When I was about 8 years old, my father and I were at home while my mother took my little sister with her to visit her friends. My father and I had lunch in the living room a big no, no in our home, when he turned on the television. He turned the dial, and on the screen was the Enterprise being chased by the Doomsday machine.He said," This looks interesting do you want to watch it?" I did. I sat staring at the screen in amazement. I asked him about Star Trek and he said it was a sc ifi show and the Enterprise was their ship.

When it was over, I wanted an Enterprise. He smiled and said," I'll see what I can do.", Two days later in a small white box was the model of the Enterprise. He and I sat at the table and built it. I held the parts together while he glued them for me. It was not painted or detailed. The nacelles were uneven, the decals were not straight or neat , but it was mine. I could not wait until the glue had completely dried.

What made this model even more special to me, was that my father, as busy as he was with two jobs working 80 hours a week, was that he was there with me when I built it. I will never forget him smiling and watching me " flying the Enterprise around the room" while a pillow bent in half to make a mouth, served as the Doomsday Machine.

Well, that was a long time ago, I am 44 now, sadly he passed away a few years ago, but that fond memory of building my first model with him, will stay with me forever.

- Michael

So, this is MY AMT memories.

I remember when I was a kid, about 5-6 years old, and visiting my grandparents. My cousin, who must have been about 17-18 was there too, and he was sitting at my grampa`s worktable building something. I went over there to see, and he was building an AMT Peterbilt 359. That`s the first encounter I ever had with a model kit. Being a car fanatic since I was 3, and at my young age, I was really facinated by this extremely detailed and huge truck! I asked my parents to buy me one, but of course they said I was too young for it. I think the model box reads from 8 years through adulthood, so they were right! But I think this little encounter with an AMT Peterbilt 359 certainly have contributed to me building models today. I`m really glad that Round 2 Models have decided to re-release these old trucks, cos they now give me a chance to build the same rigs I saw my cousin build. I`m now 26 years old and have finished my first Mack R685ST, but my big rig collection exists of about 25-30 AMT trucks and trailers. I visited my cousin the other day, and he still has the rigs he built back then, which was really cool to see again. He has moved several times since, and his interest in model kits have been transferred to other things, so his rigs are not in as good condition as they were unfortunately. Thanks again for providing us with these nostalgic kits!

- Stian (Sandefjord, Norway)

When I frist started buy AMT kits I never look to see if the matched the real thing, I just built them. I used every part that came in the kit and painted them with the brush. I guess we now call them glue bombs, but that didn't matter. We all built them and loved doing it. those model went south when I left for the Navy in 1965 and I never seen them again. (sad)

I use to mow lawns for the family back then. I would start early Saturday morning at my gram's Tuss and then do my dad's, uncles, and a couple of others in Black Eagle. Then I would pull the push mower across thon to my gram's Kimmerle house and due her lawn. She lived in the lower south side of Great falls. I made three to Four dollars each Saturday.

When done with the lawns I would head to Whistlers Hobby Shop in down town Great Falls to see if anything new came in that week. I would go home with one or two new kits for that week. I built models went to local model car shows and had fun.

I cam remember when the 32 ford Roaster came out, 40 Ford coupe, 32 ford coupe and others. The 53 Ford Pick Up is till one of my favorite kit along with the 25 "T" and the Double Dragster.

I hope that one day we all would build for the fun of it and not pick each kit apart. After all it is still a hobby so have fun.

- Walt

As a young fella I was exposed to cars and hot rods via my dad and five older brothers. My family was always going to races and local hot rod shows and events. It was at one such car show where I came upon a model car display. I was immediately hooked! Here was the way I could own all the car(s) I dreamed about having!

I grew up in Dayton, Ohio and at the time the city was still using electric trolley buses and my parents thought that at 12 years old, I was old enough to venture going "downtown" by myself. Bus fare was just 15 cents and I was making spending money cutting grass and doing odd jobs around the neighborhood. I can still fondly recall the excitement of going to the little hobby shop tucked away on a side street downtown. It had two large glass display windows with the door tucked back between them. The windows were always filled with the latest model kits and displays of customer built kits. The door had one of those little bells that would ring when you opened it , and the old well worn wooden floors would creak when you walked on them.

It was always hard deciding which kit I wanted and spent what seemed like hours looking at the stacks of kits on the shelf. I don't remember my very first kit, but I do recall the early AMT 3 n 1 kits with the building options and the "Styline" kits that would let you make copies of the wild customs of the 60s and 70s. I do however remember my first attempt at building a custom car.

It was a 1958 Chevy. I molded the front and rear with an asymmetric design with long sweeping lines, frenched headlights and taillights. Fender skirts and lake pipes and fender mounted mirrors. It was also my first time using "metal flake" paint. A really cool blue sapphire with several coats of clear to top it off. I polished that paint job for what seemed like the good ole days. I used some corduroy material to represent tuck and roll seats. I used some gold metal flake fingernail polish (which I got from my then girlfriend) on the chassis and left the front right wheel off which displayed the same gold metal flake on the "brake drum"; which was just the inner wheel. I even put grain o wheat head and taillights in it. At the time I thought this just had to be the greatest model in the world!!! I even entered it in a local model contest ;and to my great pleasure and pride; even won a trophy. Little did I know at the time I was embarking on a life time hobby. I'm now 62 and still building.

- Lloyd (Ocala, Florida)

I remember back in the 60's living in a small Midwestern town in Illinois called Beverly Illinois. A friend (Gary) and I cleared a bicycle trip for the two of us with our parents ,where we would to trek to a larger town 14 miles away called Barry Illinois to go model shopping. We polished and oiled our old bicycles for the trip the day prior and had a restless night's sleep . Once the new day dawned , we met at our "usual meeting spot" and headed on our way.. it was a picture perfect day as we stopped along the way at neighborly farm houses to visit their drinking wells...  I still remember the taste of the well water and the squeak of the old cast iron pump as the handle was raised and lowered and the sound of the gravel under my bicycle tires while traveling the dusty gravel road.. Once we arrived in Barry at our destination , we headed straight to the store with the models which was an old family owned drug store. The model kit choice was difficult .. What seemed like hours to make our final decision came to an end and we headed to the local family owned grocery store for a freshly sliced cold-cut sandwich before our ride home. While eating our sandwich, we had shared our days activities with the butcher who offered to cleverly tie our model kits securely to our handlebars for our long trip home .. We accepted Jack the Butcher's help and after the models were securely tied, we ventured back home.. The kit of my choice was an AMT '40 Ford Coupe 3 in 1 kit and my friend's (Gary) choice was an AMT '49 Mercury Coupe kit .. All the way home I kept staring between my handle bars at my model kit , thinking of how many ways I had to build it... After arriving back home after many rest stops, the masterfully tied string was removed from my handle bars by my Mother (Janet - now deceased) with her trusty peering knife.. although the model boxes were a bit tattered, the models made the trip unharmed . The next day (Sunday) after church, my friend and I gathered at an open picnic table in the town square where we assembled out models in one setting and reminisced of our journey.. it was a great time in my life and the most memorable moment in modeling...

- Chuck (Quincy, Illinois)

My first kit was the Aurora Frankenstein. It was 1963 and I was in first grade. Our next door neighbors had an older son who showed me his Frankenstein kit and I was hooked. My mom took me to the local 5 & 10 store to get one. Every time she took me back, I was just mesmerized by the selection of Aurora monster kits. I wasn't too young to appreciate the box art. The one that really scared me was the Wolfman box. I always wondered if the Wolfman had just come from slaughtering the family in the house in the background or if was headed there. Weird, I know, but I was six! I'm still collecting today, and hope that Polar Lights will eventually reissue all of the square box glow kits AND the longbox Frightening Lightning kits.

- Rick

I got my first model(an Aurora Godzilla) when I was 4, and have been building them ever since. At first I was all monster kits(the Creature was my all-time favorite), but once I discovered Star Trek, he had to make room for the Enterprise. At one point I had every Star Trek kit available, with my own fleet of 6 starships! Being what was considered a slightly "weird" kid, I didn't have a lot of friends, so I built them. Building models allowed me to exercise the artistic talent that would later lead me to a wonderful job as a sculptor in a professional pattern shop, a position I happily held for over 15 years, until the bottom fell out of the market. I remember my father used to walk into the kitchen, where I would be set up on the table working on a kit(or 2 or 3), take a look at me, and wander away shaking his head. Mom got it, though...

- Christine

My name is Pat, 54 yrs old in The Colony, Texas and I have been building scale model kits since I was 6 yrs old. My father got me started on them and it has been my passion ever since. My first model that My father got for me was a 1937 Chevy Coupe by AMT. It was early June 1962 and I was with my father when we went to a hardware store in Dallas to get something for our house, Dad was talking to the sales man and I was wandering around the store. I spotted a new addition to the accessory isle and it was model kits. I was looking through them and came across a 1937 Chevy Coupe 3in1 kit by AMT. I really liked the looks of it, it had a continental spare tire kit on the back and fender skirts. When Dad found me looking at this kit he asked if I was willing to give it a try, of course I said yes and we took it home.

Now my father was a firm believer of hands on experience so when we or should I say when I started working on this model with his supervision it was a big challenge for me. Being 6yrs old and trying something new it got a little frantic, but Dad sat there with me with the patience of a saint and walked me thru everything. It took about 4 days to complete the model (unpainted of course) and I was very proud of my accomplishment. The car was a bit rough and what dad called a little glue shot but he was proud as well. One Christmas all I asked for was model kits and that morning I had over 25 kits under the tree. It took me all year to build those kits and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Ever since that visit to the hardware store that Saturday Dad has gotten me a model about every 3 weeks to keep my interest. When I started doing chores and lawns for allowances I would ride my bike to the Motts five and Dime a couple of blocks away and pick up the model of the week. When Star Trek came on TV I really got hooked but no kits were available yet. I was with Mom at a Goodwill store one weekend and came across a limited edition USS Enterprise star ship model complete with lights in the engines and saucer section. The kit was opened but all parts, instructions and decals were there. Mom got it for me for only 3 dollars. I built it the next week complete with the working lights. I have never seen another kit like that one ever again it was like a one time shot. What I found out later was that it was a promotional kit for a theater but was never built or used and given to the goodwill.

After all these years of building models I ask my Father one day why he got me started on them and the answer he gave was remarkable. He said , and I quote, "I was looking ahead and seeing you putting your money into model kits and keeping busy would keep you off the streets, keep from doing drugs, stay out of trouble, keep you from going to jail." So Dad was looking to my future when he got me started in model building, and I do still have that 1937 Chevy Coupe to this very day, falling apart abit, but it is still here and every time I look at it those words my father said ring in my ears. To tell you the truth it worked I never did drugs, when I felt like going out and basically just hanging out I would start a model kit and never been in jail.

My father is no longer with us but he will always be with me every time I build a model. If it wasn't for him I would have never been involved in the hobby.

- Pat (The Colony, Texas)

Well it all started when I was about 6 y/o, I was given a model by my dad and he handed it to me and said here you go. Well the addiction started. I got to the point I had to have more, and more and so on. As the years passed I discovered car models and when I found my first AMT 3n1 kit I thought I had gone to heaven, and not died. Well after I did my first one I had parts left over and I asked a friend I have and still have today, what should I do with the left over parts. He told me he puts them in a box and uses them on other kits.

Well that started the next part of the addiction, HOARDING. When I figured that out the design concept started and progressed to where it is today playing with not only the plastic version, but the real thing that can actually be driven. I have not only built hundreds of kits but I am HOARDING as many as over 800 kits and diecast, and the best part of the collection is some original issued kits that still have the original factory seals still in tact. I currently have some kits that I originally put together back in 1961/2 that were AMT 3n1 kits. I have had a chance to take a couple of the kits to car shows where Gene Winfield and George Barris were making personal appearances and had them autographed. Now as far as I am concerned that makes them even more valuable, and even more of a keeper. Some of the original issue kits still have the tubes of body putty in them with the little square of sand paper.

When I went into the navy the addiction didn’t go away, I took it with me. My first duty station was in Japan, and I found their department stores in 1970 were absolutely fantastic, especially the toy department. That is where I discovered the manufacturers they have over there. I purchased some kits and took them back to the ship and held on to them for something to do on duty days and when we were underway. I was not the only one that was into model kits aboard ship, there were others as well. I had a spot on the ship I could listen to music and work on a kit and when I was done for the day I had a place to store my stuff.

Back to today...

After I retired and even before that I still bought kits that caught my eye and I try and stay up on finding the original issue kits and try as best as I can to get them for a good price. When I find one I do an inventory on it and compare everything to the instruction sheet and I also have quite a collection of left over parts that I have bought and found over the past 20+ years and I have them in bags and boxes and I go through them to find what I need. So far I have been very successful.

One thing I do is visit the womens cosmetic department in the big box stores and pick nail polish colors I like to use as custom paints. Nail polish is a lacquer base paint, and a bottle of nail polish is only about a quarter of an ounce, which is not much so you have to buy at least 4 or more to get enough to paint a model. What I do is remove the restrictor from the bottle and put it all in a larger glass container and then add lacquer thinner to get the right consistency for my air brush. When the lacquer thinner is added the nail polish loses its gloss, somewhat and a clear coat has to be put over the top to have the desired shine. I have gotten some strange looks from women when I am choosing a color for a project. The best part is the color selection is so far superior to what is available at the hobby stores. Another place to find great colors is at the auto parts stores in their paint area where the touch up colors are for chip repair. On the nail polish there is some metal flake colors, with a flake chip is just the right scale for the car being painted and the finished product is awesome.

Well as far as I am concerned this is an addiction that is harmless and not illegal and it is great for kids and it brings out the creativeness in anyone.

- Bernie (Spokane, WA)

I love building and collecting kits, especially Pontiacs. I wanted to share a few kits that I built back in 1989. The first is the MPC 1988 Fiero GT. This kit was one of the last kits released under the MPC name, with MPC having been bought by ERTL/AMT a few years earlier. MPC made very accurate kits of the Fiero since its introduction by Pontiac in 1984 through its final version in 1988. The kit was updated yearly, the last two ('87 and '88) being the GT version. It was an extremely accurate kit, as I can attest to since I spent a lot of time around Pontiac dealers back then. I built my Fiero completely stock, choosing to go with the monochromatic look using Model Master black enamel applied via airbrush. (When I build my '87 kit I plan to paint it red with silver ground effects.) I painted the insides of the "lacy spoke" aluminum wheel (Pontiac's terminology) gold. MPC included some neat "period" goodies with the kit, such as a cell phone (a rather large one, correct for the period!) and a radar detector (What!!?? Encourage speeding??) which I attached to the passenger-side sun visor. The second car is another Pontiac, this one the 1965 Bonneville. It is from one of the 1980's releases of this kit. It is painted with a Model Master enamel maroon color no longer available, applied by straight spray can.

- ClubDeMer

I was born in 1951. I have a picture of me sitting on the floor at around three years old, surrounded by (AMT?) promos from 1950-53. There's a '51 and '53 Studebaker, a '51 Ford, a 1950 Plymouth, and several others my grandfather got for me. By the time I was four, I would walk down the street with my parents and name the make and year of every car parked there.

In 1959 I happened to meet an older gentleman who had a house full of customized promos and kits. I remember a Mercury, a Chevy,a couple Fords, a few '32's and '40's, a '36 Ford and some I couldn't identify. All of them were just bitchin'. That was when I discovered the local grocery store had a stack of model kits. A neighbor had an older brother who had built both '40 Fords, coupe and sedan, and a '32 roadster. I couldn't stop staring at those crazy-cool cars. I was instantly addicted and spent my allowance on a '60 Starliner screw-bottom 3-in-1 kit. I built, tore down, and rebuilt that kit so many times the chrome was worn off the bumpers. Then I got both '40 Fords and a few roadsters as well, over time I had them all I think.

The AMT '36 Ford is still a favorite... that first issue was fantastic. At first I was upset when the old Ford kits and the annual '61's came with engines! Interiors! And suspensions! I had to have my dad help me with that first '40, but after that I was able to get them done, albeit without paint; I was too young and accident-prone for that.I would sit in school, from first grade to 12th, dreaming of how I was going to do my latest kit.

After joining the Army in 1968, I even found a hobby shop in DaNang, VietNam, and built a '55 chevy, Rommel's rod, a '68 camaro, the AMT Lincoln wagon kit, the '64 Imperial pickup, many others. I wish I could have brought them home. I did save an AMT '57 Chevy and still have it. When I got home I started my first real job, in a bicycle/hobby shop, and worked there for over 15 years... which led to me having over 3,000 kits stashed in the garage. My wife at the time was always after me to sell them but I refused. We divorced in 2001, and one of her comments was, "when are you going to quit spending all your money on toys?" I replied, "When I'm DEAD!".

In 2006 I was asked if I would like to buy the house I was renting, and I said "YES!" Moving all those models, over 700 built-up kits, is a royal pain. And 40 big boxes of kits is a backbreaker. However, I needed 10 grand for a down-payment. So I sold 1600 kits for 14,ooo dollars, paid all my debts and bought my house. Selling those old kits was painful; I still regret it. But along comes Round 2 and I can re-purchase a few of those kits. I never bought a kit I didn't want to build, so it hurt to sell them. And the reissues are really better quality than the originals, mainly the tires, decals, instructions, great chrome, and the meticulous packaging, especially bubble-wrapped windows. I am glad to spend ten times the original price of the oldies. They are well worth it, especially considering inflation. And I will definitely build and buy until I die. Thank God for the internet, as there are virtually no hobby shops within 150 miles of where I live. The internet and Ebay have saved my soul, as well as Round 2! Keep it up!

- Steve

My model memory(which I have many),begins on Halloween 1978. I was 14 at the time. The Friday night before Halloween, the family did our "Family Night" out where we went out for dinner and out shopping to the mall and Kmart. I had waited all week for the Kmart mecca because I was promised a new model kit,which turned out to be the AMT KISS Van model kit. I still can remember how happy it made me. I can still remember what a great day Halloween was. I took my little sister tricker treating and then I came home, watched " Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" and worked on my AMT Kiss Van model. That Kmart and my Dad are now no longer here but the model memories are still very much live in me.

- Mark

As a teenager, I was very excited when AMT issued a model of the 1963 Studebaker Avanti.  I bought the  kit  and put it together in record time.  It has  remained on  my  dresser in  a  place  of  honor  for  over  40  years.  That's  one marriage, three  sons  and  four  grandchildren later! And since then I have owned three real Avantis! I also collect promotional models. That's me with a 1957 AMT Thunderbird Promo on the hood of my real Thunderbird.

- Alan (Greenville, NC)

Hi,I have so many memories with the A.M.T. Star Trek models and I'll share one of my very first. When I was 5 we were out shopping at my local K Mart and I already loved Star Trek and that was in 1970. I walked in the toy aisle and for the Very First time I saw the A.M.T. Enterprise kit and I still remember seeing the box and I had to have it. My parents said yes but I had to wait until Christmas to get it. Of course that was a long couple of weeks to wait. I remember on Christmas Eve I went downstairs by the tree and asked my Father for the Enterprise. My Father had assembled the Enterprise for me and it became one of my most favorite items. I still remeber seeing it built and I loved it. That memory stays with me.Thanks to Round 2 I can get some of those Good Model Memories back.

- Guy

My first kit was an AMT '63 Impala SS Convertible kit, and I didn't know how to build a kit. About a year later I got my hands on an AMT '49 Ford Club Coupe kit, and this was the one with the 3 blade spinner caps in it. From there it was the '64 Chevy Impala SS kit with operating Head & Tail Lights. That was a real "WOW!" Kit. Built a few of those '49 Merc kits, and they were cool, too.

- Larry (Houston, TX)

I guess it was about 1970 I remember my dad taking me all over the city I live in looking for an Entrprise kit. We went to every department store we could think of looking for one. My dad knew I loved Star Trek and I would spend quite a bit of time making card board cut outs of the Enterprise. 

He was very patient with me ( I was seven at the time ) as we continued our search. We found ourselves at a shopping center that had a hobby shop in it. I still remember the name of the store. It was Bosco's Hobby Shop. (it's been gone now for over thirty years)

I remember going into the store and to my hearts delight seeing the display of AMT Star Trek models. Including the one I had been looking for the Enterprise!!

My dad bought the model for me gladly knowing that he would not havve to go to any more stores looking for my prize!!

I couldn't wait until I got home to open the model. I was amazed and to this day I still love the Star Trek kits. I am very glad to see Round 2 bringing the kits back. I can not wait to get one of the vintage Spock kits so i can see how well it turns out now as my model building skills have improved over the last 35 years.

- Jonathan

Hi, I am Travis , from Manitoba, Canada and I am 13 (my mom said i can post this) anyways my model memory is when i opend the seal on my amt reissue mack R685ST my face was priceless and I was jumping up in joy. Also the best was when I started building it. Everything fitted right and it was perfect that was the best model I have ever built and guess who made it AMT!!!!!! (of course you guys are the best and i pick you over Revell) also I bought another one and it also fitted perfect and I bought another one on ebay anyways that was my favorite model I built and I don't get why kids pick Xbox over models. its the most fun and every model is worth every penny. I have some pictures of the end result. My dads R model I made it into.

- Travis (Manitoba, Canada)

I remember when I was a youngster, going to a department store my grandmother and my mom went to that carried model cars. I recall seeing a wall full of purple and white box screw bottom kits. They were only $1.50 each. If I did my chores all week, I got one each time we went. What a thrill. I couldn't wait to get home to build it! Now if I still had them all......hmmmmm...............

- Fred (Syracuse)

The first model car kit I ever built was an AMT 1964 Cutlass Convertible kit. I bought it for $1.50 at Hooper’s Drugstore in Newark, NJ. I was instantly hooked and every Sunday after church I would make Mom stop there to look at the kits. I built mostly drag cars for the next 15 years, preferring AMT and MPC kits. One my early favorites was the AMT Double Dragster. I built the Fiat with a blown Chrysler engine and painted it Kelly Green. It was one of my favorite models. I intend to recreate it with the new limited edition re-release.

I just started building cars again after a long period as a master armor modeler. It began when I found a 1969 442 kit on Ebay and now I am hooked again! I just finished a 1962 Buick kit for my wife, painted pink at her request!

- Edmund (Fairfield, NJ)

I am just getting back into plastic modelling after a 45 year hiatus. I remember doing an AMT Dodge 330 as a drag FX class, if my memory serves me well, putting a parachute with pull cord in the cabin, valve stems on the wheels and actually wiring the Hemi  engine.  The pull cord and the plug wires were done then with waxed sewing thread, the parachute was from a model airplane kit, and the 'chute cable ring was from a piece of jewellery. I had created a fictional garage in Colquitt, Ga., called Dixieland Dodge and used the name on all the drag cars I built with Dodge bodies.  Wow!  How things have changed - detail parts from aftermarket suppliers, decals as real as you could ever imagine, modellers are all middle age, or seem to be, and all the old muscle cars are still on the market, but with outstanding detail.

Excited to be back, hope all the old skills come back as well.

- Gary (Almonte, Ontario)

I been a Mopar car model builder on and off ever since I got into model building as a kid. I missed many annual kits back in the day because I wasn't old enough to go and buy them for myself. When I stumbled across a built up but unpainted 1968 Coronet R/T convertible at a car show and swap meet, I looked at it a number of times throughout the day, and when it hadn't sold when I was getting ready to leave, I knuckled down and bought it. The Mopar model fever hit me BIG TIME. I began to search out old Mopar annuals via Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine ads and slowly added to my collection. About this time(early 1990's), the 1970 Super Bee was reissued and I had a special desire for that car. It was one of my favorites in design and I loved the C stripe package! So I bought both versions so I could build a stock Plum Crazy Super Bee with the white C Stripe. Then I noticed that the 1968 & 1969 Coronet models were R/T's and the 1970 wasn't, so I set about making the conversion pieces to build a companion R/T to my 1970 Plum Crazy Super Bee. It took quite a bit of planning and multiple steps to develop the R/T tail panel, but I used molds off the rear quarter panels to create the side scoops and molded R/T's off an old 1970 Charger annual. My R/T has a hood that came in the old Annual issue. The Grill R/T was foil cast off an AMT 1970 Challenger grille.

- Ken

Hi.  The first kit that I talked my parents into buying for me was a 1958 Ford AMT 3 in 1 kit.  I was 11 years old and I built it as a Custom.  I used "plastic wood" for filler because that's all I had.  I still have that "glue bomb" in my collection.  I don't think I will ever get rid of it or change it in any way.  Thanks for many many years of great modeling fun.  My collection is now over 600 kits and still growing.

- Bob

I recall my first model car as if it was yesterday. It was 1960 and I was nine years old. I had been looking at the display of model kits at White's Grocery in Erwin, TN, every week for a couple of months. I finally saved a couple of dollars and spent an entire evening making up my mind which one to take home. I purchased an AMT 1932 Ford B Roadster. I kept taking it apart and reassembling it in different configurations. It was an instant obsession, and I was incurably addicted. When school was out that summer I bought my second kit, an SMP 1959 Corvette. It was followed by the 1960 Corvette, Thunderbird, Pontiac, and Buick Convertibles. I still love those "3 in 1" AMT annuals and trophy series kits. Most of them were easy to build and looked great. And oh my, were they FUN! Still are. The favorite kit of my youth was the Double Dragster. I probably bought half a dozen of them. I am so pleased with the new Round2 special edition of this kit. It is better than the original.

- Garry

I have been building models since the middle to late '50's and my favorite kits were the Chevy and Ford long bed pickups with all the extras (go-cart, motorcycle and trailer) and all the extra custom stuff. Actually, I liked most all the kits that were out at the time and into the '70's. It sure would be nice to be able to build some of these old kits again.

- "Elky" (Nothern Missouri)

I remember as a young child that I was born a deaf mute and no kids wanted to play with me. Then my mother bought me a plastic kit to build. That was my play time. Me and my mother building models to show me that I can do something. That was 43 years ago. I had surgery to allow me to hear and live a normal life. But I always built models to allow me the times I had with my mother as a child. She passed on 3 years ago but she is the reason I love this hobby. Now I am going deaf again due to an desease called Ménière's. So I am still building when I get the chance to get a kit. I still love it and I have to thank my mother for opening the door to model building. I am so gratefull for that. I encourage all parents to share the joy of building to their children and grandchildren. That is what I have done. Thanks.

- Tony

I remember buying my first Star Trek Kits when I was 12 (that would be the summer of 1974). I managed to get 2 of the 3 ship kits (no glow in the dark UFO ship or K-7 yet) at stores my parents frequented. The Klingon Cruiser was another story though, I saw the model at the Woolworth store about 10 miles from home. Next to a store my mom went to to buy something at. Of course Mom never understood my Sci-fi tastes and wouldn't buy it for me at the $5 sticker price. I had to go home and count the change in the piggy bank and mow lawns the next weekend to get enough money (sales tax included). Then nobody, Mom, Dad or older driving siblings would take me to go get it. I waited a whole week and then schemed up the idea with my best friend from school to walk to go get it on the next Saturday. We earned a little more money during the week so he would be able to get one too (they had 3 when I had been there last and he had no plans to walk that distance for nothing). It took just over three hours to get there and we got lucky they had been marked down to $3 each. He got 1 kit and I ended up with 2, and we still had enough to buy sodas and candy bars for the walk home. We got out of the store and spent 20 minutes sitting on the curb opening them and ogling them, and 3 hours walking home figuring out how we would build and paint them. As I remember it now I realize I was a Star Trek model addict even then.

- Craig

I am an older man I used to build models a lot as a kid but one day I stopped. I had many kits I did that I wish I had now .I experimented with paint schemes and melting things and car paints and on and on .I have in the last 5 or 6 years started doing them again except now I can afford the rare ones. When I was a kid I worked my ass off to get kits. I was a huge drag racing fan then and still am now. One of my favorites I built was the Color Me Gone Challenger with a parachute. Wish I could find one now .I have acquired many of the old re releases lately has cost me a lot but I think its worth it. I usually order online or at auctions or find Hobby stores in small towns I am in sometimes. Building models keeps me relaxed and out of trouble. Good thing I have an understanding wife lol. Just thought I would say a few words hope I didn't bore anyone.

- Anonymous

I think I was about five years old when my father and I watched our first episode of Star Trek. It instantly became my favorite. It still is to this day and I'm forty one now. I think it has to do with my father passing away when I was six. My best memories of him are watching that show together. When I was around seven I got a model of Mr. Spock and the three headed snake. Now it was far from perfect after I put it together. The paint job was terrible and there was glue all over it. But I was proud of it and took it to school for show and tell. As I walked into the school I tripped and it broke. I still do Star Trek models and looked all over for that one and could never afford it. I would like to thank you folks at Round 2 for bringing it back. It brought back great memories putting it together again.

- Sean

When I was a teenager ( I am now 52 years old). I used to have fun building the MPC and AMT model car kits and there were a lot of them but they were eventually boxed up (due to my parents moving at that time to a new house) and sat around for many years before being thrown out as they came apart due to plastic becoming brittle and glue drying out and vice versa. The models I remember having were the dodge ram trucks, dodge van, Dodge Monaco sedans, chevy caprice and there were many others I do not remember. I do have the 2004 Ford Ranger I built a few years ago and is on display on my shelf in the front living room (above the door way) and the 2000 (2001 or 2002) ford mustang. I also have a die cast model of the ford f150 truck with opening doors, hood and steering wheels.

- Jon

Turn back the clock to the mid-nineties, I was about six or seven and it was Christmas eve. My uncle had sent me and my younger brother down a present for the tree as he and the rest of my family did every year.

As usual me and my brother would be eyeing up what was stacked so nicely under the tree and I don't remember what made my parents let us, but they said something like "Well you can open one since it's Christmas eve" My brother and I needed nothing else, we ripped into them and that was that, I had the bug.

I think the first thing that captivated me was the box art, because it still does. I always loved the ships from all the shows and movies, but I had never built a model before. It was late afternoon, and shops were about to close and upon the realization that it was a model kit my parents told me that I needed glue. My Mum took my brother and I out to a store, but it had just closed. This didn't stop my Mum though, she knocked on the glass doors for a while and gladly someone let her in to buy some model glue.

After we got home Dad helped my put my first models together, and all I had to do after that was wait overnight for the glue to dry. The next morning it was Christmas, I still have pictures from that morning and I can still see my models all over the place. It was the AMT three Enterprise set that had the 1701/A/D. I have since realized that it was never a great kit, but I still have a soft spot for it, especially the box art which is lovely.

- Scott

My first model I got in mid '80's, I was about seven when my dad got me a model of the Khight Rider car of K.I.T.T. When I was growing up I watched Knight Rider. Being a young kid, I played with the car after my dad built it for me. The car didn't survive at all. I was able to get a reissue of the car, which has the incorrect fender's, I'm going to build it as my own version of K.A.R.R., K.I.T.T.'s evil twin. Non of my model's from my childhood survived. I can send picture's of some later. Soon I can send you some picture's of a custom Dodge Ram 3500 that I made.

- Leif

It was 1967 and close to Halloween (as I recall) I was 5 years old and simply idolized Captain Kirk and that beautiful Enterprise! While watching the episode "The Doomsday Machine" on TV it scared me so bad that my mom would say "...awww it is not anything but a shiny diamond in there!" The idea that a machine could destroy the Enterprise was very powerful to me. Anyway, the next day my friend across the street was telling me and a bunch of friends on the way to school that his brother had an ENTERPRISE MODEL that was sold by stores! We went after school to his brother bedroom (secretly because his mom and dad didn't want us kids in their house). When I saw that model, I knew that there was good in the world and that I would do whatever it took to get that model! It took the entire summer of doing odd jobs (and gathering up the neighbors soda bottles for the return deposits) to get the necessary funds to buy that treasure! When I got it assembled, which took some doing for a 5/6 year old to do, I was so proud and happy! The Enterprise survived our family moving from Washington to Missouri and I kept it patched up and hanging in my room for many years. Even though the model is long gone, I kept the box in the top of my closet. They were some of my best memories of my childhood and I still build models today because of those remembrances!

- Larry

I grew up in a very small town in Southern Missouri. I would mow lawns for 2.00 each, and save up about 10.00.

Then I would bum a ride with the lady across the road to a larger town where there was a Woolworths. In exchange I would carry in her groceries on return.

At Woolworths I would purchase an AMT Double Dragster, AlaKart/29 ford, 40 Ford coupe, 36 Ford coupe/roadster or 32 ford coupe, or roadster. Some small bottles of Pactra paint, and a large can of red, or blue spray paint. Usually there was enough money left for a burger, and chocolate malt at the lunch counter.

Out of these, by combining parts I would build 5 cars, all painted the same color. Rarely did I build actual cars from the Double Dragster, or the AlaKart. I used these as parts cars. A lot of 40 Fords had Chrysler engines from the DD, and chrome wheels and exhaust from the AlaKart..

My Mom would remind me that (in 1963 dollars) what I spent, on models was half a weeks worth of groceries...

- James

I remember buying most all my kits at Hooper’s drug store in Newark NJ on my way home from school or church. Once in awhile when I had extra money, I even purchased paint . Back in those days I was just happy to build. I have been an AMT fan since the early 60’s and have never changed. To this day and I am in my late 50’s I have never stopped building mostly car models. Thanks for bringing me back to the days of real “youngster” happiness when all I ever worried about was when will I get my next model.

- Steve (Summit, NJ)

I built my first model was a 68 Camaro I remember I built it with a lot of glue later when I had gotten sick and had to stay home my father went bought me the AMT Meyers Mannix dune buggy and the '68 Shelby GT-500 with the record I have fond memories of that record. I started late in having a family but I have showed my son all the great reissues of the model I have as a kid.

- Wm Chun