Gene Simmons has shut down speculation that original guitarist Ace Frehley could return to Kiss.

Rumors began circulating nine months ago when Frehley said that 2017 looked like “a ripe year.” Collaborations with both Simmons and Paul Stanley were subsequently revealed, then this month the Space Ace and and the Demon shared a stage for the first time in 16 years.

Asked directly about the chances of a return, Simmons told The Cassius Morris Show, “That’s not gonna happen. Ace has been in and out of the band three different times. That’s enough.” Those words mirrored quotes from Stanley earlier in the year.

“I have the reconnection and to celebrate the good things we've done together is terrific," he said at the time. "I have no thoughts of revisiting the past. I am happy to do whatever i can for anyone who has helped put me where I am – but that doesn't include getting hitched again to somebody I unhitched from.”

In the new interview, which you can watch above, Simmons reported he was planning to devote 2018 to “traveling around the world, hand-delivering box sets” of his The Vault collection. Asked about the top-end version of the set, listed with a $50,000 price tag, he challenged the interviewer to prove that such a listing existed. When shown evidence, he got on his phone and wrote an email to his team, reading it out before he sent it.

"Holy f––k- guys," he said. "People still believe this is a $50,000 box set. And that’s because of your front page. Again, get rid of ‘producer and home experience’ off the front page, for f––-’s sake.” Simmons then emphasized that, while “extra stuff” was available at a premium, the version of the set that includes personal delivery would be on sale for less than $3,000.

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