That's sad news. I grew up on Heller kits. Though not always the highest quality, they could be counted on to model interesting, off-beat subjects at a price even a kid could afford. Especially love those funky pre- and early WWII french aircraft and early post WWII jet kits. They were a breath of fresh air to a kid who was sick of P-51s and Me-109s.
I recently picked up a recent issue Heller Somua kit on clearance, and inside was a small folded leaflet displaying Hellers current kit offerings. I was greatly disappointed to see only common subjects (except perhaps for their Concorde, and their E-3 AWACS). Looks like they sold off all their old molds to Smer and others. Maybe thats where they went wrong. They tried to compete with Revell/Hasegawa/all others in the common, high volume stuff and left behind the subject base that make them popular originally. Lets face it, if I want a P-51, I'll head straight to the Tamiya/Hasegawa section. If I want an Amiot 143 or Dewoitine 510, though, (and I do!) I would gladly pay my money to Heller and happily accept the lack of interior detail and so-so fit, because Tamiyagawa will never touch such an esoteric subject. At least their old molds will live on with Smer, hopefully.