Superior may not have made many kits, but they were certainly a strange bunch. This kit was a life-sized Deep-Sea Lobster, moulded in red plastic.
There is no mention of the kit having any interior detail. Kit number 4400-400. This looks to be a complex, and very delicate kit, with lots of long, thin parts that could be easily broken.
However, Superior Plastics advertising does boast that their kits were of 'Sturdy Construction - Designed for Use as Well as Display !'.
It was billed as a 'Fun-to-Assemble Model Kit', and 'Another Superlon Science-Series Project! Amazingly Life-Like ! Moveable Claws, Legs, Antennae, and Tail!
Molded in Beautiful Lobster-Red Superlon Plastic for Easy Assembly & Painting!
Model 15" Long, Illustrated at 8/10 Actual Size.
© Superior Plastics Inc. 1962, Chicago 12, Illinois, U.S.A. - Custom Molders and Extruders. Along with the usual Superior triple-diamond logo.
There is a scroll below the kit name, which says 'Educator Approved, Prestige Toy, 1962. Child Guidance Council Inc.'.
The box top artwork is simple, but attractive, showing the Lobster and some marine plants.
Scalemates entry for the kit.
Model and box photographs:
Like many of the other Superior kits, this model was re-issued by Educational Products Inc., another Chicago company.
They used the same box design, with only minor changes, although all reference to Superlon plastic was removed. The wording in the upper right corner of the box top changing to 'Another Science-Series Project !'.
The company name on the box changed to © Educational Products Inc., Oak Lawn, Illinois, 60453. Oddly, the copyright date is still 1962, the same as for the Superior version.
Usually, the dates on Educational boxes are later than those on Superior boxes. This may refer to the original kit, rather than the Educational issue, especially as the US did not start using ZIP postal codes until 1963, meaning a 1962 date is unlikely.
The Prestige Toy scroll also disappeared.
Educational box and model:
According to this sales listing from Old Model Kits 'Claws open and snap shut due to clever internal rubber band action'.
It does not seem that this kit has been re-issued. Lindberg acquired many of the Superior/Educational kits, and re-released them in the early 1970s, including the Giant American Bull Frog, but not the Lobster.
In 2020 Fujimi of Japan released a Crayfish kit, which seems to come in different colours. No scale is given.
Did you have a lobster?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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all images from Worthpoint
It amazes me what you can and could get in kit form! Thanks for sharing Paul.
ReplyDeleteI wanted this rare kit for soooo many years. I saw one at a toy shop in the early 1970s, and thought, "Maybe someday..." Later, when I went back to buy it, it was gone. And I have been obsessed with it ever since! Way out of my price range now, so thanks for all these lovely photographs!
ReplyDeleteArn't Lobster's red once they are boiled alive? Shouldn't this be moulded in brown plastic?
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I see what you mean Terran!
DeleteThank you. I select only the best photographs from Worthpoint, an excellent source of all things weird.
ReplyDeleteIn the early days of plastic modelling - the 1950s and 1960s - companies were all looking for the next Big Thing after planes, trains, and automobiles. Tanks proved an enduring hit, and Aurora made a splash with their movie monster kits, missiles were a short-lived fad, but really what modellers wanted were more planes, trains, and automobiles. As a result, many of these strange kits have never been re-issued, making the survivors rare and expensive. I love digging in to the history of these odd-balls.
Strange but fascinating kits Paul! Thanks for sharing.
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