I also have a few nostalgia kits lying in the stash to be cherished forever in an unopened state. But nowadays I’d rather build them and enjoy them one more time, or give them away if a more modern equivalent shows up. I think the incredible selection of modern kits has spoiled us, as well as taken the thunder out of kit collecting.
And the funny thing is, the past isn’t what it used to be! I’m building a Tamiya 8-ton halftrack and having one heck of a time dealing with issues related to the kit’s vintage. When I built my first one in 1977, I thought it breezed together! The old Revell USS Pittsburgh, which was the first kit I built, is being reissued by Atlantis Models, but even when I was 5 years old, I remember the moldings were not all that great.
As a kid in the early 1970s, I admired those Revell dragster kits, but I knew I’d never be able to get them to look like the ones the car guys built. The big 1/16 ones were so impressive!
I look foward to your 3 second heat down memory lane!