Do you care about the box art?

For some reason, I've been thinking about this subject lately. Most box art leaves me cold. Been pondering why that is. Haven't figured it out. :)

Apparently as a youngster that must not have been the case, as I bought a LOT of kits based more on the look of the box than necessarily the contents. That and being stuck buying online (like most folks in the US I presume), the box art shots on sites like Sprue Bros and Squadron just don't come across to me in a positive way. Might be different if I could pick up the box and look at it!

I shall definitely be paying closer attention to the box art of various mfg's, now that you've called my attention to it!

I like the box art.  I tend to save the boxes just so I can keep the box.  (Fortunately, I don't have many, so space hasn't become an issue.)  Also, I use the box to help me match paints, when I trust that the box is accurate enough for my tastes.

Yeah, I do, especially Wingnut Wings artwork - best stuff out there.

But look out- a lot of box art has been done by artists who have no knowledge of the subject, and can be misleading.  If I need color and style references, I usually seek out other sources.

No.  I do sometimes like it when they include little pictures of an actual model on the smaller panels, but in general I am not influenced much by paintings, or photos of real subject.

The box art doesn't matter, only what is in the box.  Sometimes terrible kits have nice box art, and good kits have terrible box art.

I think the biggest influence to me are online pictures of builds or in progress threads.  I can see exactly what's in the box in these cases and the builder usually gives a good description of the quality of the model.

No not at all,box art means zero to me,I prefer Hasegawa and Tamiya myself,but it has nothing to do with boxart,to buy a model based on the picture on the box would be foolish for me.Give me a good fitting kit in a paper bag,not a dog in a pretty box.

Yeah! What Tojo said.

I used to rely on box art alot for selecting a kit . Like some folks here have commented though, the box art has little to do with the overall quality and fit of the kit. True box art is cool to look at but I no longer use it for selection of a kit or for reference. I think Tojo covered it well.

I love box art but have never let it sway me in selecting a model. That would be just shallow / vane. Neighbor recently presented me with yet another old Revell to build for him, a Spitfire. It's one of Revell's "Lone Eagle" series and the box art depicts a collision with a 109. The Spitfire's prop is bent, windscreen smashed, antenna mast sheared and the rudder has just slashed though the wing of the 109. The 109 pilot is looking back at the Spit as it's exhaust is spewing flames. Awesome art work, but if the kit is like their other Lone Eagles, crappy model. And kinda strange that the box art would have the model it represents going down in flames. Usually they show the subject as being victorious, hmmmm.......  Maybe it's a clue to how the build will go?

Not the actual box art but the amount of information about the kit is critical.  I love Tamiya and Eduard because you know what you are going to get in the box based on the information on the box.  Hasegawa, not so much, you don't always get to know if they have alternate decals or schemes unless you can read Japanese, and even then I am not so sure...  This is also why I used to like the old Airfix and MPC Profile kits where you got see all the different versions on the box....  But that is just me...

Not really, because I always throw the boxes away, and most times the artwork is done before the kit is even released, meaning the artist might be drawing details that are not actually on the model. I'd rather see a decent quality reference photo on the box, or even those detailed drawings that Dragon usually does on theirs showing the details of the kit's engineering and construction.

I LOVE the old box art of Revell from when I was a young boy. When you saw those things in the store, they sure got your attention- especially their 1/32 aircraft line and ships. Some of those paintings are still pretty hard to beat in their capture of the subject. In the late 70s when everybody pretty much switched over to boring photos of the built model, there was no comparison. Nowadays most box art does nothing for me, but I can still appreciate the artwork that does tickle my fancy. Mind you I have not chosen a kit due to how the box art looks since I was in elementary school, I buy kits strictly for subject matter for the past several decades. But I do still appreciate  a great military painting.

I concur with comments on the great artwork on Tamiya and  Hasegawa kits. However, reviews of the contents are much more important then the box itself. In the end, quality of the kits contents trump even superior boxart.

Box art is pretty to look at, but has absolutely nothing to do with my selecting a kit.

yardbird78

Box art is pretty to look at, but has absolutely nothing to do with my selecting a kit.

While I answered above, I should qualify that this statement is true too.

Not a factor for me in buying a kit. Anymore I pretty much see samples of the completed kit before I even see the box. Example: Mobius releases.

To me box art today doesn't even come close to that of the 50's-60's.

However, from what I've read there were lots of justifiable parent complaints about the model looking nothing like the box art. I noticed this as a kid but didn't think anything about it. Many things you could buy back then didn't look much like the picture on the box

So one reason may be that today kit makers have to be concerned about how closely the completed model looks compared to the box art.