I recently came across some kits made by the Australian toy manufacturer Toltoys, in either the late 1950s or 1960s. Including a US Vanguard Satellite.
The first successful launch of Project Vanguard was on 17th March 1958, making it the second American satellite to go in to orbit. The US company Hawk was already working on their model of the satellite when the real thing flew, so it did not take them long to get it out - several other companies produced the Vanguard launch rocket.
The Toltoys model looks to be either the Hawk Vanguard kit, or a copy of it. The Toltoys version is not mentioned on Scalemates, but the Hawk version is.
The Hawk kit, number 515-98, has a copyright date of 1958 on the instruction sheet, and came moulded in either silver-grey or gold, with clear plastic end caps to show off the interior detail (not a feature of the real thing). The box art was by Bill Campbell, who would go on to create the Weird-Ohs.
It was re-issued, still as a Hawk kit, by Round 2 in 2015. The instructions for this version, HL 603, can be found on Scalemates.
The Toltoys kit is moulded in gold plastic, and one part has PlastiKits Melbourne moulded in. Note that the parts say PlastiKits, rather than Toltoys.
The box art is very similar to the Hawk original, but the image area is larger, and the wording is different. The name in the upper right corner is Toltoys Authentic PlastiKits.
There are not many listings for this Toltoys kit, and it is a lot rarer than the regular Hawk version.
Four photographs from Worthpoint.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
A lovely kit! I may have built the Hawk version back in the day. SFZ
ReplyDeleteBeautiful treasure from the classic age of modelling Paul. The box art looks stunning.
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