lajntx
For all those interested in this sort of thing, and it fits your budget, I found this little gem on ebay the other day while shopping for B-36 parts.
It`s a 1994 reboxing of Mongram`s 1/48 of a U.S. Navy TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber unopened and boxed in a replica pre-1970 vintage boxing.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270907230166&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#vi-desc
Here is the same model in 1/48 in a different boxing that is also sealed that is considerably cheaper
Stuff like that really pizzes me off... I know that you can ask whatever you want for stuff on Ebay, but this is outright stupid... Buying a replica of an original Monogram Four-Star is about as good an "investment" as buying a replica of any artwork you care to name.. This seller sorta makes it known that it's a re-release, but he's deliberately vague about it..
I almost got suckered in by that box-art too... Perhaps that's why it bothers me when I see it..
Revell/Monogram started the “Selected Subjects Program” (SSP) original box art series in '93-94 or so...
Thought I'd stumbled across a real "treasure" (it was priced at about 6.00 then) in a hobby shop back in '95 or so, with a Monogram M29 Weasle kit... Only upon looking at the box end-panels carefully did I find the copyright date of BOTH the original and the current date... Initially, I thought, "Damn! He don't know what he's GOT here!", lol..
Then as I wandered around, I saw more of them, like the TBF, T-28, M48 Patton, and the M34 Duece, plus car and ship kits, and thought, "Aha... Well played, Monogram.. Well played.. Grab those nostalgia bucks, lol.." They even included reprints of the original, English-only, instruction sheets...
Bought the Weasle and the Duece anyway, but was disapointed that it wasn't the proverbial, overlooked kit in the hobbyshop that the owner forgot about from it's first release in 1960 or the like.. Did get a nice feeling of nostalgia though.. Guess that's worth a little...
But not 30 bucks-worth... Buy the 9.00-dollar one and sink the extra 21 bucks into some Plastruct and Evergreen... 21.00-worth of Evergreen and Plastruct will give you a helluva start on a well-stocked Scratch-builder's bench...