To compliment Rob's ace ITC Brontosaurus post, Palmer Plastics of Brooklyn, New York, was an American toy company. They also made kits, but were not one of the major US model companies.
However, the Palmer Hobb-E-Kits line lasted from the 1950s in to the 1970s, so they clearly had a market. The kits were aimed at the lower end of the price scale, selling in dime stores and the like.
Palmer mostly made car kits, although they dabbled in other fields as well. This included a handful of educational kits, including a pair of prehistoric skeletons.
Kit No.110 was the Mastodon, and No.111 was the Brontosaurus. According to Scalemates, both kits date from 1959, but there do not appear to be any dates on the boxes or instruction sheets.
The Palmer Brontosaurus (Sauropod dinosaur) was kit number 111-1.00, meaning catalogue number 111, retail price $1.00. The kit contained 52 pieces, in bone-while plastic, including the base and name-plate.
No scale is given, but the model was 13 inches long. One side of the box has some information on the real Brontosaurus, which was 67 feet long.
The model is therefore around 1/62nd scale. Considerably smaller than the Mastodon.
The kit box is very similar in style to the Mastodon. There is a large painting of the skeleton, which was the model in the box; along with a smaller picture of a live Brontosaurus.
The box states 'All Plastic Scale Model Assembly Kit', and 'Scaled From American Museum Restorations'. The Palmer logo and address also appear.
One side of the box has details of the real creature, the other shows the Mastodon skeleton. The box ends carry a repeat of the main box art, with the kit number, price, and the number of pieces.
Many Palmer kits suffered horribly from flash - as can be seen in the photographs. This is surplus plastic that has seeped out from between the halves of the mould during the moulding process, forming a web of thin plastic around the parts.
It all had to be cleaned off before the pieces could be assembled. Given the odd shape of many parts, that would be a major job.
Scalemates do not mention any re-issue of this kit, but at some point it was also sold by a company called Natural Science Industries Limited, of Far Rockaway, New York.
Far Rockaway might sound like some isolated town, on a rocky coast, but it is actually a suburb in the borough of Queens, in New York City. Palmer Plastics were in the borough of Brooklyn, which is right next to Queens.
NSI mainly made educational toys and craft sets, and are still in business. They re-issued both the Palmer skeleton kits, along with the Dissecting Frog.
The NSI boxes are identical to the Palmer boxes, except for the changes to the company logo and address. The Brontosaurus retained its original catalogue number, but dropped the price suffix.
There are three variations of the Brontosaurus box:
Palmer logo and address.
Palmer logo with NSI address (this looks to be a sticker)
NSI logo and printed address
Once again, this kit has been out of production for many years. The original Palmer models seem to be more common than the NSI versions.
There are 11 photographs from Worthpoint.
Enjoy!
Paul Adams
New Zealand
Boy does this bring back memories! I had the Palmer Mastadon model in the early 70s, and it built up very nicely. Never saw the Bronto. For a time I thought the ITC and Palmer Brontos were the same kit, but they appear to be different - the base for the two kits are quite different, and the scale is as well. But Palmer was another one of the cool budget model companies that us teens loved to hate - 29 cent hot rods and dollar dinosaurs! SFZ
ReplyDeleteIs Brontosaurus a valid genus again?
ReplyDeleteIn 2015 Brontosaurus was resurrected as a valid genus and the species excelsus (which was always considered valid) was moved back into it along with 2 other species (yahnahpin & parvus) formerly within Apatosaurus, giving us 3 species of Brontosaurus.
Now if we can do the same for Planet Pluto!
Long Live Pluto !
ReplyDeleteAs for Brontosaurus, I was just quoting what was on the boxes. I also did an article on the Mastadon skeleton kit. Palmer certainly made some odd models. I doubt they were ever sold in NZ.
The Mastadon is coming!
ReplyDeleteHe’ll always be a Brontosaurus to me! Couldn’t care less if “scientists” change their minds… SFZ
ReplyDeleteHe'll always be a Bronto to me! ha ha. Sounds like a song SF!
Delete