|
|
Post by Manic Modeler on Jan 5, 2010 20:53:04 GMT -6
Hey guys, Anyone know what the deal is with the Funsters? They look exactly like the Deal's Wheels Camaro, 57 Chevy and Firebird. If they just reissued the actual Deal's kits why are they issuing them again with a different name? modelexpress.ca/i/items/REV_7225.jpg |
|
|
|
Post by oldskooljay on Jan 5, 2010 20:56:58 GMT -6
They were reissues of the Deals Wheels from the 80s I believe.
|
|
|
|
Post by RatRod on Jan 5, 2010 23:06:21 GMT -6
Calling them Funsters, and not Deal's Wheels was a way around paying Dave Deal royalties, and I'm sure they thought it would attract younger kids. Jay is right about not being new, they did them years ago.
|
|
|
|
Post by stilljustharley on Jan 6, 2010 5:21:26 GMT -6
If I remember rightly they also repopped the McLapper and Super Spurt in Funsters branding. New artwork throughout (including instructions and decals), different colour plastic but the same basic kits.
|
|
|
|
Post by robriley on Jan 6, 2010 6:37:55 GMT -6
Yes, the funsters were done in the 80's and they are almost the exact same kits as the deals wheels versions.
The major differences are the plastic that they were molded in, the decals, and the absence of the bunny logo on the good boot tires. The original deals wheels were molded in metallic, very brittle plastic. The bunny logo on the tires was very similar to the wingfoot design used by good year, but the bunny was a dave deal trademark. So, when they re-issued them as funsters, with no mention of dave deal, they removed the bunny logos from the tires. I also beleive playboy was snoopin in on this too because the logo looked sort of like the playboy bunny logo.
They issued the zzzz-28, the tirebird, the 57 chevy, the McLapper, the stink ray and the super spurt as funsters.
I just wish that they'd re-issue all of them, including the super spurt and the mustang funny car (ferd phony car).
Any re-issues after the original deals wheels issues, did not have the bunny logo on the tires.
even the later 90's re-issue of the zzzz-28, and including the current "old school" re-issues.
|
|
|
|
Post by donculley on Jan 6, 2010 6:53:43 GMT -6
The funsters also had different color glass , instead of the green they were smoke colored . It would be nice to get the remaining kits reissued !
|
|
|
|
Post by RatRod on Jan 6, 2010 9:19:02 GMT -6
Ewwwwww, I hated that extremely brittle metal flake plastic.... 
The last rumor was that Revell WAS going to reissue all of the remaining Deal's Wheels, but that was before Dave passed. Of course the other rumor was that the VW based cars probably would not of made it because of licensing issues with Volkswagon (remember the Bugaboo?) That would have basically left out 4 DW's from the line up.
Geeee, what happened to those care free, way less greedy, simple times that most of us grew up in?
Oh sorry (sigh) I was having a moment!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by Bert on Jan 6, 2010 10:10:15 GMT -6
...and most of all, they were FUN! How can you not have fun with a funster! ;D ;D ;D
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2010 20:59:16 GMT -6
Geeee, what happened to those care free, way less greedy, simple times that most of us grew up in?
Oh sorry (sigh) I was having a moment!!!Those times went down the toilet when various hippies and children of hippies became lawyers and figured out new ways to make lots of money from corporations.......  Man do I hate scraping off that damn GM copyright of kit parts!!!!!  Lance |
|
|
|
Post by treswright on Mar 23, 2010 15:13:34 GMT -6
Hey guys, Anyone know what the deal is with the Funsters? They look exactly like the Deal's Wheels Camaro, 57 Chevy and Firebird. If they just reissued the actual Deal's kits why are they issuing them again with a different name? modelexpress.ca/i/items/REV_7225.jpgSorry for digging up an old thread, but I was searching for something else and ran across this. As the others said, the Funsters were an early 80's reissue of the Deal's Wheels. If you look at the picture on the Model Express site, what they're offering is actually the original 1981 kit, not a reissue: www.modelexpress.net/cgi-bin/modelexpress/shop/REV_7226oc.htmlFor some reason the Z-28 Funster has always been widely available, they must have made a zillion of them. Apparently these guys happened into a quantity of them and are trying to sell them through their site. As RatRod said, Dave was not paid royalties for the Funsters and in fact he wasn't even aware of them until I told him about them around 10 years ago. He was quite surprised. He still would have been owed royalties had he known as the model designs are copyrighted by him (and now his family), not just the Deal's Wheels versions of them. As for the bunny on the tires, it was dropped in the 70's on the regular Deal's Wheels issues even before the Funsters came along. I asked Dave about it some years back and he had no idea why it went away. I've always suspected that Playboy wrote Revell a letter and they dropped it rather than risk a lawsuit. The last rumor was that Revell WAS going to reissue all of the remaining Deal's Wheels, but that was before Dave passed. Of course the other rumor was that the VW based cars probably would not of made it because of licensing issues with Volkswagon (remember the Bugaboo?) That would have basically left out 4 DW's from the line up. Yes, Dave told me that VW was giving Revell licensing heartburn over the Bug Bomb reissue. It was only that one model though, Revell had the green light to reissue the Swine Hunt, Glitter Bug and Baja Humbug. According to Dave ALL the models except the Bug Bomb were going to be reissued. It's unfortunate that Revell pulled the plug on the reissues. I've asked Travis Deal (Dave's son) if he knows why, but I haven't heard back yet. |
|
|
|
Post by customcruiserroy on Mar 23, 2010 16:06:27 GMT -6
COnsidering how fast the re-issues went off the shelves, I am surprised that Revell has not finished the run! I want the Swine Hunt in the worst way! Oh, and the chevelle and ferd.
RSS
|
|
|
|
Post by ShowRodFreak Don V. on Mar 23, 2010 17:41:15 GMT -6
I always thought it was a peace sign, even thou it looks like a bunny. Just my OPP  |
|
|
|
Post by colbart/colin on Mar 24, 2010 5:01:33 GMT -6
I always thought it was a peace sign, even thou it looks like a bunny. Just my OPP Could be right either the guy in the orange van is giving the peace sign 'V', or trying to do a shadow Bunny on the front of the Blue Van..LoL... |
|
|
|
Post by ironheadchopper on Mar 24, 2010 5:29:47 GMT -6
They reissued the van its a VW.
|
|
|
|
Post by treswright on Mar 24, 2010 13:11:04 GMT -6
They reissued the van its a VW. It's a VW, but not a Beetle. VW was giving Revell grief over licensing of the Beetle. The Van, Baja Humbug, Swine Hunt and Glitter Bug were all a go, only the Bug Bomb was a problem for them. I always thought it was a peace sign, even thou it looks like a bunny. Just my OPP It might be more obvious that it's a bunny if you look at one of the early boxes:  It has the eye and even the bowtie under it. You may not know me, but I was good friends with Dave for nearly 15 years and it's safe to say I dug more Deal's Wheels info from him than any other person alive today  He confirmed that it was a PB bunny. He constantly tried to sneak innuendos through, some got past the stuffed shirts and some didn't. You don't want to know what "Flt. Lft. Rif Raf & his Spitsfire" really stands for ;D I have much of his original artwork for the Deal's Wheels series including a sketch for a P51 (posted on my site) in which the pilot is shooting the bird. That was a little too overt, it didn't make production  Anyway, the bunny was conspicuously absent on later issues and even got scrubbed from the original box art:  Here's an early Tirebird with the bunnies on the tires:  And here's a rerelease Zzzzz-28 after Revell de-bunnied the tires:  |
|
|
|
Post by treswright on Mar 24, 2010 13:17:25 GMT -6
It's unfortunate that Revell pulled the plug on the reissues. I've asked Travis Deal (Dave's son) if he knows why, but I haven't heard back yet. I heard back from Travis and he didn't even realize they had stopped the reissues. He has no idea why they stopped. |
|
He confirmed that it was a PB bunny. He constantly tried to sneak innuendos through, some got past the stuffed shirts and some didn't. You don't want to know what "Flt. Lft. Rif Raf & his Spitsfire" really stands for ;D I have much of his original artwork for the Deal's Wheels series including a sketch for a P51 (posted on my site) in which the pilot is shooting the bird. That was a little too overt, it didn't make production 
