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Revell - Early Toys and Kits
(1946-1954 )
Introduction Whenever I took the book Remembering Revell Model Kits from Thomas Graham [1] in my hands I did not spend much time studying the first chapter. It deals mainly with plastic toys, which Revell produced for some years before they engaged with model kits. I generallly look beyond the end of my nose and even added some toys to my collection, especially if they remind me at toys I had in my youth and have some model characteristics. But the unsightly pictures in this chapter especially that of the Pluto flashlight, the Buckaroo Bill horseman and the drivers of the toy cars distracted me from reading it extensively. Pug-ugly.  Pluto Flashlight. ©cjk. Other pictures of Pluto flashlight  Pull Toys in a 1952 Revell leaflet |
But having aquired some early Revell aircraft kits last year I took up this book again and looked them up in chapter two. I then got back to chapter one, and this time I read through this chapter and was as fascinated as with any early post war histories of other companies. I still dislike the toy figures mentioned above but found other toys interesting enough to collect them in order to document the early history of Revell. I even found access to historic cars. Never thought before I would ever buy such kits, and historic ships and coaches :-) I do not intend to write another history of Revell here and especially will not retell Thomas Graham's story from his book "Remembering Revell odel Kits". Everybody who is interested in this subject and has this book can read it oneself. Others who do not yet have this book should buy it. It is highly recommended (bibliographical data see below ). My intention is to show some of the toys and kits appearing in this book in more detail and perhaps quote some more of Graham's sources, when I manage to get hold of them. Nontheless I will record some basic dates and facts, quoted from this book. I regard my statements as a base information backed by a designated source against non-referenced data in the web, which additionally is partly incorrect, contradicting and even amusing in the pages I found (see questionable sources). I'm currently (April 2015) updating all pages of this website. That implies mostly standardizing the format and eliminating programming bugs. This is to the expense of updating this page which is more a compilation or draft. |
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Revell Toy Washing Machine ©cjk < more > |
 Revell Caterpillar Scraper from a set of three earthmovers issued in 1952 (Graham p14). © cjk < more > |
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 Revell 1913 Maxwell kit issued in 1951 [Graham, p 149 ] based on the parts from the ready assembled pull toy (picture left). Scale is 1/16. It is often desiganted as Revell's first kit but this is not explicitely stated by Graham [Graham, p. 12 / 149]. It may well have been sold concurrently with the kits of he Highway Pioneers series (below ). A sister Quick Construction kit in 1/16 scale, the Revell 1917 Coupe was issued in 1952. © cjk |
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 Above: Stanely Steamer 1909 from the series Action Miniatures comprising five assembled pull toys in 1/32 scale, the moulds of which where used to made the individual parts of the Highway Pioneers kits (picture right ). © cjk < more > |
 Revell Highway Pioneers series from 1951 in 1/32 scale.© cjk < more > |
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 Revell H-301 USS Misouri, the first kit Revell designed themself. The cars were licenced from by Gowland & Gowland. Issued in 1953. © cjk |
 Revell H-303:69 U.S.S. Nautilus first edition. Square cross section box as the Missouri left. To the courtesy of Alan Bussie © http://www.oldmodelkits.com |
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Revell H-201 Lokheed Starfire togehter with H-202 Chance Vought F7U-1 Cutlass and H-203 Grumman F9F-6 Cougar were the first aircraft kits from Revell. Original Revell design. All three issued in 1953. |
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 Starfire and Cougar above © cjk Cutlass on the right, to the courtesy of Alan Bussie © http://www.oldmodelkits.com |
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| Home | How it All Began | Plastic Kits 50´s & 60´s |
Plastic Kits 1970 up |
Various Topics | Books 50´s & 60´s |
Contact |
| Started: November 2013 | Revised last: April 2016 | Author: cjk | © cjk |