QUOTE: Originally posted by Adam Tereska
Models I would like to see made and released:
1) new F-150 (so I can update my Bigfoot 10 models)
2)Model of Black Stallion and all of Allen Pezo's Team Predator trucks
3) '80-'86 F-Series trucks (long beds)
4)any 1/25 scale monster truck chassis
What would you like to see come out?
and send it to the model company of your choice, the marketing people there are always looking for ideas, and will compare your letter, with the data they have from previous sales of a simillar item, or from market research.
A well written letter opens up doors, a listing of a dozen or so subjects on a web site often goes by unoticed. just my humble opinion of course.
You can use the following format which I used to run a poll on HH board several years in a row as a guide.
OK, so the Bank agreed to loan you $250 000, to spend on an all new 1/25 Car tool and an extra $500 000 coming your way, for future releases, IF!!!!! Yes , IF the investment is paid back in the agreed time, lets say 3 years, but If you fail, no extra $500 000, and say hello to your new best friend the repo man!!!!!!
Do you accept the challenge, then read the introduction, guidelines and pilot project below, and you will be all set.
Introduction :
What is the 250 000 dollar or 250K question and where does this number come from?
The 250K question is a one of kind survey, which with the help of friends, yours truly fired up in 2001, its purpose, finding out what you the Hobby Heaven board participant would do, when having the budget to create an all new model kit and making a profit from that venture, the number was taken from a statement made by a former Ertl president in the late 90s as to, how much it costs, to tool up an all new car model kit, the number went south shortly after product development went east, joining the already relocated production facilities, but word on the street is, that it’s on the rise again, and almost on par with North American counterparts.
After two year absence I felt that the time was ripe to start it up again, mainly do to the doom and gloom that is surrounding today’s hobby industry and the frustration it creates amongst many modelers, as seen on Tom’s canvas (as well as on several others boards).
Now this little essay is more then listing dozens upon dozen of possible new subjects, but don’t let this scare you a way, because this is so much more rewarding, and lets the manufacturers and distributors who often lurk these pages see in a positive way, what you the modelers want and how.
So hop on board and turn these bad vibes into positive energy, by creating your 205K project.
To help you on your way I created some guidelines and with the help of our very own Tom Sheehy wrote a pilot entry, so I’m very certain that when you’re finished reading all this, the ink will steadily flow out of your pen or drive you spouse nuts when you’re constantly hammering the keyboard of your home computer.
Guidelines:
1
) Select the type of customer you wish to reach:
This will help you define the skill level, parts- count, breakdown and price range
- Youth (parents- grandparents of)
- Weekend (Novice) modeler
- Enthusiast modeler
2) Choice of subject matter:
You selected your customer, now its only finding out what they want ;^)
- What’s the current or expected long term automotive trend, in the group you selected (Racing, Muscle, exotic, drag...)?
- Which yesteryears kits are (were always) strong sellers and could benefit from a complete redo? (Amt vs Revell '64 Impala for example)
- Are there still “missing links” in a (ones) successful series? (like where's the '66 Impala for example))
- And last but not least do you think they’re willing to pay extra copyright & trademark fees (not only from OEM but also from 3rd parties like tire wheel and speed equipment companies, also racing sponsors, and media groups) because it can add up quickly when you go all the way.
3) Design of the kit & tool:
Now that you have chosen the subject matter for the target group selected, one can start designing the kit, it must not only meet the skill (easy, moderate, challenging) of the selected customer, helping (not fighting) him or her creating something they can be proud of.
It also sets the price bracket in which you will have to operate deciding on parts count, the choice as to parts breakdown depends not only on the skill level but the subject matter too, two examples:
- Skill level: molded-in headlamps are out of place in a kit marketed towards enthusiasts
- Subject matter: Engines is very important in a drag racing car, but not in a Van where dress-up features are more desired.
To tackle this, its best to talk with fellow modelers (on or off Tom’s board), going through your stack of kits or display case(s) lined-up with builds and write down what features you liked or disliked when assembling them, and if you have them, do take a look at your (old) promos and die-casts too, because they were/are designed for easy and fast assembly by non-modelers on a production line.
I took the liberty writing down some key elements which (for me at least) define the characteristics of an excellent kit, no matter what skill level.
Ease of build, no matter how many parts.
Parts break-down not only chosen in function of molding restrictions and possible future siblings, but also to avoid possible sink mark areas and optical distortions (on clear parts), the degree of detail you wish to incorporate, helping the painting process (like the separate grille inserts of the Amt (ex Mpc) ’74 Roadrunner/GTX) or the mating of various sub assemblies and also by trying to make the assembly dummy proof, by carefully (again to avoid ghost sink marks) chosen (perimeter) ridges, holes and pins.
Crispness of the molded parts, so clean-up is minimal and applying finishing materials like BMF becomes child’s play.
Sprue attachments, designed not to harm the parts, when cut off the runner, be they plated or not.
Ejection pins, is it possible to position them on hidden surfaces, or on the sprues, maybe by beefing up the affected part(s) sprue attachment(s).
Parting lines, be creative and don’t let them run too close to areas, where it can affect the overall presence of the model, like to close to molded-in scripts, or try to hide by using the shape of the piece to it’s advantage, especially when dealing with plated parts.
One note however, It’s always nice for the people behind the manufacturers name, when someone points out strong points in the design of their kit(s), but when voicing concerns of the opposite, please keep it honest, factual, sincere, brief and to the point, because inflammatory and insulting remarks will re-rout your entry to their corporate shredder, for us it’s a hobby but for a lot of other people including our host, it’s a way to make a living.
4) Packaging and support
How do you want to present your product, wrapper, contents and build consumer trust?
5) The bean counters went all over your little project and it seems the kit
you're proposing slightly exceeds the budget, luckily you are in the
planning stadium, so what do you loose, and why?
I know it a cruel question, but sometime during the planning stages for whatever reason there’s something that goes over budget, what do you do?
6) Post a photo of the subject
That one speaks for itself, post a photo either from your collection or taken from the web (when doing the latter its best to include a note: picture courtesy off…….) please don’t post more then 2 pics not all people here have a high speed internet connection.
Pilot Entry: the ’69 Dodge Polara CHP Cruiser by by: Tom Sheehy & Luc Janssens
1) Select the type of customer you wish to reach:
The enthusiast modeler,
As with big rig builders Police car modelers are rarely blest with new subjects, and the few released were either simplified designs and retools or marketed towards youth, sometimes including questionable and costly extras
Only one sticks out and then it’s an old tool of which it’s uncertain that it still exists, namely the old Jo-Han Plymouth fury which was on the market for decades.
I firmly believe that they will lay the green on the counter for a detailed cruiser because they almost always had to rely on aftermarket companies to make a convincing model.
2) Choice of subject matter :
The 1969 Polara was widely known as one of the all-time favorite cruisers amongst officers who were active during the 60s-70s. It is also listed as the fastest cruiser of the time, even surpassing the 94-96 Caprice LT1s. The 69 Polara equipped with a 440 4bbl was officially clocked at 147mph in tests.
It was basically a 4 door muscle car, which sat on top of the food chain eating GTO’s, Charger’s, Chevelle’s, Challenger’s, ‘Cuda’s, Mustang’s, Camaro’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner, just the kit we need for keeping the table cloths of America’s contest tables free from tire burns, in fact anyone who collects or and builds muscle car kits must have at least one, just to keep his collection intact ;^)
3) Design of the kit & tool:
Finding a pristine example will not be a problem in this case, because Hemmings “Muscle Car Machine”s mag did a restoration feature on one, a month or two ago, likewise for someone to measure and photograph it, cuz it’s in Tom Montgomery’s back yard ;^)
Body: 4 door body of course with fine and sharp engraving (don’t you love the window surrounds on a late 60s Jo-Han annual?) and without heavy molded-in features like for example a dome light which can lead to a sink mark in the roof, which the modeler has to fill and sand, small ridges and holes where to drill in the roof for roof mounted emergency lights will do.
Because this car has seen service in many agencies, it’s wise to either offer the side moldings as separate metal transfer pieces (like Galaxie LTD’s Chevys) this may not be feasible and could be a possible giveback when running into budget issues, but since it’s a thin molding to begin with and probably can be sanded off with relative ease when molded-in.
The body closings will only consist of the hood dressed up with a separate lip* and hinges, in case the builder wants to show of the engine.
The following items round up the body assembly, firewall, inner fenders (as with Amt ‘ 68 RR), radiator brace, side mirror(s)*, door handles*, front bumper* with separate grille* (to ease the detail painting) with clear headlamp lenses, rear bumper*, tail lamp-surrounds* with a perimeter flange to reinforce them and provide a glueing surface to mount them into the body and provide a stop for the rear bumper, and clear tail lamp-lenses of course (* indicates chrome part)
Interior:
The plain Jane Base level trim all around interior, would be a sorta snap-fit platform style, minimizing the risk of getting glue on unwanted places.
Consisting of a floorboard with a two piece dash, steering wheel and column with molded-in selectors, separate pedals, two piece bench seat, separate rear seat with package tray (flashed over holes for mounting the two CHP flashers), separate door panels to allow for easy detailing. Police radio set-up for the transmission hump. It can be similar to the Jo-Han Plymouth set up, as that was very accurate. However, having separate pieces for the radio, siren control and switches would be great so that different set-ups can be configured by the builder. Two detailed microphones are needed; there was only one in the Jo-Han kit which was incorrect for the set-up.
Chassis and drivetrain: breakdown similar to Amt’s ’57 Chrysler 300 or their ‘60 Galaxie kit, 440 4bbl (what else!) with Torqueflite 727 Auto Trans. This police engine was rated at 375 HP. Kit should include two air cleaners, one stock and one low restriction. The low restriction is the police unit, its similar in design to the one in the Lindberg 64 Dodge 330 kit. Its actually referred to in the Dodge literature as an "unsilenced" air cleaner. Separate chassis, Heavy duty rear end, dual exhaust, and front and rear sway bars round out the chassis. Wheels: two sets...one needs to be correct steel wheels with dog dish hub caps of correct vintage. I'd include a base series full hubcap as an option for those doing a standard sedan. Tires need to be a beefy vintage blackwall, Goodyear Polyglas or similar. The ones AMT has been using for years are actually pretty good.
Accessories: Here's where it gets tricky. The Jo-Han Plymouth was actually a great kit for the roof lights alone. They were extremely accurate and looked the part. This kit should be done with that in mind, optional roof light set-up* for multiple agencies. Spotlights* for both sides are a must. Two styles of beacon lights, one like the Jo-Han, which is a Federal model 176H and one a flat top 4 beam (Federal 184, Dietz 211 or similar). The roof bar with twin beacons would be nice too. That's a Federal model 11, with optional chromed siren speaker in the center. I'd use the rounded speaker (like the speaker on the Adam-12 car) instead of the flat wide style in the Jo-Han kit. Since electronic sirens were just becoming popular, it would still need an old mechanical siren for under the hood as another option. To round it out, about six flashers of different sizes, 2 small, 2 medium, 2 larger, all single faced. These could be used for rear deck flashers, front grill flashers, optional light bar flashers, etc.
Now the most important necessity for all of these lights: MOLD ALL OF THEM IN CLEAR PLASTIC. Not red , not blue , not a m i x ...CLEAR. This allows the builder to tint them accordingly to the agency that's being represented.
The push bar would be a preformed pre-painted metal assembly, to keep it in scale and robust
Agency decals: I'm sure licensing and permissions are in order here. But it shouldn't be too bad, considering Hawk/Lindberg is issuing about 6 different state agencies in their reissue of the 96 Crown Vic’s. A CHP version is a must, this would negate the need for roof lights, too, as they ran most of these with no roof lights and dual spotlights, the driver's side being red. The CHP would also have two flashers, one red and one amber, on the back package shelf, both on the left side, facing rear. However, the 69 Polaras were used all over the country, and offering different versions or including different agencies in the one kit (like the Jo-Han Plymouth) would be great.
The tooling could be used for modified reissues of any C-body MoPar from 69-77 as the chassis were virtually unchanged except for the yearly addition of annual emissions upgrades (or downgrades, if you will). The ultimate choice would be the 74 Monaco for its wide use in movies (Blues Brothers) and its very wide use in police and taxi work.
4) Packaging and support
Box
- Artwork: I really like the way Sean Svendsen handled the Model king box designs of the ’70 Wildcat & Camaro funny car, he really knows how to present a build model, so I would put him in charge of that (hopefully his fees are reasonable ;^) for the box top however, I also like the art work of Jairus Watson and know he would do a good job of a CHP unit burning sideways (showing off the “Wolf’s Head” graphics on the door ;^) through a corner on Mulholland drive, in hot pursuit of some bad boys.
The size of the box would be like the AM ‘vette kits, to show off the artwork and the neatly displayed contents when removing the box top
- Packaging of the parts: chrome, clear parts, tires, packed separately in poly bags, same for the white plastic parts, decals by Cartograph covered with a protective paper and bagged too.
- Instruction sheet: personally I like the approach Amt/Ertl took in the mid 90s very detailed and every part was clearly identified.
- Consumer support: On our company website I would post a whole range of photo’s which were taken when the engineers of product development, were measuring up the cruiser, together with anecdotes facts and fiction of the subject and the agency it served with.
Also a photo composing as per instruction sheet sequence would be available on line together with tips on how to build a perfect model.
5) The bean counters went all over your little project and it seems the kit
you're proposing slightly exceeds the budget, luckily you are in the
planning stadium, so what do you loose, and why?
I would loose the metal transfers, and engrave the side molding into the cavity of the body sides, is a too simple solution for the cash problem, therefore I would get in touch with a die cast manufacturer (like Highway 61) to see if the project is of interest to them too, cuz the majority of model car collectors are not modelers, if they’re interested the R&D costs would drop considerably, and could start a long term partnership
6) Post a photo of the subject
Picture courtesy of Unity Shoppe
Note: The book "Dodge, Plymouth & Chrysler POLICE CARS, 1956-1978" by Edwin Sanow and John Bellah, Motorbooks International was used for reference.
Thank you for time and enjoy writing your 250K project!
Best Regards
Luc Janssens
The 2007 250 000 dollar / 250K question ©.
Format created by:
Luc Janssens,
Belgium