In the 1950s model companies were still trying to discover what types of kit would sell. So far, aircraft, ships, cars, and missiles were doing well.
But what would come next ? Some firms tried anatomy kits, and models of various animals. How about insects - giant insects ? Because insects and arachnids are so small, models of them would have to be made several times life size, so that is what ITC and a few others did.
The kits did not sell, and few have ever been re-issued. Most firms only produced one or two kits before dropping the idea of giant insect models. Further models that had been planned, and listed on kit boxes and even included in catalogues, simply never appeared.
It would be the 1970s before Fundimensions had the obvious idea of re-creating the giant-bug-on-the-rampage movies of the 1950s with their Gigantics kits, setting their monstrous insects in dioramas that showed them leveling an entire city block. Over the years there have only been a handful of giant insect models, and all appear to have been short lived.
Here, we will look at the sole giant insect kit from ITC - the Bumble Bee (two words). This is what the box had to say:
ITC Model Craft - Hobby Division of Ideal Toy Corporation.
Fascinating and Educational - The First of a Series of a Great New Hobby.
Authentic Plastic Assembly Kit - No Painting Necessary.
Made in U.S.A. by Ideal Toy Corporation, Hollis, N.Y.
Kit No.3805-129, meaning it sold for $1.29.
The side of the box lists 'Other insects in this series': Scorpion, Grasshopper, Tarantula, and Praying Mantis - although a couple of these are arachnids, not insects. The illustrations are simple line drawings, and do not show actual box tops. I can not find any listings for these kits, and it seems they were not actually produced.
The Bee kit is mainly moulded in dark brown plastic, with clear plastic wings which have to be cut from a thin vac-formed sheet, and a display stand to show the bee in flight. The most unusual part of the kit is the inclusion of some soft, fuzzy yellow fabric. This could be glued in to recesses in the main body parts, to depict the soft hairs covering the body. There was also a decal sheet, which gave both the common and scientific names (Bumble Bee and Hymenoptera Bombus), for use on the stand. This gives the scale as '8 X Actual Size', or 8:1. Real Bumble Bees can be just over an inch long. A metal rod is also included for mounting the model in flight.
This ITC advertisement has the date 1959 on it, but if it is for a trade show this might have been for the coming year, so it could have been either late 1958 or early 1959. It gives the price as $1.30. The model was 9 1/2 inches long, and had 44 pieces. It is listed as being available for Immediate Delivery. The copyright date on the underside of the model also seems to be 1959, although it is hard to find a good photo of this area.
Scalemates say the model is 20 times life-size, but that does not match what the kit says - given that real Bumblebees can be just over an inch long, this ties in with the quoted scale of 8:1. The model does not appear to have been re-issued by anyone else. It seems to have been a fairly short-lived kit. The only ITC catalogue on the Box Art Den site is dated 1963, and does not show the Bumble Bee.
Copyright date just visible under body.
Instruction sheet.
A good view of the vac-form wing sheet.
Good views of the parts, but colour balance appears to be way out.
Assembled store display model, in its original box.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Cool! (Now I wanna see the Motorized version...!)
ReplyDeleteJust kidding.