COLLECTIBLE FIGURE KITS OF THE 50'S, 60'S AND 70'S: A BOOK REVIEW BY PAUL ADAMS

A while ago, while doing some articles on Airfix 1/12th scale figure kits, I discovered that there was a book on the whole field of large scale figure kits. Published back in the 1990s, it is long out of print.

It certainly sounded like the sort of book that would answer a lot of my questions, and have saved me a lot of time and effort. Well, I recently got around to ordering myself a second-hand copy.

I now have it, and what a wonderful book it is. Collectible Figure Kits of the 50's, 60's & 70's, by Gordy Dutt, published by Gordy's/KitBuilders Magazine, 1995.

It does not just cover human figure kits, as you might expect. Animals, birds, fish, insects, and dinosaurs are included, along with the various Visible anatomy kits and skeletons. Also included are monsters and vehicles being driven by monsters.

A more limited selection of other kits are also included. There are a few car kits, and life-size replica firearms.

There are the five famous landmark building kits by Superior (but not the buildings by Marx or Worcester). The big Pyro Eiffel Tower kit is shown on the cover, but is not mentioned in the book itself.

Not all the models included are strictly normal plastic kits, some use a mix of materials, including plastic parts. Others have one-piece figures.

This is a 174 page paperback, 11 x 8 1/2 inches. Except for the cover, all the illustrations are in black and white.

These are a mix of box tops, built-up models, and a few period advertisements. Picture quality does vary.

This book was written before the internet and sales sites such as ebay. In those days models were bought by mail order or at shows and fairs.

Now you can find a lot of information just sitting at your computer, but this book required real work to research and write. It is a wonderful and wide-ranging reference book.

The introduction covers the basics of kit collecting, and how to find the models. No mention of the internet at all, and no on-line auctions.

There are chapters on the different companies - except for Aurora, who are not covered at all. Mr Dutt did a previous book called Aurora - A Collection of Classic Instruction Sheets, so that presumably covered this ground.

There are chapters on Addar - Airfix - AMT - Bachmann - Hawk - ITC - Lindberg - Mego - Monogram - MPC - Multiple Toymakers - Palmer - Parks - Precision - Pyro - Remco - Renwal - Revell - Superior, and finally a section on re-issues, and miscellaneous photographs. Apart from Airfix, all the companies covered are American.

Each chapter includes an over-view of the ranges made by each company, in some cases this was just one kit. Then a look at the individual kits.

Some kits get a photograph of both the box and a built-up model, but some are limited by the illustrations available (I know that problem). Text is brief, but Mr Dutt had a lot of ground to cover.

The entries for each model give Kit title; Manufacturer; Date; Kit Number; Scale; Box Size Approximation; Value for both a boxed, un-built model and a built model (1995 prices); and Comments. Not every kit has all this information, as it was not always available.

This book covers a wide range of kits. Some of them I have already researched and written up myself, so I have some idea how much work went in to this publication - and I had it very easy as I could turn to the internet.

The Bachman Birds, Dogs, and Animals Paint-by-Number kits; Hawk Weird-Ohs; ITC Dog Champions; Monogram Snoopy kits; the Renwal Visible series; and Revell Rat Finks. All famous kits.

There might be a few gaps here and there, such as the ITC Bumblebee being included, but not the two Hawk insect kits. The Airfix section is also a little thin - only one of the Famous Women of History is pictured, but none of the dinosaurs or life-sized birds.

But many really obscure ranges are covered. The Palmer and Precision animal Trophy kits; Lindberg monsters; Precision Crucifix; Remco Flintstones vehicles; the MPC Rube Goldberg contraptions or the Stage Illusions magic tricks; and the Revell Beatles range.

Some I have never heard of before. The AMT Hang-Out 3 Dimensional Action Scenes; Multiple Toymakers Ripley's Believe it or Not humorous medieval torture devices and their gigantic Skelatura animal kits; or the Renwal Heraldry kits.

Finally, there is an index at the back of the book.

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in odd-ball kits, and it covers a lot of the smaller companies who seldom get much attention. I love this book, and recommend it.

Paul Adams from New Zealand