Way back in the misty sixties, at the height of the space race, one of my sisters, or possibly my mum suggested I start a scrap book. As a result, I attacked the TV Times and any old newspapers with space themed articles, with a vengeance. Then about 1975, when Matchbox started making Model kits and my interest in military models peaked, I started a new volume for the box art from the kits I was buying. Unfortunately, I was a little impatient and a bit too handy with the scissors and obliterated most of the box, in order to try and isolate the actual vehicle.
As a result, I made a literal 'scrap' book with bits and pieces of boxes and packets all over the place.
I unearthed the army scrapbook in the loft the other day, sellotape brown with age and a lot of the paper loose and curling. However, it does show some snippets of good box art, especially from the Matchbox kits.
The Matchbox kit line was vastly superior to Airfix, as besides being molded in two and three colour plastic, each model came with a small diorama for the vehicle to sit on, such as a bomb damaged bridge for the Sherman Firefly, a section of wall for the Jagdpanther and a derelict building for the Puma.
The basic kits had one vehicle and diorama and larger sets in three colours had two vehicles and a base.
Probably the best part was Matchboxes choice of vehicle - rather than copy what had come before with its main competitor Airfix, it made much more obscure tanks and vehicles.
Spurred on by the wealth if kits produced in the series, I looked further afield for other models and started buying inexpensive Hasegawa models too.
Some of the boxes in the book dont recall any models for me, so I think I must have pinched a few of my mates discarded boxes too.
Tucked in amongst the main boxes you can also see some from Scalecraft, Mintanks, Atlantic and the large Aurora Anzio Beach set.
Most of these kits 'should' be tucked away in the back of the loft somewhere, having been chucked in a box when I left home decades ago. At some point I hope to unearth them and see what is salvageable.
What a great time capsule!
ReplyDeleteA great thing to have survived, brings back memories from those innocent childhood years for me as well
ReplyDeleteWow. Great collection. I had a lot of the Matchbox armour kits. The diorama bases were a major feature of these kits, and painted up very nicely. The German Wespe had a palm tree, and some had figures as well.
ReplyDeleteMatchbox started releasing kits in 1974, with the armour kits appearing in 1975. Some of the box tops in your collection are by Fujimi, another good brand from Japan.
I do not recall ever seeing any Aurora kits in NZ back in the 1970s.
ill have to dig out the actual kits!
ReplyDelete"Nostalgia? Yes, we have nostalgia!"
ReplyDeleteI love the airplane art
ReplyDeleteAmazing archive Bill, fabulous that you've managed to hold onto it after all those years. A labour of love all that cutting and sticking. Its one way of keeping at least a small bit of comics and magazines from back then that we could never have kept hold of whole all this time. A stunning thing and just what the blog is for!
ReplyDeleteA man after my own heart! Wonderful preservation of a magnificent hobby. I, too, collected kit box art and saved a scrapbook, some of which I've shared here before. I'll see if I can come up with any more fun pages from that time capsule and send along. Excellent!
ReplyDeletePlease do Looey!
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