Here is another Visible animal model, this time from a small American company called Superior Plastics. They did not make many kits, and were only in the kit business from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. Most of their moulds ended up with other companies.
Superior Plastics Giant American Bull Frog
Yet another frog kit, this time the Giant American Bull Frog, by Superior Plastics Incorporated. Later re-issued by Educational Products, and Lindberg - all three companies being based in Chicago, Illinois.
Superior Plastics Incorporated, Chicago, Illinois
Superior was one of several smaller American kit companies active for a short time in the 1950s and 1960s. Their boxes are easy to identify because of the triple-diamond logo in the lower right corner, which the later Educational boxes lack. Helpfully, the copyright date of 1960 is printed on the box top.
The top and sides of the Superior box proudly boast that the kit is moulded in Superlon plastic. As far as I can tell, this is a type of High Density Polyethylene used mainly for plastic piping, and other heavy duty industrial items, rather than kits. It is difficult to glue, and many modern glues would not have been available in the 1960s. That might explain why Superior did not last long in the kit business.
Scalemates say the model is 1:1 scale, but do not give a catalogue number.
Bull Frog, Superior Plastics Inc. (1960) (scalemates.com)
The box top lists several features:
Finely detailed - Life-size body over a foot long
Fit-together vital organs for both male and female
Full-size skeleton - flexible, assembles and disassembles
Fun to assemble - an educational study model - fully dissectible.
EXTRA ! Display showing life cycle of frog
The body of the frog was moulded in the usual translucent green plastic that is almost standard for frog kits, white for the skeleton, and brown or purplish brown for the internal organs. The lower body half has a large opening, with a separate cover, allowing the internal organs to be seen more clearly, or removed. There is a flat moulded plaque with raised detailing showing the Life Cycle, from egg, to tadpole, to froglet. There is also a small Juvenile Frog in clear green.
Vintage Bull Frog Model Kit COMPLETE 1960 Dissection/Biology with DIRECTIONS | #3766963050 (worthpoint.com)
1960 Giant American Bull Frog Model Kit | #3674795679 (worthpoint.com)
VINTAGE 1960 SUPERIOR Plastics Giant American Bull Frog Model Kit & Box - $15.99 | PicClick
Educational Products Incorporated, Oak Lawn, Illinois.
Oak Lawn is a suburb of Chicago. The box design is the same as the Superior version, but now has the Educational name on it, and a new copyright date, 1967. The top and sides of the box no longer mention Superlon plastic, so the Educational version was presumably moulded in conventional polystyrene. This company offered both the complete Bull Frog kit for $3.50, and the Skeleton on its own for 75 cents. I could not find anything on the Skeleton beyond a couple of old ads, including a leaflet that was presumably included with the Educational Bull Frog kit. I do not know if Superior also sold the Skeleton as a separate kit.
Detailed & Unusual Visible Giant American Bull Frog Model Kit, 1967 | #2027208136 (worthpoint.com)
Vintage (1967) Science Decor Giant Bull Frog Model Kit Dissection *Biology | #3779738441 (worthpoint.com)
Lindberg Release
In the 1970s Lindberg of Skokie, Illinois, another suburb of Chicago, acquired the Bull Frog, and has released it in a number of different boxes over the years. The colours of the plastic have varied. Although the boxes still refer to vital organs, there is no longer any mention of separate parts for male and female frogs. I have no idea if they were still included. Lindberg had an extensive range of human anatomy kits at the time, but this seems to have been their only animal kit.
Full colour box, copyright date 1973, model number 1310. This kit was still listed in the 1981 Lindberg catalogue, but was not included in the 1982 edition.
White box/green frog, model number 1303.
Blue box, model number HL301/12, date 2009. This was from the time when Lindberg was owned by Lloyd International. The name of the kit changed from Giant American Bull Frog to Transparent Bull Frog on one side - and Transparent Giant American Bull Frog on the other. The box also says the model is only 11 inches long, rather than 'over a foot', as on previous releases.
According to Cybermodeler Online this kit was again re-issued by Lindberg, now owned by Round 2, in 2013 as 0301.
Lindberg 0301 1/1 Transparent Bullfrog Kit First Look (cybermodeler.com)
Lindberg Transparent Giant American Bull Frog Educational Model Kit NEW,SEALED | #3851336387 (worthpoint.com)
Giant American Bull Frog Lindberg Vintage Model Kit 1973, New Sealed # 1310 | #2007681139 (worthpoint.com)
New!Sealed!!Giant American Bull Frog Lindberg Vintage Model Kit 1973 | #2059407164 (worthpoint.com)
New Lindberg Transparent Giant American Bull Frog Plastic Educational Model Kit | #3860961063 (worthpoint.com)
Vintage Lindberg Giant American Bull Frog Anatomically Accurate Model Kit # 1303 | #1785287384 (worthpoint.com)
All photographs from Worthpoint or Ebay. Six photos, in three batches.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Great detailed article Paul. I love these old animal kits. They appear in a few books I have like Classic Plastic. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe box art on the first one is great, really capturing the texture on the frog.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I'd want to jump out and buy one though !
I like that first box too Mish. The font they used for those kits was so cool. Very World's Fair to me. Atomic even.
DeleteAnother great post! My version was the 1973 issue Lindberg. Ah, the kit companies of my childhood... Airfix, Frog, Aurora, Revell, MPC, AMT, Faller and Otaki!
ReplyDeleteGreat kit firms all! Otaki was new to me up to about 10 years ago when I discovered that the Otaki 'green monster' racing car was the inspiration for the Project SWORD Probe Force 3 toy!
DeleteOops! I forgot Inpact and Pyro! What would my childhood have been like without Magnificent Men aircraft and Dinosaurs?
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are enjoying these articles, they were fun to do. I never had any of these kits at the time, my main interests being aircraft and military vehicles. Today, I have become more interested in the history of the hobby. There is not a lot around on these kits, at least not all in one place, so it is important to preserve the history of these models while we can. Plenty more to come.
ReplyDelete