Agreed! My purchase criteria is very similar to your’s & Doug’s.
My 1/35 AFV kits are usually Tamiya, RFM, Meng or Takom kits with excellent build reviews. The outliers are the new Academy and Airfix 1/35 AFV kits (Academy influnced) with excellent build reviews.
Border & Takom Blitz (Border designed) are often “challenged” with dimensional, detail or fit errors. With better research, Border could be a player instead of a joke. Border started out so promising but proved a consistent disappointment due to errors for the subjects I like.
Discovered, I can build and detail a high quality 1990’s era Tamiya kit faster than I can build a more complex new school kit out of the box. Saving 10 to 15 hours of build time detailing a 90’s era Tamiya kit vs a new school kit keeps me interested in choice older generation kits.
Purchase standards and best fitting kits. My number one criteria for purchase is $$. Won’t spend more than $50 US. I’m very patient and never had the need to buy the latest and greatest to hit the shelves. Buildability is high one the list but not a deal breaker. I’ve built my share of MiniArt T55s. I am also drawn to unusual paint schemes and colorful decals. For sheer ease of build and fit, the newer Tamiya kits can’t be beat in my opinion. Your mileage may vary.
Again, and I’m stuck on the Testors’ M47 for the reason that it builds into a great looking model with little or no fuss. Of course, there are the shake and bake kits out of the box, along with the easy/tight fit build too. On my M47’s, I choose to add aftermarket, which in the end pretty much is a seamless addition/process as well (once I tried it the first time almost 4 decades ago). It’s one of those kits that I can’t build without aftermarket. It ‘smartens’ up the vehicle very nicely. Other builds? It depends on the engineering of the kit that decides what I add or correct.
Agreed, the Italeri M-47 is an outstanding 1970’s kit that’s still an excellent kit. Built one on the 1990’s and was very impressed.
There’s a small handful of 1970’s & 1980’s kits, I find still relevant and high enough quality I’ve kept them in the stash or would buy again. They’ll need aftermarket love but will build up quickly without fuss into nice display models. A few examples of those sorts of kits:
The 70’s show…
Italeri’s M-47
Italeri’s Leopard 1A4
Italeri’s Leopard II
Tamiya’s Sdkfz 232
Tamiya’s Sdkfz 222
Tamiya’s Pz IV D
Tamiya Sd.kfz 7/1 20mm Quad (#35050)
80’s Favorites
Tamiya Late Tiger 1
Tamiya Sd.Kfz.7/2 Armored cab 3.7cm
Tamiya Sdkfz 250/3 (1979 or 1980, I forgot)
I’m sure there’s others but those readily came to mind.