RETRO ROCKETS #69 11/27/08
Visit the Retro Rockets Archive
Reposting a vintage Retro Rockets…
The turkey is in the oven, the parades are over, Black Friday is
tomorrow, and the holiday season is off and running! This is the
first day in over a month that I have had time to sit in front of the
computer and not worry too much about preparing or shipping orders.
There’s been lots of news all summer, beyond what was announced at
iHobbyExpo. I’ll see how much I can cram into this newsletter.
There will be a Black Friday sale in the CultTVman Hobbyshop. Check
back tomorrow for some great deals. www.culttvmanshop.com
If you had not noticed, we have changed the CultTVman Chatroom to new
software. No more AOL/AIM chats. We chat Fridays at 10p Eastern and
Sundays at 9p.
The forum was upgraded in the last month to better software. And it
even allows you to post pictures! http://www.culttvman.biz/phpbb2/
There have not been many updates to he main site recently due to the
overwhelming amount of business in the Hobbyshop. I’ll post new
material as soon as I get the chance.
Today is Thanksgiving in the US, and I would be remiss if I didn’t
reflect for a couple seconds on all that I am grateful for. This
year has seen unexpected growth for the CultTVman Hobbyshop, far
beyond what I anticipated. I figured we’d be lucky to equal the
success we had last year, but sales are up about 70% over 2007. I
have to thank every one of you for the support you have given to the
CultTVman Hobbyshop, website, forum, and newsletters. When this
thing started out back in 1996, I was just looking to post a few
pictures and information on the this newfangled thing called the
internet. Since then, I have found there are lots of model builders,
passionate about things like the USS Enterprise or Aurora monsters.
I’ve met many of you, made good friendships and had a lot of fun.
Thank you all.
I am also grateful for people like Frank Winspur who has been a long
time friend and the force behind Moebius Models. I’m thankful we
seem to be growing this hobby after what seemed to be a long, slow
decline. 2009 should bring us lots of new science fiction kits and
monster figures and reissues of many classic favorites. I’m grateful
for companies like Aztek Dummy, Paragrafix, Trylon, Fantastic Plastic,
VoodooFX, JTGraphics, Federation Models, and many many others that
work hard to churn out new and exciting product for all of us that
build kits.
I’m most thankful for my wonderful family and the support they give me
in this whole CultTVman obsession. The cliche is that every man has
a good woman behind him and I will veryify that to be true. My wife
Connie has been with me for 25 years and I could not do any of this
without her support and help. The reality is that she packs and
ships most all of the orders we send out, in addition to volunteering
at the school, taking care of the kids, and keeping the house in some
semblance of order.
So I guess we need to get around to some hobby news!
RETRO NEWS!
UPDATES FROM MOEBIUS MODELS
We have the announced shipping dates for the new kits from Moebius
Models. Please remember that these are subject to change:
January – Iron Man
February – Flying Sub
March – Mummy
April – Spider-man
May – Green Goblin
June – Frankenstein
Gigantic Frankenstein (aka Big Frankie) and the six Moebius monster
set kits are all in stores now and available in the CultTVman
Hobbyshop. Moebius also has a great store display for the monster
kits, so you may want to check that out. Moebius is also hard at work
on some great kits for later in 2009, but you will have to be patient
and wait for that news. The Moebius site is at www.moebiusmodels.com
GLOW NOSFERATU FROM MONARCH MODELS
The Frightning Lightning long box version of Nosferatu is now
available for ordering through the Monarch Models website. The Ghost
of Castle Mare is delayed until 2009. The reissues of the seventies
Aurora Dracula and Dr. Jekyll kits are progressing through the tooling
phase and the new Gorgo is proceeding well. Visit the Monarch
website at www.monarchmodels.net
NEW FROM FANTASTIC PLASTIC
Fantastic Plastic continues to produce plenty of new kits. Here are
just a few of their new releases:
The incredible X-Jet is patterned in 1:144 by Scott Lowther. The kit
contains 18 pressure-cast pieces and builds up into a model 11 inches
long.
Olympus-Class Corvette comes from the Babylon 5 universe. Fantastic
Plastic is producing this with BamBam Productions. he 1:3700 kit
contains 30 pressure-cast pieces that assemble into a model 5 inches
long.
Polaris II is from the 1957 syndicated TV series The Space Explorers.
The Polaris II is a 1:288 scale solid-cast model featuring 7
pieces, including a launch rail and sled. The pattern is by Marc King.
Jawa Sandcrawler is mastered in 1:144 by Spain’s Jesus Luna Gomez,
this all-resin kit includes 37 highly detailed pieces, including a
roto-cast main body and headpiece The kit is nearly 10″ long upon
completion.
Orion 606 CEV is reissued. This kit was patterned by Scott Lowther
and cast by Mike Salzo. The kit contains 56 pressure-cast resin
pieces and features an extensive decal sheet by JBOT.
TIE Bomber from The Empire Strikes Back is in 1:72 scale. Highlights
include “wings” with textured solar panels and a clear resin cockpit
viewport. This 26-piece kit builds into a model 4.5 inches long and
6.5 inches wide.
Colonial Berzerk from Battlestar Galactica is1/3500 scale all-resin
model kit. The kit features 37 highly intricate pieces that build up
into a model eight inches long.
Visit Fantastic Plastic at http://www.fantastic-plastic.com
REISSUE KITS FROM ROUND 2
As announced previously, Round 2 is reissuing a bunch of AMT, MPC, and
Polar Lights kits. Here are the announce dates for some of those kits:
Enterprise E – Jan 2009
1:350 Refit Enterprise – Mar 2009
Robby The Robot – Mar 2009
The Witch Glow kit – Apr 2009
Munsters Coach/Dragula in collector’s tin – April 2009
Interplanetary UFO – Jun 2009
C57D- Aug 2009
Mr Spock – Oct 2009
The new Akria kit is scheduled for Nov 2009
APOLLO EXTERIOR DETAIL SET FROM NEW WARE
The folks at New Ware have been busy this year. They have a new
detail set for the exterior of the 1:32 Apollo CM kit from Monogram.
This detail kit features 35 resin parts, 73 photoetch parts and a
reference CD.
Other new products from New Ware: 1/144 Diamant A,1/144 Jupiter IRBM
or Bioflight 2, upgraded 1/32 Apollo CSM decals, 1/72 X-15 tanks
decals, and a 1/144 Vanguard
Visit the New Ware website at http://mek.kosmo.cz/newware
FROM OUR FRIENDS AT FABGEAR
FabGear and Tin10 Collectibles have put out a tin Land of the Giants
lunchbox and a tin waste paper basket. Check them out at
http://www.tin10.com/
NEWS FROM ALCHEMY WORKS
Mike Evans at Alchemy Works has a number of new dino-conversion kits
available.
*Einiosaurus head conversion – this is a ceratopsian with a wicked
nose horn and 2 long frill spikes. Jeff Johnson sculpt.
*Einiosaurus special base
*Agathaumas head conversion This is a ceratopsian with spiky
frills. Jeff Johnson sculpt.
*Agathaumas special base
*Elasmosaurus and base – Jeff Johnson sculpt. It includes a multi
part base, with 3 kelp plants and a weird toothy snake critter.
Coming soon: The Mother of all PS Scene kits… this will be a
Monster sauropod kit with multiple options. It will be constructed
more like an injection kit with locking tabs and better movement for
posing and making the kit as light as possible for the size and
medium. The piece itself will have 2 different necks and 4 different
heads and these parts can be ordered individually. There will be a
base as well.
Mike is also looking for feedback as to other kits to produced.
Mike also passed along this message: “…there is one more thing I
want to cover- the potential of resurrecting the PS scenes T Rex. I
spoke to Revell and they said it was a possibility. Lets get a phone
campaign going and get this great kit re released! Companies like
Revell do listen to there customers.. they are a little slow at
returning phone calls but they have returned every one that I made to
them. Here is their number 1-800-833-3500. If this kit was re
released there would be tons of cool conversion possibilities
Spinosaurus, Charcaradontosaurs, etc.”
Visit Alchemy Works at www.thealchemyworks.com
VOODOOFX RELEASES
Randy at VoodooFX has been busy this summer. His big releases include:
Space Pod lighting kit for the Moebius Model kit. The kit comes with
everything you will need to light the model, 100% Led system for cool
running and longer longevity. This kit does require electronic skills,
electronic experience is required. The kit includes Fusion Core
Driver Board, Shrink Tubing, Wire, 2-3mm Warm White Leds, 9 Volts
Battery Power Snap and Full Instructions.
Available at VoodooFX and CultTVman
Visit www.voodoofx.com
NEW FROM PARAGRAPHICS
Paragrafix have put out a couple new detail sets.
Photo Etch detail set for the Moebius Models Space Pod kit. These
measures almost 6 x 4 inches Details includes Control panels, Interior
window frames, Control panel handles, Accurate rear wall control
panels, Joystick “adjustment knobs” and mounting panel girders, Front
exterior sensors, Accurate exterior “radiator”, Decals of exterior
flags, LOX tanks, and volt meters
Moebius Seaview with this detail kit. This photoetch 0.010 brass
sheet is almost 6 x 9 inches in size! It includes Limber hole panels
for surface mounting, Radar antennae, Control Room ceiling beams,
Control Panel for the sail, Furniture for the observation lounge, Hand
holds and docking cleats, Rudder connector rods, Ladders and doors,
and much more!
These can be ordered through Paragrafix or the CultTVman Hobbyshop
Visit Paragrafix at http://modeling.paragrafix.com
