By John Lester
images © 2008 Larry G Johnson

The annual 2008 iHobby Expo was held at the Rosemont Convention Center outside of Chicago from 16-19 October. All the major hobby manufacturers and distributors usually have a presence at this event, and this year was no different. Quite a bit of interest to the sci-fi/fantasy scale modeler was on display - and here's a rundown, by company.

Revell (USA)

All Revell's (formerly Revell-Monogram) space, science fiction and fantasy/pop-culture kits planned for 2008-2009 release are reissues. But that's not a bad thing - many of these have not been readily available for some time.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing (Apollo 11, 21 July 1969) Revell will be reissuing the 1/32 Apollo Spacecraft (CSM), 1/48 Lunar Landing vignette (LEM, astronauts and scenic base) and 1/144 Saturn V rocket. All were previously issued by Monogram.

The Babylon 5 Station (box scale) and 1/72 Starfury are also being reissued for the first time since the late '90s. The Starfury is planned to include markings for Sheridan's “Flying Tiger”, Ivanova's ship, a Black Omega, Presidential Escort, Sinclair's “Battle of the Line” mount and Garibaldi's original orange-striped fighter.

The company continues to import the pre-painted, snap-together Star Wars kits initially produced by Revell in Germany. Both the original lineup of box-scale kits and the newer “Pocket Easy-kits” (the latter called 'Mini Snap-Tite' for the US market) will be represented. Of the kits previously announced, the Y-Wing, Snow Speeder and AT-AT are still coming. In the 'Mini Snap-Tite' range, the Republic Gunship and Sith Infiltrator (both roughly 1/72 scale) are planned as the first to be available domesticly.

Also planned are reissues of four classic 1/8 scale Universal movie monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and Wolfman. Plus, Rommel's Rod is now slated for production.

Round 2

Round 2 is reissuing kits that Racing Champions acquired when they bought ERTL (so AMT, MPC, ERTL and Polar Lights ) under the old brand names. Some of these have new components, and there are newly molded projects in the pipeline as well.

For the sci-fi modeler, the big news is that the Polar Lights 1/72 C-57D and 1/350 Refit Enterprise will again be available. The gigantic C-57D will now come with new details, including 8 crew figures, translucent ID Monster, 2 laser cannons and Robbie's transport (which will have clear parts). The larger Robbie the Robot kit, by the way, will be reissued in the spring. The Refit will now have complete Aztec patterning on new decals; no word yet as to whether these will have the green Engineering markings (TMP), blue markings (all other films) or both.

The 1/1000 Akira-class announced at this past Wonderfest is still planned for November 2009 release. This is an all-new kit.

Coming much sooner are several AMT reissues. The 1/537 Enterprise-A is still slated for late 2008 reissue in both a regular boxing and commemorative collector's tin. The 1/1400 Enterprise-E is due early in 2009. The rumoured return of the old Leif Ericsson/Interplanetary UFO Mystery Ship was confirmed - this will be available in a replica of the 'classic' packaging later in the summer. There is no word on whether it will include the original chromed bits.

Also in the pipeline is the old Mr Spock and the snakes kit, which hasn't seen the light of day in 30 years. This is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2009 release, but as I understand it the molds need some work (so don't bet the farm on that date range).

Other reissues announced included the Witch, two dinosaur kits (Pteranodon and T-Rex) and the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine.

Moebius

The 1/32 Flying Sub from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea previously announced is now planned for early 2009 release. Other kits previously announced that were on display and should be arriving soon are the large super-deformed Frankie (Frankenstein) and the Monster Scenes vignettes. Conan is still in the pipeline, as are the Invisible Man and Boris Karloff as the Mummy.

Pegasus Hobbies

Pegasus Hobbies are well known for their auto detailing parts and armor and aircraft plastic model kits. Now they're branching into sci-fi. Announced at the show were all-new kits of the 1950's War of the Worlds Martian War Machine (plated in metallic copper finish and including clear parts), a 1/144 diorama with war machines and tanks, the NSEA Protector from Galaxy Quest, a 'retro-concept' spacecraft called 'Apollo 27', a flying saucer 'Area 51 UFO AE-341.15B' and a version of Captain Nemo's Nautilus based on Jules Verne's book descriptions.

Lindberg /Hawk

Lindberg is busily reissuing kits that have appeared previously under the Hawk, Glencoe, Testors and Lindberg label, as well as a few new tools.

Coming in 2009 are re-releases of the old (and I mean old) Mars Probe Lander, Space Base and Satellite Explorer. These look very similar to the Strombecker kits last seen under the Glencoe brand name. I am not yet able to confirm whether they are indeed those kits or something else (and as soon as I post this I'm sure someone will eMail me with that info).

Not sci-fi, but still way cool: their two 1/72 Japanese subs are still planned for release late this year. In a something of a surprise, they also announced a very large Graf Zeppelin Aircraft Carrier in 1/187 scale planned for late in 2009.

Airfix

Airfix displayed boxart for their previously-announced Dr Who and Shaun the Sheep kits. I did not get a definitive answwer on when the 'Daleks in Manhatten' kit or either of the Shaun kits will be available in the US, though apparently they are available and doing brisk business in the UK. Also coming are reissues of their 1/72 TSR.2 and a brand-new 1/48 TSR.2 --- and wouldn't those look fantastic with Meteor Sweeper markings and a big honking missile tucked underneath? I'm also looking forward to their continuing 1/48 Canberra series; I'll have to get one to make a 'Ministry of Space' mother ship.

Conclusion

Finally, a word about the reissues. There's been a lot of speculation about certain kits (especially Rommel's Rod and the Leif Ericsson) being “reverse-engineered” instead of pressed from original molds. Nothing I've seen, and no one I've talked to who would be in a position to know, indicates that any reverse-engineering - such as what Polar Lights had to do with their Seaview - has been taking place. Molds that were presumed lost have been found - it's a simple explanation that is much more believable in these economic times than any extensive back-engineering effort.

More images, as well as news on ship, air, armor and auto releases, is available at CyberModeler (among other sites).