Eldon model car kits

[unclescott58]

I’m wondering what happened to Eldon’s custom model car kits from the late 60’s, or early 70’s. I know that a Japanese model company reissued some of them somewhere a long the line. I only know of the six seen below. Of which I had three. The Pink Panther, the Milk Truck, and the Bathtub. Where there more? I’d love to see the three I had reissued. I remember them as being fairly fun kits to build. 

I’d like to know more about the history of these kits. They must not have sold all that well since Eldon never issued more kits than that, that I know of? In fact I don’t remember seeing any Eldon’s slot cars, or anything else from them shortly after these kit came out. 

 

[oldscool]

I bought the Bathtub and Invader kits when I was a teen but never built them. Don't know what became of them. They appeared to be pretty nice kits.

[Richard Bartrop]

Doyusha acquired them some time around '76, and it looks like they last released them some time in the '80s.  They did have some pretty nice box art.

[1972coronet]

the Bathtub [sic] must be powered by Compressed Natural Gas

[Mark]

The Sand Draggin box fine print reads: "made in Japan to Eldon specifications".  Doyusha probably tooled those kits for Eldon to sell in the USA market, and retained ownership of the tooling when Eldon exited the model kit business.  Why they quit is a mystery; these kits aren't bad, especially for first efforts. 

Doyusha has reissued five of the six; for some reason the Sand Draggin has not resurfaced.  The kit choices weren't bad: the Invader is one of a handful of Oakland Roadster Show/AMBR winners made in kit form.  

They weren't all built by Bob Reisner as mentioned on the Doyusha reissue boxes.  Dan Woods built the Milk Truck, Jim "Jake" Jacobs built the Outhouse, Joe Bailon built the Pink Panther car.  Reisner did build the Invader and (probably) the Sand Draggin.  I don't recall who built the Bathtub (George Barris built the single tub version that Monogram kitted-- the only Barris car that company ever did).

[iBorg]

I second the motion that these would be great to see reissued. I fear that with a 40 year span since they were last issued that the molds are long gone. Overall the kit quality seemed better than the Monogram show cars, which seemed accuracy challenged but giving an easy build. The MPC and Revell (Roth) show cars were more accurate but also quite fiddly. These fell in between those kits. 

I do think what prevented these kits from greater success is lack of distribution. These were released about the time that K Mart was the largest seller of kits in the US but I don't believe these kits were sold by mass merchandisers. I only saw these at one hobby/toy store. 

[Mark]

I don't remember ever seeing the Eldon packaging of these kits in any store back in the day.  I did have the Sand Draggin, but I got that one as a gift.

The model car kit market was in a decline in the late Sixties, as baby boomers were going to college, getting married, or getting drafted.  That would have been a tough time for a newcomer, as Palmer's PSM brand proved, as did Aurora's short-lived comeback attempt around that time.

[unclescott58]

37 minutes ago, Mark said:

I don't remember ever seeing the Eldon packaging of these kits in any store back in the day.  I did have the Sand Draggin, but I got that one as a gift.

The model car kit market was in a decline in the late Sixties, as baby boomers were going to college, getting married, or getting drafted.  That would have been a tough time for a newcomer, as Palmer's PSM brand proved, as did Aurora's short-lived comeback attempt around that time.

“Palmer’s PSM brand”? I know Palmer. But, I know nothing about “Palmer’s PSM brand”. Tell us more. 

[mrm]

These were far from accurate representations of the real cars and they are very lacking in detail. To the point where entire major assemblies are completely missing. Like for example the Pink panther does not come with a steering wheel or anything resembling a steering system. The chassis could be mistaken for a sprue tree. The Outhouse's interior does not have much in common with the real car and if I remember correctly the drivetrain is also wrong. Similar issues plague the Invader also. These are the three I have experience with, but I can't imagine the story is very different with the rest of them.

   Having said that, I would love to see these reissued and I would gladly buy multiples. 

Edited August 17, 2022 by mrm

[Mark]

6 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

“Palmer’s PSM brand”? I know Palmer. But, I know nothing about “Palmer’s PSM brand”. Tell us more. 

For 1970, Palmer made three 1/25 scale car kits that were an  attempt at competing with AMT and MPC: one-piece bodies, more detail.  Their Corvette was pretty much a copy of an MPC kit, with some different optional parts.  Same for their Dodge Challenger.  Their Boss 302 Mustang (with a 428 engine!) copied parts from AMT and MPC.  These kits had a few unique parts like Firestone radial tires (so lettered on the sidewalls).  The Mustang had the Ford "black stripe" hubcap/trim ring wheels that nobody else included in a kit until Round 2 put them in their '71 Mustang reissue.  These three kits ended up with Lindberg and were reissued by them with some changes.  The Mustang had been modified by Palmer to look somewhat like a '71, the Challenger was updated to '71 and later '72.

Lindberg's '40 Ford coupe was also an ex-PSM kit, one they never released.  It was largely cribbed from AMT's kit.  Supposedly they had started on a '36 Ford kit (another AMT copy) but didn't get too far on that one, if at all. 

[unclescott58]

2 hours ago, Mark said:

For 1970, Palmer made three 1/25 scale car kits that were an  attempt at competing with AMT and MPC: one-piece bodies, more detail.  Their Corvette was pretty much a copy of an MPC kit, with some different optional parts.  Same for their Dodge Challenger.  Their Boss 302 Mustang (with a 428 engine!) copied parts from AMT and MPC.  These kits had a few unique parts like Firestone radial tires (so lettered on the sidewalls).  The Mustang had the Ford "black stripe" hubcap/trim ring wheels that nobody else included in a kit until Round 2 put them in their '71 Mustang reissue.  These three kits ended up with Lindberg and were reissued by them with some changes.  The Mustang had been modified by Palmer to look somewhat like a '71, the Challenger was updated to '71 and later '72.

Lindberg's '40 Ford coupe was also an ex-PSM kit, one they never released.  It was largely cribbed from AMT's kit.  Supposedly they had started on a '36 Ford kit (another AMT copy) but didn't get too far on that one, if at all. 

Interesting. I built the Lindberg ‘40 Ford. It was not bad. But not great either. The box art on Lindberg (re)issue of the Mustang and Challenger were enough to scare my away from them. And now hearing your expiation of their origins, I understand why. The only reason I ended up with their ‘40 Ford, is it came with Lindberg’s reissue of IMC’s Dodge L-700 and flatbed trailer. In the end, with a little work, the ‘40 Ford turned out pretty darn good. 

[CabDriver]

6 hours ago, mrm said:

Like for example the Pink panther does not come with a steering wheel or anything resembling a steering system.

In their defense, the original version of the car didn't have a steering wheel either - just some levers to steer it like a skid steer

In this video (around the 20 second mark) you can see this guy trying hard not to crash it - it looked kinda 'twitchy' to drive...

[Mark]

For first efforts, those kits weren't bad.  Some of the parts look like they were cribbed from other kits.  The Sand Draggin rear tires look like the two-piece plastic sand tires in some AMT and MPC dune buggy kits, only rubber and one piece.  The Toronado drivetrain in the Sand Draggin looks like it is copied from Jo-Han parts, with custom valve covers from the Revell Anglia/Thames kits.

[unclescott58]

42 minutes ago, CabDriver said:

In their defense, the original version of the car didn't have a steering wheel either - just some levers to steer it like a skid steer

In this video (around the 20 second mark) you can see this guy trying hard not to crash it - it looked kinda 'twitchy' to drive...

Fun to see the video. I forgot about that intro, until seeing it again. Also check out the YouTube video from “Little Cars”, on the car itself. Good history on the car, and shows the end of the show with the car leaving the theater and the cartoon Pink Panther chasing after it. See this stuff, really makes me wish I still had the Pink Panther model kit. 

[Carmak]

5 hours ago, Mark said:

For 1970, Palmer made three 1/25 scale car kits that were an  attempt at competing with AMT and MPC: one-piece bodies, more detail.  Their Corvette was pretty much a copy of an MPC kit, with some different optional parts.  Same for their Dodge Challenger.  Their Boss 302 Mustang (with a 428 engine!) copied parts from AMT and MPC.  These kits had a few unique parts like Firestone radial tires (so lettered on the sidewalls).  The Mustang had the Ford "black stripe" hubcap/trim ring wheels that nobody else included in a kit until Round 2 put them in their '71 Mustang reissue.  These three kits ended up with Lindberg and were reissued by them with some changes.  The Mustang had been modified by Palmer to look somewhat like a '71, the Challenger was updated to '71 and later '72.

Lindberg's '40 Ford coupe was also an ex-PSM kit, one they never released.  It was largely cribbed from AMT's kit.  Supposedly they had started on a '36 Ford kit (another AMT copy) but didn't get too far on that one, if at all. 

I have a Palmer "PSM" 71 Challenger and with a little work it would make a nice model. The body proportions are nice and it has the standard dash. The chassis is really bad but this will be easy to replace. I wish the Lindberg version of the kit included the nice hood that is in this 71.

[stavanzer]

Not to drag this too far off track, but Lindberg boxed this kit twice.

[cobraman]

I built a couple of the Eldon kits back in the day and as I recall they were darn nice. I also had an Eldon Electronic slot car set that was pretty cool. You could change lanes in a couple places or your racing buddy. Both cars could also run in the same lane. I was a lot of fun .

[stitchdup]

It could be argued that eldon opened up the japanese model companies to the american market possibilities. It seems eldon were the first to market japanese kits in the usa as most of their toy line was repackaged japanese toys. Didn't slot cars from usa manufacturers make a lot of improvements about this time?

[Mark]

Slot racing's heydey was from about 1962-66.  It rapidly fell off, and, other than HO scale (which Aurora pretty much owned at that time), slot racing was a small-time thing by the end of the Sixties.

[lordairgtar]

I have the Invader, the Outhouse and the Snap Draggin. Outhouse is built and sitting in my display case

[unclescott58]

1 hour ago, lordairgtar said:

I have the Invader, the Outhouse and the Snap Draggin. Outhouse is built and sitting in my display case

Any photos? 

[Oldcarfan27]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:53 PM, 1972coronet said:

the Bathtub [sic] must be powered by Compressed Natural Gas

Nope, the Outhouse is the one with natural gas in it! 😂

[Rocketman455]

Here's the PSM Corvette. Its actually a pretty nice kit

[Rocketman455]

[lordairgtar]

On 8/18/2022 at 12:05 PM, unclescott58 said:

Any photos? 

I will try and post one.