Hey there folks
I was getting ready for night class and got to thinking, “is there a data base that contains all the different companies that have re-marketed other companies kits?”
What got me to wondering is a kit I just got in the mail, the Academy M-47 R.O.K Marine release.
When I opened the box the big bag of sprues has a big sticker proclaiming “Country of Origin, ITALY” which immediately told me that the majority of the model is the Italeri M-47 we all know so well.
That really got the wheels spinning since I can name about a dozen kits marketed by other manufacturers that started out, or in some cases are still marketed by other companies.
I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re looking for, but they do have information on various issuances and reboxings.
http://www.scalemates.com/
Here’s a rule of thumb I go with; if a “new” kit suddenly arrives from a manufacturer that does not have it in its line and there was no buzz about the “new” kit in the months preceding, it’s probably a rebox.
Tamiya recently released an M109A6 Paladin to compete with the new Kinetic and AFV kits, a little research shows that they slipped the Italeri kit in the box and added their own figures.
Upcoming new kits are probably the worst kept secret out there. If an all-new kit is coming out, it’s been talked about and photographs of the sprues dissected in most of the online forums.
And if it’s an all-new kit of a never seen before subject, then there are probably two different companies coming out with competing kits.
Lots of molds get traded between companies. Model companies can be as sneaky as the CIA or KGB sometimes…
The name “Glencoe” is a sure clue it is a reassure of some oldie of dubious quality.
Scalemates is (or should be) indeed the database you are looking for. And do not forget (online) review. There is at least one thing that inbox reviews are good for. And that is to tell you if the kit is an orginal or a rebox.