AMT/Model King kits?

These are what you say, re-issues. The quality varies as it does with many re-issues, newer kits tend to be better than older kits. A re-issue of a '60s kit can be somewhat crude (metal axles, minimal detail etc) but that is not always the case. I haven't built any of the kits you mentioned but I have the 1978 Ford pickup and 1972 Chevy Blazer and they are nice kits.

The one thing I think is fair to say about the Model King kits is they were all kits people had been hoping would be re-issued.

I started working in my LHS and wondered about these Model King kits. My boss says that they are simply repops of the old AMT kits. Model King pays AMT to pop out X amount of kits, then they put it in a box, and sell it for twice as much as a usual kit costs. This is great for someone with a thick wallet, but for the modeler on a budget who remembers those kits from back in the day it sucks because they're paying Tamiya price for the questionable AMT quality...

Arg sorry for hi-jacking the thread. To answer your question, the Model King kits are remakes of AMT kits, so the fit and cleanup is on a kit-to-kit basis, depending on how well the old AMT mold has held up. 

That's kind of what I expected. I'll bet the collectors go nuts whenever another run of these comes out. It's just nice to see some of the more unusual stuff available. Mega Hobby has quite a few listed on their site.

As far as quality depending on how well the molds held up - Model King has the molds reconditioned and in some cases portions of them recreated. In general, these are kits that wouldn't be available ever again if Model King didn't repair the molds. So Model King does its part to ensure quality. Despite all that, the quality still does vary a lot because AMT quality has been all over the map through the years. But I've always found that despite some crude execution (usually because the kit originated as an auto industry promo), AMT kits can be turned into very fine models by investing just a little extra work.

I know Model King reconditions the molds, my comment was more directed towards how models were built. Some are great kits some are kind of crude by modern standards. I agree they can be built into nice models.

I see a lot of people grumbling about the prices, yes they cost more than the typical Revell or AMT kit but they are not up to Tamiya prices, most are $5-10 more than similar kits. That money isn't going into the Model Kings pocket, that is the cost of small runs, if you only crank out 2000 kits it costs more per unit than a run of 20,000 kits. If you compare the price of the re-issues compared to the prices they were getting on ebay, I'm happy to pay them. I got the 1979 Ford F350 for $25.00 from an online retailer, on ebay the regularly sold for $50+, I got a Mack DM-800 for $49.00, on ebay they were easily $100, I got a Payhauler for $28.00 I saw those upwards of $300 on ebay.

I have purchased several from Model Roundup on line and all have been nice reissues.  I agree the are reissues but they are a a price I can afford