In the 1950s and 1960s building plastic kits was still a new hobby. Kit manufacturers were trying to find subjects that would appeal to the kit buying public - mostly boys and teenagers.
Some subjects were established favourites from the days of wooden kits: aircraft, ships, and cars. But many other subjects were tried in an effort to find the next big hit.
Some indeed hit the big time, such as military vehicles, and the Aurora movie monsters. Missiles proved a short-lived fad. Many others sank after only a handful of kits were produced, including giant insects, hunting trophies, and kits of famous sportsmen.
Among several ranges of educational models were kits of famous buildings from around the world. Actually, most of the buildings were American, because it was mainly American firms that were making these kits.
Various Japanese firms also made kits of famous Japanese castles and temples, as well as more modern buildings. Most of these would be unknown outside Japan, and I will leave these to someone with a greater knowledge of the subject.
This is just a quick over-view of the various firms that made architectural kits, and what they produced. We will look at each of the kits in more detail later on.
The heyday of these kits was the 1950s and early 1960s, with a handful of new kits appearing in the 1980s, and a few more in the 2010s. Some of the original kits have been re-issued by several firms, but others have not been seen in decades.
Given that all these buildings or structures were fairly large, the scales used for the models were fairly small. Some included printed cardboard bases on which to display the finished models.
All the kits were moulded in suitably coloured plastics, with many being in two or more colours. Some also included clear or tinted parts for windows.
These are the kits I am aware of, there may be others that I have not come across. Most are pretty obscure.
Superior Plastics Inc., Chicago, Illinois.
This firm had a small range of five building kits, called World Wide Wonders, which carry copyright dates from 1963-64. All were moulded in a heavy-duty industrial plastic called Superlon, in common with other Superior kits.
I am still looking in to this, but it is possible that the last two kits in this series were re-issues of kits previously made by the Worchester Toy Co. The kits later went to Educational Products.
There was also a line of bagged desk-top pen holder kits, that look as though they may have incorporated parts of the World Wide Wonders as a decorative element. Again, this needs more digging.
1 Statue of Liberty; 2 Taj Mahal; 3 Lincoln Memorial; 4 The United Nations Buildings; 5 Yankee Stadium.
Educational Products Inc., Oak Lawn, Illinois
Another Chicago company, they acquired many of the Superior kits in the 1960s, and re-issued them in nearly identical boxes, except for the change in company name. There was no longer any mention of Superlon plastic, so presumably they were moulded in normal polystyrene. The kits later went to K-Line.
Louis Marx and Company, New York, New York
A major American toy company, they only dabbled in kits, including a range of just three architectural models. All the subjects were American. These later went to K-Line.
The Statue of Liberty; The White House; the Capitol Building.
K-Line
The US firm MDK Inc., was a specialist model railway company. It used the name K-Line for its trains, and K-Lineville for model buildings.
The K-Lineville Historical Buildings Series included a mix of both Superior and Marx building kits in the 1970s. Although the Taj Mahal was shown on the side of the kit boxes, it may not have actually been re-issued, as I have not found any listings for a K-Line version of this kit.
K-4190 White House; K-4191 36 Presidential Figs (with paints); K-4192 Capitol Building; K-4193 Statue of Liberty (Marx version); K-41931 Statue of Liberty (bagged, with Red Cross logo); K-4195 Lincoln Memorial; K-4196 United Nations Building; K-4198 Yankee Stadium.
Worcester Toy Co., Worcester, Massachusetts
This was a toy company, that only seems to have produced a couple of plastic kits, under the name Worcester's Famous Building series. These may have gone to Superior Plastics, and been incorporated in to the World Wide Wonder series. Possibly 1950s, or early 1960s.
301 United Nations Buildings; 302 Sports Stadium (Yankee Stadium ?).
Lindberg, Chicago, Illinois
Re-issued the Superior Statue of Liberty.
Glencoe
One of several small American companies that specialised in re-issuing old kits by firms that no longer exist. They produced a couple of the Marx kits, but other planned releases never appeared.
09901 White House; 09902 Capitol Building.
Stalco Products Corporation, Norwalk, California
This was a general plastics company, that made souvenirs for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, including a kit of the Space Needle Tower. This seems to have been their only kit.
There was also a Coliseum Coin Bank money box, which was not a kit.
S.E.L.F.E.
A French company, they made a large scale model of the Eiffel Tower, which was also issued by Pyro in the USA, and Eaglewall in Britain.
Revell
In the 1980s Revell re-issued the Superior Statue of Liberty kit. Revell Germany also released a kit of the Eiffel Tower.
Heller
Being a French company, with a strong emphasis on French subjects, Heller naturally released a kit of the Eiffel Tower. This being the smallest of several Eiffel Tower kits released over the years.
Italeri
An Italian company, their World Architecture series models are much more recent than any of the other lines, being from the 2010s, and are still available. Mostly Ancient buildings.
68001 Parthenon; 68002 Statue of Liberty; 68003 Colosseum.
Mego
Mego, best known for their action figures, did a kit of the World Trade Center, with King Kong standing astride the Twin Towers. This was a tie-in with the 1976 King Kong movie.
There are some bizarre omissions - no one seems to have done a model of the Empire State Building. This would be a great King Kong tie-in model, with Kong battling a fleet of bi-planes. Even just the top of the building, with King Kong and Fay Wray.
Have you any landmark kits?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Wowee, what a great post! This brings back many memories. As I may have mentioned previously, I owned the United Nations kit at one time - I cannot recall if it was the Superior or Educational release. (It definitely was not the Worcester original.) The UN was molded in weird, thick plastic, so it might have been the Superlon version? I always wanted the Taj Mahal, for some reason, but could never locate it. And I had no idea there were so many Statue of Liberty kits - I can’t recall ever seeing one in a hobby shop! Maybe they were so popular, they got snapped up. More amazing detective work, Paul! SFZ
ReplyDeleteI had completely forgotten about Louis Marx’ model kits. Very few lines, as you mentioned, but one of the oddest, I thought, were the Miniature Bird Model Kit line, with beautifully hand-painted birds in several pieces. Sold for something like 29 cents originally, and the were quite exquisite, if I recall. Imported from Japan, I think. SFZ
ReplyDeleteI lament that these are not as popular as wrestling items here in the US
ReplyDeleteThank you, SFZ. Although a number of firms produced these Landmark kits, none of the ranges were very large, or seem to have been around for long. I certainly get the impression they were not big sellers. Max, from Max's Models, said that he had spoken to Nick Argento, the founder of Glencoe Models. They only did the White House and Capitol Building because they just did not sell, so the other kits that were planned never appeared.
ReplyDeleteBuildings are just not very exciting subjects, compared to a Spitfire or a Tiger tank. I do not recall seeing any of these in the shops here in NZ, and the only kit I actually have is the recent Italeri Statue of Liberty.
I do know of the Marx pre-painted bird kits. Something else to look in to once the series on building kits is done.
I agree: buildings (other than for model railroads) were never a big category, and I maybe only saw that one copy of the United Nations, which is why I snapped it up. (Another “kinda” architectural kit was Aurora’s “Addams Family House,” which I built and enjoyed for years.) But these small fringe companies like Superior and Educational never seemed to have much impact on the marketplace - much like my beloved Paramount Hobbies. Thanks again for your efforts - these articles always make my day. SFZ
DeleteUsually, most of the models I've seen like that are papercraft kits.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Papercraft models are more practical because anything as large as a building would have to be small scale, and unimpressive.
On the other hand, I do remember there were some Lighthouse Kits, I think by Lindberg Models. It made a good night light when I was little.
And of course there are rail road models.
The Lindberg Lighthouse kit has recently been re-issued by Atlantis. It comes with a small island, which serves as the base.
ReplyDeleteGreat research Paul as usual. Fascinating too.
ReplyDelete