I had some of these kits mid to late eighties. A kid obsessed with Group B! They were expensive though so a paper round and washing cars for money was the way I went about getting them. Had a few Starter kits, Provence Moulage kits. all Group B cars. Used to get so excited when the postman turned up with that little package, then the smell of the resin when you opened the box - was heaven! My favourite was the Starter Audi Quattro S1.
I remember those ads in Scale Auto Magazine! 😳 I'd forgotten they ever existed, I never had one (I was just getting started building models around 1983 or 4, and most of my attention was on racing motocross and chasing girls 🤪🤣), I've never actually seen one in person. One of my favorite old columns was "Forum 43" if you remember that 😁 Thanks for sharing those, my friend, looking forward to seeing you building them 😁✌
Nice history on Starter kits. I have friend down here in FL who was a distributor of Starter and Provence Moulage kits back in the day and introduced me to the world of 1/43 model cars about 12 years ago. I was taken by these small scale auto kits and decided to build one. I was hooked! So much so that this is what build almost exclusively now. You might have seen some of my work at the 2021 ACME show last November (I was the guy who built the pair of 1/43 scale Indy Novi Roadsters) If you need any pointers or tips on building these kits please reach out to me. Oh and by the way you can still find new 1/43 kits from SMTS in England, and Midlantic models and Tameo just to name a few.
I still have some unbuilt Starter kits along with a few built ups. There are a couple of vendors that bring their kits to our shows. They aren't as cheap as they once were. I bought a collection of Starter kits at the Hershey swap meet back in 2000 and paid under $10 a piece. Now it's hard to find them under $35 a piece.
Thanks for this Luka. I was into Starters from the very beginning in 1983. I had been building IMSA and Lemans cars and Starter had lots of those. When they announced the first two NASCAR T-Birds my focus shifted. The company was releasing about 5 kits per month at the peak of their production. I was paying $24 Canadian for a kit from Mini Grid in Canada. By the mid-90s when I was getting out of it they were around $60 per kit. I sold off most of my IMSA GTP and Group C collection as built ups to pay for the stock cars. I had over 200 built by then. I have a couple of NASCARs that I got autographed on the base. They were cool to me at the time because they took less space to store and they came with all of the decals so no two tone paint was needed. Plus they were doing modern and classic stock cars. Does any of that sound familiar? I still have a bunch of built ups and quite a few kits left to build. I had built that Tide car and had it in the display case at Mini Grid. I used decals but got an extra set so there was no bleed through on the white. Someone offered me $265 for it and I took the money and ran. I still have the replacement kit that I have never built.
A lot of those wheels were nickel plated brass. The biggest draw for me was the wide selection of prototype and formula cars that would never be made as injection molded kits. I still have many unbuilt kits in my stash. Thanks for the review!
I have 3of these kits plus about 3 others in 1/43, they built up nice. The best kits of the era were Tameo and they are now available from Model Expo. Best 43 scale kits I ever saw (had 2 ) were from Superior models in Japan I got them as gifts but they were very expensive, I heard $600. ea but not sure but the detail was amazing, full engines and all.
I remember the adds for these kits, I also remember thinking that there's no way on God's green earth that I'm paying that much for a small scale model ! And I built and still do build primarily musclecars so this was a hard no for me ...... seeing them now I would definitely pick one up and build it. LOL 🍻
I remember these kits- I was highly skeptical about them for their price point back in the day, then I'd find one here and there at a show and bought one for $10. I wasn't a fan of the Porsche casting, how thick the resin was and other issues, eventually sold it few years later and just kinda pass them by when I see them now.
I have 3 of these kits. I’ve built two of them. They really were cool little kits. I had a mishap with one of them and dropped it and found out how brittle 30 plus year old resin is. I put all the pieces back together and it came out pretty good. This is my video of the starter cars I have. ua-cam.com/video/PnYtQG6RIXU/v-deo.html
I had some of these kits mid to late eighties. A kid obsessed with Group B! They were expensive though so a paper round and washing cars for money was the way I went about getting them. Had a few Starter kits, Provence Moulage kits. all Group B cars. Used to get so excited when the postman turned up with that little package, then the smell of the resin when you opened the box - was heaven! My favourite was the Starter Audi Quattro S1.
Awesome look at the history of starter!
Can't remember the last time I've seen one of those. 🏁🏁
Even at all the model car swap meets I go to they aren't there either. 🏁🏁
They are so cool
@@TheLukaCeeChannel 👍
I am from the 80's but I have never seen these kits before...and man...those are some awesome kits...and at the perfect scale :)
I'm starting to like these small scale models!! Great video!!
They can be allot of fun. And a fast build.
Absolutely love my Starter kits! Being a Ferrari and Group C Le Mans fan, these kits were the way to go!
I remember those ads in Scale Auto Magazine! 😳 I'd forgotten they ever existed, I never had one (I was just getting started building models around 1983 or 4, and most of my attention was on racing motocross and chasing girls 🤪🤣), I've never actually seen one in person. One of my favorite old columns was "Forum 43" if you remember that 😁 Thanks for sharing those, my friend, looking forward to seeing you building them 😁✌
Yes, I remember that section.
Great vid bro!! Our local hobby shop back in the 80s had them. Very cool kits. Wish I'd have stocked up!
Me too.
I've been doing models starting in the late 60s, this is the first time I ever seen "starter" model's.
Nice history on Starter kits. I have friend down here in FL who was a distributor of Starter and Provence Moulage kits back in the day and introduced me to the world of 1/43 model cars about 12 years ago. I was taken by these small scale auto kits and decided to build one. I was hooked! So much so that this is what build almost exclusively now. You might have seen some of my work at the 2021 ACME show last November (I was the guy who built the pair of 1/43 scale Indy Novi Roadsters)
If you need any pointers or tips on building these kits please reach out to me.
Oh and by the way you can still find new 1/43 kits from SMTS in England, and Midlantic models and Tameo just to name a few.
Good info. Yeah, I remember your builds.
I still have some unbuilt Starter kits along with a few built ups. There are a couple of vendors that bring their kits to our shows.
They aren't as cheap as they once were. I bought a collection of Starter kits at the Hershey swap meet back in 2000 and paid under $10 a piece. Now it's hard to find them under $35 a piece.
Thanks for this Luka. I was into Starters from the very beginning in 1983. I had been building IMSA and Lemans cars and Starter had lots of those. When they announced the first two NASCAR T-Birds my focus shifted. The company was releasing about 5 kits per month at the peak of their production. I was paying $24 Canadian for a kit from Mini Grid in Canada. By the mid-90s when I was getting out of it they were around $60 per kit. I sold off most of my IMSA GTP and Group C collection as built ups to pay for the stock cars. I had over 200 built by then. I have a couple of NASCARs that I got autographed on the base. They were cool to me at the time because they took less space to store and they came with all of the decals so no two tone paint was needed. Plus they were doing modern and classic stock cars. Does any of that sound familiar? I still have a bunch of built ups and quite a few kits left to build. I had built that Tide car and had it in the display case at Mini Grid. I used decals but got an extra set so there was no bleed through on the white. Someone offered me $265 for it and I took the money and ran. I still have the replacement kit that I have never built.
That sound very familiar. How were you able to get an extra set of decals, at the time?
Love those kits, couldn't afford them when they were available, Now I have quite a few of them.
A lot of those wheels were nickel plated brass. The biggest draw for me was the wide selection of prototype and formula cars that would never be made as injection molded kits. I still have many unbuilt kits in my stash. Thanks for the review!
I have 3of these kits plus about 3 others in 1/43, they built up nice. The best kits of the era were Tameo and they are now available from Model Expo. Best 43 scale kits I ever saw (had 2 ) were from Superior models in Japan I got them as gifts but they were very expensive, I heard $600. ea but not sure but the detail was amazing, full engines and all.
Oh wow!
Aloha Luka, do you recall how much the 1/43 "Starter" kits cost in the adverts in scale model magazine.
Aloha, Stephen
Cool stuff. The C pillar is FAR too wide on that Mustang. Pro-VONCE Moo-LAJE.
Yeah. I think that might be because of them trying to get that vinyl top look. It just seems off.
I remember the adds for these kits, I also remember thinking that there's no way on God's green earth that I'm paying that much for a small scale model ! And I built and still do build primarily musclecars so this was a hard no for me ...... seeing them now I would definitely pick one up and build it. LOL 🍻
I remember these kits- I was highly skeptical about them for their price point back in the day, then I'd find one here and there at a show and bought one for $10. I wasn't a fan of the Porsche casting, how thick the resin was and other issues, eventually sold it few years later and just kinda pass them by when I see them now.
I have scale auto on disk now so I will have to track down these articles now. Or any thing they did with nascar
Decals normally no good anymore, the wheels not to scale. The ride height not correct on many of them.The subjects were great.
Yet another comment to help your channel
Jim. You are The BEST😁👍
Salut my friend super car super video subscribe subscribe ...
I have 3 of these kits. I’ve built two of them. They really were cool little kits. I had a mishap with one of them and dropped it and found out how brittle 30 plus year old resin is. I put all the pieces back together and it came out pretty good. This is my video of the starter cars I have. ua-cam.com/video/PnYtQG6RIXU/v-deo.html