Pyro American Indian Series by Paul Adams

As a follow-up to Rob's fabulous Chief yesterday, this is a re-post from 2023 by Paul A 

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Pyro made a total of nine Paint-by-Numbers kits in the 1960s. All were re-issues of existing kits, with the addition of paints, a brush, and revised painting instructions.

Following on from their Paint-by-Number Bird kits, released in 1963, there was a Western Figure Series. Comprising six kits: three Cowboys, and three Indians. These came out in 1965.

All the Western kits are usually dated 1958, but it seems they may have come out in two batches, with the Indians appearing first.

The American Indian Series (the name appears on both the box ends and the instruction sheets) comprised three models, all 10 inches high. They were large and well detailed, and had a US retail price of 98 cents.

The kits were moulded in a mid-brown plastic - perhaps chosen as a suitable 'flesh' colour ? Each figure stood on a small base, in the same colour as the rest of the kit.

All the kits had a detailed painting of the figure, with a suitable background, on the box top. Oddly, the Pyro name did not appear on the box lid, only on the sides and ends.

The side of the boxes and the instruction sheets show the three Indian figures, with no mention of the Cowboys - yet the Cowboy boxes show all six figures. Now this is just a guess on my part, but this seems to suggest that the Indians appeared first, with the Cowboys not being released until later.

The 1959 Pyro catalogue lists all six kits, now called the American Western Series.

VINTAGE 1959 PYRO MODEL KIT CATALOG | #127337122 (worthpoint.com)

270-.98 Indian Warrior - carrying bow, spear, and knife

271-.98 Indian Chief - standing, arms crossed, wearing a headdress

272-.98 Indian Medicine Man - wearing a horned headdress, and carrying a rattle and drum

Built examples.

VTG 1950's PYRO Plastic Indian Chief Model parts pieces.. 3 PC LOT and.......... | #3881854922 (worthpoint.com)

This trio of kits was also released in Britain by Kleeware, although I have only found examples of the Warrior and Medicine Man. Again, the side of the box shows only the three Indian figures.

In 1965 the figures were re-released as Paint-by-Numbers models, and were given new numbers. The box art had the detailed background deleted, leaving just the figure against a plain white background. Despite the inclusion of paints and a brush, the price had increased by only 2 cents, to $1.00.

C281-100 Indian Chief

C282-100 Indian Medicine Man

C283-100 Indian Warrior

All came with an identical palette of paints - black, white, yellow, red, and blue; all supplied in solid cake form. The paints were of a new type, which were water soluble. This was not mentioned on the box tops, but it was heavily promoted on the sides of the boxes.

All the Western kits were now moulded in the same light brown plastic, which was lighter than that previously used for the Indian kits.

The Paint-by-Numbers kits lasted until 1967, by which time the price had increased to $1.50. As far as I am aware they have not been re-issued since.

All 12 photographs from Worthpoint.

Paul Adams from New Zealand

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Originally posted as part of a longer Pyro series of posts by Paul on MC in 2023. 

Click on the Pyro label for more.

Abba: For The Record

I sort of knew Century 21 Publishing had a hand in some Abba music books in the UK, so when I saw a random Abba softback, For the Record, in a charity shop today I just had to check.

Yep, sure enough, there was Keith Shackleton's name - six lines from the bottom -, former head of Century 21 Merchandising back in the day (a big deal in Gerry Anderson's organisation). No mention of Century 21 in the book though as far as I could see.

Madhouse! The Price of Fame!

I caught Madhouse on the box last night, the Vincent Price shocker from 1974, an American International Amicus film.

I'm a huge Vincent fan, but then again, I love most old horror films and all their stars.

I've seen Madhouse a few times and I've even read the original book with a still from the film on the cover. The old novel's title was Devilday, which I wouldn't mind finding in a charity shop at all.

Madhouse is basically about Paul Toombes, a once famous but now faded horror star and his shaky comeback 12 years after his wife was decapitated and his subsequent mental breakdown. The action is in London, mostly on a film set or in a country house basement, where an orange haired madwoman lives dressed in bright green and likes to kiss spiders ( mostly rubber).

Every horror stalwart cameos in Madhouse. Karloff, Rathbone and Lorre all appear in old clips and Peter Cushing co-stars in the flesh. There are recognisable actresses from horror too such as Linda Hayden.

Everyone looks a little confused in Madhouse. It feels like a diluted Dr. Phibes or a sort of bare-bones lucky bag of the fantastic Theatre of Blood, only much tamer and let's face it, how could you ever equal Diana Rigg and Vincent in the same movie!

Even old Vinny looks a bit dazed and tired in Madhouse as clips from his Poe cycle keep popping up!

Yorkshire's very own Parky the interview king can't straighten things out either and he looks decidedly uneasy in this, perhaps his only horror stint.

It's a strange film and I read that for one critic it marked the end of the Seventies horror movie boom. I'm not sure about that but it is a self-reflective moment.

Still, I enjoyed Madhouse a lot and no doubt will do again in the future.

Have you seen it?

Rob's Pyro Big Indian Chief

Woodsy,

Here is another blast from the past, the Pyro Plastics Indian Chief, a plastic model figure kit first issued in 1958, then again in the mid-1960s as a "Paint By Numbers" kit, and finally in 2024 reissued by Atlantis Models.

Pyro produced many fun figurative kits, including several "Cowboys & Indians," plus their legendary "Prehistoric Monsters" line.

Atlantis Model went the PC route and retitled this kit "Native American Big Chief," but he will always be Indian Chief to me!

Rob C

USA

Does a Silhouette have a Shadow?

 For the first time in days I stepped into the garden today - to carry out some light duties  the Missus and me have been badly with the Grandkids' colds and they're always stinkers.

It's Spring in Blighty and the bees are out, so I thought I'd get busy too and take a few snaps in the sunny shade with my new Zylmex Bubble, Zee Toys' Silhouette, I bought last week.

Love My Tender!

This popped up in my feed, a great looking pair of red plastic vehicles that would not have looked out of place on a Gerry Anderson show . 

The Fire Engine is indeed a JR21 toy. I've got one, but if it ever appeared in Thunderbirds I'm unsure. 

The Lincoln Bulldozer looks incredible. Anyone got one?

Boy Oh Boy, look at the price of the fire tender! 

Thunderingballs!

Hello Moonbasers, my pal Arnum is always mooching around Auction Halls and he's picked up some bargains over the years..

A case in point is this vintage James Bond board game. It's actually a very clever game, as it requires deductive reasoning as well as the element of chance.

As an agent, you have to collect clues that can reveal where the stolen atomic bombs are hidden.

The only thing missing from the game is booze and dames -so I set about fixing that!

I've added girl and drugged Martini hazard spaces and modified the rules accordingly.

I also reprinted the original Secret 007 Notebook page, to more closely resemble the paperwork seen in the film!

" Oh, the things I do for England! "

Looey

Oz Base

Holy Spawning! The McFarlane Batboat

 I was amazed yesterday to see a whole range of modern Batman toys spawned by wunderkind McFarlane Toys.

They'd just passed me by! 

The batboat looks so gothamly fantastic, as do all these top-notch caped creations.

Cor! I want them all! 

See what you think.