List of products by brand AMT

Round 2 LLC is an innovative American collectibles company founded in 2005 by Tom Lowe and based in South Bend, Indiana. We specialize in plastic model kits, die-cast replicas, electric slot cars, and model train accessories.

Our family of brands includes AMT, MPC, Hawk/Lindberg, Polar Lights, Auto World, American Muscle, Johnny Lightning, Racing Champions, and Classic Metal Works.

Round 2 and its creative team are dedicated to producing high-quality, detailed, collectible products that appeal to the young and the young at heart.

The most iconic brand of plastic model kits under our umbrella is the AMT brand. AMT boasts the longest history among American brands of plastic model kits. Here's the great story of this brand.

AMT, whose full name is Aluminum Model Toys, was established in 1948 by attorney West Gallogly in Michigan. During the post-war era, acquiring new cars was difficult, and those available in stock quickly sold out.

It was in this context that the concept of "promotional models" emerged, offering miniature three-dimensional representations of real cars that potential buyers could admire and touch in empty showrooms.

Aluminum, abundant after the war, was used to produce a miniature replica of the 1948 Ford Tudor Sedan as a promotional model, thanks to Gallogly's connections with Ford.

Cast at 1/25 scale and painted in available Ford colors, this replica was distributed to Ford dealerships, thus becoming a valuable sales tool. Ironically, this first aluminum product from AMT was also the last.

During its early years, AMT underwent a transitional phase thanks to George Toteff, an employee of the company, who designed the innovative manufacturing method called "sliding pillar."

This technique allowed for the production of more complex shapes, such as miniature car bodies, in plastic and in a single piece. The transition from aluminum to plastic enabled faster production, eliminated the costly painting process, and reduced production costs.

This transition made plastic promotional models more affordable, transforming them from expensive sales accessories into relatively inexpensive promotional items.

In the 1950s, AMT continued to produce promotional models and friction-powered toy cars.

In 1953, the company released three "triple kits," each containing 3 unassembled promotional models. In 1956, Erik Erikson established SMP (Scale Model Products) as a subsidiary of his own company, Detroit Plastic Products, with significant financial backing from AMT. SMP was established to produce Chevrolet promotional models and some Chrysler models, allowing AMT to focus on Ford and GM models (excluding Chevrolet). AMT and SMP thus became the leading manufacturers of promotional models, whether in metal or plastic.

In 1957, AMT sought to expand its market by introducing customization options in its models, responding to the growing interest of older children in customizing their promotional models and AMT friction-powered toy cars.

After completing their 1958 promotional model series, AMT added several customization options to their arsenal, began producing models in styrene, and launched their famous 3-in-1 customization kit series. This initiative was met with great success, and by 1961, AMT needed its own production facility. A building was constructed on Maple Road in Troy, Michigan to house all operations, from design to model manufacturing.

The 1960s were a remarkable period for AMT. From 1959 to 1964, the company benefited from the marketing expertise of Budd "The Kat" Anderson. He traveled the country, attending car shows and model contests, generating excitement around AMT products. Many young modelers were enthusiastic, and kits sold by the hundreds of thousands!

In 1961, at a model contest in Birmingham, Michigan, Anderson was dubbed "the cat of AMT," and the name stuck. With support from the company's artists, AMT developed a cat character for its brand, used in promotion and Budd's publications in automotive model magazines of the 1960s.

In collaboration with famous automotive customization personalities such as George Barris, Gene Winfield, the Alexander brothers, and Dean Jeffries, AMT produced numerous 3-in-1 "Annual" kits and "Trophy Series" kits, allowing for standard, custom, or race versions of cars to be built. Replica rods and customs famous at 1/25 scale, such as the Ala Kart, the Fireball 500, and the Deora, were produced, generating increasing interest in AMT products.

AMT also diversified by establishing its Speed & Custom Division in 1965, based in Phoenix, Arizona.

This division aimed to produce 1:1 custom vehicles for the film and television industry, in collaboration with Marbon Chemicals Company. A notable example is the transformation of Marbon's plastic research vehicle into a "real" full-size kit called Piranha, used in the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and other promotional projects.
In addition to automobile-related model production, AMT also obtained a license to produce model kits based on the Star Trek television series in 1966, thus establishing one of the most enduring licenses in the history of television and film-related model kits.

In the 1970s, AMT continued to produce a variety of plastic model kits, covering not only cars but also heavy-duty trucks, airplanes, fictional spacecraft, monsters, and even replicas of The Flintstones, as well as inventions by Leonardo da Vinci.

AMT's production remained in Troy until 1979, when it was acquired by Lesney's Matchbox Toys division and then moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where it remained until 1996.

In 1982, the AMT line and its tooling were sold to The Ertl Company of Dyersville, Iowa, before being acquired by Racing Champions in 1999. In 2012, the tooling and brands were fully purchased by Round 2, establishing South Bend, Indiana as AMT's new home.

Since then, AMT, along with the resurrected MPC brand, has continued to produce a range of new model kits, including reproductions of modern science fiction or comic book cars and iconic licensed kits such as the 1966 Batmobile and the Star Trek Enterprise.

With many planned projects, Round 2 is committed to maintaining AMT's historic legacy in the modeling world.