As a 50's kid, this brought back so many memories of good times spent building these kits. Great job!

Brings back good memories! Thanks.

Thank you Mike, another stunner! 😁

Love your channel. Brings back many memories.

My first model was a Monogram Speedy built B-26, in 1955. I am still building, but at the cost of today's kits, it's difficult. This series brings back so many happy memories for me. And the smell of "tube glue" and how long it took to dry. Thank you so very much for Bringing back so many memories.

Greetings from Clay County, Missouri ! I remember the tape on the boxes. DON'T remember when bags started showing up. But DO remember when the price was right after the kit number. :) Then the price increases in the late '70's with the revised price stickers :( Thanks again, Mike ! 85 thumbs UP

That's quite the stash! One to build, (at least) one to keep.

Thanks again Mr. M for the great video. Believe it or not that X3 Stilleto kit was the first kit I built with my son. I'm sure it was a reissue. I may still have the box. Wish I had that collection in my closet. 👍👍👍👍👍

So many of those kits bring back so many memories. Starting with that X-3.

Great video. Thanks for another stroll down memory lane. I remember the open packaging. And even with the cello-wrap, the box image still sold the model. And a fabulous collection you do have. Always loved that Neptune kit. The box art is still stunning. Thanks again Mr. Machat.

Great job. I love these videos.

Another great presentation, Mike. Oh my, the memories !

The Revell artwork got more "serious" but, still looked fantastic! Thanks for another great video Mike!

My adventure into modeling really started in the 60s but I do remember all the box art and that was the biggest attraction of a kit for me.

Thank you for the informative and well presented video. I started in 1964 using my allowance (50 cents) and bottle return money to build almost a model a week. While I believe you about Revell's plastic bags I do remember well the 2 tapes and no plastic bags on the $.49 (and then $.50 and then $.60) plane models in the 1964-69 era. Perhaps Revell reverted after a couple of years. It made a big impression on me and my two best friends in comparison to Aurora, which used brittle plastic wrap. We liked that Revell did not use bags or wrap on our models. You just use your fingernail to cut a tape, and on the inside was the model, instructions, and decals. I am forwarding the link for your video to a couple of friends. Thanks again.

Very informative, thanks for sharing

Very nice collection Mike. Those Aurora airliners in particular warmed my heart, especially the DC-8.

Another great video Mike! I was born in 1949 and started building these models in the mid- 1950’s. Very informative and you are a great tour guide down memory lane!

What a little nice collection you got there. Congratulations my friend.!!

Wonderful video Mike, thanks so much for posting, very informative.

I remember opening up the boxes to look at the parts, to see what color the model was molded in and also to get an idea how well it was made. They were often molded in odd colors, not at all like the box art.

Another wonderful video, about a little known subject. While I personally have little interest (or ever had) in putting together plastic models, I do love the art on the boxes. I good friend of mine who lives in Germany recently sent me two Revell catalogs, in German, one from 1974 and the other from 1977, in mint condition. The artwork depicted is absolutely stunning!! :)

The first model I build was a KC-135 stratotanker with my dad. I was about 7 and I was so excited on the way home from the hobby shop I opened the box to look at the parts. When we put the model together we were missing half of an engine pod. We looked all over for it and never found it. Dad got mad at me for opening the box in the car. Now I think it may have never been in the box. I was mad at my Dad for picking a plane with no passenger windows, but I went on to build fighters and passenger plans on my own. One of my favorite models was “the phantom P-51” it was motorized the propeller spun and the landing gear went up and down. And it had a transparent fuselage think it was a Monogram model. Great memories!

What a tease showing all these kits , particularly these Airliners I can see

I love those vintage kits...

Your bringing back alot of memories 👌

Fabulous, like comfort food without the calories. Great collection on display. Appreciate the video quality with the artwork.

Great episode. I built a few S kits in those days. It was like modelers memory lane for me. Thanks.

Lucky guy with all the Aurora airliner kits. :)

Good memories with me as well. I didn’t understand a lot of the strategy of the model makers but you helped explain that.

Awesome Mike! That is some nice collecting you got there. I'm guessing that you have an old glue and paint display or promo materials to go with your vintage hobby shop? The only other thing you need would be an old cash register and maybe a gumball machine by the door! Looking forward to you showcasing the other manufacturers, especially Aurora.

WOW! Great collection Mike!

I remember a Lindberg kit of a TBF Avenger which had the pilot's control stick connected to the ailerons and elevators with long metal rods. You could move the controls by moving the stick.

Wow, cool stuff you have there. I remember the Comet balsa kits as a kid in hobby stores and built quite a few of them. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

Mike, Another great video. And I was delighted to learn how Revell solved the deluge of requests for missing parts.; a quandary you told us about in an earlier video. Muchas gracias. 👍

I remember in the 1950's when there was a sea of plastic kits on the hobby shop shelves similar to what we now see in supermarkets in the cereal aisle. Now, if you go into the store called "Hobby Lobby", there is perhaps a three foot wide area of the shelving with some kits. And when I was a kid, at a boy's birthday party, you got given a lot of plastic model kits by the other boys. I vividly remember opening the presents at my party one year with about a dozen kids there and there was a Revell Sikorsky helicopter. Continued opening gifts and there was another. And then a third. Got three of the things (must have been on sale or something).

I really enjoy your episodes on model airplanes. I am a RC Turbine jet hobbiest and would love to see some episodes on RC airplanes.

Heck yea! Models were a big part of my childhood, I was into cars tho, buy I do love aviation models too these days

Thank you Mike. I absolutely enjoy your videos specially the ones with plastic models. I've only been watching for almost a year but I try not to miss any. anyways keep up the good work. Mike Crawford

Terrific...keep them coming ✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈

Great video and well played out! Thanks for all the awesome information.

Wow thank you i see some models that never saw before....

I was an early 60's kid and I honestly don't remember my first kit build. It went all the back to my first memories. I became a model making factory. I built just about everything aircraft. It was easy for my folks shopping Xmas and birthdays gifts. And whenever I was home from school sick my mom would bring home a model to keep me occupied. Helen's Toy Store in Lancaster, CA had great variety of models for sale (I am sure I was the sole reason for it surviving). All those models in the $.49 cent to $1.49 models to choose from. In the late 60's Revell came out with the big 1/32 scale models that were $2.50! Now those were the pinnacle to me. But Monogram's Phantom P-51 was the ultimate! Never had one then, but my older brother did and I never lost my desire to get one, I now have 5 of them in my stash. Which leads to the question of how many models do you have in your stash(es)?

I fell on hard times and sold my kit collection on Amazon of old Frog, Hawk, Revell etc. Even some vacuform kits. I wish I could get it all back.

What a lovely and well presented video, deserves more than the one like that I can give. That's a nice collection of model kits and well looked after, do you collect kits to keep or build sometime ? I have many kits I intend to build sometime but some have become valuable :)

Great information and a beautifull stash of kits .. thank you.

That was fun! Thank you Mike.

Excellent again...I can almost smell the styrene and the glue, so many good memories. I can't wait for the next installment. Maybe you should consider opening a hobby shop!

Great work, that you’re doing. Brings me back to my youth and trying to build some of those kits.

My favorite artists: Josef Albers, Roy Cross, Geoff Hunt. My favorite furniture makers: Marcel Breuer and Martin-Baker.

Great job Mike. Loved this lesson in model aviation history. Nice collection too. Thanks for the memories.

Wonderful presentation Mike.

Thanks Mike! Great stuff!

My experience was that Lindberg was the worst of the plastic models. Pieces were missing, parts warped and so forth. They used to sell them with electric motors that had to be assembled, and I don't know of one kid that was able to actually build one. Revell was pretty good. Aurora made knight and monster kits in the mid '60s and I had most of them. I seem to remember that there were a small number of parts in those models. In any case I much preferred Airfix or Frog, and in 1/72 scale. Still, I would occasionally get a Lindberg kit from a well intentioned aunt but I don't remember any that weren't crap.

Looking forward for more. Nice job. 👍

GREAT GREAT vid, Mike. THANKS for making this.

Well presented and interesting information but what made me sad was looking at the boxes and going...I had that....I had that, and wishing that they were still in the closet untouched.

Revell was great about lost parts. In 1968, I built their 1/48 B-25B ''Doolittle Raider'' version. I was something of a maverick, in that I never built according to the box art. I delved deeply into the British ''Profile Publications'' for inspiration. My Mitchell, I built as a North Africa based bomber in overall khaki over gull grey. I tinted the canopies light green. A Twilight Zone episode, ''King Nine Will Not Return'' had just aired in syndication. The plot was based on the B-24 Lady Luck, recently discovered in Libya. This version has a [more accessible] B-25 with a guilt-racked Bob Cummings hallucinating under PCSD that he's interacting with his lost crew -- who stayed with the plane when he bailed out. From another kit I found a decal: Lucky Lady, and that was close enough. When the plane rolled off a counter top and pranged, smashing the landing gear, some gun barrels and the props, I wrote to Revell, offering to buy the replacement parts. Less than a week later, the new parts came in, free of chaarge with a nice lettter. They had a lotta class.

It's amazing that a hobby shop could stay open selling models for two dollars apiece, probably why in this day and time, most model sales have been taken over by large chain stores like Hobby Lobby.

Incredibile, I had the Revell A5, didn't know it was older than me!😁

Back in about 1960 when I was a kid I was looking at the toys in FW Woolworths. Back then these stores were in downtown areas not shopping malls. I saw a large model kit that blew me away. It was the "Westinghouse Atomic Power Plant" model by Revell. No shrink wrap or tape back then. I opened it up and OMG!!! A million parts in compartments and they were in different colors!!!! A little lady sales clerk saw what I was doing and scolded me for opening the box. Told me next time she would report me and my parents would be called. Scared the crap outta me!!!!! I didnt go back for a month and when I did my radar was up looking for this little ole lady. Never saw her again............or the model kit!!!😥

Interesting info. Thanks.

As someone who got into modeling in the 70's, I have to say we must have benefitted from the earlier trials and tribulations because almost every kit I bought back then was highly detailed and excellent (mostly Minicraft/Hasegawa) and never missing parts or decals. The only occasional issues I remember were with the Revell kits I bought - no missing parts but sometimes warped or cracked plastic. I particularly remember this Minicraft/Hasegawa Me-163B Komet model I made - the cockpit was so detailed I spent days on it.

What a great job! I loved that and wish alot more of the informative videos were like this.Great job keep it up!

I remember model companies putting extra items in the boxes back in the 60's. One, was Lindberg Line. There was a hobby shop in Coral Gables, Fla., called Uncle Eric's Happy Town. Well, Lindberg would put cement and other things in the boxes (model cement wasn't known as being dangerous back then), mark the said boxes having these items included. Uncle Eric had a nasty habit of opening the boxes and removing these items so he could sell them to you and make extra money. I thought this was a slimy tactic back then, and still do today.

WOW. Mike you have a wealth of knowledge on the aircraft models. Very informative I must say. I remember when I built my first car model back in 1968, the box had like some kind of wrap around it it wasn't plastic but something else. I liked Revel back then and even today. They are the best to me. Most of the other companies looked like they don't even care about the models. It appears in the instruction sheet. Anyway. I will stop rambling. Thanks for the great video. Take care Mike

I love those illustrations. I always called them, "zoom-zoom pictures". They could make the Wright Flyer look cool.

I like your idea of contemporary @celebratingaviationwithmik9782 ☺ That Hasegawa F-16 kit is like 40 years old ... new decals, new parts were added later, but it's still the same kit

When I was a kid every drug store had a whole island of model kits. Also there was a period, I think in the late 60’s when an inferior model glue was sold because a few kids were sniffing volatile petrochemicals wafting from the “S” (styrene adhesives). For a while models would not stay together unless you got a parent to buy the “S” glue kept behind the counter. Will you share some history / chronology on that subject in one of your episodes. Thanks again Mike for some of my favorite KZfaq content.

Do you happen to remember when models were given a "skill rating" - I think it was 1 through 5, 5 being the most difficult to assemble? I remember being in the 3rd grade at the time and bought a "motorized tank" model and it had a higher skill rating, and I don't think I ever figured out how to put it together.

My first model was a DC-3 that my great aunt bought me when I was maybe 8 or 9 back in the 1950's. I can't remember who manufactured the kit, but it was a light grey plastic. I think it had American Airline decals, but could be wrong. I got cement all over the places that it wasn't suppose to be, and worse, I got it on my fingers and THEN on the plastic, leaving finger prints on the wings and fuselage. I fogged up all the clear acetate windows, trying to glue them. Even though that model was a mess, I got it finished. It sat on the bookcase in my aunt's bedroom for years. Sadly it disappeared after she died in the late 60's. I guess whoever produced it is long gone out of business, but I'd love to build another just for her and to prove to myself that my modeling skills have improved in 60 years or so. Hope you do an airliner show or two soon.

So the parts I thought I lost your telling me it was never in the box !!! Omg I waisted alot of my childhood 😂😂😂😂

I'm still looking for my "2 THUMBS UP" emoji. Thanks for the memories.

I'm late to the party, but "GREAT VIDEO" Mike.

I seem to remember some kits were sealed with the cover wrap? You had to slice it open with a pen knife or scissor blade? Great video, looking forward to more. I used to try to save the famous artist/air plane box tops, especially the ones printed on faux canvas. The Vigilante and the Nautilus were two of my favorites.

The two models I would like to build are both from the French Indo-China War, namely the Grumman F8F-1 in French Air Force livery and the Chance-Vought F4U-7 Corsair of Aeronavale.

Every Lindbergh kit I've built has had bad molding, poor detailing, and bad fit with parts. For a company that takes so much pride for being "made in the USA", you would think that they would have much better QC and much better maintenance on their dies. I have never had any issues with Aurora or Revell.

The model companies never actually "solved" the problem of missing parts, the companies simply took "protective measures" to help prevent loss of model parts. Parts could have become lost during the model packaging process at the factory, without notice by the packaging people. I imagine this happened occasionally.

The box art on these early kits reminds me of the box art on early video games. What I mean is what you wound up getting to play with didnt bear much resemblance to the box art!!! For example my glue bombs hand painted with a cheap brush and Testors enamel looked nothing like the picture. Later when we bought my young son the Tanks game for the Atari 2600 the blocks looked nothing like the tanks on the box.

Awesome Video! And a very nice stash! Is it possible to get a Video about youre stash? Also any recommendations for books covering this topic?

As a kid, if I was missing a part, I’d go back to the store, open a like kit, and take the missing part. The sealed part bag prevented me from doing this.

Wish I could see a F16 with a tail number of 80-0598, 86-0271 in a pictur from the 57th FWW from Nellis AFB from back when I served in 86-90 .

If you have time, what's a good place to purchase vintage models? Any local model shows? I got a couple off ebay a few years back and they looked better in the pic's than what I got. You got me interested in collecting again. Thanks again for the work in your videos.

Nicely done video! Anyone know what typical in-store prices were like back in the 50s for a typical model? I’m curious just how much my parents spent on me 😀

Box-sized kits was another invention of Revell (I think) Rather than fit a box around a kit on a given scale, they'd scale the kit to fit the box !

You know you also got to figure that a good percentage of those lost parts were the junior model when he got at home and when he wasn't looking his little brother got a hold of the kit and maybe lost the part or broke it or something so I'm sure that accounted for a percentage of all these lost parts now a bag isn't going to solve that situation.

I'll be spending a lot of time on this channel.

Airfix models ruled in the late 1960s.

Just wanted to say hi.I own the JG400 print ""Wie Ein Floh... Aber Oho !", no:329/1000. Good luck with your channel !

Great video again Mike!... did you ever build kits by Frog and Airfix from England and Heller from France?.... living in Canada, they were quite available also....

It's not surprising considering the quality and fidelity of a lot of Aurora model kits that their solution happened to be they just seal the box entirely with cellphones so that you can't look and see what's inside that box That's not surprising at all to me that Aurora really didn't want you to know what was inside of that model kit box until you paid for it and got it home

It would be cool of you can compare the old kits with newer kits Basically like an old vs new

You have a nice collection of aircraft. Anything else besides planes?

The Sikorsky, another one built by my uncle!

👍👍

The red Aurora me 109 was the least detailed model I ever built

When I was building model airplanes as a child in the 1960s I never knew about all this corporate drama. Lol 😂👀

So Revell invented the Prius, 60 years before Toyota?

Mike can we please have your views in a video on the awful lowviz colour in the usn and marine a c,,comparing them witt the glorious livery of yesteryear. Luckily i see its making a comeback

"There were women in those days..." So the ancient tales were right...