[427TJ]

No, new releases of old kits will not hurt the collector market. Old kits will always be old kits. I'm all for the re-release of old kits so we can save our collections and build the new releases. I'd say that new releases of old kits, even with the original box art, makes the original kits even more valuable. People think, "Hell, anyone can have a new one, mine is an original."

Think of a perfect clone of a ZL-1 Camaro. Is it real? Well, it's certainly a real car, it's just not an original, factory-built COPO. Well-built clones bring large dollars but the same factory-built version will always be worth more.

Lately I've begun building some of my old collectible kits. I used to think that if I built an old kit then I was committing a 'crime' against history. Well, along came eBay and you can buy just about any old kit any day of the week all the time. Attached is a photo of an Aurora Fokker Dr-1. It's an original kit molded in the early 1960s. I bought it on eBay for less than $25 just to build. I built one of these in about 1969 when I was 7 and loved it. I wanted to build this one in the original candy apple red plastic that Aurora was famous for in the 1955-65 period. I call this one the "Candy Apple Red Baron." The crosses are hand-painted because the kit decals were way too old to be used.

BUILD THEM.