TIME MACHINE FROM ROUND 2

SMN Report:

Round 2 Models, owners of the AMT, MPC and Polar Lights brands, are well into a busy 2012. R2M has just signed a licensing deal to release models of the cars raced by drag racing champ ‘Ohio George’ Montgomery, otherwise known to his fans as ‘King of the Gassers’. This quarter-mile legend ran some of the best-known supercharged AA/Gas coupes ever, including the potent 1933 Malco Willys, which ran a best high eight-second time down the strip, topping out at 257 km/h (160 mph).