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AMT model kit catalog - 1976

TREK_GOD_1

TREK_GOD_1

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The 1976 AMT model kit catalog is a mini joy, as it--on the 10th anniversary of TOS--illustrates how popular TOS was as a TV series and merchandising property.

Obviously, the catalog features more than ST kits, so i'm only posting the ST-centric pages.

Cover:

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Contents page:

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Close up of the Contents image:

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The good stuff:

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Note the use of "war bird" for the BOP--I wonder if this is 1st time the name was used in ST....

Preview of 1977:

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With the anniversary medallion, the Gold Key comic series still going strong and the last wave of Mego ST figures released, it was great time to be a TOS collector!
 
Thanks for posting this! :bolian:

I built every one of these ST kits, including two each of the Enterprise and Klingon ship. That seems like a different lifetime now.
 
Awesome stuff. I appreciate that you took the time to upload it, TREK_GOD_1. :techman:
 
My pleasure, guys! TOS was the heart and backbone of AMT during the 70s, and even as Trek kits were produced well into the next few decades based on the movies and Berman series, I doubt the kits retained such a strong, commercially successful status as seen at time of this catalog's publication.

It would be interesting to see how the late 60s AMT catalogs advertised TOS when the series was first run on NBC.
 
Way back before "home video", how many thought that the "UFO" was actually part of the ST universe?
 
Klingon Battle Cruiser - flown by "bad guys" of deep space.

:lol:

That's awesome.
 
I made almost all of these, I never found a bridge kit, and was never even aware of the K7 station. That looks like a COOL kit. Wish I'd have seen that one.
 
I'm pretty sure I had the Ford Custom Van listed in the '77 catalog. :lol:
 
E-DUB said:
Way back before "home video", how many thought that the "UFO" was actually part of the ST universe?
Click to expand...

I think many believed it was some ship intended to appear on TOS, but somehow missed its big debut. In the late 60's the kit was called the "Leif Ericson" molded in a silver/gray tone, and was supplied with a cardboard record (45 rpm).

Some used to believe that due to AMT's relationship with Roddenberry/ST (see: the Galileo), and the name "Leif Ericson" was used by Marla McGivers to describe Khan in "Space Seed" meant the kit design was to be Khan's sleeper ship, but that's just conjecture--stringing a few random coincidences together.

What we do know is that the ship design was from the pen of Matt Jefferies, and years after TOS, the design was considered for use on the Filmation animated series--which would have been good for AMT, since they already had the existing kit to simply repackage with their ST graphics if the ship appeared on TAS.

Still, even without a direct association with TOS, the LE/UFO being AMT's only sci-fi themed kit outside of ST gave it the credential necessary to be lumped into the ST line (sort of similar to Aurora shoehorning its Ragnarok air force plane into a 1975 reissue program with its sci-fi TV & movie-based kits).

I guess it did not matter, as many a kit builder or collector bought the "Leif Ericson" / "Interplanetary UFO" kit and set it right next to their U.S.S. Enterprise model (drooping nacelles included :) ).
 
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Leif Ericson kit can be found here...

http://www.projectrho.com/SSC/index.html

AMT wanted to start a line of space opera type ships that would not be tied into any other property (so it could avoid license fees and whatnot) and hired Matt Jefferies to design it. Alas, the kit did not sell in the numbers AMT had hoped, so the plans for additional ships in the line were cancelled.

The kit was re-released in the early 70s labeled as the "Interplanetary UFO" and cast in "glow in the dark" plastic. The box art was updated to promote the GitD feature and it paralleled the appearance of the Trek kits' box art, leading to the natural assumption it was part of the Trek line.

I strongely suspect that was a calculated move by AMT to help sell the kit. Can't say that I blame them. Since Jefferies designed the ship, it "blended" easily with the Trek line.

Sincerely,

Bill
 
Redfern said:
I strongely suspect that was a calculated move by AMT to help sell the kit. Can't say that I blame them. Since Jefferies designed the ship, it "blended" easily with the Trek line.

Sincerely,

Bill
Click to expand...

Oh, yes--as in the Aurora example, companies would repackage an old kit in a heartbeat if they believed it would get a new lease on shelf life. The LE/UFO did not look like the ST ships, but it was still "alien" enough to serve as a supplement to the proper line.

...and let us not forget that cool scout ship!
 
I always wished the K-7 model had been more accurate, but even so it was a cool item. I painted mine silver with gold cones. Note our old stereo with a rack of 8-track tapes. :)

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Sadly, I didn't even think to photograph most of my models back when they still existed. That was when you had to go out and buy film. And after shooting something, you had to take the film back to be developed, wait a week to ten days, and then go back again to pick up your prints. It was a pain.

So all I have now is a couple of vintage snapshots.
 
ZapBrannigan said:
Thanks for posting this! :bolian:

I built every one of these ST kits, including two each of the Enterprise and Klingon ship. That seems like a different lifetime now.
Click to expand...

Agree.:vulcan: I built these kits too as a boy in the '70s. You are so very correct "That seems like a different lifetime now".:sigh:
 
Such good memories. That and the Estes 1980 catalog--and an early Corgi one on tank destroyers were my favs
 
publiusr said:
Such good memories. That and the Estes 1980 catalog--and an early Corgi one on tank destroyers were my favs
Click to expand...

Your Estes ref reminded me of how I got the Centuri 69 catalog for model rockets around my 9th birthday ... but then couldn't actually acquire any rockets or engines till around 1974, just before I got into high school. The catalog had completely disintegrated before that time, so I had hole punched every page to get it into a binder so 'when the time came' I'd be able to order that "Laser-X" rocket that hovered in my dreams. (Instead the first one I got was this little nothing -- not sure if it was Estes or Centrui -- called THE VULCAN -- gee, wonder how they settled on THAT name?)

A friend of mine bought the huge Pershing model ... I think it was 41" tall and four inches in diameter and took a 'D' engine. It was the only model rocket I've ever seen that rose SLOWLY, even majestically (sucker was HEAVY!) It only got up to maybe 100 or 120 feet before it wobbled in the air and the chute deployed, but it was so damned impressive.

On the modelmaking end ... does anybody else remember making really appalling kitbashes? I remember one a friend did for one of my first Super-8 flicks, I was horrified when I saw it.

Klingon front end and boom, attached to the cargo module from a 1999 Eagle, with Enterprise struts & nacelles coming (and drooping) off the sides of the cargomod. Even painting it black and setting it on fire didn't make me feel better about it.
 
My buddy Kyle took the tapered triangular base some of the ship kits employed, "sandwiched" two of them into a "clam-shell" arrangement and glued the Enterprise warp nacelles upon the upper half, towards the outer edge. probably his first "kit bash".

Sincerely,

Bill
 
I had always hoped for a replacement lower saucer for the Estes Enterprise rocket to use for display when not flying. The B/C deck was similar to the AMT--it had no grid though--as todays repops don't.
 
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