[Layla's Keeper]

Yeah, it was a sad day when the Dyersville kit engineers were fired. After the gorgeous separate frame kits like the 1957 Chrysler 300C and the 1966 Buick Riviera, I was constantly eagerly awaiting the next list of releases from AMT/Ertl (god I miss using that name). I remember seeing that they were going to release a bullet-nose Studebaker and immediately wrote them promising to buy three (one to build as a gasser, one to swipe the engine out of for a replica stock Avanti project, and one to build as a modern custom). I actually thought that if their trend kept up I'd get a modern kit of a 1969 AMX!

Then Racing Champions came in, bought them up, fired the tooling staff, and released disappointments like the 1958 Plymouth Belvedere (decent, but lacking) and the new Ala Kart (huge ugly sinkmarks on the underside of the fender/running boards unit, rippled chrome, undersized Red Ram hemi, incorrect striping decals). Now there's all the licensed bullsh*t that is more in tune with MPC's mid-70's releases.

AMT/RC has lost a customer here, too. Thank god Revell-Monogram still listens to us.

As a side note, Zoom-Zoom, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to John Mueller, would you? He was the lead guy on the AMT tooling staff from the release of their 1/16th scale Cord 812 to the release of the 1962 Ford Thunderbird kit and was responsible for the increase in detail and accuracy during that period of time.