Palmer and Pyro plastics: a brief history
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- čas přidán 2. 05. 2020
- A quick history of two intertwined model companies, Palmer and Pyro plastics. They were very active in the kit model industry in addition to their other toy and plastics manufacturing.
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I wonder if we could get Round 2 to buy F.W. Woolworth's, and then re-issue it to us. I really miss that place....wooden floors, glass partitions in the counters, and the lunch counter with swivel stools.
AND, don't forget the "Fresh, Hot Peanuts" ✌😀
In the UK Woolworth's were synoymous with Airfix kits through the 1960's, happy memories !!!
I miss the lunch counter at J.J. Newberry & Co. Great banana splits!
I'm ready! Great soft drink floats too.. the counter was affordable and made good memories.. I would much rather have a Woolworths with the counter than the modern era Dollar Store or Dollar General that strictly low budget, and have no food service. Woolworth had a good balance of items
@@jenniferwhitewolf3784 Hi! Enjoyed unlocking the memory vault...hope Max isn't 😠 mad (Mad Max?)
😂😉
and the cool toys too!
Pyro Plastics made nice car kits for their price point. Bought a lot of them at Woolworths. Round2 has the tooling now and reissued them as Lindberg 1/32 kits. The 57 Chevrolet convertible & 49 Ford are my favorites. Again, Thank You for the nice Video on these companies. Nice memories.
Fun fact: some of the prop firearms scattered around Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland are Pyro kits.
cool
I had a plastic army in the 70s. Never knew who made em. Thanks Pyro. And thanks Max.👍
Built the Columbus ships for a school project in '67. Got an A.
I have a few of the Pyro branded pre WW1 aircraft kits boxed up in the basement. I think the popularity of the movie “those magnificent men and their flying machines” really drove this genre for a good 10-15 years.
Dear Trappen, that movie remains one of my Favorites! Fortunately living next to the Golden Age Air Museum in Midway, PA, I get to see the Real Thing sometimes!
If you want to get rid of those basement kits, you can send them to me - I promise to build them! Lindberg has recently re-issued at least some of those old kits -they apparently build up pretty nicely..
I highly recommend the Smithsonian museums, especially the air and space museum, post Covid. I only had one day, but an entire week would be well spent. The kits are quite good for their days. I would probably replace a lot of parts with scratch built pieces though. If a kit has good bones you can always improve them. The large 1/27-28th Revell Sopwith Camel and Fokker Dr1 for example, can be made up into first class models. I did the Fokker 20 years ago. The basic bones were good enough to modify , but the entire interior had to be scratch built. Fortunately there is enough reference material around to do that.
even though they were a good 50 years ahead of my time by the time I found out about them, Ive been collecting palmers for years. The box art is great, and even some of the kits themselves build nice. Nice to see someone put out a good video answering some of my questions on the brand.
I have a Palmer Brontosaurus skeleton. Very old. They were sold at the New York Museum of Natural History. There was also a Woolly Mammoth, maybe others.
See! The live action format is great. You are more interesting to look at than just static stuff. Keep up the good work.
Built the PYRO USS Olyimpia and Maine , remember buying Palmer model cars with high hopes but was always disappointed.Just finished Lindberg Coronado boat kit ,think it was originally a Premier or Palmer.always look forward to your videos Thanks
It was www.scalemates.com/kits/palmer-plastics-1960-century-coronado-twenty-one--1090187
@@maxsmodels Thanks for the reply. kit went together fairly well considering the age of the molds and it even has a rather rudimentary engine.
I built the Olympia too. About 25 yrs ago I got an unassembled kit of Olympia at an shop that sold all sorts oddities. I think it is at my friends house (I live in Thailand now).. I'd have to run down all the right paint etc. Side note: what the heck is "Pla" as in Testor's Pla paint?
Most enjoyable and informative. Thank you, Max!
Living in England I built Pyro's Cutty Sark as soon as it became available here. From memory it was a very easy build. A much older neighbour built some of the replica firearms and let me play with them. The Winchester and Colt .44 I particularly remember.
Nice brief histories. Never saw Palmer but saw the Pyro branded models (the Santa Maria). I was given that for picking up the mail for a family that had been quarantined due to measles.
The birds at 8:15 - 8:26 have a Mark Trail logo on them. Mark Trail was and remains a popular comic strip in newspapers around the country since 1946. It tells the ongoing adventures of a wildlife magazine writer and photographer named, appropriately, Mark Trail. No doubt the reason for the bird models has something to do with the comic strip itself. My guess is the strip was used to promote the model, though vice-versa may be true.
The firecracker comment is appropriate. In the early '60s one of my favorite cars was the Jaguar XKE. (Wasn't it everyone's ?) The only model I ever found of that car was a Palmer or Premier, probably in 1963 or '64. Like the "Corvette" shown in the video, its proportions were off, and it looked like a piece of junk. Firecrackers were illegal in Pennsylvania, but some cousins of neighbors lived in West Virginia and brought me a cherry bomb on one of their visits. That seemed like a fitting tribute to that distorted XKE, so I removed the gear shift lever, drilled the hole through the bottom of the model, and threaded the fuse up through the hole. With the XKE convertible sitting atop the cherry bomb, I placed the model in the middle of our driveway turnaround (probably about 35' x 35'), lit the top of the new "gear shift," and everyone took shelter. After the explosion, only one tire remained, blown about 15 feet away. We never even found any tiny bits of plastic.
boom
I remember the hobby shop at the old Army base at Fort Monmouth used to sell the Pyro antique firearm kits.
They also sold the old Early aircraft from the Early days of flight, like those featured in "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines."
Interesting about the Robert E. Lee kit. I think Lindberg picked that one up.
My dad owned a small family shoe store on Main St in our town. He would use the plastic guns for window displays (I have the old truck "treasure chest" that he had in the window with them). When he sold he store he hung them up in the rec-room for many years. Bet they are still in the rafters at my mom's place. Your videos always bring back great memories!
I can vaguely remember drooling over the Gatling gun & the Luger models. I'm thinking because of my limited Kid Funding. I am channeling days gone by, and I'm getting back that they were relatively pricey.
Just like how modern 1/35 military kits run in the $40-$100+ range. 💰
Thank you for making the video. I am learning a lot. I had 3 Pyro kits when I was a kid: USS Olympia, USS North Carolina, and the Yamato. The Olympia was really pretty good quality. The other two were part of series of about 20 at 1/1200 scale, albeit some of them were from the same molds. Those were crude, but just for nostalgia I built one a few years ago.
The first model I ever built at 4 years old in 1968 was a Pyro 39 or 40 Ford convertible molded in red, even the wheels, when I was done , I used so much glue it resembled a red blob, but that's how I learned!
I still have the 1940 Ford kit. It's in 1/32 scale, like many of today's WWII aircraft kits. I plan to build and park it next to Hasegawa's P-40 kit...someday.
Thanks so much for this series on modelmaking companies! Every video I watch is a glimpse into my past and all of the different models I either purchased or saw. I know I had at least the gatling gun and heart models. I'm finding myself going online to find some of these other kits that I wasnt aware of too!
Loved vintage brass cars - I built then as a kid and still available on eBay.
"I did not know there was a "Plastics Hall of Fame"...was my EXACT reaction to that. Anyway, I remember making some of the gun kits. I seem to remember doing the Pirate pistol and maybe a P38? I KNOW I did the 1860 Army kit, I was really into cowboy stuff when I was a kid (early 70's) .
I did build some of their gun kits. The 1861 Colt Army and a Winchester '73. Also some of the skin covered World War I airplanes, Willie Gaberial's Fokker DVII comes to mind. Thank you for reminding some good memories.
I just built Lindberg's 1948 Lincoln Continental kit, which was a Pyro. Multi-piece body, bad fit, etc. But it was still fun, and rather nostalogic.
Pyro cars in 1/32 were great and Round2 has re-popped a few of those.
Thanks Mr. Max models, really enjoy the personalities that you talk about its nice to see who was driving the industry, cheers.
Have a pyro design a plane set. I still play with it from time to time.
Thanks for the channel Max. It really is most uplifting. I grew up in the 50s in the UK so my memories are somewhat different, but seeing a glimpse of what you kids had available in the US makes my mouth water!
I used to build the Life-like Purple dinosaur kits. I bought some of them recently. Feeling nostalgic.
In the 1980's I drove past a/the Lifelike factory in Baltimore MD twice a day. It was an old industrial building marked with a large sign, above a curve on the Jones Falls Exp., one of the main commuter routes into town. Always meant to get off the highway and visit it, but never did.
Really hitting my childhood now. I built all of the Palmer cannon kits, and still getting them. I also built the Palmer Spanish Conquistador which had plated armor and helmet. I built a number of the Pyro figures, including the cowboy with the saddle. I would love to see these reissued. The Pyro anatomical kits have been reissued by Lindberg. My current project is the Lindberg reissue of the Columbus ships. Simple, but fun. Thanks for this installment.
Another Great video and History lesson Max a Brooklyn and a Union NJ model company. The Pheasant and Mallard Duck kits look like and interesting builds.
Pyro - Setting your hobby on fire since 195x...
I have the Lindberg reissue/reboxing of the Pyro Tuna Clipper. Still a pretty nice kit with lots of potential. Also i did have the Pyro kit of the Laird Turner Meteor 1/32 racing plane (also Lindberg rebox). That one was so terrible that it ended up in the bin, only keeping the decal sheet.
The green army men as well the grey German army men were very fun to play with.
I rember the artwork on many of those kits as a boy.
It was neat seeing the Elsie Gloucester Schooner. I grew up in Gloucester.
Pyro had 4-5 dinosaur models in the early-mid 60s: tyrannosaurus, brontosaurus, stegosaurus, triceratops and maybe ankylosaurus.
They were available at the gift shop of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, where I was born and raised.
Another great and entertaining video. Thanks Max
Thanks again Max for a great video!
Once again; Wonderful memories of Woolworths comes to mind, when purchasing Pyro plastic models, (among others, as well).
Multiple times I recall seeing a large collection of pyro ship models, that seemed like a very small scale, (seemingly approaching the neighborhood of 1/1200).
Thanks however you're right, I don't ever recall seeing a set scale on the tiny ship models.
I believe I remember building the Warspite, among others.
Recalling as a kid, the kind of Civil War centennial, flurry of toy soldiers, and those Pyro models of the gateling gun, and pre molded two color cannons.
Thanks again for bringing back those modeling memories, Max.
We share the same opinion of golf. Finally I can see where my tinnitus comes from. Your videos
just get better and better.
I remember buying the Palmer Brontosaurus and Mastodon skeletons in the mid 1960's.
Kleeware was a British company whose kit line seemed to consist entirely of models from various American ranges, including many Pyro kits. The range seems to have included the Pyro Bird kits, although I have only seen a photo of the Pheasant box.
My father is Pulmonologist so last Christmas a gave him a Lung Pyro kit, great model.
Excellent video have a great day love the music.
Wow Max i NEED one of those ray guns! Great entertainment …..as usual ! i pray Round two get to release some of those unique subjects one day keep up the fantastic work buddy !
Although I have been in plastics since the 50s, I never knew Pyro made so many model types like human eye, lung, and other items etc which I think they were later released by Lindberg. I built some of their ships, good, accurate and attractive. Lindberg made them for a long time and Round2 are still making some.
I currently have a Pyro 1932 Plymouth convertible in my collection.
Fun-tastic!! I remember Pyro kits, or at least their boxes. A 5 Star Dad Joke Award Winner!!! Your Bloopers were hilarious!!! Thanks for the info and laughs!!!! Loved the format!!!!
I think I remember the local hobby store in the 80's - that now is closed - having a flintlock pistol in the window. It was a model. It may have been a Pyro. What is ironic about that is that when the owner of the hobby store retired the son took over. He was shot a year later by a burglar in the store - 14 days before getting married. That is about 25 years ago. Normann's Hobby - it was famous in Denmark for having the largest inventory and the widest range of models of every company in Denmark. RIP. :(
Thanks Max for covering a lot of the old plastic model companies . Since I was a kit collector up to around 6 years ago ; I collected mostly military kits... Could you cover more in detail Life Like and Adams ...Were they before Aurora?
Have a Pyro Bristol Bulldog...itz old but seems well made.. great box art..also had the Bunker Hill pistol when I waz Kid......
I built many of the firearm replicas when i was a kid. I still have several old Pyro kits in my stash. Someday when I just want to punish myself I may even try to build one or two of them...
Great! I bought and built most of the Pyro naval ships and sailing vessels, a few of the smaller antique pistols, and of course a huge number of those little plastic soldier figures.
I built a naval 24 pounder gun kit, with metal-plated barrel. It still exists, since I gave it to my Dad who put it on his dresser top. So it stayed out of range of firecrackers . Didn't recall the maker, but possibly same as the Gatling kit.
Thanks a lot Mr. Max, now "Wolf Creek Pass" is lodged in my ear!
Excellent presentation, as usual.
I built a ton of Life-Like snaps, and sold TONS of them as well. I know that at least until 1983 they were commonly available from wholesalers in Chicagoland.
Health to you and yours.
thanks again
I did a ton of Palmer kits from the 29 cent kits.to the larger ones I got for 68 cents. Palmer kits were hit and miss but defintely a cut above Premier's. My favorites are 63 Buick Riviera, 62 - 63 Tbird 65 - 66 Ford, 67 - 68 Cougar. I. Used to put hot water in a bowl to put. Their generic wheelcovers into their extremely hard plastic tires!
Awesome show
Love this series have learned a lot remember a lot
I remember pyro ship models with wooden masts and vac u form sails.
I was hoping you would cover these subjects! I have quite a collection of both Pyro and Palmer kits. Mostly their Mopar, Cadillac and Studebaker kits. They produced some interesting subjects not covered by other kit manufacturers. Premier was by far the worst at detail and proportion but they had some Studebaker kits that are sought after. Especially the Champ Pick-up. And don't forget the Corvair 95 Rampside pick-up. All of these kits were difficult to put together, thereby giving the builder a greater sense of accomplishment when he finished.
I know this first hand because I grew up on Pyro kits and AMT Jr. Craftsman kits. Among my prized possessions back then were the Pyro '52 Chevy station wagon and the Craftsman '60 Chevy wagon. I guess I had a thing for wagons. I came by it naturally, my dad had a red and white '55 Chevy Bel-Air wagon.
Thank you for producing this video. Great nostalgia. And that ray-gun is too cool!
Very interesting and thank you.
Pyro is a name I had forgotten, but I remember the .44 1860 Army revolver I built around 1982. I don't even remember where I got it!
I was surprised how massive that pistol is! I still have the old Monitor and Merrimac set. I Look at it now and again and realize I don't feel like taking on that much work!
Didn't these guys also do model railroad accessories? Anyway, thanks for another entertaining and informative " Hobby history" video. I really appreciate the work and enthusiasm you put into these! Rock on buddy!
I built the Eiffel Tower and, until today, I would not have been able to name the kit manufacturer. Thanks Max!
That was a big kit!
Love the info
Thank you 🤙
I am looking for some palmer corvette model kits, but they seem impossible to find, I never seen one, but their box art is what sold me in an instant, their draweings look super slick, and the cars look lowered, and sexy.
I had three 1:1 pistol kits - the P08 Luger, Artillery Luger and Walther P38. Very realistic. I don't recall if they were Pyro kits though.
The p-38 was fun to to build.
Love this History, sometimes the history of these companies are just as important as the kits themselves.
Keep up the great work and research, btw I am nearly finished building the Pyro kit Santa Catarina do Monte Sinai and have recently purchased Lindbergs Blackbeard and Flying Dutchman ( aka Sovereign of the Seas and La Flore/Jolly Roger respectively).
I. remember at one stage really Jonesing for those Firearms (my Dad was a Cop and Firearms Instructor, so ...). I did get two of them.....the Wheel-Lock - which was molded in blue plastic, but really needed to be painted, as it was VERY ornate - and the Dual Set of a Derringer and Pepperbox "revolver". The Derringer was the model that John Wilkes Booth used to shoot Lincoln.... If I am not mistaken, I still may have those completed models - I will have to verify....
Thanks for the video on Pyro. Two Pyro custom car kits, the Texan and the Jersey Bounce (I think), were later released by Life-Like and then somehow ended up being issued in East Germany under the brand name MK Modelle. I would love to know how those two molds ended up in East Germany and why.
I grew up in Minn. Don't recall ever seeing these kits. Not saying they were never sold here. Just never saw them in the shops I visited .
The Pyro Table Top series of British and German ships made in the early ‘60s were originally manufactured by a British company called Eaglewall, and later Eagle models. The original Eaglewall series (1/1200 scale) included many additional models, including more British cruisers, destroyers, escort ships, and freighters (for convoys). It also included German destroyers, escorts and support ships, and, perhaps u-boats. Great models, and often sell for a significant price on eBay, when they occasionally crop up. Lindbergh has marketed some of these in their twin kits, like Bismarck/Prinz Eugen, Prince of Wales/Norfolk and the two Pyro sets, Yamato/Shokaku and North Carolina/Essex (which we’re NOT Eaglewall). The latter were also NOT 1/1200 kits.
Another great video Max, thank you, I have built a few pyro kits mainly the "historic" highway pioneers, really liking the blooper reels lol
Rick B aka Plastic butcher
That X-400 is super sweet. I wonder how much it would sell for today.
I have the Lindberg reissue of the '48 Lincoln Continental. I remember a hobby shop near me in the mid '70s having one on a very high shelf, and never for sale with the rest of his kits. Now that I have one, I see the differences in detail with other kits of that time. Looks like I'm going to be doing a lot of resin casting and scratch building utilizing Ford kits from that era. Or I might want to use a Monogram Continental, if I can find one at a decent price.
i remember the palmer kits with the multi piece bodies ... thanks for the research
OMG! I had one of those Gatlin Guns that I got from Woolworths back when I was a kid. I'd forgotten all about it until this video came out. Now I'm gonna want to find one somewhere.
Thanks again for the memories! I had some Palmer 1/32 cars which were Revell and some Pyro 1/48 airplanes which were Inpact from England. The Inpact kits were very fine, still the best available in many cases even now. I still have a Bristol Bulldog in a Life Like box. The Life Like "press-cals" were ahead of their time and nearly worthless. Life Like did an extensive range of HO Railway buildings. They did exact copies of famous chains like McDonalds and later had to change them because they never got permission- some before and after photos of the boxes would be hilarious. I did build some Bird kits when I was a kid, also insects and Dr.Seuss- I wonder who made them? As for the various ship scales, we had nomenclature for them in the hobby store biz. They were called FTB or Fit the Box scale. Revell also did a lot of FTB scale ships.
I was a pyro when i got tired of a model !
touche
Same plus a BB gun.
I remember having and building the pyro GeeBee. That is the ONLY Pyro kit I ever had.
still have most of my pyro and life like sailing kits, namely the staten jacht, the The Revenge, Gouda, etc. Though it has been over 40 years I hope to build them someday.
Bill Lester and family lived in Mountainside, NJ in the 50's. Went to school with his daughter Gay Lester. Think it was the late 50's he donated some model kits to the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. He might have been checking the market with certain toys. The kids thought it was pretty cool.
Great video as usual..i
looking forward to life-like. i built a lot of their kits, including the long tom cannon and the chuck wagon. leewards stores carried a lot of their kits.
What you said regarding dime store bin toys was intriguing. Back in the 60s my grandfather would take us to Ben Franklin. They had particularly well molded B-25 and B-29 red plastic toys. Propellers turned great when you hung them out the car windows driving home. Wonder who made those? BTW, great series you have created. Thanks!!!
I remember as a young kid, went with Mom to the Jitney Jungle grocery store. They had an aisle bin of cheap model kits. Mostly Hawk models. I talked her into buying me the 1/72 F4U Corsair and F4D Skyray. The bin didn't last though. Likely didn't sell well in a grocery store.
I dont remember Palmer, but I do remember seeing Pyro. If I built anything of theirs it would have been the Dinosaurs. Back then everyone thought I would grow up to be a Palentologist1 cause I was so into Dinosaurs. I remember there were only a few companies that made Dinosaurs and I seem to remember them being Pyro.
Pyro had a range of 1930’s kit. Bristol Bulldog for example. 1/48 I believe. Really nice kits on a rare topic. I built some. A good buy.
I have a life-like 1/48 scale Hawker Fury, still in the box.
I've never seen the Kentucky rifle kit, but it sure would be neat to build one.
Remember building The Robert E Lee, the Gloster fishing boat and a couple of the pistol kits.
Vaguely remember the old cannons with brass plating(naval) and field guns. The Thompson 1:1 sub machine gun...the variety and really good quality which has been returning to kits in last few years(except Mach2)(yeah me again). Finally settled on aircraft. Ah the Monogram 48 scale series, lots of working parts(that Revell removed. Moved out of home for 6 months on business, returned and all gone including tri-ang train sets. The brothers needed money. Settled on 1/72 aircraft and behind me is a cabinet hand built like stacked suitcases in clear plastic windows and trays 84h, 32wide and 42 wide...people go ape! Also go to flea markets and buy up old HO train cars and buildings, rebuild and modify. Found several part kits of Revell engine house series. BY SHEER CHANCE(!), I found a complete Con-Cor kit(box art same as Revell). Got the doors to work but not practical(warped plastic). Put all the bits together to make a double size unit, doors still a work in progress; YES, I"M RETIRED. Found a Cox Container crane (works) last week(circa mid 70's). The point? It's all still out there, gotta keep searching, searching...Anyways Max, love your new format, it's well...more human...from the city by the Thames River(no we do Not have Big Ben)
i bought one Palmer model and never again. It was crap. Pyro made some great 1/32 car models. I built a lot of them. No experience with the other brands.
I built the cannon, the Gatling Gun, and a WWI field piece which they also offered but you did not include. I built most of the small sailing ship models; I had the impression from reading books that they were less than accurate, but still great fun to build and rig with thread.
Hello Max, thank you for your videos, I really enjoy them. Palmer also did a couple of prehistoric animal skeletons. In my collection, on the pile waiting to someday get built, I have their Brontosaurus and Mastadon kits. They are very nice models, not toys. I hope you'll do a video on Nichimo some day. Along with some aircraft, they did a great series of Japanese warships in 1/200 scale.
I probley seen them when I was younger.but i don't recall.I rember the toy soldiers.at the 5 & 10 store.I still have some small cars .that was never built. Thanks again.
Seei remember Palmer made a pladtic circus set 60 or 70mm. Strong man tall man, lion tamer with separate whip and revolver, sword swallower with separate sword, ring master. A seadiver set of scuba divers.
Columbus's ships were the'Santa Maria', the 'Nina' and the'Pinta'. I know this because it's written in the Nina kit instructions which I bought and biult back in seventy- somthing!. Great to see that box art again.
Bought a bunch of Life-Like stuff out of Woolworths and Gibsons.
I want to remember that Life-Like may have bought Peerless/Max. But, I have a contrary memory that the Peerless military kits were bought by ESCI, to wind up with Testors/Italeri.
I remember the Pyro name and olden times gun kits. Not too sure if I saw a Palmer kit but do remember Gatling gun and cannon kits. You are correct in saying the gun kits sold well in countries with strict gun control laws. PYRO and L&S were popular gun kits in Canada.