Lindberg La Flore Question

Frankly, if the unbroken seal of the la Flore kit is valuable, and you intend to sell it, do you really care if your later built model has that name plate? That's something you could recreate and doesn't add to the value of the model.

Be aware though that opened versus sealed models really don't mean much, unless the original unbroken wrap has old price tags on it. Many hobby shops have the ability to wrap and seal models.

I don't intend to resell the kit.  It is simply that I do not come across a kit this old that has never been opened.  The wrapper on this is original, I can tell by the rips, wear, and general yellowing. The wrapper is not pristine, and even if it was, I’d still open it.

A few months ago they had a news article on an auto auction that was going on at a closed dealership. For literally decades the dealer had been parking the few cars that they did not sell in a field behind the building. They had a couple mid 50s cars with the original protective shipping covers still on the seats, and with less than 10 miles on the odometer!  If I had bought one of these cars, I’d still drive it, but it would take me a second to get up the nerve to pull off the cover.

I think you'll be OK. I've bought oldish kits and haven't had any issues with the plastics. only if the kit was stored in a harsh environment would i then be worried. open it and try snapping from of the sprue's to see how brittle the plastic.

I have an original Linderg 'La Flore' kit that was already open when i bought it and the plastic is fine as far as I can tell.

As a matter of fact, if I swapped out parts on some of my newer Jolly Roger kits, most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  The molding is crisper of course and some of the spar miss-alignment isn't there, so it is a nicer kit because the molds were still new when it was made.

I can't comment on the name badge on the stern due to the unfortunate fact that it was missing when I got the kit.  

You do, however, get the 'La Flore' name badge for the stand which is a dead give away of an original kit, no 'Jolly Roger' or 'Flying Dutchman'  name badges to be found.

Adrian

And- it's a really fine kit. One of the top twenty five plastic sailing ship kits, IMO

Thanks for the replies! Starting the kit is a little while down the road (I have a couple other on going projects, and some simpliar wood and plastic kits in line before it), but I look foreward to that time!