In the 1960s there were two plastic kits of the James Bond Aston Martin DB5 'with modifications'. By Airfix and Aurora.
Aurora were famous for not identifying their model as the James Bond car anywhere on the box, but Airfix did not mention the make on their box top. This lack of clear identification seems rather odd.
Airfix, No.823, 1/24th Scale, Released 1966
The standard Airfix model, No.823, said 'James Bond Special Agent 007' on the box top. Only on the sides and ends of the box does it say Aston Martin DB5.
This kit was only listed in the 5th to 7th (1970) Editions of the Airfix Catalogue, after which the moulds were changed to represent a DB6 road car.
Airfix by Craft Master, No.007-200, 1/24th Scale
The US issue of the Airfix kit has 'James Bond Secret Agent 007', and 'Aston-Martin DB-5' on the box top. This is the only one of these 1960s James Bond kits that actually tells you on the box top what sort of car Mr Bond drives.
I assume the change in the wording from Special Agent to Secret Agent was to avoid confusion with the Special Agents of the FBI ?
The instructions for the Craft Master kit can be downloaded from Scalemates.
Aurora, No.585-249, 1/25th Scale, Released 1967
The box top says Aston-Martin Super Spy Car, but does not mention either James Bond or the DB5. This is especially odd as Aurora did official James Bond kits of Mr Bond and Odd Job, and the Super Spy Car was shown on the same catalogue page as the two figures, so Aurora were certainly not trying to hide the James Bond connection.
Listed in the 1967 and 1968 Aurora catalogues.
The instructions for this kit can be downloaded from Scalemates.
This is totally a guess on my part, but... perhaps there was a rights issue with the name of the kit ?
Airfix did the James Bond car, which was sold in America by Craft Master, so perhaps they had the rights to the James Bond name for their car kit in the USA ? That might have left Aurora to come up with another name for their model.
Airfix did a James Bond and Odd Job double figure kit, which (as far as I know) was not sold in America by Craft Master. Aurora did separate kits of James Bond and Odd Job, but if these were not on sale in America alongside the Airfix versions there would have been no conflict with the Airfix kit, so perhaps Aurora only had the rights to the James Bond name for their figures ?
As I said, pure speculation on my part.
Four photographs from Worthpoint
Paul Adams from New Zealand
That first box, Special Agent by Airfix, has the best illustration by far! More great research!
ReplyDeleteI think I mentioned this, but I bought the Taxi from the CBS sitcom The Good Guys, from MPC, circa 1968. Had a hell of a time painting it yellow!
Also had the Aurora Seaview, from VttBotS. SFZ
Thank you. I do not think The Good Guys made it to New Zealand, but the vehicle looks like fun. I would have loved a Seaview model, as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea did make it to NZ. But I did not even know such a kit existed until many years later.
ReplyDeleteGreat research Paul. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete