| Industry | Hobbies |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1945 |
| Headquarters | Elk Grove Village, Illinois United States |
| Products | Model kits |
| Parent | Hobbico |
| Website | http://www.revell.com/ |
Monogram has been a premier maker of scale models of aircraft, spacecraft, ships, cars, and military vehicles since the early 1950s. The company was formed by two former employees of Comet Kits, Jack Besser and Bob Reder. After thirteen years as a fully owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards' Binny and Smith unit, Hobbico announced it was acquiring Revell-Monogram in 2007 (Funding Universe webpage).
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Monogram was founded in Chicago in 1945 making balsa wood model kits of ships and airplanes. Seaships such as the USS Missouri battleship, the USS Shangri-La carrier and the USS Hobby destroyer were the first products. Meanwhile a company called Revell started making plastic kits in 1953, and Monogram responded with "All Plastic" "Plastikits" the first of which were a red plastic midget racer and a "Hot Rod" Model A - and the modeling race was on (Funding Universe webpage). These two cars, and later an Indianapolis style racer and hydroplane racing boat, were also offered with C02 "Jet Power". Early kits advertised that the models were made from "acetate parts molded to shape" showing how the plastic industry was new and not yet being taken for granted.
Early airplane models were mainly balsawood, but more plastic parts were added over the next couple of years. By 1954 the airplane lineup consisted of the 'Speedee Built' series which flew under rubber band power. A few of these planes were all plastic. Also seen were the Superkits with prefabricated balsa fuselage, but more plastic parts.
In the late 1950s, Monogram hired modeler Sheperd Paine to construct and paint models and write the instruction booklets (DeRogatis 2005). During the 1960s Monogram was always right in the mix, if not the lead, focusing more on automobile models, which was the trend. Through the 1970s competition required increased production of a variety of fantastical custom, Hot Rod, and race cars of all types.
As the 1960s progressed, Monogram and Revell squared off as rivals in the scale model market. While companies like AMT and MPC focused almost exclusively on cars, Monogram and Revell diversified into aircraft, naval craft and other military vehicles. Monogram aircraft kits were known for imaginative "operating features", such as a spring-loaded ejection seat on their F-105 Thunderchief model (operated by a tiny plastic tab on the side of the plane) and a tactical nuclear bomb which could be dropped from the RB-66A model - which also featured a moving tailgun turret.
By the late 1950s, however, the company was moving steadily into the car scene especially with its Hot Rods and race cars. In 1956 it released a Sprint Car, one of its first car kits. In 1959 its 1932 Ford Deuce 5 window coupe was issued. One 1962 kit, however, showed the company's prowess and intent - the "Big T" (kit PC 78). This was a huge 1/8 scale 1924 Ford Model T rod complete with hot-rodded Chevy engine. The 24 page 8 1/2 x 11 inch instruction booklet showed that the model came with an optional electric motor to power the wheels and featured customizing tips by Darryl Starbird, the famous Kansas customizer (Monogram 1962). The manual also shows how sophisticated the company's catering was toward Hot Rod culture - long before Hot Wheels or the Detroit muscle car craze.
Whereas Revell carried many foreign cars and AMT and MPC handled the promo markets (and so moving forward with most of the American car brands), Monogram always had kept its hand, more conservatively perhaps, in aircraft and military vehicles. Into the 1970s, however, Monogram often focused exclusively on Hot Rods and customs. While AMT had customizers George Barris, the Alexander Brothers, and Bill Cushenberry, and MPC had Dean Jeffries, Monogram hired stylist Tom Daniels to do a variety of creations not always based on real cars.
When the company was bought by Mattel about 1970, Tom Daniels and other custom vehicles were seen in both small and large sizes in Hot Wheels diecast - and then in Monogram kit form. Examples seen in diecast and also plastic kit form were the Ice-T buggy, the Red Baron, the Paddy Wagon, the S'cool Bus, the Sand Crab, and the Tarantula (even made by Mattel subsidiary Mebetoys of Italy) (Tom Daniel website). Some of the most handsome vehicles were the simpler rods without the crazy trappings like the "Son of Ford" '32 Ford rod and the "Boss 'A' Bone", a rodded '29 Model A pickup. Models of later vehicles were also common. A couple of examples were the sleek "Street Fighter", a Daniels designed '60 Chevy panel truck powered by a Z/28 Camaro engine (the "Quicksilver" was another variation of the same kit), and the 1955 Chevrolet "Bad Man" gasser (Tom Daniel website). By 1970 or so, many of these models were molded in bright reds and oranges and did not require painting.
Monogram offered a variety of more official race cars as well, again often leaving foreign vehicles to Revell which had established a Germany subsidiary. Monogram examples were the Tom McEwan driven Duster "Mongoose" funny car and its rival the Barracuda "Snake" driven by Don Prudhomme. Of course, both of these cars were offered by Mattel well as smaller Hot Wheels.
In 1984 Mattel divested itself of many companies not associated with its traditional toy industries (Funding Universe website). In 1986, Monogram was bought by Odyssey Partners of New York. Later that same summer, Odyssey purchased Revell Models of Venice, California. Subsequently Odyssey Partners merged Revell with Monogram and moved all its usable assets to Monogram's Des Plaines, Illinois Plant Number 2. After Revell was merged with Monogram, company headquarters was moved a short distance to Northbrook, Illinois.
In the early 1990s, Revell-Monogram embarked on an unfortunate experiment that tried to match historic modeling logos with a CD-Rom racing car game. After investing nearly $4 million, parents couldn't distinguish model from game and the project was scrapped after only 50,000 were sold (Wallace 1994). Also in the early 1990s, Monogram sold their 1/87 Mini Exacts HO series to Herpa, where some of the models continue to be sold even today. One difference from the normal Herpa models was a metal chassis.
In 1994 Revell-Monogram was purchased by Hallmark Cards as part of its Binney and Smith division (the owners of famous Crayola crayons). This relationship lasted for thirteen years.
In May 2007, Hobbico Inc., the radio control airplane maker, announced the acquisition of Revell-Monogram LLC. From 1987 to 2005 the Monogram logo had appeared underneath that of Revell, but since the Hobbico acquisition, the Monogram name has disappeared. Now the Revell logo stands alone as Hobbico renamed the subsidiary the Revell Group, which consists of both revered names (See the Revell-Monogram webpage for an interesting graphic progression of the development of the two companies' logos going back to 1945 - see Revell-Monogram 1996-2011). Concerning plastic kits, Hobbico also owns Estes, and is the exclusive distributor of Hasegawa, as seen on their company websites.
Monogram was a prolific model producer. The following lists are definitely not all-inclusive:
Aircraft
Cars
Armor