I didn’t know where else to post this news so I’m doing it here. RC2 announced late last week it is dropping the AMT line of automotive kits. It’s also dropping the AMT, Ertl, Joy Ride and Racing Champions die-cast lines. According to a news release fom the company these lines didn’t make the profit margin they had expected so they are discontinuing them. This is sad news as AMT made kits of a lot of unusual cars which no one else did.
Sometimes a parent corp will state “they” will no longer carry or their dropping an manufacture line and sell off or “so called end” the line,but in reallity the manufacturer line will still be going on because they will most likely be bought out from under the parent corp that stated they didn’t bring in a profit
I figured that would happen sooner or later after they bought AMT out and reportly moved everything overseas. I will miss their kits. [BH] AMTis all I have ever built since the early 60’s
wayne
RC2 has put AMT up for sale similar to what happened to Airfix.
Well, maybe who ever buys them out will revamp their current line up! I personally hate building AMT kits, the fit is usually pretty sloppy, and the detail is basic and soft!
AMT definitely has some tooling issues to resolve if it is to stay in the game.
They have a decent grasp on subject matter, they just need to bump up the quality.
Gee, I better call my distributor. Maybe I better stock-up on AMT kits, there value might increase from $10.00 to $12.00 years from now. [:P]
Ok Im about to show how much of a beginner I am… hehe… What does RC2 stand for?
Really Crappy to! No, but seriously, I think its Racing Champions 2, what the 2 is all about I don’t know?
The ‘2’ was implemented into the name to so as not to confuse them with the original Racing Champions when they bought all the other companies mentioned.
I totally agree!!
I hate to say but If that is all you have built then you have really missed out[:(]
Sad news for model builders. Eventually we’ll be back to carving them out of wood like the model pioneers of the '30’s !!
Only buily AMT kits? WOW you should give Revell a try. They are in the same price category but have a slightly better quality to them.
I might not be crazy over AMT’s quality as far as their kits go, but I have built my share. Only because certain vehicles weren’t offered by any other manufacturer. One must make do to continue their collection line.
It seems for now that there are no plans of AMT continuing operations. So far no news as to anyone buying the brand logo and producing the products. Hopefully Revell or some other manufacturer will tool-up and start producing the subjects that AMT has/had to offer. It would be a shame if this is the first insight to a change in the hobby industry as a whole. Hopefully it is just a specific problem for AMT and the cost of overseas production/shipping cost and RC2 just wanting to focus on their higher profit margin product lines.
Some quote’s from stock market news:
“During December 2006, the Company made the decision to discontinue its Racing Champions(R), JoyRide(R), Ertl(R) and AMT(R) die-cast and model kit automotive collectible product lines that on a combined basis generated approximately $36 million in net sales in 2006 and approximately $60 million in net sales in 2005. Discontinuing the automotive collectible product lines is consistent with the Company’s strategy to focus on sustainable, organic growth and on allocating resources to its higher growth infant products and children’s toys categories.”
“November 1, 2006 announced the completion of the sale of all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of RC2 South, Inc., its collectible trading card business, and substantially all of the assets related to its die-cast sports collectibles business to FCS Enterprises, Inc.”
“FCS Enterprises, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is a newly formed holding company. The intent of the FCS Management Committee is to continue the current RC2 South, Inc. business under its present structure.”
“RC2 relies upon a limited number of independently owned factories located in China to manufacture a significant portion of its vehicle replicas and certain other products. They are dependent upon timely shipping of product and unloading of product through West Coast ports as well as timely rail/truck delivery to the Company’s warehouse and/or customers’ warehouses; increases in the cost of raw materials used to manufacture the Company’s products and increases in freight costs could increase the Company’s cost of sales and reduce the Company’s gross margins; currency exchange rate fluctuations, particularly in the Chinese Renminbi or the Hong Kong dollar, could increase the Company’s expenses; customers and consumers may not accept the Company’s products at prices sufficient for the Company to profitably recover development, manufacturing, marketing, royalty and other costs.”
“The increased cost of zinc, which is a key component in die-cast products, is expected to result in lower profit margins during the fourth quarter of 2006 compared with the fourth quarter of 2005. Increased zinc costs will likely continue to negatively impact margins in the first half of 2007. The Company intends to partially offset these increases with selective price increases in 2007 and continued product design and supply chain cost management efforts.”
Just my [2c]
have not had an amt in a few yrs but 30 yrs ago they had front end with many parts(much detail) not just a steel axle going through the eng block as with many others
jhande maybe the new revell’s are better than 30 yrs ago to i hope but back then lots of parts opening doors etc (in the detail sense hard to beat) nothing ever fit right though doors and interiors never worked
This is too bad. AMT seems to be the brand that catches my eye when I walk through the toy aisles with the kids. Seems like Wal-Mart always has an AMT car kit for us to grab and build together. Affordable, readily available and interesting subjects were really fun to browse the aisles for. I also like to see classic car kits from my youth pop up in MPC repro boxes.
Durr, all those working parts are cool to build into the kit, but when they don’t fit it kinda kills the fun and joy when you have to sand it down and glue it in… thats my gripe, if your going to make a kit, at least make it fit together! I’m not asking for Tamiya quality, but some of their kits are just horrid! I would rather have a metal axle through the block than a kit with no quality, IMHO.
The lack of new AMT product the past few years should have been a tip-off that this was coming, I guess. The re-issues, while a bit interesting, can be pretty crude by modern standards. I just started a 1960 Corvette, obviously a re-issue, and it is gonna take a lot of detail painting to make this poor thing even remotely modern. Metal axles aside, there just is not a lot to the kit.
Sounds like the bean counters took over from the marketing guys, and it all blew up in their face…
Jim, I agree with you! They need to bump up the quality a few notches. I got a '56 Ford Victoria of theirs & the Dash is 3mm too short!![:(!][banghead][V]
So if you call your distributer, find me a dash that fits will ya!!
Hey Eddie, that’s what all the extra sprue is for! [8-]
Hey Durr, I remember long ago there were more manufactures of model car kits, just can’t remember all the names anymore. I did like the opening doors and trunks back then, made it easier to display the interior details. It seems to me that the quality of Revell has risen as far as fit goes, but AMT never improved. If anything AMT had gotten worse. I can remember sanding here and there to make parts fit, or holes might be slightly off. But it seems that more of AMT kits have parts that don’t even come close to fitting. It is almost as if it was molded for a different kit. Don’t get me wrong, I have built just as many AMT kits as Revell kits and probably would if they continue to be available. If I’m looking for a 1972 GTO to add to my collection, AMT has it and Revell doesn’t, oh well guess I break out the file and test fit the parts. One good thing about my local Wally World and Kinney Drug Store, they stock both AMT and Revell kits pretty equally and sometimes have a decent selection.