I've posted a side-by-side look at the new Tamiya M4A3 Shermans and compared them to the original M4A3 kit. The intent is to let you guys know what's in the box. Let me know what you think.

Rob, nice review and very informative. It certainly helps novice builders like myself to try and wade through the myriad of confusing 'old kits', 'new kits' and 'rehashed kits.' Thanks! :-)

Unfortunately, very few totally "new" kits hit the market and when they do, they are very pricey until they are about 5+ years old. As far as the reboxes and rehashes go, a few of us get burned out of some hard earned money before the word gets out. New Italeri USMC M4? 85% of the kit was issued in 1989 as the M4A2 "Jumbo". The new M4A3 75mm Sherman is worth marginally more than the 21 year old original M4A3, but not the $36.99 shelf price.

Unfortunately, very few totally "new" kits hit the market

Man oh man. One would think, being that the Sherman is the most popular US model kit, that the manufactures would do something "all new"!! Kinda ticks me off, seeing that the price goes up 50% and the new parts make up maybe 10%. Hmmm, I just wish one of em would come to the plate with "one all new".
Until than, we'll will make do with what we've got.

MP Models hit the ground with their M4 Authen-I-Kit conversions in the 89-91 time frame. They had a novel idea of injection-molded conversions and a couple of full kits (M-50 and SU-100) designed especially for the only two real Shermans on the market, the Italeri M4A1 and Tamiya M4A3. These were real good for Shermaholics and were easier on the pocketbook than the Verlinden resin conversions.

MP Models got blown out of the water when DML/Dragon released their Sherman line, but even the DML kits originally repackaged parts of the Italeri M4A1, mainly the lower hull and running gear. Both Academy and later DML releases have issued some nice Sherman models. Too bad most are just reboxes with a few new sprue tossed in.