I think this is a good call by Italeri. This can be a good opportunity for modelers and WOT aficionados to cross paths.

This is a good idea by Italeri. But also for WarGaming. Think about it... Modelers have the accuracy of the vehicles while WOT has the huge array of vehicles. If this can happen more often, a collaboration between WarGaming and model companies, we can have a huge selection of new vehicles never before seen in plastic. If Dragon (their A-team, not their stupid black plague crew), AFV Club, Bronco, and Tamiya can pick up on this (not just with old molds but with new tools) then we could possibly see hundreds of new kits out and possibly the greatest collaboration in the history of the hobby. It could be a so-called "golden age" for the hobby. Think of the possibilities.

I can fully agree that this is a smart move, marketing and otherwise. I can also buy into how this can be a bridge between the WOT and modeling realms. However, I am not sure I fully agree with the argument that manufacturers must re-release old kits in new boxes to generate revenue for development of new kits (which actually seem to be rare in the case of these "rebox" guys - at least armour). I mean, Trumpeter has been around for a while now, we don't see them reboxing old stuff to enable them to release the new. Neither does AFV Club. They simply continue to develop new, mostly excellent kits on a fairly regular basis. Meng and Bronco haven't been around long enough to have any really old skeletons in their closets, but nevertherless look at all the new, innovative kits they are releasing, and very often. (Innovative in both subject matter as well as the cutting edge molding technology they are utilizing.) Perhaps these guys just have a higher development budget than Italeri, Revell and Tamiya. Of course it can be argued that labour costs are lower in China, Taiwan etc compared to Italy, Germany and Japan, even though qualified labour in China etc is actually starting to cost more now. But back to topic, I can't disagree that this is an ok move by Italeri, if there's a new market for these oldies, why not grab the opportunity? :-)

are these just old reboxed italeri molds?

Given Italeri's history of re-re-re-releasing very old kits ( they were nice in the '70's), most likely, yes. No zimmerit when there should be, simplified this and that etc., etc., or just plain wrong. The only advantage of Italeri Ferdinand over the much better Dragon is a much lower parts count. Just have to wait and see what the new price is - new packaging is always expensive.

WoT is what got me back into model building, so I also think this is a pretty good move. (And I know I've picked up one or two Trumpeter kits with WoT codes that I wouldn't have otherwise...) I'm actually slightly disappointed that I already have Italeri's Chaffee kit in the stash since otherwise I'd pick up this release. Although I have seen pictures of the decal sheet and it's kind of silly...

Guess this is Italeri's answer to Dragon's 'Girls und Panzers'.

In the hope of creating a common recognition signal to fellow Armorama members on W.O.T., I added Armorama after my username. It will appear to you as: Vettejack_ARMORAMA

Actually, Italeri's 1/72 easy-build DUKW wasn't terrible. Had simplified suspension for war-gamers, and a more complicated one for 'real modelers'. ...if you need a 1/72 DUKW.