1/48 US Borax Borax Twenty Mule Team and Wagon Death Valley Days - (20 Mule Team)
Plastic Model Kit, Box Condition: VG++
Rare two-box issue. For one reason or another, US Borax started shipping this classic kit in two boxes 'To Ensure Safe Arrival.' The Borax company commissioned this kit as a tie-in to the TV series 'Death Valley Days.' Never started. The black parts are still in the factory sealed bag with instructions. The blue parts bag started to split, but I have inventoried it complete and put the original bag into another bag for safely. Originally a radio program, 'Death Valley Days' had a long run on television and ended as one of the longest running westerns in entertainment history. Very nice kit of the famous borax wagons that would cross 162 miles of Death Valley with 20 mules in the days before the railroad. There was not a single house or other sign of habitation along the route. One leg was 60 miles with no water. The two wagons carried 25 tons of Borax and the mules covered 16 to 18 miles a day with a two man crew. The sturdy wagons were purpose built for the trip. Although they carried huge loads, there is no record of one every being stranded. This kit was primarily sold by direct mail order and was usually sent in a single box; that is how 99% of them I have seen are packed. Admittedly, the parts are really crammed into that one box and damage could result. So this 'two box' system might (I am guessing) have been a result of that. There was also an issue in a full color, larger box but is is almost as rare as the two-box system shown here.
This item has been sold.
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