The history of MPC models company.
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- Опубликовано: 27 мар 2020
- The history of MPC models company. There is a correction to be made about the Stutz Bearcat kit. I said MPC repurposed their molds from the "Connoisseur Classics" range for the "Bearcats!" TV series tie-in. According to model and car enthusiast who is familiar with it the situation, it was the other way around. The Bearcat mold was new in late 1971 when the show premiered on CBS. Circa 1974, the molds were reused as part of the CC range. The "Connoisseur Classics" version may have even retained the twin Vickers .30 cal machine guns from the original issue. Also new to the "Connoisseur Classics" kit was a vacuform base with a cobblestone finish.
The '14 Stutz was the odd man in the "Connoisseur Classics" series as the other cars were much later '20-30s models. The car on the kit box top is a authentic Bearcat used in the pilot TV movie "Powderkeg". The kit is of a real 1912-16 Bearcat, not the two George Barris-built replicas used in the series...which have slight differences to a real Bearcat (like the headlight mounts and of course the powertrains).
www.promotex.ca/articles/cawth...
www.toytrainrevue.com/toteff.htm
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GTO Judge commercial by Paul Revere and the Raiders
• Paul Revere & The Raid... 
Развлечения
I still collect these. And I'm 70 years old.
@Scott Robinson So far....
@Scott Robinson Because we drank water from hoses, played with lead soldiers, did not have seatbelts survived "the flu" and had to follow orders inside generally clear-cut boundaries. Also, many fewer "recreational" drugs. We're aging but germ resistant ... ;-)
In the 60's building AMT, MPC, and Johan model car kits was my addiction. And buying the Testors glue, spray and bottle and brush paints! The good old days!
Slot cars
I hadn't heard that phrase since 1977.
I don't know where you come from, but I was born and raised in
Bensonhurst Brooklyn NY.
Our "slot car track" was called "Buzz a rama"
It was on the corner of
Mcdonald's Ave. and Church Ave.
It was once a supermarket but was nicely rebuilt and had
7 large, 7 lane tracks for the large cars and 2 small tracks for the small "home" type home built tracks.
I had 12 large slots and over 50 of the small ones.
MORE SLOT CAR STUFF!
There are a lot of us
"Old guys" that will love it!
Excellent history. The first "customizer" George Toteff hired was Dean Jeffries whose Mantaray was kitted by MPC. Darryl Starbird's Cosma Ray was his only MPC kit. Don't forget Flint Michigan's Carl Casper whose Phone Booth as well as others were done by MPC.Eventually George Barris was on board and did those tv cars & trucks.
Excellent history lesson on MPC! Some of their kits are still available on Amazon. I do wish their 1/72 scale Profile Series WWII aircraft models would make a comeback. I had a few of them as a kid, fifty years ago.
I have a couple that I built and somehow they survived.
Thanks for the reminder, I have one of those Judge GTO's forget if it is assembled, great show!
My dad was a artist/manager for MPC in the late 70's. I remember some of these cars, the Pirates Of The Caribbean models, and....Fundimensions! Thanks for the great video.
cool
All the information about the model companies of my youth that I never knew I wanted to know.
Big props to Tom Lowe of Round 2 for keeping these iconic model brands going. He also breathed new life into Aurora Kits (under the Polar Lights name) and revived the Johnny Lightning 1/64 diecast cars back in the 90s.
Ahh takes me back...riding my bike to-the drugstore to see the new kit releases, and hoping I had enough allowance in my pocket to grab one and some paint! Good times....good times!
Our dad was a flying model builder since his teens (his hobby was the catalyst to our emigration from Argentina to USA in the 60s, but that's another story). When our parents bought their first home here in California, the nearest hobby shop was 20 miles away. Dad had an almost weekly shop run on Saturday afternoon. We would do our chores in the morning, then we'd all pile into the Bug and drive to Hobby Hut in Claremont. While pops shopped for his supplies, little bro and I would peruse the shelves of plastic kits. We would get to chose one kit ($1.99 max....the expensive ones were saved for birthdays and Christmas, like Renwall Atomic Canon or Monograms HUGE B-52), and any paints required. On a rare occasion, we might venture further to some of the better shops in LA or Orange Counties, but those were really expeditions. Dad had built a workshop in the garage, and he assigned us one corner of the bench for our use. We could use any tool of his (after training of course) but had to put it back to it's rightful spot. Fond memories of working along side each other on our models; the smell of airplane dope and castor oil in the air, classical music on the radio. Dad passed away at 83 in 2011, heart attack on his way home from model flying field. I still build, though rarely, and my brother is a well know FX digital model builder.
@@orangelion03 Sweet, sounds like your dad was a great dude.
@@orangelion03 Many shared memories with you. Thank you for sharing. Modeling preceded electronic mindlessness seen in so many adolescents today.
I did the same…highlight of my youth
Those were the days! My first mpd kit was the mako shark. The coolest thing I thought.
These stories take me back. I've acquired new copies of kits I built as a kid. One that has eluded me is the 1967 Indy Turbine Car (1/20)
I had the insanely rare 1/12 scale kit of the STP turbine indycar. Had to sell it when out of work. God knows how much those go for nowadays.
I would imagine that Round2 was able to scoop up some real bargains in buying up the old tooling and rights from dead or dying model brands. That is probably a wonderful thing in that, had they not purchased them, most if not all of them would have either been scraped or mothballed forever! I’m also glad to hear that Round2 is not only American based, but is located in South Bend, IN; adding just alittle more to their already impressive automotive history! Great work, as always!
The white Charger showed in the end piece was Control chiefs car of Get Smart fame. I feel like building a model now, maybe Barnabus' van.
The late Tom West told me about how he chose the General Lee to be based on their NASCAR Charger and the scorn that followed from the Stock Car builders crowd for ruining the mold! The General Lee still holds the record for best selling model!
MPC,AMT,and Johann were always my favs.
My model building was back in the 70's. The MPC models that I put together had problems; mostly body warp as I recall. I put together many AMT's some Monogram, but Revell was my favorite. I have a big backlog of kits to be assembled, some day I'll get back to it!
0:25 I do remember in the mid-70’s building a few of the 1/72 MPC diorama kits...including the Pearl Harbor Attack, The Red Baron’s Last Dog Fight, and at least one more that had a Lee/Grant tank, but the theme of that one escapes me. I think they were basically a vacuum-form base you painted plus an Airfix kit and figures. Great way to get into diorama building as a youth.
The set with the M3 Lee/Grant in it would have been the Guadalcanal kit, with the Japanese Infantry.
When I was 13 my parents bought me my first model kit: An MPC boxed American Airlines DC-10-30 in 1/144 scale. I had so much fun building that model airplane, that from that day on I decided I wanted to be and airplane mechanic so that I could build/paint/repaint the real thing. Over forty years later, I still work my trade thanks to the MPC Model Kit. I don't know if it was a reboxed Airfix kit, but I do remember its great fitting parts.
George Toteff should have his own Wikipedia article. Looks like he was a true technical innovator as well as a competent manager and businessman. Somethiing the "U. S. of America" needs more now than ever..
I agree
Wish I had my old model car collection of 1966 to 1970.Thanks for a great flashback! Great film
Lol my parents bought me one of those Orange Krate Schwinns. Wish I still had it, I hear they are worth a small fortune today!
I built many of those old MPC and AMT kits.I even still have that 63 vette kit in my display case. I did a lot of custom detailing work to it and it still wins awards at model shows.
I just bought both Schwinn kits. I love the Orange Krate.
“bludip, bludip, bludip” Great work, Max. Every episode conjures up another lost memory. Watching the credits is always worth it.
My parents brewed coffee that same way. Loved the smell of that ground coffee.
Space: 1999 was the first scifi series I was really into and over the space of two Xmases I got the Eagle, Moonbase Alpha and the Hawk interceptor, I was so proud of those kits. I think the Eagle was the first thing I was ever satisfied with as far as painting goes. -Q.
Still have my Eagle sitting on my shelf and it still looks great.
Wow, this brings back memories! In the 80´s growing up I was really into 1:25 scale models and MPC (and also AMT/ERTL) stood out from every other company with their imaginative box-art and the 2-in-1 and 3-in-1 choices. Because of all of the extra parts in these kits you would end up with a big collection of mag-wheels, chrome pieces and other stuff that you could incorporate in other builds. It really was good for the imagination. Revell and Monogram and others just seemed boring compared to MPC and AMT/ERTL. Thanks for the video! // Daniel from Sweden
This brings back memories, I remember the first glue together model I ever built at 5 years old, it was a molded in red 1940 Ford made by Pyro it had so much glue on it, it resembled a blob, I still have many unbuilt models, some built ones in the closet, as a kid in the seventies and as a young man in the eighties I had the patience to paint every detail, I could sit there for hours, now at the age of 55 don't know if I still have the skills, maybe one day I'll bust one out of the closet and give it a try, as I've been carrying most of these models around since I was 13!
Best MPC kits were the Mopars from 1965 to 1971.I have a lot of them still sealed.Been building models since I was about 8 years old I’m 68 now still love it.
Back in my mid-60s model-building heyday, MPC was my favorite company, because they made kits of my favorite racing cars of the time (Lola T70, Ford GT40, Mk II and Mk IV, Jim Clark's Indy-winning Lotus, etc.). AMT was 2nd on my list for their super-accurate models of Detroit street cars.
Funny as soon as you showed the Dukes of Hazzard kits I looked up above my monitor and right there on the shelf in front of me was that 1/16 scale General Lee Charger box. Even oriented just like your picture... I had a "Matrix moment" there.
My friend's dad was an avid kit builder into old age. He assured me I'd be a lifelong enthusiast too. While interest did fade long ago, the nostalgia of it all is kinda fun to ruminate on sometimes. Fascinating backstory videos; so well done and paced! 👍
The MPC model I most remember was of the Ford J-car which become the GT40. That was a HARD kit. Both the front and rear bonnets operated as well as the steering. I think it was the most difficult plastic model kit I ever made.
Love your humour... another in a series of interesting and entertaining videos, sure hope we get to meet you in one of your videos, thanks again.
A lot of my childhood was spent building MPC and AMT car kits.
More very fond memories. I can’t remember just how many of the AMT 3 in 1 cars I built. It great to know this after the fact. I guess I will have to listen to this multiple times to have it sink in. Thanks for giving me my youth back again.
Thanks for all your research efforts in producing this and other model company histories. I've been building kits since 1960, but never fully knew their backstories. Hats off to you!
Great stuff Max. I'm loving it.
Another awesome video. Max, you da man!
I just want to thank you for putting together such a wonderful series. Really great.
Great stuff. Thanks for the hard work done.
MPC also manufactured some great model rocket kits back in the early 1970's.
Thanks for puttin these out there Max, sure am enjoying them :)
Your documentaries on the model companies are outstanding. Thanks for doing them.
I loved the Bearcats! I watched that show religiously. Looking back years later after growing up to be a passionate car guy is when I realized it must have been the Stutz.
very enjoyable documentary thank you
Watched the entire video waiting for the BEST MPC kits made, and it wasn't there??!! The "Fabulous Fords" series had opening doors, door windows that slide up and down, and TAMIYA level parts accuracy and detail. As I'm typing this, my Fabulous Fords GT40 and Cougar II are sitting next to me on the shelf. I purchased new kits as an adult and re-built both to modern glue, paint, and my building skills, to really appreciate how nice these kits are. The original "glue bombs" are still in my storage box, just can't let even these child built ones go. Great series of videos by the way, THANKS!
Figured out why, these were IMC and not MPC, SORRY!
Really great work! Really liking the format, and great info. It lets us see what went on behind the scenes of our youth, when we would see these on the store shelves and try to decide which kits to get with our saved allowances. Thanks !!
Well done! Great content, great credits!
Excellent --Thanks for the detailed research!
Learn-ding is fun! Thanks again for another great video on something we all grew up with and spent many hours at this hobby!
Thank you for the great video! In the world of model building Round Two are my heroes! They are doing an awesome job in keeping this hobby alive 🙂
Thank you for these videos and your research, I'm sure that it took up a lot of your time. I've been an MPC fan from when I started building models, I'm 64 now. The Super Stockers Series and the Modified Series were my favorite, but I built about everything they had that I wanted. Thanks again!
Thanks for the wonderful series!
One trivia tidbit I missed in your history of MPC is that they also had a short lived venture into model rocketry when they released a scale plastic model rocket of the TITAN IIIC and the Vostok in 1971. You could build them as a static display model or convert them to fly as real model rockets using 18mm Estes/Centuri motors. The models would return to earth via parachute. Unfortunately for us rocket geeks MPC only came out with the static model version in 2014 omitting the clear fins, body tubes and parachute.
@@alanoldham1700 They put out some nice kits. Right now I'm building the Titan IIIc to be flown with a rocket motor.
Thanks for putting out these great videos of model car companies. It really brought me back to my childhood, my passions as a teen and the joy I took to becoming an adult.. . heh, heh. Now I build computers and modify old ones for gaming.
This is a fascinating series - I'll be adding more kits to my stash soon. If not for the virus lockdown, I would not have watched this..
MPC always had the best Funny Car Models and a lot of fun kits! A lot of that stuff I've seen before, but some of it I have never seen before. Good research! Thanks for sharing.
Great video! I remember buying these kits at my local drug store for around one dollar each. I'm old. (63)
I do remember Max Pax coffee filter ring thingies! One thing about the Fonz Dream Machine, I agree....re-branding the Monkees (I saw them in 1986!!) mobile was lame but still....it came with a figure of the Fonz! Ayyyyy, Whoooaa...how cool was that!
I was doing the "Swim" (in my mind anyways)... during the closing montage! This is a great series you're doing.
Excellent video! Thanks
😂😂😂😂😂
You are having too much fun doing the end credits, aren't you. Another great history lesson and trip through memory lane with the box art.
Some of the first models I personally bought were MPC car kits - from the hobby store I worked at - the 75' Ford Pinto and the Chevy Vega. I still have the Pinto so that one model is 45 years old. I still have others that are at least 55!
I also picked up the X wing, Advanced Tie fighter, Space 1999's Eagle and Hawk and
I was also one of the first people to pickup the Millenium Falcon in 79.
These and several others are in those boxes I was telling you about in another comment stream.
Thank god that companies like Round2 are keeping at least the individual original brand names and not just selling everything under one name.
Brilliant job Max !
I love listening to these when I am model building ;)
thanks
Nice work
Great shares. Thank you
I built a few of the kits back in the day. I have in recent years bought or acquired old kits I saw in early, mid 1970's. I got a 1970, 1971 Mercury Cyclone, 1971, 1972, 1973 Mercury Cougar XR-7, 1971 Chevy Corvette coupe and convertible, 1971, 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner, 1971 Dodge Charger, 1975, 1976 Chevy Caprice Classic, 1971, 1972, 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1, I decided to take up building model cars again.
Another stellar presentation. I hope you will find other hobby explorations of this nature to bring to us.
Really enjoy this series you've made. My first model kit cost 89 cents,.. a Spitfire in a baggie, 1971... I was 6 yrs old. Didn't know how, so I brought it to my friend across the street. Then I begged my mom for 5 dollars to buy the Star Trek Explorer kit! I built a few fighter jets, the space shuttle, Luke's X-Wing, then model rocketry hit Canada in late '70s. I got back into model making in the last 10 years, and I'm working on a Dragon 1/6th scale Schwimmwagen.
Man!!..here’s proof that Angels do walk the Earth!!..🧖🏻♂️✨🌏Thanks so much for all your efforts to educate and bring back such fond memories of one of my favorite hobbies back in the day! I was a Drag Racer (actually STILL do! ) & a BIG fan of MPC Model Cars Kits!! They produced THE BEST renditions of the latest & popular Drag Cars of the ‘70s!! Damn‼️.I so suddenly miss those days & models!! (> _...aaaargh!! ✌🏾😭🤣
This a great series. I hope you can keep it up after you chew through the manufactures.
I just enjoyed ur show. Good night and god bless
when i was in 7th grade they had a national car design contest. I really wanted that 2nd place mini-dune buggy, but I got most excellent use out of the nice 3rd place Rupp Roadster that came off a truck one day several months later. wonder how much smarter I'd be if I hadn't inhaled all that raw toluene...guess we'll never know. Really enjoying this series, thanks!!
Awesome! Brings back a lot of childhood memories! I used to build cars in the 70`s. All I do is armor now, occasionally an aircraft, just to remind me WHY I do armor. I built several MPC cars back in the day, but I always felt AMT kits fit better. Maybe it was just me. Really enjoy these history lessons in our hobby!
@thegarmanz - I started building model cars in the late 1950s. I disagree with the video comment that MPC was giving big competition to AMT and the others. I have no fond memories of the quality of MPC kits - not nearly as good as Revell, Monogram and AMT. Today, Tamiya and Hasegawa are infinitely better quality kits than any of the old American brands. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as technology has improved on the old manufacturing techniques.
@@Loulovesspeed I have to agree with you there. MPC kits seem to always have fit problems.
Wow, I spotted the Malcoo mustang funny car! Remember it well! That last "quote" was hilarious since whenever you went to buy a tube of glue, you were given that look as if you were going to "sniff" it to get high. Another awesome vid Max!
Yeah, lol. I remember one cashier telling me he was okay with me buying tube glue because “he saw me taking my time “ picking out my kit 🙄.
@@trappenweisseguy27 LOL! Too much fun, back in the day!
Awesome video.
MPC and AMT were my go to brands for car models in the early to mid 70's.
I remember the "max-pac" or something similar. I believe Maxwell House brand had them. Nice seeing that Gangbusters kit. Know I know who made them. I must have had everyone they made. Neat kits with a lot of accessories to make a diorama of a heist or a booze run. As for cats and dogs; well dogs have owners and cats have staff. Our cats treat us staff very well. Tanks for doing all the research and posting th information. Looking forward to any future episodes about the hobby industry. And in these trying times, keep well and keep safe.
The Dodge Thunder Charger was used in the Get Smart Tv Episode but sounded like it had a Ford starter when it would not start, he kicked the tire and it started, that was Don Adams, 86 with Platt as The Chief. Episode was from 1965 or 66?
MPC did a kit of the Rupp Minibike which in real life were hugely popular. MPC also sponsored for many years the model car contest at the Detroit Autorama custom car show.
I like the way you use contemporary pictures when talking about people. Its quite interesting to see the fresh faced George T as an AMT employee, and then how he looked by the the time he sold MPC.
Thanks for another informative video! One thing that I've always wondered about MPC is why they didn't make their "Star Wars" kits to any standard scale, the way Bandai is currently doing. By the late 1970's, "box scale" had gone the way of Poodle Skirts and Hula Hoops.
Good stuff, thank you very much.
Many hours spent assembling MPC kit. Have a great day thumbs up stay awesome everyone.
I still have my Batmobile model and some of the other strange Barris idea units, Munstermoile, but also the Tijuana Taxi, The Red Baron and the Turantula dragster.
Thanks Max !
Well I never would have guessed that a few of my models were made by the same company that makes my morning cereal!
Great history and story
I have a few MPC airplane kits in my stash.
Monty Python did your end credits? Love it. A moose once bit my sister.....
Makes sense that MPC would be the exclusive maker of Star Wars kits in the 70s-80s as General Mills was all over the franchise from the action figures, cereal and various bits & bobbles.
Memories, Used to do my own version of the Zingers models of out of scale/proportion hot rods.
I would get a plain car and use parts from a much larger scale hot rod. The results were always the same:
a giant engine with a super air scoop popping out the hood, radical exhaust pipes coming out the sides and giant slicks in the back
with tiny bicycle wheels in the front. My desk was a custom garage with exacto knives, paints, decals, soldering gun and hold over parts from other models.
Loved that old music
My childhood just flashed before my eyes.
MPC introduced a series of custom Motorcycles. One, The Mail Box Chopper was Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's only MPC offering. Detroit customizer Chuck Miller created the "Zingers" in the early 70's and MPC kit offerings were small versions of Miller's 1:1 real offerings.
Really enjoy these histories. Grew up building everything by everybody in the 60s. Would like to see a history of some of the lesser known brands like IMC and UPC (I think UPC had mostly reboxings of Japanese and Frog, sort of like Minicraft in later years).
Love mpc kits..more than amt..tougher to build,more satisfying when they were finished..
as ever WONDERFUL CONTENT - I have subscribed - but been watching your great videos over a few months - would you please consider doing a video on the foreign Model companies - please note there is also NOTHING online about the History of Hasegawa of Japan - so that would be totally unique -
also if time allows a great subject would be Matchbox ( UK ) , then if possible Eduard ( Czech ) , Dragon ( Shanghai ) and Trumpeter ( China ) - anyway - very best regards from Scotland !
Lot of Great Memories
Very interesting thanks alot
I just bought a “few” MPC kits off of eVILBay over the past month or so, I have that 1/20 “High Jacker” Econoline
Van (& I found “The Wizard” as well, never even knew that it existed?) while I was searching for “The Slammer” kit...I forgot ALL ABOUT THE “Hardcastle & McCormick” pick up kit?!?!
One minor clarification about the MPC Toyota 2000GT, it is an Airfix kit. It was a licensed tie in to the Bond film "You Only Live Twice". Airfix marketed it as a Bond kit, but MPC offered it as its own thing. The giveaway is the fact that the kit is a convertible. Toyota cut the top off of two of the cars and made a fake convertible boot for it because Mr. Connery was too big to fit in the hardtop car. The kit also includes Aki as the driver figure and the camera screen Bond looks at. But I have a feeling MPC did tool up that weird bubble top roof for the kit. As I understand it the mold never got shipped back to Airfix in the UK when MPC was finished with it, so it is something of a lost tooling. I was able to get a kit pretty cheap in the early 2000s, but they are much harder to find today.
Always a favorite brand
Thanks for memories