# Space: 1999Model Kits Returning



## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

FYI everyone, Round 2 will be re-issuing the Space 1999 kits late 2013.

Also, IF and I repeat IF the sales of the other space 1999 kits are sufficient, Round 2 might consider doing a 22" Eagle kit in injection styrene that is accurately based on the hero 44" Eagle. There might be a few slight cheats to make it "kitable" but they would keep all of the proportions and major details as close to 100% accurate as metal tooling will allow. Keep in mind, this is not set in stone. The tooling would cost a bundle, and the license needs to pay for itself, SO, .....and I want to stress that nothing is guaranteed.... only if you guys do your part in helping the re-pops sell well first would they CONSIDER doing the 22" model. So, if you want this to happen we must all do our part to re-spark interest in the old kits, even that Alien one. As for the Hawk, well, it sounds like Airfix might have the tool for that one. Round 2 said they will be looking into that to see what the possibilities might be.





















For more pix of Eagle and other buildups unrelated to Round 2, you can look here:

http://www.smallartworks.ca/Gallery/Gallery.html

Scroll down the page a bit and look for the Eagles etc.... then click on the pic for more details.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Where'd you hear that they might do a 22 inch Eagle if the reissues sell well?


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

It was announced as a possibility @ Wonderfest, but the key thing here is that it MIGHT happen. It all depends on sales of the old kits.

Incidentally the re-release of the Eagle kit will have a brand new decal sheet with over 100 separate decals to add more precise details as an added bonus with corrected symbols and a lot more detail in the form of technical markings and so on.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Well I'm sure I'll do my part and pick up a few eagles if the price is reasonable.

I'm guessing that they will be in the range of the Star Trek repops, $20-30.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Maybe ParaGrafix can be talked into doing a photo-etch set for the eagle.

I would think some of the landing gear detail, maybe a cockpit rear wall.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

You read my mind, Mach7 :thumbsup:

Also, I spoke with Jamie and PL _thinks_ that the Hawk molds are in England and they are trying to track them down. I really hope they can find them.

*Pure Speculation:* Wouldn't it be cool if they also did the laser tanks and other vehicles?


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

eimb1999 said:


> For more pix of Eagle and other buildups unrelated to Round 2, you can look here:
> 
> http://www.smallartworks.ca/Gallery/Gallery.html
> 
> Scroll down the page a bit and look for the Eagles etc.... then click on the pic for more details.


You planning on laying in a supply of your in-scale replacement beaks?


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Oh, if only there were kits of the laser tanks!



Paulbo said:


> You read my mind, Mach7 :thumbsup:
> 
> Also, I spoke with Jamie and PL _thinks_ that the Hawk molds are in England and they are trying to track them down. I really hope they can find them.
> 
> *Pure Speculation:* Wouldn't it be cool if they also did the laser tanks and other vehicles?


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

As I stated in the same thread on the movies tv sub forums the reissue of the Eagle was announced at this years wonderfest and it's not just the Eagle and alien buggy but also the moonbase Alpha kit too. So you see it's kinda old news.


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Reading thru this thread, it's pretty obvious that it's not "kinda old news", as there appear to be others who've not heard. _I_ hadn't heard about it until this thread....


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Well, I hope this sells well enough to make the bigger one. But, I purchased enough of these over the years (at least 6) and I consider it the Space:1999 equivalent of the old AMT TOS Enterprise. Not a bad representation of the ship, but requires a ton of work to make it more accurate. The Product Enterprise Eagles are gorgeous, but now they are really pricey in the secondary market. 

An accurate 22" styrene Eagle? I'd be all over that one.:thumbsup:


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

jheilman said:


> Well, I hope this sells well enough to make the bigger one. But, I purchased enough of these over the years (at least 6) and I consider it the Space:1999 equivalent of the old AMT TOS Enterprise. Not a bad representation of the ship, but requires a ton of work to make it more accurate. The Product Enterprise Eagles are gorgeous, but now they are really pricey in the secondary market.
> 
> An accurate 22" styrene Eagle? I'd be all over that one.:thumbsup:


I would agree with this... I have a re-release of the Eagle that came out in the late 90's. It's still unbuilt - mainly because the Product Enterprise Eagle is very nearly the same kit, but with all of the needed improvements to make a decent display model. If a new release of the 12" Eagle had improved tooling, then it would be a good springboard to bring Space:1999 back as an updated release. As for "The Alien"...people who are die hard Space:1999 fans mostly passed on this model - mostly because it had nothing to do with any part of the show, save for having the show name slapped on the box.

I think that if Round 2 is really serious about taking on Space:1999, the larger scale 22" Eagle would garner some decent sales compared to the other 2 kits planned on being offered in the initial post. As much as I would like to see a new Space:1999 kit, I'll wait for something that is "new" rather than a repop of 2 lesser releases.


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## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

Gemini1999 said:


> I think that if Round 2 is really serious about taking on Space:1999, the larger scale 22" Eagle would garner some decent sales compared to the other 2 kits planned on being offered in the initial post. As much as I would like to see a new Space:1999 kit, I'll wait for something that is "new" rather than a repop of 2 lesser releases.


I agree, I'll pass on the reissue of a kit I always thought was too small and seriously flawed and hope for the 22" Eagle. If that never happens, oh well.....


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Well, for those of you who are electing to pass on the re-issues, you are simply condemning the 22" model to death. Like I said... the new model will depend very much on the old kit sales to generate the revenue needed for the new kit. So don't be too quick to dismiss the old stuff. If everyone thought as you do, it's a guarantee that the new kit will NOT get made.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

If they are basing the popularity of a new kit on the sales of the old kit, they will never do the new kit.

The old kit is a POS, and its been reissued enough that its not rare. Pretty much everyone that would want it got it last time around. For the $30something the reissue will cost, I can't see many people buying it. There are only so many 1999 model builders out there.


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## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

eimb1999 said:


> If everyone thought as you do, it's a guarantee that the new kit will NOT get made.


If my not buying a rehash of a kit I've already bought at least 6 times in the past, dooms the kit that they should be offering, then it's doomed already......:freak:
Round 2 needs to just take the chance, they may be surprised, I know I'd be in for at least 4. Look at Moebius, they've been sticking their necks out for years with great success, giving us some of the best "new stuff", not threatening us with "you better buy this tried old kit or we won't make a new and larger kit....". Really.......:drunk:


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

djnick66 said:


> If they are basing the popularity of a new kit on the sales of the old kit, they will never do the new kit.
> 
> The old kit is a POS, and its been reissued enough that its not rare. Pretty much everyone that would want it got it last time around. For the $30something the reissue will cost, I can't see many people buying it. There are only so many 1999 model builders out there.






That's the problem. Loads of people including myself have got the Eagle kit anyway so as you say basing the popularity of a new kit on sales of an older kit that wasn't much cop to begin with seems very suspect to me.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

teslabe said:


> If my not buying a rehash of a kit I've already bought at least 6 times in the past, dooms the kit that they should be offering, then it's doomed already......:freak:
> Round 2 needs to just take the chance, they may be surprised, I know I'd be in for at least 4. Look at Moebius, they've been sticking their necks out for years with great success, giving us some of the best "new stuff", not threatening us with "you better buy this tried old kit or we won't make a new and larger kit....". Really.......:drunk:


My thoughts exactly, reissuing these kits isn't any real incentive for serious modellers to suddenly start buying stacks of them.
The odd thing here is that the Eagle, by the very nature of it's modular construction, readily lends itself to relatively simple tooling with much repetition of parts...a single sprue could contain parts for one engine, one engine bell, a set of leg parts, parts for a 'leg' pod, RCS thruster etc....put in four of those sprues and you already have half the kit.
There's also the potential of multiple versions by simply replacing the pod with an additional sprue.
I don't understand why they're stalling on this....they'd sell a pile in Japan for a start....


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

miniature sun said:


> My thoughts exactly, reissuing these kits isn't any real incentive for serious modellers to suddenly start buying stacks of them.
> The odd thing here is that the Eagle, by the very nature of it's modular construction, readily lends itself to relatively simple tooling with much repetition of parts...a single sprue could contain parts for one engine, one engine bell, a set of leg parts, parts for a 'leg' pod, RCS thruster etc....put in four of those sprues and you already have half the kit.
> There's also the potential of multiple versions by simply replacing the pod with an additional sprue.
> I don't understand why they're stalling on this....they'd sell a pile in Japan for a start....


Thank you. Hit most of the points I would have made. 

As much as I love nostalgia kits, if they ain't cheap there's not much nostalgia. I guess I'm crazy, I'd rather wish R2 pulled an 'Aoshima' and invested in some re-tooling of parts to bring it at least closer to accurate (and of course as a value 'accurate' is a variable depending on source). Re-work the nose, landing gear part of the quads, and the spine lattice might be stage one. 

I suggest this as it seems doing a complete new tool of the Eagle in the same size seems somehow impossible. 

So, 22 inch Eagle. that puts it, what, somewhere between 1/60 and 1/48th scale?


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

eimb1999 said:


> Well, for those of you who are electing to pass on the re-issues, you are simply condemning the 22" model to death.


Like others said, sorry. I'm not motivated to buy some inferior kits to possibly ensure the kit I want _might_ happen. As soon as I bought my Product Enterprise eagle, my unbuilt kits went to eBay.


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

eimb1999 said:


> Well, for those of you who are electing to pass on the re-issues, you are simply condemning the 22" model to death. Like I said... the new model will depend very much on the old kit sales to generate the revenue needed for the new kit. So don't be too quick to dismiss the old stuff. If everyone thought as you do, it's a guarantee that the new kit will NOT get made.


No matter how you slice it, the 22" Eagle will never be made at this rate. The reissue of 2 mediocre kits won't sell. It will be a shame that Round 2 will throw away the money to reissue the kits, only to have them sit on shelves unpurchased. If Round 2 were to spend the money on the tooling for the larger kit, I'm sure it would be worth the gamble. When they finally made the leap to make the 1/350 TOS Enterprise, there were concerns that it wouldn't work out, but I haven't heard any complaints in that regard.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

teslabe said:


> If my not buying a rehash of a kit I've already bought at least 6 times in the past, dooms the kit that they should be offering, then it's doomed already......:freak:
> Round 2 needs to just take the chance, they may be surprised, I know I'd be in for at least 4. Look at Moebius, they've been sticking their necks out for years with great success, giving us some of the best "new stuff", not threatening us with "you better buy this tried old kit or we won't make a new and larger kit....". Really.......:drunk:






I can see exactly what you mean and how do we know that they've no intention of tooling up a new kit anyway but are just saying that to get us to buy the old kits??????


*BUT.......*


I do however suggest all Eagle fans by all 3 of these if they can anyway and even at least 2 of each kit . It is good that there's at least a hint that they might consider doing a new Eagle and as the old saying goes the more money plastic manufacturers make the more kits we'll probably get.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

SUNGOD said:


> I do however suggest all Eagle fans by all 3 of these if they can anyway and even at least 2 of each kit . It is good that there's at least a hint that they might consider doing a new Eagle and as the old saying goes the more money plastic manufacturers make the more kits we'll probably get.


You can buy 6 because I am not buying one


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## JeffG (May 10, 2004)

I gotta admit that I fail to see the logic behind this decision myself. Instead of making a new and accurate kit, what's the point of repopping an old tool that most hobbyists griped about in the first place due to it's inaccuracies, then hope that it will sell well this time? Kinda like saying you wanted spaghetti, but got served burnt meatloaf so rather than getting your spaghetti next time, here's another big plate of burnt meatloaf and if you eat it all, you'll get your spaghetti. I don't get it.


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

If they are going to re-pop the 12" Eagle, Round 2 might consider contacting Product Enterprises to do a 100% plastic kit off of their tooling. That would be a 12" Eagle that people would be willing to buy/build. When I got mine, I looked it over and I could see the genesis of it from the original AMT kit that was released in the 70's. My thought would be that since a repop in plastic would be cheaper than the plastic/metal combo of the PE display model might be more affordable than the original PE model, which is pretty much out of production anyways.


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## ViperRecon (Aug 3, 2010)

JeffG said:


> I gotta admit that I fail to see the logic behind this decision myself. Instead of making a new and accurate kit, what's the point of repopping an old tool that most hobbyists griped about in the first place due to it's inaccuracies, then hope that it will sell well this time? Kinda like saying you wanted spaghetti, but got served burnt meatloaf so rather than getting your spaghetti next time, here's another big plate of burnt meatloaf and if you eat it all, you'll get your spaghetti. I don't get it.


...you mean you *might *get your spaghetti.

Mark in Okinawa


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

JeffG said:


> I gotta admit that I fail to see the logic behind this decision myself. Instead of making a new and accurate kit, what's the point of repopping an old tool that most hobbyists griped about in the first place due to it's inaccuracies, then hope that it will sell well this time? Kinda like saying you wanted spaghetti, but got served burnt meatloaf so rather than getting your spaghetti next time, here's another big plate of burnt meatloaf and if you eat it all, you'll get your spaghetti. I don't get it.


Yeah, I gotta agree with you. It's too much work to get a decent representation of the on-screen eagle models out of that old kit. Maybe I'm getting spoiled from the re-toolings and new toolings of old subjects in very high quality kits that are coming out now. This model kit needs to be retired and all-new tooling needs to be brought out whether it's 11" or 22".


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

ViperRecon said:


> ...you mean you *might *get your spaghetti.
> 
> Mark in Okinawa


Yes, an important point for sure.

You're not going to sell enough of these older kits to Space:1999 fans. Lets face it, it's a much smaller audience than Trek. So, you appeal to those of us who are a bit older and would spend more for a larger accurate kit. In that sense, it IS like the 1/350 TOS E. Fewer will purchase it, but the per kit price would justify that. I'd pay what I paid for my big TOS E for a 22" super-accurate eagle. Then some after-market aluminum engine bells. Spring-loaded landing struts. Interchangeable passenger pods. 

There was a 22" inch eagle (and a 44") on display at Wonderfest. Would look so nice on my shelf.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Wow. You guys are incredibly pessimistic. With attitudes like that it seems you want to kill it before it even has a chance to flourish. Here's a company doing it's best to try to give you what you want and all you do is bitch. Maybe they shouldn't bother. Sheesh.


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## teslabe (Oct 20, 2007)

eimb1999 said:


> Here's a company doing it's best to try to give you what you want and all you do is bitch. Maybe they shouldn't bother. Sheesh.


They aren't give us what we would like to have, just a bad kit from the past. I truly think you just don't get it. Sheesh.......:freak:


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Please... don't drink and post.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Please.. all of you go back and CAREFULLY read the first post on this thread. Read it carefully and at least TRY to understand instead of getting so conspiratorial and negative.


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

eimb1999 said:


> Wow. You guys are incredibly pessimistic. With attitudes like that it seems you want to kill it before it even has a chance to flourish. Here's a company doing it's best to try to give you what you want and all you do is bitch. Maybe they shouldn't bother. Sheesh.


Sorry you feel that way. But how many of these will you buy? I'm a huge 1999 fan. Love the eagle. But I'm passing on this just like i did the Revel Germany TOS Enterprise. I just don't have the money to buy like I used to. So, I'm selective. And I'm pickier now than I was when I first bought the old eagle kits. 

I'm glad all the re-pops are out there for those who want them. This was a fun kit for me back in the day. But it's the new, better kits that get my interest.

My whole point is if R2 is hinging future plans of a large, accurate kit on the sales figures of an old inaccurate kit, I just don't think that's a fair way to judge it. I'd say most who want a 22" kit already have the smaller version (or several). That need is filled for them. I'm looking at my last built one right now. So yeah, the meatloaf analogy above fits for me.:wave:


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Paulbo said:


> You read my mind, Mach7 :thumbsup:


So, What are you thinking?

I would love to see the landing pod gear support frames done, but I don't think the PE is strong enough.

I would love to see at least a partial cockpit and maybe 2 pilot flats.

some engine baffles.

Any other ideas?


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Okay fine. I understand saving your dough, but for God's sake (and I'm talking to everyone here, not just you) don't outright trash the idea of supporting the old stuff, the sales of which would help the new stuff get done. All companies have to generate revenue so as to get the $$$ to pay for the new stuff which is a LOT more expensive to produce than a re-pop, and a lot more of a risk. 

What do you think will work better to get the new model done? Saying: "Nah That old kit is crap, I'm not gonna get one!" or, saying something like: "Hey I'm glad to hear they are considering the possibility of a new kit! I've already got a bunch of the old ones but I hope those of you who could use an extra re-pop and can afford it will go for it to help fund the new kit!" 

Which opinion/response do you think will help the most? Hmmmm?????

BE MORE POSITIVE! PLEASE!


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Gemini1999 said:


> No matter how you slice it, the 22" Eagle will never be made at this rate. The reissue of 2 mediocre kits won't sell. It will be a shame that Round 2 will throw away the money to reissue the kits, only to have them sit on shelves unpurchased. If Round 2 were to spend the money on the tooling for the larger kit, I'm sure it would be worth the gamble. When they finally made the leap to make the 1/350 TOS Enterprise, there were concerns that it wouldn't work out, but I haven't heard any complaints in that regard.


Ummm.. and where do you think R2 got the $$$$$$ to make that 1/350 TOS???? Hmmm? 

Here's a hint... What Trek kits did they primarily release BEFORE the 350 TOS was made? Hmmm? Could it be they re-issued a pile of old kits to generate the revenue??

Come on people... THINK!!!


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

I'm thinking all of you need a little refresher on the story of the "The Little Red Hen".


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

No one's denying that they issued repops to fund new stuff. I hope they sell thousands. The implication so far has been that we who want the good stuff should spend our $$ on the not-good stuff first to fund the good stuff. All I'm saying is that I elect to sit back and see if the good stuff is coming. That's what I did with the TOS. Didn't buy any of the Trek repops. I'd been down that road since I was a kid. Just waited for the 1/350 and am thrilled to have it. 

Now, one repop that does interest me is the TOS bridge with extra wall panels and improved figures.:thumbsup:


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## alancarter (Jun 2, 2013)

WOW! I mean just WOW! You people are just unbelieveable. Round2 announces that they might do a kit and that the production of this new kit will be dependant on the sales of some repops. You question their motives and accuse them of deception. You compare them to Moebus and suggest that they should be more like them. 

Do any of you know anything? How typical it is, moan and bitch and you haven't seen anything concrete yet. All they are suggesting is that if we support Round2 by spending a small amount of money each to show them that we are interested in S1999 that this would go a long way to convince them to do the 22 inch kit. You say that Round2 should commit 10 of thousands and risk producing the new kit not knowing if anyone cares. How dumb are you people.

Someone has suggested that Round2 should be more like Moebius, why? What does Moebius do that's any different besides nothing. Oh wait how about accuracy for the most part. How come your all not complaining that their stuff isn't done correctly. 

I wonder how many of you pre-ordered Round2's TOS Enterprise and then when it came time to buy backed out? Lots of people did that so maybe Round2 is a bit gun shy. 

You know fans of modeling are a fickle bunch, someone makes a kit, you complain its too expensive, they make it better, its not good enough, companies spend thousands of dollars to create a kit for us that's 99.9% accurate and everybody jumps on the band wagon that its 0.01% wrong. Its a wonder these companies don't just give up and say screw you sci-fi fans.

I for one on my limited income will be buying these kits even though I can safely say that l already have more reissued Eagle kits that the bulk of you put together, because I want to do my part by showing Round2 that I want them to do the 22inch kit and possible others in the same scale.

You cannot have it both ways anymore. Risk must be managed. The big model companies have for the most part deserted us. In the old day marketing allow more risk because you could make money selling car kits and risk abit to make sci-fi kits now that all go so get over it. Would you rather everything becomes pre-order and then fight and complain to get your money back when the kit you paid for is cancelled due to a lack of interest?

Geez Have some faith already!

Don


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## robn1 (Nov 17, 2012)

I got two of the Eagle repops from ERTL so I have no interest in another one. But I would very much like the Hawk and moonbase. Even the Alien kit, it's not from 1999 but I always liked it, and I'd get a repop.

I am VERY interested in a 22in Eagle, and I'd buy several of them. And dare I suggest a Hawk in the same scale?


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I will be getting at least 1 of each even though I have an Eagle and an Alpha in my stash already. Would buy several Hawks if they get the molds for it!


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

Since I already have repops of the original Eagle and the Moonbase Alpha kits, I'll hang onto those until something new comes along. I'm not pessimistic about a new kit happening but when someone tells me that the new kit is dependent upon buying another repop of what I already have, I'll let someone else have that honor.

As someone else said,.with what kits cost, not to mention the supplies to build them, I've become selective. I've never bought a duplicate kit for that same reason, but I've never been shy of buying an all new, well tooled kit when it comes along. I've bought my fair share of bothe Round 2 kits, but not repops.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Well, I have 1 of the '90s reissue. So I guess I'll get at least 3 eagles.

I'm going to open up the cage's on the service modules, and expect I'll 
mess up my 1st attempt.

Ill try a kit bash Metaprobe and Ultraprobe. That will use some kit parts.

Then I guess I'll need to keep one in my stash.

I'll get a bunch of Hawks if the find the molds.

I'll probably get a Moonbase also. Not sure about the alien.

I'm fine with the way R2 has been doing things. They need to make $$
so we can get the kits we want. 

This isn't socialism. R2 is in the business to make money.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

alancarter said:


> WOW! I mean just WOW! You people are just unbelieveable. Round2 announces that they might do a kit and that the production of this new kit will be dependant on the sales of some repops. You question their motives and accuse them of deception. You compare them to Moebus and suggest that they should be more like them.
> 
> Do any of you know anything? How typical it is, moan and bitch and you haven't seen anything concrete yet. All they are suggesting is that if we support Round2 by spending a small amount of money each to show them that we are interested in S1999 that this would go a long way to convince them to do the 22 inch kit. You say that Round2 should commit 10 of thousands and risk producing the new kit not knowing if anyone cares. How dumb are you people.
> 
> ...


It's not a question of faith, it's (at least for me) not wanting to be 'blackmailed' for a vague promise, in the face of some fairly concrete knowledge. 

R2, via Platz, would be able to sell more than enough new-tool Eagle kits in Japan to pay for all the R&D and production costs. Sales of that kit in America and England would be just a form of extra profit margin. 

Give me a re-pop MPC (not AMT, folks) Eagle at $15 and sure, I'll buy a couple. I'll buy into the blackmail. But make that a $25-40 kit and forget it. I just can't afford that kind of money (not with all the sexy new Yamato 2199 kits coming out, plus the Aoshima Thunderbirds releases) for simple nostalgia. 

Give me SOME reason to buy it. Some new tooling. A sprue of add-on parts to make the 'science' module and booster rockets. Figures and a moon ATV. Something. Some reason why I should pay current Japanese SF kit money for a raggy '70s American kit. Something more than "and MAYBE, if the world econ doesn't tank again and the Chinese tool and die makers don't raise their rates again and plastic prices don't go up again we'll make a new Eagle kit"

Speaking of which, there's an idea. Re-pop the old MPC 'Banana Splits' ATV as a Moonbase Alpha ATV. THAT is something I think people might get a little excited about.


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## Hunk A Junk (Jan 28, 2013)

Is there an accurate replacement cockpit for this kit? I have one of the 90s re-issue kits, and I can modify the rest of the inaccuracies easy enough, but it really needs an all new cockpit. If one isn't already available somewhere, is someone planning one?


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

I don't particularly want to fork out for more of those MPC Eagles (I have 4 already) and I don't know what to make of the whole thing but as has been said it's good that they're even talking about bringing out a new Eagle at last.

I think we can only go on their word and try and buy as many as we can.

Even though the Alien and buggy has nothing to do with Space 1999 it's still worth picking up as a moon vehicle.

Again we can only go on their word and do what they say.


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## crowe-t (Jul 30, 2010)

Considering how much the last re-issue of the MPC(AMT) Eagles are selling for on E-Bay($41 - $76 USD), and they do sell regularly for these prices, I'd rather pay around $30 for the Round 2 re-issue and get the new decal sheet. Considering how nice the new decals have been in Round 2's recent re-releases, the decal sheet alone is probably worth the cost of the kit.

As stated in an above post, the MPC Eagle is the Space:1999 equivalent of the old AMT TOS Enterprise. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Despite it's inaccuracies, the AMT 18" TOS Enterprise is a classic kit with many fond memories and it's still being built and seems to have sold well by Round 2.

I'll buy a few if it helps to get a new 22" Eagle made.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Thank you Alancarter, Robn1, Fozzie, Mach7, Sungod and CroweT for your most recent posts to this. That's the spirit! Positive thinking and proactive action! That's the foundation of all good dreams! As an aside, I want that 22" Eagle more than anyone, so obviously I want to see it get done too. I just hope it happens! But we must work towards it! If everyone helps, if nothing else but just by being positive, then maybe it'll get done. The naysayers and skeptics just aren't helping whatsoever., and in fact are detrimental to the end result. So thanks to all of you who posted positively!


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## Cajjunwolfman (Nov 15, 2004)

We shall see what happens.
Always interesting when we get in these type discussions. 

I already have several Moon Base Alphas. However I believe I would buy four of the 1999 ships and two of the buggy looking contraption. I never knew about the 1999 kits so I did not get to own or build any. 

I'm not a big enough fan of the show to know any of the accuracy details so that doesn't concern me. Hope the production run comes to pass.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

I really can't fathom the hysteria of some of the posts here implying that if we fail to buy the reissues then we're damning the whole hobby to a future of no new kits.
Steve H is correct...the market for Gerry Anderson products in Japan and other parts of Asia is immense and dwarfs the possible US/European sales.
I'm sure if FineMolds or Hasegawa got hold of the license they would have no hesitation in issuing a state of the art Eagle.
To say that the reissues are a significant investment for R2 doesn't ring true. Aside from the new boxart and decals, the parts remain the same and with no tooling costs the outlay is minimal....I'm sure if they had gone without the decals then the aftermarket would have jumped in anyway. 
From another perspective we don't see Revell saying that future new-tool releases are dependent on the sales of their reissued Renwal missile kits.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

eimb1999 said:


> . . . But we must work towards it! If everyone helps, if nothing else but just by being positive, then maybe it'll get done. The naysayers and skeptics just aren't helping whatsoever., and in fact are detrimental to the end result. So thanks to all of you who posted positively!


Sorry, it's not our responsibility to be "positive." It just isn't. You shouldn't start threads expecting everyone to go by your dictates or you will be disappointed.

Despite being one of the "negative" people on the subject of the old Eagle kit, I'll give you a way to go that can get some sales--I know I'd buy at least one: convince R2 to make a combo kit of the Eagle and Hawk. The Hawk, IIRC, was a very well done kit of the subject--very little to complain about with it at that scale. People would buy the double kit for the Hawk even if they didn't care so much for the Eagle.


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## edward 2 (Oct 6, 2010)

R2 how much is the plastic moon base.
and how big is it.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The moon base is some tiny scale. The Eagles are about an inch long and molded in one piece. The base itself is largely a vacuuform molding. There is a large, out of scale section for I guess the command center or some such. It's about like the MPC Jabba the Hut Throne Room or one of their other "diorama" sets.

Round 2 would really do well if they did not reissue the stupid Alien moon buggy but, instead, returned the molds to its original George Barris show car version. The original Barris kit is quite scarce and valuable as MPC screwed up the mold to make the 1999 car.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

Just a few thoughts. Isn't R2 doing sort of the same thing with the Alien line? Yes, their releasing a couple of new kits, but their holding off on producing the Nostromo until they see if the others sell well. Didn't they say that wither or not other Star Trek 1/350 kits would be produced would depend on sales of the 1/350 TOS Enterprise? Now their saying that a new, 22" Space 1999 Eagle depends on sales of 3 re-issued kits. To me, it doesn't sound like their trying to "force" us to buy old kits that some may not want, their just telling it like it is. 

Sounds to me that R2 just wants to be sure that the expense of producing the 22" Eagle (or Nostromo for that matter) is justified. That's not blackmailing anyone, that's just sound business sense. As someone else pointed out, the sales of all those old AMT Star Trek kits, helped convince R2 that a 1/350 TOS Enterprise would sell, and they still hesitated a bit at that. Still, we don't know just how well the kit has been selling. As for wither or not other companies do this (buy this old kit or you won't see a new one), who's to say they don't? They may not come out and say it to their customers, but I'm willing to bet that internally, they decide wither or not to produce new kits based on how old kits of similar subject matter are selling. Don't all companies do this?

Many modelers that say "I'll buy one" or "I'll buy a case", don't for whatever reason. While we tend to think these kits will sell well, but, that may not be the case. The Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror kit market is a much smaller niche within the overall model kit market (which is considerably smaller today then at it's height in the 60's) and since this niche has a clientele of people middle aged and up, it's easy to understand why the few companies that make these kind of kits are cautious when it comes to producing new kits. If they don't make their money back on their investment (and some profit), they won't be in business for too long.

As for wither or not to buy the re-issued kits, that's up to the individual. Personally, I have both the 90's re-release of the Eagle and Moonbase Alpha. My financial status is bad to say the least, so I buy very few kits now. In fact, I've been selling my collection on eBay, to make extra cash and to get my 2nd bedroom back (where the kits are stored). Having said that, I'll probably purchase the re-issued Eagle, just for the decals, maybe I'll sell the one I have on eBay (one is currently selling for $40!). But, I'll probably pass on the other kits. I agree that they shouldn't waste their time with the Alien moon buggy kit, I don't recall it being popular back when it was first came out, let alone now!

And regarding the Moonbase, I believe it is missing one or two landing pads and the Eagles are not in scale with the base, being a little too big.


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

Steve H said:


> So, 22 inch Eagle. that puts it, what, somewhere between 1/60 and 1/48th scale?


Something like that, depending on what references you use.

Sadly, the Eagle is a lot like the Galileo and the Jupiter 2 in that you have a miniature built to one 'scale' and then you have sets that don't match that scale, etc. etc. etc. You have to fudge a lot in all areas to get something that 'works'.

88ft. is what I think was intended. But then you to get a detail like the pod door. That door on the '1/48 scale' miniature, scales out to be only about 5 feet tall, when on screen, that door is clearly about 6 feet tall.
So if you tried to make any kind of diorama with figures next to that door, that door would only come up to their necks, and that would look pretty silly, when you see on screen, a door that comes up to the top of their heads.

There are a set of blueprints and a nice cutaway poster by a guy named Roberto Baldassari who 'rescaled' the Eagle up to 102' feet that seems to work much better. The door matches the set, and personally, seems much more realistic to what a 'real' eagle might be like.

I do hope that Round 2 makes a larger Eagle kit. I'll leave the ultimate size up to Jamie.
Personally, I'd love to see a 1/72 version based on the 102' length.
Which would come in at 17 inches long.
But thats just me and I'm sure Eagle 'purists' would balk at the rescaling.

But this idea would also cover the Eagles for both 'purists' and 'scale-ists' alike.
Purists and 'Studio Scale' people have their '1/24' (44") inch and and '1/48' (22") Eagles already available as resin kits and the the 'scale-ists' can have a 1/72 (17") one in plastic.


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

djnick66 said:


> The moon base is some tiny scale. The Eagles are about an inch long and molded in one piece. The base itself is largely a vacuuform molding. There is a large, out of scale section for I guess the command center or some such. It's about like the MPC Jabba the Hut Throne Room or one of their other "diorama" sets.
> 
> Round 2 would really do well if they did not reissue the stupid Alien moon buggy but, instead, returned the molds to its original George Barris show car version. The original Barris kit is quite scarce and valuable as MPC screwed up the mold to make the 1999 car.


I just did these calculations last night.
Here are the results.

There are about 3 different scales going on in the 'Moonbase' kit.
The 'Main Mission' scene is about 1/96 - 1/100 scale. Based on the PEOPLE ONLY.

The little Eagles are a different scale from the Moon Base itself.
The little Eagles are .874" long.
88' = 1/1200 scale (1/1208.2379 if your picky).
102' = 1/1400 scale. (Hey put them with your 1/1400 Trek kits). (1/1400.4576 again if your picky).

The Moonbase calculations are based on the cross-hatch red landing pad of the kit. 
Granted, these calculations are going have a much greater margin of error. But here goes. 
From other visual clues on the show, the width of each side of the cross hatch matches closely the span to the lengthwise outer edges of the landing pods of the Eagles. Based only on this observation, the Moonbase APPROXIMATE scales are as follows.

Based on 88ft. Eagles the Moonbase is about 1/1867 scale.
Based on 102ft. Eagles, the Moonbase is about 1/2164 scale.

Depending on your personal allowable fudge factor, one might allow the moonbase to go a high as 1/2500 scale for your Trek stuff.
That is of course, if your willing to accept that in some alternate JJ'verse timeline, the Moon never blasted out of orbit and/or returned to orbit some years later.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

I have long wanted to mount one of the Alpha kits onto a clear sheet of plastic and make a clock out of it.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Just making a kit in a random size like 22" then figuring out what stupid box scale it would work out to be is a dumb way to make a model. make it a real scale so that it is compatible with SOMETHING. That is the same crap AMT started with their Trek kits so that all of the Enterprise models wind up being in random scales since they are all about the same length and came in the same size box.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

spock62 said:


> Just a few thoughts. Isn't R2 doing sort of the same thing with the Alien line? Yes, their releasing a couple of new kits, but their holding off on producing the Nostromo until they see if the others sell well. Didn't they say that wither or not other Star Trek 1/350 kits would be produced would depend on sales of the 1/350 TOS Enterprise? Now their saying that a new, 22" Space 1999 Eagle depends on sales of 3 re-issued kits. To me, it doesn't sound like their trying to "force" us to buy old kits that some may not want, their just telling it like it is.
> 
> Sounds to me that R2 just wants to be sure that the expense of producing the 22" Eagle (or Nostromo for that matter) is justified. That's not blackmailing anyone, that's just sound business sense. As someone else pointed out, the sales of all those old AMT Star Trek kits, helped convince R2 that a 1/350 TOS Enterprise would sell, and they still hesitated a bit at that. Still, we don't know just how well the kit has been selling. As for wither or not other companies do this (buy this old kit or you won't see a new one), who's to say they don't? They may not come out and say it to their customers, but I'm willing to bet that internally, they decide wither or not to produce new kits based on how old kits of similar subject matter are selling. Don't all companies do this?
> 
> ...





But I hope R2 realises that tooling up a new kit based on sales of an old lacklustre kit that many have already is perhaps not a sound way to find out what sales of a newly tooled kit would be like.


As for the Moonbuggy it might not be Space 1999 but it does come with an alien geezer (at least I think it does as I've never seen the actual parts) and it looks like it could be a moon vehicle so I think it's still worth reissuing it. It's still part of Space 1999 history even if it wasn't in the programme.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

One of the points of contention here is the "look what happened with Star Trek kits, had to push a lot of old AMT to get the 1/350 Enterprise"

OK, that is an observed thing. Of course people at R2 have stated for some time they WANTED to do the 1/350 Enterprise, just that there were all manner of variables and temporary roadblocks (I think the aborted work on the JJPrise was a factor, taking up resources and time, for one thing) holding it back. 

No matter how much positive spin one wishes for, Space:1999 isn't Star Trek. It just isn't. It doesn't have the 'push' of a big budget 'summer tentpole' movie, it doesn't have the 'licensing presence' of some iteration playing SOMEWHERE on television, it doesn't have the stability of a studio that, notwithstanding internal stupidity, at least a studio that understands the license is an 'evergreen' able to pull in money.

Which means, at least to my eyes, the central issue. WE, here, this board, we posters, ARE the market for Space:1999 kits. So as much as it sounds like hubris to say, I really think we're a voice that should be listened to, not pushed aside because we're not 'positive' about a corporate statement (or even casual comment).

Would R2 sell some re-pop MPC Eagles? Sure, stores need product. How about Hawks? Probably more of those as they've been 'lost' for quite some time. Moonbase kits? Eh. maybe. 'The Alien' showcar? Some. 

All together, if these 4 kits moved more than 10,000 units COMBINED I would be shocked. And that's not gonna get a new tool Eagle made, IF the only benchmark is "If the old kits do well".

If Jamie and co. had the fire in the belly to make a new Eagle kit SAME AS THE FIRE TO MAKE THE 1/350 ENTERPRISE there would be no waffling. They would know the main market would be Japan, with US and UK sales being gravy. It would be happening. 

So what I see is the 'promise' of a new-tool Eagle being held as a carrot to try and get those old kit sales over that (admittedly complete speculation but well within history) number. And then there is ALWAYS a reason not to do something, not to follow thru. Timing is wrong. Rumors of a movie so wait for that to gell. The Gerry Anderson library gets sold once again to another company so everything starts from scratch. Forever on. 

That's my view.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> It's not a question of faith, it's (at least for me) not wanting to be 'blackmailed' for a vague promise, in the face of some fairly concrete knowledge.
> 
> R2, via Platz, would be able to sell more than enough new-tool Eagle kits in Japan to pay for all the R&D and production costs. Sales of that kit in America and England would be just a form of extra profit margin.
> 
> ...







Repopping the Banana Splits buggy (those guys were hilarious) would be a great idea as it does look like the Space 1999 one. 

Even with a figure in a 1999 space suit.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Fozzie said:


> I have long wanted to mount one of the Alpha kits onto a clear sheet of plastic and make a clock out of it.


You mean like this?


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

SUNGOD said:


> Repopping the Banana Splits buggy (those guys were hilarious) would be a great idea as it does look like the Space 1999 one.
> 
> Even with a figure in a 1999 space suit.


I'd love to see that too, but it seems it was an Aurora kit... which means the molds likely don't exist.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

eimb1999 said:


> I'd love to see that too, but it seems it was an Aurora kit... which means the molds likely don't exist.


And I stand corrected, it does look like it was an Aurora kit. But then again, the tooling may well still exist, here or overseas. 

http://www.professorplastik.com/mon...ars/kookykars/bananabuggy/bananabuggy_kit.htm

Now, I'm sure there's some Space:1999 fans out there who would be quick to point out this may not be the same make/model of ATV used for Moonbase Alpha. Others would decry the simplistic detail of the undercarriage and controls and such. 

All fair cop. But, it would STILL be more accurate to the show compared to 'The Alien' showcar.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Griffworks said:


> Reading thru this thread, it's pretty obvious that it's not "kinda old news", as there appear to be others who've not heard. _I_ hadn't heard about it until this thread....


Huh, where you been???? Because I first heard about it when some one mentioned the news in a thread on SSM the same weekend that Wonderfest took place and I think it was also announced in a thread here on HT that shortly after that. In fact you your self provided a link of images from this years Wonderfest on a thread entitled Wonderfest something 2013. And in that link it shows these kit about 9 rows down from the top. So, do you need some new glasses or is it alzhimers?? LOL.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> One of the points of contention here is the "look what happened with Star Trek kits, had to push a lot of old AMT to get the 1/350 Enterprise"
> 
> OK, that is an observed thing. Of course people at R2 have stated for some time they WANTED to do the 1/350 Enterprise, just that there were all manner of variables and temporary roadblocks (I think the aborted work on the JJPrise was a factor, taking up resources and time, for one thing) holding it back.
> 
> ...





That is a worry yes. People could fork out for these kits and then at the end there'll be some reason like "they didn't sell enough" etc.............but as I've said we can only go on their word and do what they say.

If we don't get a new Eagle at the end then maybe one of the Japanese manufacturers will do one (and it could well be R2's loss). People could always flog their unwanted Eagles somewhere like Ebay. *The main gripe seems to be about the Eagle reissue and not the other kits.*


And It's true of course that Space 1999 is not as famous and well known as Trek but don't forget the people who buy these type of kits are mainly us older folk. The Eagle might not be as famous and as popular as the Enterprise to many people but to many people of a certain age (including myself the age group who would buy these kits) it's still one hell of a popular vehicle and is their favourite SF vehicle.

It often comes out on top of many peoples wish lists and surveys.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> And I stand corrected, it does look like it was an Aurora kit. But then again, the tooling may well still exist, here or overseas.
> 
> http://www.professorplastik.com/mon...ars/kookykars/bananabuggy/bananabuggy_kit.htm
> 
> ...






A few people might complain about the inaccuracies of the BS buggy but it's still worth reissuing it as it does resemble the Space 1999 one a lot.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

The Banana Splits buggy is exactly the same vehicle as the 1999 one. They were all "Amphicats" made by the now long defunct Behoo industries in Ontario, Canada. I own a real one myself, although it needs extensive restoration. The Amphicat was also made in the USA by Magna, but differed in a few respects, most notable the transom. The Canadian version was used for both 1999 and Banana Splits. 

Here's a vid showcasing the buggies quite extensively.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

SUNGOD said:


> But I hope R2 realises that tooling up a new kit based on sales of an old lacklustre kit that many have already is perhaps not a sound way to find out what sales of a newly tooled kit would be like.


I have to agree, it might not be the best way to go about it, but there aren't to many other ways to do it, I would think. R2 could have had a poll, like they've done before, to gauge interest in a new Eagle, but polls almost never give accurate results. But, like you said, neither do sales of old, inaccurate kits. As Steve H said, if they had "the fire in the belly" to do it, it will be done. At this point we don't know if that fire exists. Also, just relying on the total sales of old kits could be misleading. I'll buy one Eagle kit, not a case. Doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see a 22" accurate Eagle kit, just means I don't have the cash/the need for more then one. So, like you said, it's not the best way to gauge interest.




SUNGOD said:


> As for the Moonbuggy it might not be Space 1999 but it does come with an alien geezer (at least I think it does as I've never seen the actual parts) and it looks like it could be a moon vehicle so I think it's still worth reissuing it. It's still part of Space 1999 history even if it wasn't in the programme.


I'm sure some modelers will buy anything with Space 1999 stamped on it, but I'm willing to bet most view only the Eagle/Hawk/Moonbase kits as the "real" deal. Car modelers, especially those into show rod kits, might go for the Alien Moon Buggy though (it's a reissue, with significant modifications, of the Moon Scope car designed by George Barris).


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

eimb1999 said:


> You mean like this?


Well, yes! LOL

Is this one of your builds?


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Of note, a comany called "Gay Toys" (obviously back in the day before the word was bastardized) made a toy of the Amphicat that is quite an accurate version of the Magna version. It's just under 1/10th scale.

Oh, I stand corrected... the BS model was the Magna version.... at least in the vid above. I thought I saw a couple of shots where you see the rear end that has the slots on the back like the 1999 one. But for sure the 1999 version was the Behoo model.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Fozzie said:


> Well, yes! LOL
> 
> Is this one of your builds?


Yes. It's made from a resin kit I produced about 13 years ago. I corrected the layout of the old MPC buildings, fixed the launch pads and made a new base for it. The whole thing is cast in one piece except for the Main Mission tower. The model measures 18" square including the frame (cropped out in the pic above)


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

mach7 said:


> So, What are you thinking?
> 
> I would love to see the landing pod gear support frames done, but I don't think the PE is strong enough.
> 
> ...


I'll be doing the supports for the landing gear to replace the box and the angle piece. Something for the cockpit (plus cutting templates for opening up the windows). I'm going to try and layout something for the inner angles of the cockpit windows. The engine baffles will definitely be done. Door panels to replace the smooth kit doors.

I'm also contemplating doing the access stairway.

I'm sure there will be more ideas once I see the kit again. My surviving builds (i.e. the ones that weren't destroyed replicating the exploding Eagle shots) are in various stages of shredded-ness in the parts boxes.

I'm also looking forward to aftermarket parts from others. I figure with the state of the industry being far beyond what it was the last time these kits were released there'll be a lot of super add-ons: new engine bells (rear and lower), corrected "head", medical pod, nuclear waste pod, etc. etc.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Paulbo said:


> I'm also looking forward to aftermarket parts from others. I figure with the state of the industry being far beyond what it was the last time these kits were released there'll be a lot of super add-ons: new engine bells (rear and lower), corrected "head", medical pod, nuclear waste pod, etc. etc.


A lot of that was already done 13 years go (can't believe it's been that long!)

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/pre_sa_auth.htm


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

eimb1999 said:


> Of note, a comany called "Gay Toys" (obviously back in the day before the word was bastardized) made a toy of the Amphicat that is quite an accurate version of the Magna version. It's just under 1/10th scale.
> 
> Oh, I stand corrected... the BS model was the Magna version.... at least in the vid above. I thought I saw a couple of shots where you see the rear end that has the slots on the back like the 1999 one. But for sure the 1999 version was the Behoo model.


Also let's not forget the 1/6th scale crowd, as Hasbro's GI Joe Adventure Team had their own ATV.

Blokes in the U.K. will have to think Palitoy and Action Man, of course.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Let's remember that this *isn't* R2 pushing the mega-buying of the reissues for a possible new-tool Eagle. They may have mentioned it at Wonderfest but I don't believe they're actively campaigning. More a "wait and see".

I'm a little surprised, given how they've handled the Trek license, that they haven't spun the larger scale Main Mission component of the Alpha kit into its own little stand-alone model. Some new decals would certainly help it and it would be great if they could shoot it in clear plastic for lighting opportunities.

Ironic too that the one 1999 kit everyone would LOVE to see reissued is the Hawk, a kit they currently don't have the mold to. Hopefully they can make an arrangement with Airfix, whom I believe actually originated the mold.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

RB said:


> Let's remember that this *isn't* R2 pushing the mega-buying of the reissues for a possible new-tool Eagle. They may have mentioned it at Wonderfest but I don't believe they're actively campaigning. More a "wait and see".
> 
> I'm a little surprised, given how they've handled the Trek license, that they haven't spun the larger scale Main Mission component of the Alpha kit into its own little stand-alone model. Some new decals would certainly help it and it would be great if they could shoot it in clear plastic for lighting opportunities.
> 
> Ironic too that the one 1999 kit everyone would LOVE to see reissued is the Hawk, a kit they currently don't have the mold to. Hopefully they can make an arrangement with Airfix, whom I believe actually originated the mold.








I always found it odd that the the least popular ship out of the 2 (the Hawk) got a half decent kit whilst the most popular craft from the show (the Eagle of course) got such a rubbish kit.

Airfix obviously thought because it was the more battle ready looking ship young boys would prefer it.............which was never the case as it was a decent Eagle most people wanted.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

eimb1999 said:


> A lot of that was already done 13 years go (can't believe it's been that long!)
> 
> http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/pre_sa_auth.htm


And will it be done AGAIN? (HINT!)


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

It's starting to look like it's a good time to be a Space:1999 kit builder again!


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

I had all of Small Art Works Eagle upgrades. They were top notch. Especially the aluminum engine bells.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Paulbo said:


> I'll be doing the supports for the landing gear to replace the box and the angle piece. Something for the cockpit (plus cutting templates for opening up the windows). I'm going to try and layout something for the inner angles of the cockpit windows. The engine baffles will definitely be done. Door panels to replace the smooth kit doors.
> 
> I'm also contemplating doing the access stairway.
> 
> ...


Definitely do the stairs! Myself and my friends all scratch built them in the '70s.

I have a '90s reissue, unbuilt, that you can borrow if you need to. We are that far from each other.

So, to sum up. at least 3 eagles, at least 1 PE set and it looks like the SAW set.

This is getting fun!


Edit:

For those who have opened up the service module cage, what is the best way?

A hot knife?

the Dremel tool?

Just a set of sharp #11 blades, elbow grease, and files?


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

mach7 said:


> Edit:
> 
> For those who have opened up the service module cage, what is the best way?
> 
> ...


All will do it but the easiest way I have found is to mount a coarse sanding drum onto a dremel tool and carefully sand away the backs of the parts that represent the "voids", as on that side they are raised. They will get thinner so then you can use your #11 blade to more easily cut those sections away. Yes, still a lot of work, but it's probably the best. However, whatever way you think will work for you will eventually work. Personally I think the hot knife makes more of a mess than anything.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Thanks, that sounds like a workable idea.


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

Looking forward to this! I have all three kits in storage. The Hawk has a bent beak on one half of the command module. If it weren't illegal, and I had the money, it would be neat to make a mould of the parts.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

charonjr said:


> Looking forward to this! I have all three kits in storage. The Hawk has a bent beak on one half of the command module. If it weren't illegal, and I had the money, it would be neat to make a mould of the parts.


So, how about a couple of images instead???


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## rossjr (Jun 25, 2001)

Bring back the Hawk, 
Bring back the Hawk,
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Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
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Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk,
Bring back the Hawk!


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## Ensign Eddie (Nov 25, 1998)

I'd be more inclined to buy yet another Eagle if R2 contracted to include Paulbo's photoetch with each kit.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

While I do have a Product Enterprises Eagle I will get one of the new repops as well. The biggest problem with the kit is the filled in cages but those can be dealt with.
R2 had to sacrifice a lot to get the big 1/350 TOS-E out- it was either that kit or a bunch of smaller ones. If the Eagle repop works out then they will try to do more in this direction and I hope they do.


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## publiusr (Jul 27, 2006)

Maybe even original designs--like the super-swift.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Ensign Eddie said:


> I'd be more inclined to buy yet another Eagle if R2 contracted to include Paulbo's photoetch with each kit.






I'd prefer companies like R2 stayed away from photoetch. I'm sure Paulbo's photoetch is nice but photoetch is flat whilst the tubes on the Eagles cage aren't.

Styrene's also much easier to glue together.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Richard Baker said:


> While I do have a Product Enterprises Eagle I will get one of the new repops as well. The biggest problem with the kit is the filled in cages but those can be dealt with.
> R2 had to sacrifice a lot to get the big 1/350 TOS-E out- it was either that kit or a bunch of smaller ones. If the Eagle repop works out then they will try to do more in this direction and I hope they do.








Not forgetting the rest like the poorly moulded inaccurate nose section.

If we ever get a new Eagle I'd like to see clear or tinted plastic on all the windows and some cockpit detail. 

As well as size that's one big advantage a new kit could have over the PE Eagles.


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Unless you have the cash to fork over for one of the PE 24" eagles. Way, WAY out of my price range.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Ensign Eddie said:


> I'd be more inclined to buy yet another Eagle if R2 contracted to include Paulbo's photoetch with each kit.


Personally I'd rather sell the etch separately.


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Don't blame you there.:thumbsup:


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

irishtrek said:


> So, how about a couple of images instead???


I'll take some pics and post them soon for you!


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

SUNGOD said:


> Not forgetting the rest like the poorly moulded inaccurate nose section.
> 
> If we ever get a new Eagle I'd like to see clear or tinted plastic on all the windows and some cockpit detail.
> 
> As well as size that's one big advantage a new kit could have over the PE Eagles.


Having some back wall pilots to glimpse through the windows would be nice, but the cockpit set does not work with the exterior- the seats are lower that the main level and they have to be then again higher than the main level to see through the front windows.

Biggest drawback the original molds were the filled in cages- even pained flat black you saw them being wrong before noticing the miss-shaped beak.

When this kit does release I think the GKrs are going to have lots of upgrades- most of those have already been worked out from earlier issues.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Actually if Round 2 made a couple new cage parts that would make a lot of people happy. At least the basic kit would look a big nicer. R2 has done similar tweaks with a lot of the Trek Kits.


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

That and a new upper spine. Before the PE eagle came out, I was planning to make a completely new spine for the with various diameters of brass tubing.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Other than all new decals, I don't think there are any planned changes to the kit. It would cost too much to do the tooling, and then the model STILL would have too many inaccuracies. Much better to put that money toward a new model entirely. That's what I would do anyway.


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## rossjr (Jun 25, 2001)

So Jim, any chance of you bringing back the Accurizing kits? I know I'd probably get 2 depending how much they are these days....


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Fact is, the decals really do add a lot to the kit. The picture shown at the beginning of this thread is the build of the stock kit with the new decals. So's this....


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I don't know... its not like the sucker has that many decals. Just some yellow squares here and there. Nothing to rave about like a full set of surface panels or other substantial decals.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Ummm... Ha! see how good they are? There ARE entire surface panels shown there as decals! The entire undersides of the cages are decals where there was a blank space before! So's the top of the cages. There are over 100 new decals on that model. Except for the silver painted things like engine bells and the weathering, everything else shown on that model is done with decals, including he windows. Oh, the stuff inside the cages are done with pencil though. Forgot to mention that.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Hey thats cool. although I can do the same thing with an airbrush so it just did not jump out to me as decals. Hopefully they are of a good quality. Polar Lights decals are quite nice. AMT's totally suck rectum. It's really odd since they are both Round 2 brands. I built an MPC car and the decals in that were bad.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Yes, but a lot of people don't have an airbrush.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Oh I don't mind the decals in the kit. I think they are a cool idea if they are good quality. This just isnt a model that is too hard to paint unlike say an aztec finished Enterprise.


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## crowe-t (Jul 30, 2010)

eimb1999 said:


> Fact is, the decals really do add a lot to the kit. The picture shown at the beginning of this thread is the build of the stock kit with the new decals. So's this....


That's beautifully done! 

What's really nice is, given the fact that there are over 100 decals on it, it looks like hardly any decals were used. I'm familiar with this kit and it never appeared this detailed. I really like the use of decals on the bottoms of the cages and the front and rear of the passenger pod. It looks like there are details added instead of looking like decals.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Interesting but I hope R2 don't think decals are a substitute for a newly tooled kit with proper 3 dimensional detail.


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

eimb1999 said:


> Fact is, the decals really do add a lot to the kit. The picture shown at the beginning of this thread is the build of the stock kit with the new decals. So's this....


Just for comparison, here is the Product Enterprises Eagle:


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

Doesn't look bad for an old kit with new decals. I'll definitely pick one of these up when it's released. Still, I hope R2 will see the wisdom in producing an accurate Eagle kit in the future.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

I would be very happy if whatever company bought up Product Enterprises were to re-release the Eagle. Yes I would.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> I would be very happy if whatever company bought up Product Enterprises were to re-release the Eagle. Yes I would.







I don't think any company bought them out. They just changed their name to Sixteen12, ditched the diecast range everyone liked and started selling overpriced resin replicas.

Aoshima also sold their diecasts in their own boxes too.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Incidentally..................does anyone have photos of the Alien buggy *parts*? I've looked but can only find built up examples.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

SUNGOD said:


> I don't think any company bought them out. They just changed their name to Sixteen12, ditched the diecast range everyone liked and started selling overpriced resin replicas.
> 
> Aoshima also sold their diecasts in their own boxes too.


Yeah, I recall the Aoshima versions. 

For some reason I have a memory of Product Enterprises going out of business, being bought up and renamed, then whoever currently owns Corgi and Dinky bought them. And yes, WAY too much focus on insanely expensive 'prop replica' models instead of the reasonably priced vehicles that had everyone happy.

I'm really sorry I never got a Skydiver, for example. And an Eagle.


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## seaQuest (Jan 12, 2003)

I'd have to agree, Jim, the old Airfix tool is a POS. I had to do a ton of mods and used your replacement modules and extra engines to make it look presentable back 13 years ago.


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

eimb1999 said:


> Ummm... Ha! see how good they are? There ARE entire surface panels shown there as decals! The entire undersides of the cages are decals where there was a blank space before! So's the top of the cages. There are over 100 new decals on that model. Except for the silver painted things like engine bells and the weathering, everything else shown on that model is done with decals, including he windows. Oh, the stuff inside the cages are done with pencil though. Forgot to mention that.


Jim, 
All picking aside on the 'true' size of the Eagle, this build-up looks great.

The underside pic really shows off some of the new decal work nicely.
You said the detail work inside the cages was pencil?
Any chance of making that part of the decal?
Shades of black for insides the cages might help to sell detail in there.
You could photograph the interiors of the cages from a SS model, at the same angles as what the decals would appear and dial them down in brightness and contrast and get a good 'faking' of the interior of the cages for the decal sheet.


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## WOI (Jun 28, 2012)

To be honest,I really wouldn't waste my money on this kit since I got one
of my own in 2000.I wouldn't mind if R2 re-tooled it to be more accurate
to the original tv version with asking Jim Small to help them to do for this
re-issue of this kit.

I had sent a message to them that they should take the time now to re-tool
it since they would be releasing it next year.So far,I have not heard a word
about it from them yet.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

It's my understanding it will be reissued later this year in which case even if R2 were to retool this kit they won't have time to do it and be able to release it this year.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> Yeah, I recall the Aoshima versions.
> 
> For some reason I have a memory of Product Enterprises going out of business, being bought up and renamed, then whoever currently owns Corgi and Dinky bought them. And yes, WAY too much focus on insanely expensive 'prop replica' models instead of the reasonably priced vehicles that had everyone happy.
> 
> I'm really sorry I never got a Skydiver, for example. And an Eagle.




If Corgi had bought them out they might have continued with the diecasts.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

SUNGOD said:


> If Corgi had bought them out they might have continued with the diecasts.


It would have been nice. It may be that sales tapered off after all the Eagle re-pops and the, oh, questionable? weathering done on the SHADO Mobiles. 

I'm really surprised that PE didn't do a last shot of the Eagle, three separate items. Basic Eagle, a set of nothing but pods, and a big-a** 'everything and the kitchen sink' Eagle and Pods box. 

It's interesting they didn't do any Thunderbirds (in the small, affordable size that is). I wonder if the Zero X and 1/200 scale TB 1 and 2 that Aoshima did were meant to be Project Enterprises releases but for some reason didn't happen. 

And if the current owner of Corgi and Dinky Toys were to release the PE diecasts, nothing else would be correct but to brand them as Dinky Toys...


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> It would have been nice. It may be that sales tapered off after all the Eagle re-pops and the, oh, questionable? weathering done on the SHADO Mobiles.
> 
> I'm really surprised that PE didn't do a last shot of the Eagle, three separate items. Basic Eagle, a set of nothing but pods, and a big-a** 'everything and the kitchen sink' Eagle and Pods box.
> 
> ...






Yes the weathering on the Mobiles was terrible and might well have put some people off buying them. Luckily I waited and got one of the lightly weathered ones.

Interesting idea about releasing the PE Eagles as Dinky toys. If R2 ever gives us a new Eagle kit I wouldn't mind painting some of them in Dinky colours (metallic blue and metallic green) as well as the accurate white scheme. I think it would be interesting to see.

The scope for sales of Eagles is probably better in some ways than the Enterprise as although the Enterprise is more famous there was quite a few Eagle variants plus custom jobs like I said with the Dinky colours. Also there's many repeating patterns on an Eagle too as we all know. That might cut costs when making the moulds.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Well, that's the thing that makes this whole exercise (i.e. "buy lots of Eagle Repops and MAYBE R2 will do a new-tool kit!") so darn frustrating.

Just going ahead and making an all-new tool Eagle kit is a sure thing, a moneymaker, IF ONE FOCUSES ON THE CORRECT MARKET which, for good or bad, is Japan. Number two, England and maybe the rest of Europe and lastly, regretfully, The United States.

Given the state of model building here, and discounting scalpers who will buy specifically to resell a 'rare, collectable' kit to those unknowing of its general availability, I would be shocked if R2 could move more than a couple thousand units. IN AMERICA. In Japan I would figure at least 10k. Of course price matters, and scale, and how good it is. Again, I'm a crazy man, I'd like a kit at 1/72 scale. That makes everything affordable, from the kit to aftermarket add-ons. Bigger the kit, bigger the price, blah blah. 

If R2 is going to go thru the cost of re-upping the Space:1999 license (which I'm pretty sure they have to do in order to release the vintage kits) it just makes sense to go ahead and make a new kit which would generate more interest at both retailer and consumer level. Ah, what do I know.


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## KUROK (Feb 2, 2004)

I would love a new tool Eagle kit.
The Warp kit is nice but I'm still working on it and have so many hours to go to finish it.

My opinion is that a new kit could be possible.
About ten years ago, a handmade Trek phaser replica could sell for hundreds on eBay. THis was going on all the time. Then, Art Asylum put out the very nice phaser in 2003 for about $20. They have sold tons of them since then.

Right now, a PE Eagle can be had for $200-$300 or so on eBay. Could a new Eagle kit make money? I guess the only thing is this perception of less number of fans of Space: 1999 versus Star Trek.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

For R2 to create new Eagle molds would be a gamble, and that is exactly what kit makers do when ever they make a new model kit is take a gamble on wether or not the kit will sell enough to recoup the money they poor into the molds.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

irishtrek said:


> For R2 to create new Eagle molds would be a gamble, and that is exactly what kit makers do when ever they make a new model kit is take a gamble on wether or not the kit will sell enough to recoup the money they poor into the molds.


That is true but many kits/subjects are much less of a gamble than others. That is why companies do market studies, research, etc. And look at the past sales of similar kits. It may be also there is enough of a nostalgia market for them to reissue the old Eagle with some new decals and a new box, which is relatively easy and cheap for them to do. But, not enough interest to warrant the cost of an all new kit.


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

I would love a better, preferably bigger Eagle, so what is the best way to encourage Round 2 to produce such a thing?


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

fire91bird said:


> I would love a better, preferably bigger Eagle, so what is the best way to encourage Round 2 to produce such a thing?


Make a scratch build one! Then a mass produced kit will surely appear the next day! :tongue:


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

fire91bird said:


> I would love a better, preferably bigger Eagle, so what is the best way to encourage Round 2 to produce such a thing?


Pester them with a _MAJOR_ letter writing campaign. Hey it worked for star Trek way back when!!:wave:


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> Well, that's the thing that makes this whole exercise (i.e. "buy lots of Eagle Repops and MAYBE R2 will do a new-tool kit!") so darn frustrating.
> 
> Just going ahead and making an all-new tool Eagle kit is a sure thing, a moneymaker, IF ONE FOCUSES ON THE CORRECT MARKET which, for good or bad, is Japan. Number two, England and maybe the rest of Europe and lastly, regretfully, The United States.
> 
> ...








I'd prefer a bigger kit myself than the PE and MPC Eagles for more detail etc but it's amazing the Japanese haven't done a new tool Eagle. The Japanese have been making Anderson kits since the shows came out.....yet all they have to show is that dreadful Imai Eagle disaster.

Maybe the biggest hurdle is not tooling up a new kit but the licence rights fee. If ITV (or whoever holds the rights) is anything like the BBC then they'll probably ask a shed load for it. They're greedy buggers.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

djnick66 said:


> That is true but many kits/subjects are much less of a gamble than others. That is why companies do market studies, research, etc. And look at the past sales of similar kits. It may be also there is enough of a nostalgia market for them to reissue the old Eagle with some new decals and a new box, which is relatively easy and cheap for them to do. But, not enough interest to warrant the cost of an all new kit.







I'm convinced a new tool Eagle would sell but as I said maybe the licence rights are very expensive. A lot of us have heard about Disney and the Nautilus rights (they're so expensive apparently that manufacturers just won't bother doing a newly tooled Nautilus kit) so who knows what the licence fee for a new tool Eagle would be like.

Some of these companies are just plain greedy and would probably make more money if they lowered their licence fees............but they're to blind to see it.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

SUNGOD said:


> Some of these companies are just plain greedy and would probably make more money if they lowered their licence fees............but they're to blind to see it.


Seems they don't understand the concept of a "happy medium."


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Let's not forget, licensing fees are something completely without any 'guidepost' or marker. A copyright owner may feel there's no real value (and has no understanding of) in the property and charge a low fee. They may see GIANT DOLLAR SIGNS assuming that 'Megaforce' will be the next 'Star Wars' , they may charge a fee so high it intentionally shuts out merchandising because they just don't want it (see: Disney) because, in some Hollywood mind, making a toy or model or whatever completely dilutes the license to the point of making it IMPOSSIBLE to ever market that property ever again. Yeah, I know, I KNOW, that's completely bugf**k insane. But there are some in Hollywood that believe that. 

So, why hasn't Aoshima whipped out an all-new tool Eagle? It could be the *apparent* complexity of the cages and latticework create a huge intimidation. It could well be that being a sub-sub-sub company of Bandai they're not allowed much of a tooling budget due to internal politics. Hard to say. 

But the bar for SF kits has clearly been raised by Hasegawa, Fine Molds and Fujimi, so it's likely Aoshima is being allowed a bit more leeway. The new-tool Thunderbird 3 is a pretty major thing. Actually, I rather thought the Fireflash model was a pretty major thing but there's almost no buzz about it at all.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Aoshima seems to have had quite the budget for not only nostalgic kits from Bubblegum Crisis and Megazone 23, but also for a myriad of western subjects including Knight Rider, Blue Thunder, Airwolf, Mad Max, and of course Back to the Future. Most of these can certainly be considered SF-related. It could be that they may think most of these subjects exhausted and are looking for new licensing frontiers. I guess picking up some ten years or more from their first TB new-tool line may be an easy way to bring another "western" line to the fore. Aoshima certainly looks for subjects that allow for easy re-use of tooling. The Eagle is that *in spades*. There's, what, at least 10 variants you could do with the Eagle, reissuing the same basic kit with different modules, add-ons, and Year 1/Year 2 design variations. There's certainly a following in Japan, but morseo in England, Italy, and definitely Germany, a country that still has a modeling base and where 1999 was intensely popular. And I would imagine that their reboxed PE diecasts did fairly well for them. I'd expect a new-tool Eagle more from Aoshima than from Round 2...but would still love to see R2 go for it!


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## Cajjunwolfman (Nov 15, 2004)

Gentlemen:

Let me say first off although I am not a rabid fan of the show 1999 I would indeed buy a new tool of the 1999 kits. I am going to buy the repops also, if they happen. 
There seems to be a debate about if the actual tools have been located.

Now to play devil's advocate. 

R2 mode of operation is typically to re-release items already produced. Not completely, but for sure a big part of their so far successful business plan. Not all the products look to be successful, the redo Spiderman and Captain America. Is the DS9 redo selling? The Spiderman made no sense, especially since Moebius had just done such an excellent kit.

Maybe the cost is so low they don't have to sell them all?

I would disagree that the model companies do marketing or research. They may do CAD, drafting, history, etc, once a subject is chosen. Other than the wishlist on the forum or the feeble once a year request list a popular magazine puts out, what is there that the model companies do in terms of marketing? Has anyone of us ever been in a focus group to see if we like box art or test build a kit mockup? No I would say. I called Office Depot last week but was not able to order due to problems on their website. In spite of that they already called me back with a survey. I get a free hamburger for doing a survery, I get free fries, etc. Model compaines don't do any marketing or research surveys I can see. Not at my level.

I would also say that what the buyer or end user (us kit builders and collectors) wants is not the large determining factor in what kits get produced. Sure they want the kit to sell. But what matters to the kit producers is what the distributors will buy. They buy big lots of merchandise. Right up front. They may even commit to purchase before the kit is produced. 

As far as sales go.
Look to some of the companies selling kits. Squadron had My favorite Martian kit for about $10 bucks, the NWOW figure for about $20 and the old WOW figure for about $12. The eight window Seaview brand new for $59.00! The redo of the Atomic Cannon for $25. Kit Kong was giving away LIS Pod for about $15, the cartoon Voyager $7. He is not restocking either. Look to the old NX-01. PL told me that was one of the most successful kits of all time. Because the distributors bought it. The actual kit sales seemed minimal. I went to HL in four states. Even at 1/3 or 1/2 they could not give them away. I'm interested to see how the redo does. 

So any sense of logic or proportion does not seem to be in place about what kits get produced. 

Now if some brave soul knew the business....why not have a Kickstarter?


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Cajjunwolfman said:


> Gentlemen:
> 
> Let me say first off although I am not a rabid fan of the show 1999 I would indeed buy a new tool of the 1999 kits. I am going to buy the repops also, if they happen.
> There seems to be a debate about if the actual tools have been located.
> ...


Reasonable, decent points, esp. about how we consumers are not so much the prime market, but the wholesellers and retailers, they're who really decide what gets made by the fact of them committing to buy for resale. 

We can discount data on "this store is discounting heavy because they aren't selling" because of too much being unknown. Generally speaking, if a store is selling something below cost it may well be because they were charging too much when they got it in and the local customer base said "no thank you".

And this goes to my earlier comments. Price matters. Kit building has stopped being 'cheap, disposable' entertainment. If my LHS had the cartoon Voyager for $7 I'd buy it. I have a lot of nostalgia for that kit. What was the MSRP on that, $25? Yeah, that's a lot of money to me nowadays. The Space Pod is an ever better example. $40. Ow. 

I'm really kind of conflicted. I do understand how the cost of everything has gone up, and there's no question that on something like the Space Pod the quality and the work that went into it means value for money-I can't help but have that moment of 'what if' over what Aurora would have done back in the '60s-but it's just too expensive for me, esp. given I'm a 'kit assembler' and not a Master Model Builder. 

And back to the MPC Eagle. Again, were R2 to reissue the kit at $10 I'd buy a couple gladly, because all the different 'data point lines' converge-my decayed building skill, my available money, my available workspace, my interest. Adding a spiffy fiddly decal set that pushes the pricepoint up to $40, sorry, pass. At $40 I expect some re-tooling, or new tooling.

See how it goes? All swings back around and around.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

R2 claims they will consider doing a new tooling of the Eagle provided the reissue sells good??? Until I see a link to back up that claim then all it is is nothing but an unfounded rumor, so please show us some proof. No offense.
As for the way the Eagle looked in that image from Wonderfest it looks as if they might have already done a slight retool mainly under the side pods.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> Reasonable, decent points, esp. about how we consumers are not so much the prime market, but the wholesellers and retailers, they're who really decide what gets made by the fact of them committing to buy for resale.
> 
> We can discount data on "this store is discounting heavy because they aren't selling" because of too much being unknown. Generally speaking, if a store is selling something below cost it may well be because they were charging too much when they got it in and the local customer base said "no thank you".
> 
> ...








I'm not sure $40 (about £22) over here is too much for a reissue and especially the Moebius Space Pod. If that is $40 in some places then that *is* a bargain as it's a newly tooled kit.


And as far as a newly tooled Eagle...............well we all have to accept that will probably be a lot more.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

The Japanese like certain designs- the Thunderbirds have the same fanciful designs elements ans the Anime ships- they are very popular.
The 1999 Eagle does not- it looks like a pragmatic machine and as far as I know the show does not have much of a following over there.

I would love to see R2 take a leap of faith and make a large, accurate Eagle! Unfortunately with that riding on the results of sales of a the small inaccurate one I doubt it will happen. Too many people do not like that kit and even with the new decals it will not win them over. If it does not sell then the big kit which people really want will probably not happen.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

People also think reissues should be somehow cheaper. Generally they are not. They are priced at the current standard and price point. You don't see, say, the old AMT 1966 Enterprise selling for $2. That sucker is $35 now. Revell's old 40 and 50 year old car kits are $25 right along side the brand new tool cars.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

irishtrek said:


> R2 claims they will consider doing a new tooling of the Eagle provided the reissue sells good??? Until I see a link to back up that claim then all it is is nothing but an unfounded rumor, so please show us some proof. No offense.
> As for the way the Eagle looked in that image from Wonderfest it looks as if they might have already done a slight retool mainly under the side pods.


It does LOOK different, but I pretty sure that what appears to be retooled details in those areas is just a clever (and massive) use of decals. I think they're giving us a "squint and it looks great" Eagle. Not necessarily complaining...

I do wonder, will the Alpha kit also contain a great many new decals?


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

irishtrek said:


> R2 claims they will consider doing a new tooling of the Eagle provided the reissue sells good??? Until I see a link to back up that claim then all it is is nothing but an unfounded rumor, so please show us some proof. No offense.


I can't confirm things as Strongly as you might like, but if you check R2's blog under the Wonderfest topic, in the comments I asked if R2 had the right to do new Space:1999 kits and the answer from Jamie was yes.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

phicks said:


> I can't confirm things as Strongly as you might like, but if you check R2's blog under the Wonderfest topic, in the comments I asked if R2 had the right to do new Space:1999 kits and the answer from Jamie was yes.





That *is* interesting but I've had a look on R2's site and I can't find that on their blog?


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

And beside the R2 blog updates aren't exactly dated correctly lately, and when reading the blog recently it's done by some one who seems to be doing a multiple part blog topic and the first posting makes very little sense because it's as like the person skipped the 1st and went right to the 2nd post.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

SUNGOD said:


> That *is* interesting but I've had a look on R2's site and I can't find that on their blog?


Did you log in? You can only see the comments after you've logged on.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

SUNGOD said:


> That *is* interesting but I've had a look on R2's site and I can't find that on their blog?


The Round 2 blog is not on their main R2 site: http://www.collectormodel.com/

EDIT: OK, weird. The blog is very different - haven't been on in a while so this probably isn't news to anyone else.


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## Chertok tv (Jun 10, 2011)

I worked on the tail end of the Space 1999 merchandising at Hanna Barbera and back then the attention to detail ,Well it simply was non existent.

Jamie is a unique and talented artistic supervisor for these genre kits.

Personally I think he will surprise all of us with this re-pop and yes with the finally accurate decal sheet.

But I expect that is not the only upgrade he has in mind after all look to the ground breaking work Round 2 has done so far on Trek kits.

Oh ye of little faith I have a feeling this will be a outstanding release with a few surprises for all of us.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

I remember the landing gear pods on the Eagle kit, the bottom of the pods had an 'impression' that the feet could probably fit into and that decal detail on the R2 display model was not on the Eagle when MPC first released this kit.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

spock62 said:


> Did you log in? You can only see the comments after you've logged on.





I tried registering on there before but for some reason I couldn't then log in.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Chertok tv said:


> I worked on the tail end of the Space 1999 merchandising at Hanna Barbera and back then the attention to detail ,Well it simply was non existent.
> 
> Jamie is a unique and talented artistic supervisor for these genre kits.
> 
> ...






Do you know something we don't?


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Ya know, just because one has realistic, honest feelings about something it doesn't move the discussion forward with phrases of 'ye of little faith' and such like. 

Luckily my skin isn't so thin to be as offended as some might. Sink me, I am quite bemused by such strawman tactics. 

I have no problem with a cheap re-issue of the MPC Eagle. I do have a problem with an unaltered kit with some (admittedly clever) new decals pushing the price into 'new tool Japanese kit' price range. 

I'm just saying don't screw around with the whole "gee, let's see, if these old kits sell then maybe we'll take a couple of years to decide about making new kits" thing. I would rather a statement "because of development and lead time it's going to take a year or so to get a new Eagle kit out, so meanwhile we'll re-issue the old Space:1999 kits to get people thinking about the license again". See? A statement like that everyone could get behind. 

THEN they can surprise us by minor re-tooling the Eagle, including the missing landing pads and buildings for the Moonbase kit, re-issuing the Hawk and 'The Alien' showcar, digging around for the Aurora Banana Splits tooling and releasing it as an Alpha moonbuggy....blah blah blah. Everybody happy fun time!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I guess this tread can drag on since the Eagle isnt supposed to be released until November or December...


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> Ya know, just because one has realistic, honest feelings about something it doesn't move the discussion forward with phrases of 'ye of little faith' and such like.
> 
> Luckily my skin isn't so thin to be as offended as some might. Sink me, I am quite bemused by such strawman tactics.
> 
> ...






Those would be nice.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Chertok tv said:


> I worked on the tail end of the Space 1999 merchandising at Hanna Barbera and back then the attention to detail ,Well it simply was non existent.


I've heard the rights included the option of doing an animated series. Did anybody ever draw up any kind of concept or presentation, or were they just not interested at all?


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## roadskare63 (Apr 14, 2010)

eimb1999 said:


> I'm thinking all of you need a little refresher on the story of the "The Little Red Hen".


great site, and great analogy...if I can afford a few I will surely get them...I have an original alien still in the plastic....but I am so greedy for a few eagles to kitbash into other things...!!!!!!must have!!!


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Steve H said:


> Ya know, just because one has realistic, honest feelings about something it doesn't move the discussion forward with phrases of 'ye of little faith' and such like.
> 
> Luckily my skin isn't so thin to be as offended as some might. Sink me, I am quite bemused by such strawman tactics.
> 
> ...


I'm with you.:thumbsup:


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

R2 updated their MPC page of kits for 2013 and no mention of any tweaks to the Eagle molds.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

I don't know if you have any connection to R2 Chertok but it just sounds like a straightforward reissue with new decals to me.


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

That's what was displayed at Wonderfest.


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

Just got a Round2 newsletter with a great recap of their Wonderfest announcements. They mentioned that they have a special program in mind for the Space:1999 reissues that they hope to announce soon. It's fun to speculate, so any ideas what it might be?


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

fire91bird said:


> Just got a Round2 newsletter with a great recap of their Wonderfest announcements. They mentioned that they have a special program in mind for the Space:1999 reissues that they hope to announce soon. It's fun to speculate, so any ideas what it might be?


Oh, we can SPECULATE all day long. 

Let's see. 

-Subscription program. Sign up and get the Space:1999 kits before they hit retail.

-fundraiser/interest gauge. Something to see how many would actually commit a promise to buy, limited to 1999 of course, a new tool (larger scale?) Eagle kit. 

-pack in bonus. Every kit has a fabric patch included.

-coupon. Every kit has a coupon of some kind, collect and mail in to get something.

-Limited Edition Tin. No brainer for the Eagle.

-publishing tie-in. This is REALLY blue sky but getting with the various hard-core fans and putting out a new MoonBase Alpha Technical Manual. 

There, see? I can speculate with the best of them! Some of those are quite reasonable and do-able, I don't think I'm anywhere near what R2 plans to do.


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## seaQuest (Jan 12, 2003)

Steve H said:


> Well, that's the thing that makes this whole exercise (i.e. "buy lots of Eagle Repops and MAYBE R2 will do a new-tool kit!") so darn frustrating.
> 
> Just going ahead and making an all-new tool Eagle kit is a sure thing, a moneymaker, IF ONE FOCUSES ON THE CORRECT MARKET which, for good or bad, is Japan. Number two, England and maybe the rest of Europe and lastly, regretfully, The United States.
> 
> ...


Don't sell yourself short, Steve. I've known you since the Harding administration, you know a lot!
:tongue:


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## seaQuest (Jan 12, 2003)

Steve H said:


> Everybody happy fun time!


Fruity Oaty Bars


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

fire91bird said:


> Just got a Round2 newsletter with a great recap of their Wonderfest announcements. They mentioned that they have a special program in mind for the Space:1999 reissues that they hope to announce soon.  It's fun to speculate, so any ideas what it might be?


Maybe they're doing something like the Moebius Shapeways program, where you can order printed add-ons for your styrene kit...


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Steve H said:


> Oh, we can SPECULATE all day long.
> 
> -publishing tie-in. This is REALLY blue sky but getting with the various hard-core fans and putting out a new MoonBase Alpha Technical Manual.


Ooh, I'd help on this. Still have my original in the red binder.


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

How about a 22 inch Eagle with 1,999 pre sales? Beige T shirts with different colored arms depending on your order number?


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

phicks said:


> How about a 22 inch Eagle with 1,999 pre sales? Beige T shirts with different colored arms depending on your order number?


Ya know, I like the tee shirt thing. I don't care how silly it might be in practice. 

But I suspect getting a tee made with one colored sleeve might be an expensive enterprise. And it's HARD to silkscreen sleeves so just having a stripe is out. 

But you know, there was precedent for civilian visitors on Alpha. Victor had no color sleeve or even a collar flash. 

hmmm.


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

The sleeve of a T shirt is a different piece of fabric from the main body. So a different colour sleeve would be sewed on.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

phicks said:


> The sleeve of a T shirt is a different piece of fabric from the main body. So a different colour sleeve would be sewed on.


Yes, and that is very expensive to do on such a small run as R2 would need. Those Chinese/Taiwan/Vietnamese clothing factories can only cut costs so much you know. 

I think they could do it as only one color (probably black as everyone wants to be Commander, but Eagle Driver Yellow would make more sense), and if they decided to go to someone like Thinkgeek to sell a 'mass consumer' version and have the '1999 club' shirt have some kind of special silkscreen or embroidered detail thing, it would be affordable. 

Unless you happen to know a company that would custom make a two-color fabric t-shirt for around $2/shirt for them. Because if you DO, then I say bollocks to waiting for R2 to get off the dime, let's make our OWN club shirt and sell them! 

I....am not sure if I'm joking...the potential is...interesting.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I would much rather R2 spend the cash on 22" Kit development than create a fan clothing line as an incentive to pre-order.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

Richard Baker said:


> I would much rather R2 spend the cash on 22" Kit development than create a fan clothing line as an incentive to pre-order.


I agree. If people really want and are willing to pay for a 22" Eagle, they shouldn't need any incentives. Monies spent on T-shirts and other nonsense is best spent on producing the kit.


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

spock62 said:


> I agree. If people really want and are willing to pay for a 22" Eagle, they shouldn't need any incentives. Monies spent on T-shirts and other nonsense is best spent on producing the kit.


Well, if a t-shirt is part of something like the 1701 club, I'd be all for it. Since it doesn't seem that sales of a reissued Eagle will accurately reflect the interest in a 22" version, it seems like some sort of pre-order deal would indicate to Round2 whether there is sufficient interest.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

fire91bird said:


> Well, if a t-shirt is part of something like the 1701 club, I'd be all for it. Since it doesn't seem that sales of a reissued Eagle will accurately reflect the interest in a 22" version, it seems like some sort of pre-order deal would indicate to Round2 whether there is sufficient interest.


Maybe it's just me, but I've never decided wither or not to purchase a kit based on a "special program". Besides, I have my doubts that a t-shirt (or something of that nature) would be enough to "tip-the-scales" and make someone decide wither or not to buy a 22" Eagle. Your either interested (and have the cash) or your not. How many model companies have used this method to gauge interest? Besides the recent 1701 club you mentioned, I can't think of any others. I assume model companies do market research to see if a kit would be profitable or not. A t-shirt wouldn't help in that, it's more of a gimmick. 

Also, Round 2 didn't exactly have a sell-out of the 1701 Club Enterprises, did they? For everyone that purchased the special edition, I'm sure many more waited and purchased the standard edition.

I think they might have better luck gauging interest if they had a poll on their website and/or posted on this and other forums. It would be a much cheaper way to gauge interest.

Sorry, but Alpha Moonbase shirts, pictures of Barbara Bain, etc. don't interest this modeler.


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

spock62 said:


> Maybe it's just me, but I've never decided wither or not to purchase a kit based on a "special program". Besides, I have my doubts that a t-shirt (or something of that nature) would be enough to "tip-the-scales" and make someone decide wither or not to buy a 22" Eagle. Your either interested (and have the cash) or your not. How many model companies have used this method to gauge interest? Besides the recent 1701 club you mentioned, I can't think of any others. I assume model companies do market research to see if a kit would be profitable or not. A t-shirt wouldn't help in that, it's more of a gimmick.
> 
> Also, Round 2 didn't exactly have a sell-out of the 1701 Club Enterprises, did they? For everyone that purchased the special edition, I'm sure many more waited and purchased the standard edition.
> 
> ...


I agree... Unless special offers are made that enhance the kit itself, being part of an exclusive club, or getting a freebie t-shirt (which I'm unlikely to wear) isn't going to make me buy the kit any more or any less. Waste of money IMHO if extra money is being spent to promote the kit that way. The money is better spent on development and tooling to ensure a decent and profitable kit.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

All this talk about tee shirts is just speculation right now. We really won't know until R2 makes an announcement like they say they will


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Richard Baker said:


> I would much rather R2 spend the cash on 22" Kit development than create a fan clothing line as an incentive to pre-order.


You know I don't disagree. Well, other than scale. I would prefer something in the 1/72 scale range,myself. Both scales would be even better. 

I was just throwing out random stuff to answer the other poster's statement about speculating. Would a 'gimmie' shirt push me into making me buy a kit, Naw. But you know, if it's going to be done, do it right, have some fun, that's my thought.


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## fire91bird (Feb 3, 2008)

Steve H said:


> You know I don't disagree. Well, other than scale. I would prefer something in the 1/72 scale range,myself. Both scales would be even better.
> 
> I was just throwing out random stuff to answer the other poster's statement about speculating. Would a 'gimmie' shirt push me into making me buy a kit, Naw. But you know, if it's going to be done, do it right, have some fun, that's my thought.


Appreciate the speculations, too. They seemed pretty reasonable to me!

As far as the t-shirt, I'm not suggesting it would be any kind of incentive to buy an Eagle, but as part of a pre-order program, it would be OK to me. Like the 1701 club, the t-shirt wasn't the point - you joined to show Round2 you would buy a 1/350 TOS/E if they made it. The t-shirt was just gravy, I would have joined without it.

I should also acknowledge that the newsletter said the program would be for the reissues, so the talk of a 22" Eagle really is wishful thinking.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

It's most probably *is* stuff like patches, t-shirts n' tins.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Steve H said:


> You know I don't disagree. Well, other than scale. I would prefer something in the 1/72 scale range,myself. Both scales would be even better.
> 
> I was just throwing out random stuff to answer the other poster's statement about speculating. Would a 'gimmie' shirt push me into making me buy a kit, Naw. But you know, if it's going to be done, do it right, have some fun, that's my thought.


If I remember correctly the old MPC eagle is a scale of 1/76, so when you stop and think about it you already got the Eagle in the scale range of 1/72.:wave:


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

irishtrek said:


> If I remember correctly the old MPC eagle is a scale of 1/76, so when you stop and think about it you already got the Eagle in the scale range of 1/72.:wave:


Yessss, but we're talking new tool kit. If R2 is going to invest in new tooling I'd like a 1/72 scale Eagle. I have no objections whatsoever to a larger scale kit for those that want it, but being selfish me, I would like a new-tool kit in 1/72. 

Smaller scale = fits on more people's shelves, it's a lower pricepoint which means not only more affordable to the builders, but more important, more affordable to the retailers. Retailers may well buy more kits than they otherwise would. You can get an entire 'spacing' (3-5 kits) of the 1/1000 scale Enterprise in a Hobby Lobby or even Walmart (well, you used to at any rate) but I bet it's a rare hobby shop that stocks more than one of the 1/350 Enterprise kits.

but I think I've said that already.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

My apologies, I thought you were implying it was of a completely different scale, like say 1/48.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

irishtrek said:


> My apologies, I thought you were implying it was of a completely different scale, like say 1/48.


Naw, it's cool, we both want the same thing i.e. an all-new tool Eagle, which we probably won't see but boy it would be nice. Imagine the same dedication, research that went into the 1/350 TOS Enterprise poured into making a new Eagle. Makes me drool a little.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

If not a new tooling then why not add ons, like the extensions they did to the Eagle during the second season??? You know, extra thruster pack to go on top and the extensions for the sides of the 'cargo' pod.


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Steve H said:


> Naw, it's cool, we both want the same thing i.e. an all-new tool Eagle, which we probably won't see but boy it would be nice. Imagine the same dedication, research that went into the 1/350 TOS Enterprise poured into making a new Eagle. Makes me drool a little.


Agreed. Get Martin Bower to assist.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

irishtrek said:


> If not a new tooling then why not add ons, like the extensions they did to the Eagle during the second season??? You know, extra thruster pack to go on top and the extensions for the sides of the 'cargo' pod.






I think they'd be better off accurizing the kit first than spending money on tooling up add ons. Mind you I'd prefer an all new tool larger Eagle anyway.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

jheilman said:


> Agreed. Get Martin Bower to assist.








That could well be worth it. One thing they shouldn't do though is copy garage kits. Product Enterprise did that with the UFO saucer and hence it's not very accurate (it bears more than a passing resemblance to the inaccurate old SHED saucer kit).


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## Cajjunwolfman (Nov 15, 2004)

If the interest expressed on this thread and the number of posts....they should sell a lot of models.


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## seaQuest (Jan 12, 2003)

Steve H said:


> I think they could do it as only one color (probably black as everyone wants to be Commander, but Eagle Driver Yellow would make more sense).


Steve, yellow was Data Section. Orange was Reconaissance.


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## seaQuest (Jan 12, 2003)

I, personally, wouldn't be interested in t-shirts. I need a 5XL, no way they'd produce those.


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## TIEbomber1967 (May 21, 2012)

Cajjunwolfman said:


> If the interest expressed on this thread and the number of posts....they should sell a lot of models.


After watching all you guys post (or :beatdeadhorse about this subject, I got to say Cajunwolfman nailed it. There is DEFINITELY interest in the eagle, but only in a new, accurate, kit. I have the old Mattel toy, and a Dinky toy or two, but I'll only spend my money on a kit if it's better/more accurate than the toys I already have.
I like what Round 2 has given us, and I've supported them by buying reissues of Trek models I've bought previously, but for Space 1999 I'll need something a little more than a reissue of an inaccurate kit. As others have said "my 2 ¢"


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

seaQuest said:


> Steve, yellow was Data Section. Orange was Reconaissance.


I believe the correct internet response is D'OH!

Of course I could have just gone to my Moonbase Tech Manual and look it up but noooooo, nope, too much pride.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

SUNGOD said:


> I think they'd be better off accurizing the kit first than spending money on tooling up add ons. Mind you I'd prefer an all new tool larger Eagle anyway.


No offense, but I get the impression from your 2nd line that you think they will put out what you would like to see, and yes I too would like a more accurate Eagle weather it be the same scale as the MPC kit or larger. After all nothing wring with wishful thinking.
As for the add ons, what's wrong with that idea??? After all R2 is reissuing the PL TOS Enterprise with a Botany Bay ship and they have also did similar things with other Trek kits.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

irishtrek said:


> No offense, but I get the impression from your 2nd line that you think they will put out what you would like to see, and yes I too would like a more accurate Eagle weather it be the same scale as the MPC kit or larger. After all nothing wring with wishful thinking.
> As for the add ons, what's wrong with that idea??? After all R2 is reissuing the PL TOS Enterprise with a Botany Bay ship and they have also did similar things with other Trek kits.


I think the thing of it is, if R2 were to invest in the tooling for parts to, say, add boosters or the 'science module' extended docking wings (or whatever they are.), that's still money spent that could have otherwise allowed for new, proper 'service modules' or a revised nose and so on. 

If you're going to cut steel for a new mold it seems to me just as easy to engineer some improved parts as it is to make new, I would assume nicely researched and accurate add-on 'variation' parts for what I understand to be an overall rough/soft kit.

Of course this is all moot as it seems neither of these options are actually viable at the moment.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

irishtrek said:


> No offense, but I get the impression from your 2nd line that you think they will put out what you would like to see, and yes I too would like a more accurate Eagle weather it be the same scale as the MPC kit or larger. After all nothing wring with wishful thinking.
> As for the add ons, what's wrong with that idea??? After all R2 is reissuing the PL TOS Enterprise with a Botany Bay ship and they have also did similar things with other Trek kits.





There *might* be a bit more of a chance now if R2 are looking for other classic well loved ships to tool up seeing as they've got the Space 1999 licence but I'm not assuming they're going to do a new tool Eagle at all.

And as Steve says if they were ever going to tool up add ons that's money that could have been spent accurizing the kit.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

The Shapeways/Printing parts option would seem to be a good way to "rejuvenate" a tool they really can't afford to change. R2 is already in pretty good with Jim Small, the expert on add-ons for this kit. 

Say you buy the reissued Eagle. You can build as-is with the new decals. Or, you could theoretically pick out "detail-up" printed parts of your choosing. A more accurate beak...detailed cages...side pods with accurate landing gear. Or maybe diorama options such as hangar equipment and geodesic wall sections, figures, interior pieces, the re-entry glider, grabber arm with Exile pod, an army of Catwomen Prison Guards (well, maybe). There'd be any number of ways you could trick-out the old kit and make it more detailed and interesting. Yeah, it would add to the cost of building a reissue, but so would new-tool styrene parts, and printed parts you can take or leave. And a new-tool 12" styrene Eagle could then be brought to market to take more advantage of these parts. Moebius is going for it with TOS Galactica and Shapeways, don't see why R2 can't do the same with 1999!


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

If they were to do it right in order to maximize sales, IMHO, they'd do an all-new tooling in 1/72nd with optional parts for a laboratory pod/booster pack version. Imagine having a kit where you could trade out pods (displaying the extra pod separately on accurate landing pads) and add the booster pack!


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

I think some are missing the point. 

The investment required to reissue existing kits is very low. It offers a very fast return on investment for the $$ spent on the license. 

They have the molds, now they have the license, all they need to do is get them to China and have styrene squirted into them. 

I dont think Space 1999 is as sure money as TOS Trek, so releasing them will give them real world data on what the market it. It's a low risk investment.

If they sell well then it will give R2 incentive to invest more $$$ into the license. If they don't sell well then they are out minimal $$$ compared with a new tooling. R2 is not playing games with us, they are not trying to extort fans into buying an old kit in order to produce a new kit. R2 is in the business of giving us what we want, they just want to KNOW what we want. 100 or so of us posting here is not a good sample when deciding if they want to sink $100k's into a new kit that will have to sell 10,000+ kits to make money.

It's just business.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

RB said:


> The Shapeways/Printing parts option would seem to be a good way to "rejuvenate" a tool they really can't afford to change. R2 is already in pretty good with Jim Smalls, the expert on add-ons for this kit.
> 
> Say you buy the reissued Eagle. You can build as-is with the new decals. Or, you could theoretically pick out "detail-up" printed parts of your choosing. A more accurate beak...detailed cages...side pods with accurate landing gear. Or maybe diorama options such as hangar equipment and geodesic wall sections, figures, interior pieces, the re-entry glider, grabber arm with Exile pod, an army of Catwomen Prison Guards (well, maybe). There'd be any number of ways you could trick-out the old kit and make it more detailed and interesting. Yeah, it would add to the cost of building a reissue, but so would new-tool styrene parts, and printed parts you can take or leave. And a new-tool 12" styrene Eagle could then be brought to market to take more advantage of these parts. Moebius is going for it with TOS Galactica and Shapeways, don't see why R2 can't do the same with 1999!






I don't know what Moebius is doing with TOS Galactica and printed parts but as far as I'm aware the main ships are styrene.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

mach7 said:


> I think some are missing the point.
> 
> The investment required to reissue existing kits is very low. It offers a very fast return on investment for the $$ spent on the license.
> 
> ...





But as we've been saying..................neither is relying on sales of an older kit that most Eagle fans think of as a dog and many have already anyway.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

mach7 said:


> I think some are missing the point.
> 
> The investment required to reissue existing kits is very low. It offers a very fast return on investment for the $$ spent on the license.
> 
> ...


I'm not missing the point, and I understand exactly what you're saying (except for the part about shipping the tooling off to China. Man, I sure would rather they found someplace in the U.S. if all they had to do is squirt plastic into the mold.).

Thing is, of the 4 existing Space:1999 kits, only the Hawk is going to sell like crazy because of pent-up demand. I am highly confident this will be the case. So does that mean there's NO interest in new Space:1999 kits? How do you read those tea leaves? 

The answer is, a NEW kit will create more excitement. Well, amend that. A new SIGNIFICANT kit. A new tool Eagle, any scale. Because one could tool up any of the 'guest' spaceships and some would go "neat!" but most would go "eh."

And I'm a strong proponent for looking for the Aurora 'Banana Splits Buggy' molds and whipping out a Alpha Moonbase Moonbuggy kit. With or without astronauts. 

It's all a crapshoot. Sending tons of steel off to China (which I suspect they will NEVER GET BACK) or paying for new tooling, it's all still spending money with not much solid guarantee of ROI.


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## Gemini1999 (Sep 25, 2008)

Steve H said:


> I'm not missing the point, and I understand exactly what you're saying (except for the part about shipping the tooling off to China. Man, I sure would rather they found someplace in the U.S. if all they had to do is squirt plastic into the mold.).
> 
> Thing is, of the 4 existing Space:1999 kits, only the Hawk is going to sell like crazy because of pent-up demand. I am highly confident this will be the case. So does that mean there's NO interest in new Space:1999 kits? How do you read those tea leaves?
> 
> ...


Finding a kit of the original Amphicat that was used as the Alpha moon buggy isn't a bad idea. I did a search on eBay and didn't find any model kits, but there are some vintage 70's toys based on the original design:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Toys-Hobbies-/220/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=amphicat

I would also have to agree that "no interest" in terms of Space:1999 when it comes to model kits isn't fair to say. It might not be as strong as Trek, but when was the last time something new was released for Space:1999? There's interest and a market, but it's just not on the radar because there hasn't been anything for years.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

This morning while drinking my coffee I pulled out my original issue of Famous Spaceships of Fact and Fantasy and read the chapter on the MPC Eagle and despite what some are saying about this kit it can be upgraded in my opinion, all one needs is a bit of ingenuity and patience.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

To be fair, I suspect the vast majority of folks out there aren't aware of the name 'Amphicat' and just think 'ATV'. I know this is likely annoying (because we all were raised to use proper and correct names for things, weren't we?) as all get out but that's harsh reality. 

Space:1999 suffers from a serous lack of promotion in today's marketplace. I'm sure some think that it's now 'dated' because man, we're past that year. So any efforts to sell kits has to do their own heavy lifting, there's no coattails to ride on. 

My whole thing is, R2 has to be realistic yet optimistic. The old kits, as variable in quality as they are, will find a market providing they're priced in a realistic way. If the repop Eagle is $40 MSRP because of that (admittedly clever) decal sheet, that's just not going to be a hot seller. That's too much money for that kit. 

The three 'good' kits (I just have no interest in that 'The Alien' showcar, sorry.) could all benefit from just the slightest modifications to the tooling. And in my clearly ignorant opinion that WOULD justify a higher price at retail and create some interest. I happen to believe that an all-new tool Eagle kit would be a hot seller in Japan and England and Italy while also selling well in America. I happen to think it would be a mistake pinning the 'go' order on an all-new tool Eagle on the sales of the reissue kits.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Steve H said:


> I'm not missing the point, and I understand exactly what you're saying (except for the part about shipping the tooling off to China. Man, I sure would rather they found someplace in the U.S. if all they had to do is squirt plastic into the mold.).
> 
> Thing is, of the 4 existing Space:1999 kits, only the Hawk is going to sell like crazy because of pent-up demand. I am highly confident this will be the case. So does that mean there's NO interest in new Space:1999 kits? How do you read those tea leaves?
> 
> ...







I think it's a great idea to do the Banana buggy if they can find it. But it would be even better still if they could do a little plastic astronaut (with clear plastic visor) to go with it.


----------



## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

irishtrek said:


> This morning while drinking my coffee I pulled out my original issue of Famous Spaceships of Fact and Fantasy and read the chapter on the MPC Eagle and despite what some are saying about this kit it can be upgraded in my opinion, all one needs is a bit of ingenuity and patience.








I suppose any kit can be upgraded if you think about it (usually with a lot of work). The MPC Eagle could certainly benefit from a few new styrene parts as we've said in the other thread.........but I think it's fair to say 99% of Eagle fans would prefer an all new larger kit. 

A few new styrene parts would probably get a lot more people to buy a reissue of the MPC Eagle though than just one with new decals.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

SUNGOD said:


> I don't know what Moebius is doing with TOS Galactica and printed parts but as far as I'm aware the main ships are styrene.


Sungod, here's the link to the Moebius Models store over at Shapeways:

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/moebiusmodels

As you can see, it's currently limited to flight deck equipment for the Galactica kits, but I wouldn't be surprised if it expanded soon.

About the MPC Eagle being 1/76 scale...isn't it closer to the 1/96 Main Mission scale if you compare those figures to the Eagle pod side door? Can't compare at the moment but I seem to remember that there was talk of that being the case.

You know, I always figured if there was ever a 22" or 44" Eagle styrene kit, then it would require a diecast spine at least. Could a styrene spine carry the weight required by a detailed kit with cage detail, nosecone, and engine section? Wouldn't you have to have the passenger pod fused to the cage/walkways for stability and not be separable?


----------



## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Gemini1999 said:


> Finding a kit of the original Amphicat that was used as the Alpha moon buggy isn't a bad idea. I did a search on eBay and didn't find any model kits, but there are some vintage 70's toys based on the original design:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/sch/Toys-Hobbies-/220/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=amphicat
> 
> I would also have to agree that "no interest" in terms of Space:1999 when it comes to model kits isn't fair to say. It might not be as strong as Trek, but when was the last time something new was released for Space:1999? There's interest and a market, but it's just not on the radar because there hasn't been anything for years.


Azrak-Hamway also did a toy of the moonbuggy with astronauts at about 1/20 scale, but it was very blocky. The Banana Buggy kit would be the way to go. Plus, it'd be duel-use. You could issue it with 1999 figures and decal sheet, but it would also be another tool for R2's considerable bank of Hanna-Barbera kits as the original Banana Buggy with the Splits and bench.

Hey Jamie, when are you going to do the MPC Wacky Races and AMT Flintstones kits again?


----------



## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

RB said:


> Sungod, here's the link to the Moebius Models store over at Shapeways:
> 
> http://www.shapeways.com/shops/moebiusmodels
> 
> ...







Thanks for that. If the ships are styrene then equipment like that can make a great addition for people doing dioramas etc.

As for the spine on a 22 inch Eagle (I can't imagine anyone doing a 44" styrene Eagle) whilst it would bend slightly it would probably be better than the PE Eagles as the plastic parts on a styrene kit would still be lighter than the diecast parts on the PE Eagles.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

RB said:


> Azrak-Hamway also did a toy of the moonbuggy with astronauts at about 1/20 scale, but it was very blocky. The Banana Buggy kit would be the way to go. Plus, it'd be duel-use. You could issue it with 1999 figures and decal sheet, but it would also be another tool for R2's considerable bank of Hanna-Barbera kits as the original Banana Buggy with the Splits and bench.
> 
> Hey Jamie, when are you going to do the MPC Wacky Races and AMT Flintstones kits again?


*ding ding ding ding* Got it on the first try. 

See, I didn't know, or forgot, that R2 already had a H-B license. I was concerned that getting the rights to Banana Splits might be too costly so I was focused on re-purposing the buggy. But if adding the Banana Splits to their lineup turns out to be a trivial cost, then yes indeed, let's have the full Banana Buggy repop!

I seem to recall the figures of the Splits were fairly decent, as far as 'big costumes sitting down' was concerned. Of course if they REALLY wanted to milk the license and the tooling they could release 4 kits with just one of the Splits and buggy each. I would not encourage that. 

Mind, this assumes that the tooling exists. Would getting two different selling product SKUs make the 'reverse engineering from a kit' process worthwhile?

Yeah, I'd like to see a re-pop on the Wacky Racers kits as well. I remember those well. All color-tinted chrome...


----------



## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Steve H said:


> *ding ding ding ding* Got it on the first try.


Yay me?:tongue:



> See, I didn't know, or forgot, that R2 already had a H-B license. I was concerned that getting the rights to Banana Splits might be too costly so I was focused on re-purposing the buggy. But if adding the Banana Splits to their lineup turns out to be a trivial cost, then yes indeed, let's have the full Banana Buggy repop!


Yeah but does R2 have a *master license* or is it piecemeal, Scooby and Jetsons seperate and all? After all, Moebius is doing that Quest jet. Betcha anything that Warners is pimping em' out individually. I'd like to think those Splits could be had for a song...but for all I know they're tough as nails negotiators in real life...



> I seem to recall the figures of the Splits were fairly decent, as far as 'big costumes sitting down' was concerned. Of course if they REALLY wanted to milk the license and the tooling they could release 4 kits with just one of the Splits and buggy each. I would not encourage that.
> 
> Mind, this assumes that the tooling exists. Would getting two different selling product SKUs make the 'reverse engineering from a kit' process worthwhile?


You'd think that Monogram would've melted the tool down first thing, cartoon kit and all. But, they _didn't _have an ATV tool of that type, did they?



> Yeah, I'd like to see a re-pop on the Wacky Racers kits as well. I remember those well. All color-tinted chrome...


Were there 4 or 6 in all? Had the Compact Pussycat and the Turbo Terrific, but missed out on Dastardly and Muttley


----------



## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

RB said:


> ...Were there 4 or 6 in all? Had the Compact Pussycat and the Turbo Terrific, but missed out on Dastardly and Muttley


As best I can remember, there were four--Dick Dastardly and his Mean Machine, Penelope Pitstop and her Compact Pussycat, The Gruesome Twosome and the Creepy Coupe, and Peter Perfect and his Turbo Terrific.


----------



## Hunch (Apr 6, 2003)

I'm glad they put this (eagle) out again. I intend to buy a few for scratch building purposes and I hope they find the molds for the hawk 'cause I need a few of these as well. And an all new "22 inch eagle tool? THAT would be out of the park awesome!:thumbsup::dude:
If not I always have my resin "23 eagle to play with.


----------



## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Cult recently announced that there were going to be some significant changes to the Moonbase Alpha kit:

http://culttvman.com/main/moonbase-alpha-reissue-details/

It's REALLY good news to hear about the individually-parted travel tubes, added launch pads, and full base! And new correct-scale Eagles! If they do everything they say they're going to it'll be worth the new price. But I wonder if they're going to release the large Main Mission as a separate kit...


----------



## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

RB said:


> Cult recently announced that there were going to be some significant changes to the Moonbase Alpha kit:
> 
> http://culttvman.com/main/moonbase-alpha-reissue-details/
> 
> It's REALLY good news to hear about the individually-parted travel tubes, added launch pads, and full base! And new correct-scale Eagles! If they do everything they say they're going to it'll be worth the new price. But I wonder if they're going to release the large Main Mission as a separate kit...


Well, that's very exciting, actually. I'm glad to hear it. I recall back in the day having the desire to make a more accurate Alpha but not having the skill. Simply adding the missing launch pads will do wonders, the idea of separate Travel Tubes quite surprising (altho that also makes making a new vac form base easier).

I won't bitch about "why Alpha and not do something similar with the Eagle?!" because in my mind I can see how much easier it would be to mod tooling for Alpha, and very minor changes will result in a much improved kit.

So, then, the Main Mission Command Centre 'diorama' won't be part of this kit? I seem to recall THAT beast needed lots of work to match the actual set as it was.


----------



## LARSON DESIGNS (Nov 15, 2013)

Well let us take a look, :thumbup:
The box is full of nice pictures and comes with a signature card 1 of 100 cards.
New decals to.


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## LARSON DESIGNS (Nov 15, 2013)




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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Geez! It's out already??????


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Oh, man. I mean, Good On for Nick Tate, hopefully this puts some change in his pocket, but maaaaaan. 

So those are the decals? Hm. Seem kind of underwhelming. Love the passenger pod end decals but boy they sure aren't gonna match up with the service module ends, huh? Ah well.

Anyone 'shoot' that QR code to see what it does?

Kinda wish they had limited the Year 2 pics of Alan Carter, but I guess you need them if you're going to have an autograph from Catherine Schell as a 'chase' item. I thought she had passed away but I'm glad to be mistaken.


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## edward 2 (Oct 6, 2010)

how much for the kit ?


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Jeezuz Steve, you sure do like to piss on people's parades, doncha?


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Went to the local Hobbytown USA this qfternoon and got the only one they had. I don't remember it being so small.
How much??? It cost me $30.


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

Even though I have an unbuilt original kit in the closet, I'll be picking one of these up as soon as it shows up in my LHS.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

Even though I have a couple of the original issues and the 1999 re-issues built up as well as an original MPC and Airfix kit unbuilt in their boxes I will still buy a couple of these. I want to recreate some of the kitbashes I did in the 1970's.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

eimb1999 said:


> Jeezuz Steve, you sure do like to piss on people's parades, doncha?


Well, not really. I mean, look at that parts layout on the sprues. SOME retooling could have been done. I was under the impression that the new decals would easily give the IMPRESSION of detailing on the service modules but looks to me I could simply 'paint it black' like we used to and boom, basically the same. The new decals for the pod ends are nice and well drawn, but YOU DON'T SEE THEM 99% of the builds done. 

I'm glad the kit is back. I'm not $30 glad. If the kit is $30 because of Nick Tate's picture and the decal sheet, well, can I maybe buy it bagged w/o any of that for maybe $14.99?

I wish them well. I'm probably going to buy the Moonbase Alpha kit, BECAUSE of the upgrades. See how easy that is?


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Well I'll be getting one at least because I don't have a spare in my stash. I've built two in the past, both issued by Airfix here in Oz. An original and I think a re-release. I'd like another to try my updated skills on and kitbash it into a booster/survey Eagle.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Steve, it's already been discussed ad nauseam that any tooling changes, small or large, would not have improved the kit to where it would have made a significant difference without re-doing the entire model. In other words, no amount of changing the tool would have justified the costs. Better to put that money into something else that COULD be improved, or, into a new kit, if possible. The point was to re-pop the old kit as a nostalgia venue with some added extras to make it more interesting and fresh at the lowest cost so that money could be saved for things that COULD be more optimally improved. 

As for the decals, they were designed to give a balance of what could realistically be added to enhance and improve the model versus what would have been impractical to work. If you find the decals "underwhelming" then that's more a problem with your attitude and lack of knowledge than a sober look at what could be done with decals on a limited sheet space for such a kit. 

It's easy for you out there to "monday morning quarterback" all the plays since you don't have any real skin in the game, and apparently have no problem with wanton criticizm of those who do. But unless you put some coin down on the table, to which you have already indicated you're not willing to do, your negativity is only detrimental to the team trying to win.


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

And nobody is forcing anyone to build it straight out of the box. If you are knowledgable enough to see the kit's inaccuracies, then you probably know how to fix them too. I am just finishing building the re-release of this kit from 1999 (!), with cut open grid work, scratch built boxes inside the grids, after market landing gear from Shapeways (excellent products), and extra piping around the engines.

Hopefully this kit will sell well enough for R2 to develop a new 22 inch Eagle kit. :thumbsup:


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

Here is my modified Eagle I did about 15 years ago. I opened the cages up as well as the landing pad struts. I also added more engine detail and made some custom decals. For me it built into a nice replica and closer to what I saw on screen.


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

One more shot of the nose. If I can do this, there are many more skilled modelers than me that can do wonders with this kit!!


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

The thing is, a lot of people do take great pleasure in modifying a kit to a higher standard. I think most people who have built an Eagle have done this to at least some degree. I had about 5 of them as a kid, all of them got trashed eventually through play. But I remember back around 1983 or so, I found all the bits in my parts bins There were enough undamaged parts to make a full Eagle and I did my first real attempt to completely modify the model. I was exceptionally pleased with it at the time, although of course I could do a much better job now, but I remember the thrill I had doing it at the time. It was a real accomplishment to make the model look so much more like what was on screen. Years later that very modification work was the inspiration for my now out-of-production but award-winning Eagle Authentication Kit ...

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/pre_sa_auth.htm

...which I sold more than a 13 years ago now. Crude by my current standards today, but it was all good, and the fact that the original MPC kit was so poor ended up teaching me a lot as I had the desire to improve it.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

A friend of mine went crazy and did extensive modifications to one of the AMT 1999 re-issues:










The next two pictures are from before detail painting was finished:



















There were around 200 additional parts, changes and modifications made to the basic kit but this shows with a little time and effort, this can be a good model.
Pictures posted with my friend's permission, of course.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

That top pic is the AMT kit???? Amazing! Really good work!


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## RSN (Jul 29, 2008)

BWolfe said:


> A friend of mine went crazy and did extensive modifications to one of the AMT 1999 re-issues:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice!!! :thumbsup:


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

eimb1999 said:


> That top pic is the AMT kit???? Amazing! Really good work!


All three pics are of the same model, he built the cargo platform as well as the standard red striped pod, it started out as the AMT re-issue. He built 2 Eagles back in 1999, the one you see in the above pics, sat on a shelf unfinished until around 2007, just painted white, and an Eagle with the spine boosters and lab pod. He borrowed pieces from a third kit to make the spine booster pack and later utilized the leftover pieces from that robbed kit to make the stubby craft seen in the background of the last picture.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

RSN said:


> Nice!!! :thumbsup:


Thanks, I will pass that along to him. This model, his Moebius Jupiter 2 and his custom built 22 inch Space:1999 Hawk were the models that he was most proud of.


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

I still have an MPC Eagle from back in the day. Do any of you clever folk know of a decent article that describes ways of accurizing that old kit?

(I'm not finding the right search terms for Google, it seems.)


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

eimb1999 said:


> SeaQuest: Tell me something I have said that is factually incorrect and prove it. If I have said something untruthful I will apologize. Otherwise, your own comment regarding my "comment borders on flaming" is based on, at best, an inability to understand reality, pure ignorance and/or outright stupidity. If that offends you, that's your problem not mine. In your words, "lighten up". I like facts, not rhetoric. Since when is correcting ignorance or trying to explain things "flaming" anyway? I am assuming the people reading this are familiar with the English language and the importance of the meaning of specific words in their context. It's time to get off the "victimhood" pulpit and face reality.
> 
> If Steve (and some others on here) "knew his stuff" he wouldn't have said some of the negative things he did, as he would realize there are practical limitations in the real world, and not everything we want is either possible or practical. If the new kits we want are NOT produced, nobody will be more disappointed me.
> 
> ...


This reminds me of the various explosions on Usenet back in the day. My opinions are invalid because I don't work for The Company, yet other opinions are to be treated as hard, solid unarguable fact because they're not me. 

My bona fides are irrelevant, I know. Have I worked for a model company? No. Have I helped with marketing with a model company? Yes. Am I a 'hard core' Space:1999 Fan? Probably not, but I like the show enough from it's original run to have both of those huge press kits given to TV stations, among other items. 

So here are my opinions. I happen to think this reissue of the Eagle is overpriced. I was under the impression that the (oddly to me overpriced, or so the MSRP of the kit would have me believe) new Decal sheet was going to have these amazing bits for the Service Modules that would create the illusion of the missing detail, and I honestly don't see that in the decals as shown. Does anyone? 

I'm rather bemused by the Nick Tate stuff on the box. Again, pay attention. If he's getting a cut of the price because of that good for him, but come on, honestly. It wasn't Space:1999 Starring Nick Tate. He was a contract player who had decent screen time in Year One but was seriously underused in Year 2 to the point that I bet he wasn't working more than one day a shooting week. Blah blah blah. Point being, all that stuff isn't going to sell more models. It just isn't. I may even dare to suggest that any money spent getting the rights for Tate's image could have gone to re-tooling the Eagle's nose, at a bare minimum. 

And an aside, I know there are BEAUTIFUL builds, mostly heavily modified, that showcase this kit. Just look above. I think maybe, and be fair, it's a bit 'on the nose' to say 'adding 200 parts' is a LITTLE bit of work, hm? 

As discussed, taking an international view, there IS a market for a new-tool Eagle. I have no problem with the original MPC kit being reissued, but it should be at a price that reflects it's accuracy and quality. From the sound of things what R2 is doing with the Moonbase Alpha kit is what I would have liked for the Eagle. I hope for the execution to match the potential. I also hope they make bags of tiny Eagles available because folks will want them. 

I fear R2 has undercut the potential for success with the repop Eagle. And after working with all manner of companies that have created their own conditions for failure, I would be worried about that 'not really promised but kinda sorta hinted at maybe' new-tool'd Eagle ever happening. And I want that to happen. Maybe my buying that revised Moonbase Alpha kit will make up for my apostasy over the Eagle.


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

My understanding is that Nick Tate is featured on the Eagle package and Catherine Schnell on the Alien concept car package because they supplied some autographs that are in random boxes, and they got paid for it. 

I never heard that the decal sheet would contain anything to depict details inside the grid cages. It was only vaguely advertised as "Improved Decals".

This kit has been in huge demand since its 1999 repop, with eBay sales typically in the $60-$90 range. I think it will sell extremely well. I am far more sceptical of prospects for the moonbase and Alien car kits.

For most of the modellers of the caliber who post here, I think this release will indeed be viewed as a base kit that most of us will modify. It is up to the individual how many improvements they wish to make.

I am not surprised in the slightest by the $30 price. You have said you won't be buying it. So be it. Peace be with you. I ordered four.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Oh, I may buy one or two when the price comes down. It's just if I'm going to spend $30 on a kit, I've got plenty of Yamato 2199 kits in my want list.

I agree, the 'Alien' showcar isn't going to set sales records (altho if they managed to include the excised parts from the pre- Space:1999 issue that might thrill some) but I think the monster seller is going to be the Mk. IX Hawk. There's a buttload of pent up demand for that.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Fair enough, that's your opinion, but again, you have to understand how the business works for you to understand why things were done as they were. You need to go back and re-read what I have written when I explained it all before. You seem to be unwilling to let those facts sink in. With the MBA, it was a lot less money to do the changes to make a radical improvement on that kit over the cost of what it would have been to do significant changes to the Eagle. Put another way, a lot of money could have been spent and the changes would have been relatively insignificant.

As far as seeing the new 22" model? I swear to you that nobody is more interested in seeing that done than I am! I am chomping at the bit hoping that model gets done against all odds. But unfortunately I don't have any magic pixie dust or spiritual spells to weave. I have to deal with reality just like everyone else. Therefore, why don't you try and do what you can to garner interest in getting people motivated to write to R2 and convince them to do it? How many times do I have to say the same thing before these things sink in?


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Also agreed, the Hawk would be a good seller. No doubt about that one.


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## ViperRecon (Aug 3, 2010)

SteveR said:


> I still have an MPC Eagle from back in the day. Do any of you clever folk know of a decent article that describes ways of accurizing that old kit?
> 
> (I'm not finding the right search terms for Google, it seems.)


SteveR,

Our own James Small wrote an article on just this subject a while back for the defunct Space 1999 Cybrary. I'm using some of the tips on my own 1999 repop Eagle build. If this is posted elsewhere or there is a more current version of this article, I am not aware of it.

https://web.archive.org/web/19990508172200/http://cybrary1999.com/publications/art84.htm

Mark in Okinawa


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Oh my gosh I had completely forgotten about that! Geez, that's fifteen years ago! How time flies!!!!!!


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

The eagle came 4th in the Most Wanted sci fi kits in Fine scale Modelers pole so R2 should take notice of that at the very least.


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## Chuck_P.R. (Jun 8, 2003)

Finescale Modeler had a really great article they printed to. I think at the end of the '90's or so. I've got a copy somewhere . . .


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## Chuck_P.R. (Jun 8, 2003)

Paulbo said:


> You read my mind, Mach7 :thumbsup:
> 
> Also, I spoke with Jamie and PL _thinks_ that the Hawk molds are in England and they are trying to track them down. I really hope they can find them.
> 
> *Pure Speculation:* Wouldn't it be cool if they also did the laser tanks and other vehicles?


Did they ever find the Hawk molds?


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## Chuck_P.R. (Jun 8, 2003)

Found the eagle article!

November 1996

http://www.finescale.com/Magazine Issues/1996/November 1996.aspx

Hope this helps!


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## ViperRecon (Aug 3, 2010)

eimb1999 said:


> Oh my gosh I had completely forgotten about that! Geez, that's fifteen years ago! How time flies!!!!!!


It's a great article, it would be great if you could update it with some pics and repost it on your site. I didn't use all of the tips and I modified some steps, but I did shorten the spine and remove the command module from the solid back-plate it's molded with, did some work on the engine section, stuff like that. Lots of good information and advice there.

Mark in Okinawa


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Chuck_P.R. said:


> Did they ever find the Hawk molds?


Excellent question. I surely hope so. It would be a complete shame for them to re-launch the brand and NOT have that available.


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Thanks for the accurizing info, gents. :thumbsup:


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Steve H said:


> Excellent question. I surely hope so. It would be a complete shame for them to re-launch the brand and NOT have that available.


Yup. No argument there.


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## phicks (Nov 5, 2002)

Last I heard, the Hawk molds have not been found.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Chuck_P.R. said:


> Found the eagle article!
> 
> November 1996
> 
> ...


So then how does one access the article on the Eagle???
Also are the decals for the ends of the pod accurate???


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

irishtrek said:


> So then how does one access the article on the Eagle???
> Also are the decals for the ends of the pod accurate???


Here is a shot of one of the filming model pods to compare the decals to:










And the kit decals:


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

phicks said:


> Last I heard, the Hawk molds have not been found.


They could be reverse engineered into new molds like how Moebius recreated the 2001 Moon Bus kit.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

But that costs as much money as making a new tool. I would think that, instead of reverse engineering an old, and inaccurate kit, it would be better to make a new more accurate one from a new source... kinda like this one: 

https://scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net...720/1473067_10152040496392700_885324359_n.jpg
.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

Richard Baker said:


> They could be reverse engineered into new molds like how Moebius recreated the 2001 Moon Bus kit.


If they do go that route I hope that they add more detail to it. The Hawk kit was good but it suffered from a lack of details on the aft bulkhead as well as the small details on the main body and framework.


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## Chuck_P.R. (Jun 8, 2003)

irishtrek said:


> So then how does one access the article on the Eagle???
> Also are the decals for the ends of the pod accurate???


I'm not sure where my copy is. 

You can use that link to order a fresh copy(believe it or not Finescale Modeler still has that one in stock as a backissue for sale!),

for $5.99 plus about 4 bucks shipping.

I do remember the article had some really neat instructions, including how to rebuild the landing pads to add the "scissored style" soft landing attachments to the landing pad rods, as seen in the show.

There are also some people selling copies of that issue on Ebay for a hair under $6 bucks with free shipping, but those are used.

A good many of the parts described in the article that were built from scratch Paulbo might be able to turn into a photo-etch set, I believe.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

BWolfe said:


> Here is a shot of one of the filming model pods to compare the decals to:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, thank you!!! Now I can go ahead and scratch make me own components.
Hmmm, I wonder how an Eagle crew was able to go from the cockpit to the pod with out suiting up into a space suit considering the doors on the pod look to be a bit taller than the doors on the back of the command module.:wave:


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

irishtrek said:


> Yes, thank you!!! Now I can go ahead and scratch make me own components.
> Hmmm, I wonder how an Eagle crew was able to go from the cockpit to the pod with out suiting up into a space suit considering the doors on the pod look to be a bit taller than the doors on the back of the command module.:wave:


Well, this is one of many of the things that would need to be addressed, the difference between 3 'masters' that rule.

1. Model as seen on the show

2. Internal sets as used on the show

3. What it might look like if it was a real, working vehicle

and maybe a 4th master, the best guess compromises to blend 1 and 2 together (see also Jupiter II et al)

For example, given the shapes, I'd think the Eagle Cockpit hatch would be more akin to the SHADO Moonbase module interconnect hatches, with the Service Module side being the 'standard' hatch. 

And I have NO idea how those 'wing' hatches on the 'science' module are supposed to work, there's no place for the hatch to GO. 

Choices, choices.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

irishtrek said:


> Yes, thank you!!! Now I can go ahead and scratch make me own components.
> Hmmm, I wonder how an Eagle crew was able to go from the cockpit to the pod with out suiting up into a space suit considering the doors on the pod look to be a bit taller than the doors on the back of the command module.:wave:


It is one of those things you are not supposed to notice. Another discrepancy on the passenger pod image I posted is the height of the trapezoidal door on the end of the pod vs. the square door on the side of the pod. In set photos the doors are virtually the same height yet on the filming model the trapezoidal door is clearly taller than the side door.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

One thing people can do seeing as the eagle's not an accurate kit is to pretend it's some other version that doesn't have open framework. In fact I think I'll get a few and paint them different colours. Also add a few kitbash parts etc.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

SUNGOD said:


> One thing people can do seeing as the eagle's not an accurate kit is to pretend it's some other version that doesn't have open framework.


Well, I'm wanting to cut out the areas in between the frame work and scratch build what's supposed to be there. Too bad R2 couldn't come up with a decal for that.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

irishtrek said:


> Well, I'm wanting to cut out the areas in between the frame work and scratch build what's supposed to be there. Too bad R2 couldn't come up with a decal for that.








Forget decals. Those aren't real detail anyway as they're just flat pieces of paper. It would have been nice if R2 could've tooled up a few new parts to make it more accurate..........there again maybe they didn't because they know most people want a newly tooled kit.

I was just suggesting making an alternative version for those who couldn't be bothered trying to accurize it as it's a lot of work. That's what I'm doing. I'm not even bothering to accurize it as I have the much more accurate PE diecasts anyway so I'm pretending these are a different mark of eagle and I'll be painting them different and adding kit parts so it looks a bit different to the eagles we all know.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

But if they had come up with decals to represent what's there one may be able to scratch build some proper looking details is what I meant. My apologies.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I think the service module interior decals would look like the ones from the Lost in Space Cyclops/Chariot kit- more stupid than representational. Showing something in depth by putting it on flat panels surrounding the space just does not look good to me.

I wish they had molded those service module pieces in clear- then you could just paint the framework white and glue your own scratch built interior inside. No cost for extra tooling and you avoid the slab side look entirely


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Richard Baker said:


> I think the service module interior decals would look like the ones from the Lost in Space Cyclops/Chariot kit- more stupid than representational. Showing something in depth by putting it on flat panels surrounding the space just does not look good to me.
> 
> I wish they had molded those service module pieces in clear- then you could just paint the framework white and glue your own scratch built interior inside. No cost for extra tooling and you avoid the slab side look entirely


That actually is not a half bad idea. Problem is, the entire kit is on one tool. You'd have to shoot the entire kit in clear. BUT cleare styrene, as you know, is much more brittle than regular styrene. The model would be a lot more fragile, and, of course would require paint, even for beginners. So, it'd have to be molded in ABS clear which is stronger, but that also costs a fair amount more too. 

I am NOT speaking for them, but I'm telling you here that every single suggestion posted on this entire thread so far (as well as some that haven't been suggested here yet) was looked at and evaluated. R2 chose the best way to go to give the best bang for the buck. Dream all you want, but what they did was the only practical way it could be done for that price.

All the detractors out there need to realize that these kit companies are NOT out to screw you. They are doing the best they can for the market that exists. If the market were many times larger, maybe more could be done. But that's not their fault. That's ours.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Are there any clear side shots of what's inside the framework with out those 4 little pods attached???


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

irishtrek said:


> Are there any clear side shots of what's inside the framework with out those 4 little pods attached???


Nothing is inside them- they have solid sides and the tubing is half-round on the surface of that.
Painting it flat black or cutting out the panels in between the tubes are the two most common choices.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

Richard Baker said:


> Nothing is inside them- they have solid sides and the tubing is half-round on the surface of that.
> Painting it flat black or cutting out the panels in between the tubes are the two most common choices.


I think irishtrek was referring to the actual filming models, not the MPC kit built by various modelers. In the cages there are rectangular "housings" with "shelves" on each side with various fans/plumbing/greebles on the sides of the housing. As for clear shots, I'm still looking for them myself!


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

spock62 said:


> I think irishtrek was referring to the actual filming models, not the MPC kit built by various modelers. In the cages there are rectangular "housings" with "shelves" on each side with various fans/plumbing/greebles on the sides of the housing. As for clear shots, I'm still looking for them myself!


I think you will fins all you will need here:
http://www.smallartworks.ca/Articles/Restoration/Restore1.html

This article covers the restoration of the 44 inch Eagle One filming model. It shows the corridoe sections and equipment shelves without the cages.


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## spock62 (Aug 13, 2003)

BWolfe said:


> I think you will fins all you will need here:
> http://www.smallartworks.ca/Articles/Restoration/Restore1.html
> 
> This article covers the restoration of the $$ inch Eagle One filming model.


Folks, we have a winner! Thanks BWolfe!


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## electric indigo (Dec 21, 2011)

Every time I see these miniatures I have to remind myself that these are models for a TV show and not something the NASA actually built in the 70's...


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

spock62 said:


> Folks, we have a winner! Thanks BWolfe!


Glad to help. That is a great reference article ofr getting the details of one of the 3 44 inch Eagles built for the series. I bookmarked that site as well as copying all of the pictures several years ago with the intent of doing a scratch-build 22 inch Eagle but that project never took off, I decided after some experimentation that my skills in working with brass tubing was not up to the task.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

BWolfe said:


> I think you will fins all you will need here:
> http://www.smallartworks.ca/Articles/Restoration/Restore1.html
> 
> This article covers the restoration of the 44 inch Eagle One filming model. It shows the corridoe sections and equipment shelves without the cages.


That is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!!!:wave: And it also confirms something I saw on another web site just yesterday, the 4 pods are slightly forward of the cages instead of centered.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

Some of the text is screwed up on this page but here you can buy the only truly accurate blueprints of the 44" Eagles. 

http://pages.infinit.net/danielgp/

http://pages.infinit.net/danielgp/firsteb.htm


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

I picked up the eagle at my LHS yesterday for $18.50.
I have one coming from Megahobby that was $24.56, This was the first 
time I've seen a kit lower at my LHS.

Sadly, no autograph from Nick.


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## eimb1999 (Sep 8, 2007)

That's a great price! I remember when ERTL re-released them in 1999 they were over $25 bucks at Udisco in Montreal, and Udisco has the lowest prices in Canada!


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