1/32 Revell 1903 Cadillac Action Miniatures - Pre Highway Pioneers
Plastic Model Kit, Box Condition: VG+
From the very early 1950s; very rare and in the original box. It is easy to forget that the birth of the modern USA model kit industry was an accident. Before the plastic kit age, Revell, Gowland & Gowland, Aurora and others were completely involved in making toys and an occasional injection molding contract job. Toys were the way to make money, but it was risky business and hit-or-miss. J.P. Gowland was a very creative and innovative toy company with many patents and they often sold their ideas to other companies or marketed them through another manufacturer. Gowland created many other action toys such as Champ, Chu-Chu the Maxwell and many more. What would become the Highway Pioneers began as the 'Revell Action Miniatures.' The simple car model was factory assembled and airbrushed, then a 'Controlit' knob and flexible metal control line was attached to the car, braced at the lower radiator and then hooked to the rear differential, which was mounted on a pivot. When you moved the lever, the rear end jumped down, throwing the back of the car into the air and somewhat forward. Well, someone at Revell or Gowland got the very bright idea that perhaps these would sell without the Controlit attachment and in parts that had to be assembled! It was a smashing success that swept the entire country...thus the Highway Pioneers and the modern US Plastic Modeling industry was born. When you look at your early Highway Pioneers models, you can spot the older 'Action Miniature' molds because these is a round acceptor molded into the lower part of the radiator, which braced the front of the Controlit assembly. The hinged rear end was unique to the Action Miniatures and was eliminated for the Highway Pioneers. This example is in excellent condition as shown with the original box. The Controlit action feature works perfectly. These were very short lived because of the wild success of their non-assembled, non-action version, the Highway Pioneers. Before the 1950s 'model building' never made the top 10 list of boy's activities. Hobbies were nothing new to America in the 1930s/40s, but they were not mainstream. Shortly after the turn of the century, many dedicated modelers built flying or static airplanes, ship, train, automotive or other subjects. Basic kits existed, but the majority of these models were built from scratch, which demanded a high talent level developed from years of experience. That changed in the early 1950s. The phenomenon of the Revell/Gowland & Gowland 'Highway Pioneers' car kits was a significant force in proving that model building as a hobby could have mass appeal, provided that the kits were easy enough to build and finish. These 1/32 scale vehicles could be built in an hour after dinner and looked much like the real car. The Highway Pioneers series lead to the production of other subjects in plastic and the effect was revolutionary. By the early 1960s, model building was the #1 past time of American boys.
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