# Polar Lights Disney's Herbie the Love Bug???



## fortress

Recently while adding to car collection I have been attempting to find a polar lights
Disney's Herbie the Love Bug model kit but to my surprise there is little or no information on the kit, when it was produced, reviews of the kit, I mean was it a limited run, did the ideal flop, if anyone could provide me with any information, insight, or heck even a lead on where to get one it would be most appreciated.

Happy Modeling:thumbsup:


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## Warspite

Fortress,

I googled your title for the thread and this is what came up;

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Polar+Lights+Disney%27s+Herbie+the+Love+Bug&oq=Polar+Lights+Disney%27s+Herbie+the+Love+Bug&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i61&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Don


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## fortress

Warspite said:


> Fortress,
> 
> I googled your title for the thread and this is what came up;
> 
> https://www.google.ca/search?q=Polar+Lights+Disney%27s+Herbie+the+Love+Bug&oq=Polar+Lights+Disney%27s+Herbie+the+Love+Bug&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i61&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Best regards,
> Don



Thanks Warspite for the post and it was informative at the very least I know when the kit was released, my god 2004 no wonder I'm having a hard time finding this darn thing. 

Well at this point my only chance is perhaps ebay I know they just had one on sale so I will have to keep searching by the way if anyone has a mint Polar Lights Herbie the Love Bug kit that they want to part with please PM me on this website.


fortress:thumbsup:


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## Zombie_61

Just in case you're interested in building an accurate Herbie, the Polar Lights kit has a few inaccuracies.

First is the license plate light housing on the rear deck lid. The original Herbie "hero" car was a 1963, but Polar Lights used the wider housing that started with the 1964 models:










Second, the font on the roundels (the number "53" stickers) is wrong; the correct font is on the left, the Polar Lights version is on the right:










Also, the kit comes with stickers instead of decals, so you might want to start shopping around for some aftermarket decals if you can't make them yourself.

Third, the hub caps are shaped incorrectly, but it's very likely that only us VW lunatics would notice that.

By the way, Revell also produced a "Love Bug" kit as a movie tie-in in 1968, and re-released it as a "Herbie Rides Again" kit as a tie-in to the first sequel in 1974. The two kits are identical except for the box art, but are far more inaccurate than the Polar Lights kit, particularly because Revell re-used the molds from their 1968 VW Beetle kit:










In all sincerity, good luck finding the kit at a price you can live with!


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## fortress

Dose anyone know if the PL love bug kit from 2004 is a simple redress to
the new Spiderman VW car kit? So far it's getting real hard to find this model
almost everywhere I have turned they habe been sold.

Man Herbie is really a cult fav!?!?!

May have to go another route.

fortress


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## Warspite

Fortress,

I Googled both kits and I believe they are the same kit. The Spiderman version is cast in orange plastic though. 

If you decide to go for it you might try writing Round 2/Polar Lights to see if they can send you a replacement decal sheet for the Herbie kit. Just remember the points that Zombie_61 has made concerning accuracy of the kit.

This link will take you to a review of the Spiderman kit;
http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/pl/kit_pl_0927.shtml

Hope this helps.
Don


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## Zombie_61

Warspite said:


> ...I Googled both kits and I believe they are the same kit. The Spiderman version is cast in orange plastic though...


If it is the same kit (and I believe it is) they reworked the molds, so the Spiderman version doesn't have the "ragtop" sunroof; you'd have to figure out how to replicate that.


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## BWolfe

There's one on ebay right now, buy it now $19.95:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DISNEY-THE-...OLAR-LIGHTS-/371440530838?hash=item567b94b596


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## Warspite

BWolfe said:


> There's one on ebay right now, buy it now $19.95:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/DISNEY-THE-...OLAR-LIGHTS-/371440530838?hash=item567b94b596


BWolfe, thanks for the link, lets hope Fortess is watching the board.



Zombie_61 said:


> If it is the same kit (and I believe it is) they reworked the molds, so the Spiderman version doesn't have the "ragtop" sunroof; you'd have to figure out how to replicate that.


Zombie_61, I took a quick look at the kit images on evilbay and noted there are four holes in the roof of the kit and in the box there is a curved piece with four corresponding pins. I'm sure it is the rolltop sunroof that Herbie needs. It is definitely the same kit.


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## Zombie_61

Warspite said:


> Zombie_61, I took a quick look at the kit images on evilbay and noted there are four holes in the roof of the kit and in the box there is a curved piece with four corresponding pins. I'm sure it is the rolltop sunroof that Herbie needs. It is definitely the same kit.


Just to be clear, I was referring to the differences between Polar Lights' "Love Bug" kit and their "Spiderman" Volkswagen kit in that post.

Regarding the Love Bug kit in the link posted by BWolfe, I looked at all three photos in the listing and didn't see the "sunroof" piece anywhere, so that kit might be missing more than just the "screws and axles" mentioned in the listing. Caveat emptor.


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## BWolfe

Zombie_61 said:


> Just to be clear, I was referring to the differences between Polar Lights' "Love Bug" kit and their "Spiderman" Volkswagen kit in that post.
> 
> Regarding the Love Bug kit in the link posted by BWolfe, I looked at all three photos in the listing and didn't see the "sunroof" piece anywhere, so that kit might be missing more than just the "screws and axles" mentioned in the listing. Caveat emptor.


In the last photo, showing the five tires, tiny screwdriver, chassis piece, seat and engine hood, it is there, beside the screwdriver with a tire leaning on it.


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## fortress

Hey thanks everyone for the very informative responses regarding this posting it is 
clear that Herbie definitely is a more complex modeling subject then I would have originally expected
also it would seem as though the original Herbie the Love Bug kit produced by Revell is very different from the
polar lights kit question is which one is more accurate?

fortress


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## fortress

BWolfe said:


> There's one on ebay right now, buy it now $19.95:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/DISNEY-THE-...OLAR-LIGHTS-/371440530838?hash=item567b94b596


Thanks BWolfe I saw it! Hey do you think a Herbie can be built utilizing the spider-man VW Bug kit?

fortress:thumbsup:


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## Zombie_61

BWolfe said:


> In the last photo, showing the five tires, tiny screwdriver, chassis piece, seat and engine hood, it is there, beside the screwdriver with a tire leaning on it.


Yeah, I missed the fourth photo. My mistake.



fortress said:


> ...also it would seem as though the original Herbie the Love Bug kit produced by Revell is very different from the polar lights kit question is which one is more accurate?


_Definitely_ the Polar Lights kit (except, of course, for the minor inaccuracies I mentioned in post #4 above). As I mentioned in the previous post, the "hero" Herbie was a 1963 VW Beetle; the Revell kit is a 1968. Among other things, the Revell kit has the wrong headlights, front turn signals, taillights, rear license plate light housing, wheels, front seats, and the deck lid is the wrong shape. Volkswagen made minor changes to the Beetle during the 1960s, but they're noticeable if you know what you're looking for and the Revell kit is just wrong on almost every level with regards to building an accurate Herbie. It's a decent kit, it's just not "right".


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## fortress

won't believe this folks, a week ago I am on evilbay and I run across a mint PL Herbie
in box I PM the seller and inform him my intention to buy his product in return I even
added more $$$ to the pot the seller agreed and when it came time to pay for it he has
it listed as temporarily sold out, well he has me thinking that he is holding it for me but
in reality he sold it to someone else and forgot to remove the listing.

What is the deal with this kit!?!?!#@!!!

Really bummed out, search for weeks for that darn thing and all I get is well shit happens.


fortress


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## Warspite

Fortress,

There are very good reasons we call it evilbay, you just encountered one.

The partial kit is still available;
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/371440530838?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I'm sure you could easily fashion new axles from styrene rod and find some screws to work for you. Besides, you don't have many other options right now.

Don


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## Zombie_61

Warspite said:


> ...I'm sure you could easily fashion new axles from styrene rod and find some screws to work for you...


Or brass rod, assuming your local hobby shop (if you have one) carries that. As for the screws, if you can't find any a little glue in the right spots will probably do the same job.


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## fortress

I wonder if it is possible to use parts from the Spiderman VW kit Round 2
Models currently has out now? I mean is that kit possibly a re-use of the
Herbie kit?

fortress


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## Warspite

Except for the colour of the plastic and no ragtop or holes to mount it and the decals, it is the same kit.


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## chippmunk53

I have in my collection a built 1956 gunze sangyo oval window beetle kit. This is a curbside model, with no engine detail. The bumpers are the old style single-bar units without the over-run bars like Herbie has, and the rear window is the small oval window. There are no turn signals on the front fenders, the '63 would have had small housings with white lenses. Amber turn signals first appeared in 1964, as well as enlarged taillights. But the headlights more accurately resemble the '63. The kit says 1:24 scale, but it is small, closer to 1:25. With a little massaging here and there, making an accurate Herbie from this kit could be possible, using the bumpers from Tamaya's '66 VW, and enlarging the backlight. The kit box has the number G-149:900 printed on it. There is no sunroof, but a neat rooftop carrier frame is included.

Just some background, My dad bought a used '61 veewee in '62, and I remember sitting in that little space behind the back seat. He traded that beetle for a new '65. Sis had a '66, virtually unchanged from '65 cosmetically, but internal things were upgraded, like larger engine (Still looked like the smaller one). I learned to drive in that '65, took my driving test in it.


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## Zombie_61

chippmunk53 said:


> I have in my collection a built 1956 gunze sangyo oval window beetle kit...With a little massaging here and there, making an accurate Herbie from this kit could be possible, using the bumpers from Tamaya's '66 VW, and enlarging the backlight...


If you already have Tamiya's '66 Beetle kit, you'd be better off using that for a Herbie build because there are far fewer modifications you'd have to make:

• The front turn signal housings are larger on the '66 than they were on the '63, but most people wouldn't notice that on a scale model.

• The rear license plate light housing would have to be modified, or removed and replaced, and the "1300" badge would have to be removed from the rear deck lid.

• The driver's side external rear view mirror is the wrong shape, so that would have to be modified or scratch built. The passenger side external rear view mirror should be left off.

• The wheels have ventilated slots to help keep the brakes cool (on a real car, that is), so those would have to be filled in or the wheels would have to be replaced.

• The hubcaps are flatter on the '66 model than on the '63; the simplest solution is to leave them off.

• The Tamiya kit doesn't have a sunroof, so that would have to be scratch built.

Other than that, the differences between the '63 and '66 models were so minor that nobody would notice them on a 1/24 scale model unless they're a VW Beetle fanatic.


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## aussiemuscle308

i've built the PL herbie kit. it's fairly simple but goes together well. I like that it has an opening trunk with a spare wheel. It's fairly robust too, i dropped it when taking these photos!


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## Warspite

aussiemuscle308,

Looking good there sir.


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