History of Monogram's Squarebody GM Pickups

[leafsprings]

On 4/19/2020 at 2:23 PM, Casey said:

Monster truck fever was apparently still going strong in 1988:

Thanks for reminding me on the reasons I stopped building models in the 80's,  the scene was getting corny!

[Casey]

From the 1978 Monogram catalog:

 

[Luc Janssens]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

From the 1978 Monogram catalog:

 

I'm ten again

 

[1972coronet]

2 hours ago, Luc Janssens said:

I'm ten again

I'm eight again !  I'd had each one of those at one time or another , between 1978-1983 .

[stavanzer]

Can we get the Mojave Mule and the Blazer back, please? The Mule is a favorite. Buddy down the street got one for his 11th birthday. I wanted one so badly. So 6 months later on my birthday, what did I get? 

The GMC Pickup.... I should have been happy with with, but you know how kids think. I wouldn't even open the kit for a month I was so bummed. However, I DID eventually open and build it. It was good kit. Best part, my buddy liked the GMC better than the Mule. He wound up with it in a trade, and I got a Red Baron showrod kit. 

(if you notice a Monogram theme, it is because the local toy store carried more Monogram kits than Revell. We hated Revell kits anyhow. Fiddly, Fragile & very hard to build, for us anyway. The Monogram kits went together in an hour or so. The Revell, sometimes never went together at all. And Many Revell at that time had awful 2 piece tires. At that age we played with the kits as much as built them. so the sturdy Monogram kits were clear winners.)

[stavanzer]

Found this on the GM Squarebodies.

https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/the-square-bodies-gms-1973-87-light-trucks/

 

[MrMiles]

i had that nice blazer kit a while back that i bought second hand. it was very nice, but there was something wrong with it and i was trying to putty it and sand it to get it smooth and it cracked in my hand. the plastic was so brittle. 

 

i dont know if someone put it in a brake fluid bath to cleanup bad paint before selling or it was just so old, but that plastic was brittle like i had never seen before. i tossed it because i was so disappointed that i broke it. i remember it being pretty expensive too

[Casey]

On 11/28/2021 at 6:38 PM, alexis said:

Can we get the *snip*  Blazer back, please?

I'm not sure that's possible. While we should never say never, consider the following:

1. The last time the Blazer was issued was 1980
2. The Pulldozer (Blazer body sans removeable cap) was issued in 1982
3. The only reissues since 1980 have been of the Pulldozer version
4. The Sheriff's Blazer was announced/shown for re-issue in 1994, but was never re-issued (possibly not enough dealer pre-order interest)

None of which eliminate the possibility of a reissue, but when factored together, the likelihood of that happening seems slim. Then again, the Chevy LUV reissue came mostly out of nowhere, so we'll keep our fingers crossed.

I found this image of a built Sheriff's Blazer, which has both the Desert Dog PCV tires and the tiny door handle:

Edited December 9, 2021 by Casey

[keyser]

Never saw one until now. Door handle 1/3 size of side marker light. 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️
Mono did Desert Dogs, or are those MPCs? Don’t recall them. Weird tire in J10 Jeep but not DD iirc. Casey you still bring it. Lol

Forgot. CJ7 had decent tires were those DD’s? 

Edited December 8, 2021 by keyser
CJ

[Can-Con]

I doubt those MPC tires actually came in that kit.

See how the rim goes up almost to the lettering? That says to me they were just stretched out over the larger 1/24 rim. They were pretty flexible.

[Casey]

On 12/8/2021 at 5:41 PM, Can-Con said:

I doubt those MPC tires actually came in that kit. See how the rim goes up almost to the lettering? That says to me they were just stretched out over the larger 1/24 rim. They were pretty flexible.

The odd tire substitution and poor fit were mentioned on page one:

On 3/6/2012 at 9:14 PM, Edsel-Dan said:

Tires are Formula Dessert Dog PCV's instead of Solid AT's shown on box and instruction sheet. Here is a scan copy of the supplement.

Notice that the outer rim is wider than inner. Due to that, the MPC/AMT Formula Desert Dog PCV's do not fit well. They are tight, and tend to slip in away from the outer face.

 

Expanded image:

Edited December 10, 2021 by Casey

[stavanzer]

Casey, as you said, I'll keep my fingers crossed. I've got a 'Mud Mudder', not sure what year that come out, but that is the last time I think that the Blazer tool saw plastic. I wonder if Atlantis has this tool? It is a sibling of the GMC Snowplow/ Big Country Game Truck and the recent '76 Chevy Stepside kit, but a different tool. I think Revell has the Bronco and the Ramcharger SUV's, but the whereabouts of the Blazer tooling are very uncertain.

Ah, well, We have the AMT Blazer/Jimmy twins from the previous body style. Best to be happy with that, I guess.

[Casey]

On 12/8/2021 at 5:01 PM, keyser said:

Never saw one until now. Door handle 1/3 size of side marker light. 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️

I think it might've been Terry Jessee who mentioned the  door handles and possibly that the mold broke in half...would have to some digging to find the post. *edit* 

Found it:

 

On 12/8/2021 at 5:01 PM, keyser said:

Mono did Desert Dogs, or are those MPCs?

 

 

Not sure how this worked, but (again) going on memory, I want to say an outside company produced tires for MPC, possibly the same place in Windsor, ON, which molded kits for them...also discussed in a topic here, sort of. I don't think any other Monogram kits included the Desert Dog PCV tires, though?

Edited December 11, 2021 by Casey

[Can-Con]

On 12/8/2021 at 7:59 PM, Casey said:

The odd tire substitution and poor fit were mentioned on page one:

 

Not sure what the reason for the substitution was, but maybe Bob Johnson knows?

Expanded image:

Seems I missed that somehow. I "THOUGHT" I had read all of the thread. Crazy.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Can-Con

[mikemodeler]

1 hour ago, Casey said:

I think it might've been Terry Jessee who mentioned the tin door handles and possibly that the mold broke in half...would have to some digging to find the post.

Not sure how this worked, but (again) going on memory, I want to say an outside company produced tires for MPC, possibly the same place in Windsor, ON, which molded kits for them...also discussed in a topic here, sort of. I don't think any other Monogram kits included the Desert Dog PCV tires, though?

From my memory and a few old Monogram kits, I don't seem to recall seeing the Desert Dog tires in any of the kits. Monogram had the harder rubber tires that were labeled Goodyear and whether it was the CJ-7 Jeep, the Chevy  & GMC 4x4 pickups or Blazer/Jimmy, they all had the same tire. Could Monogram have snuck them in on one model? Maybe. I had that Sheriff's Blazer but bought it open and it did have Desert Dogs in it, figured the previous owner swapped them in.

[Fabrux]

The same Goodyear tires were in the Bronco and Ramcharger kits, too. In my research on all of them, I never came across anything other than this issue of the Blazer getting the MPC tires. Curious indeed. 🤔

[leafsprings]

On 3/22/2012 at 3:06 PM, tim boyd said:

Guys...I know for a fact that the model companies do listen intently to what the modeling community says, as well as pay attention to what the modeling community actually does (e.g. spend money on newly manufactured kits).  and someday down the road, some fresh tooling

My point is simply this - don't assume the model companies aren't listening if they don't issue a kit of your favorite subject. They do listen, but in the end they are businesses that have to manufacture and market successful products or they won't be around the day after tomorrow. They have to be cautious and combine customer input with many other factors (including historical and recent sales trends of similar subjects) before they take action.

IMO,  and everybody has opinions, the squarebody offerings were an utter disaster. If, your into stepsides, the MPC was the only semi decent kit. If you wanted any other version than a stepside, you were out of luck.  Most of my blame IMO, goes to AMT for not offering one of the most  best selling pickups in America during the '73-'80 era, namely a full size 8' bed pickup. Everybody was buying them, and it would make sense, modelers would like to build them if they could not afford a real one.  They could have set a  standard,  similiar the Ford pickup ( detailed chassis, accurate body lines in 1/25 ) ,  but they missed the pickup boom explostion  completely. Wonder why the fell on hard times, sometimes,  self inflicted.

Edited December 9, 2021 by leafsprings

[Casey]

Huh, tiny door handles are present on the maroon/original issue kit's body, too:

[1972coronet]

9 minutes ago, Casey said:

Huh, tiny door handles are present on the maroon/original issue kit's body, too:

The door handles which Chief Joseph (Fireball)  manufactures would be a huge improvement . I'll likely buy a set for the MPC 1978 Chevy Pickup [ 2WD annual ] I have awaiting me .

Edited December 11, 2021 by 1972coronet

[Mike C.]

I was checking the Monogram Blazer to see what parts I could use from the Revell Chevy and GMC kits when I noticed the trucks are exactly the same in the front. Does that mean Revell owns the tooling for the Blazer too of vice-versa?  

 

 

[Tabbysdaddy]

That's cool. Maybe that's why the truck is molded without the rear wall, a different insert for the Blazer rear. 

[Mike C.]

11 minutes ago, Tabbysdaddy said:

That's cool. Maybe that's why the truck is molded without the rear wall, a different insert for the Blazer rear. 

I thought Revell did that so you could get the interior bucket in during assembly but I was thinking the same thing. The frames are slightly different but the similarities of the cab portions would indicate some sort of a collaboration with Revell and Monogram . The same tires are in the Revell stepside kit. 

[1972coronet]

10 minutes ago, Mike C. said:

I thought Revell did that so you could get the interior bucket in during assembly but I was thinking the same thing. The frames are slightly different but the similarities of the cab portions would indicate some sort of a collaboration with Revell and Monogram . The same tires are in the Revell stepside kit. 

The Blazer --and its pickup relatives-- are originally Monogram kits, and date to c.1976... well before they joined with Revell (c.1987). 

Those tiny door handles of the Monogram Blazer are a bit of a mystery, esp. since they shared virtually everything with the pickups.

[Russell C]

1 hour ago, 1972coronet said:

The Blazer --and its pickup relatives-- are originally Monogram kits ... before they joined with Revell ..

Those tiny door handles of the Monogram Blazer are a bit of a mystery ...

See the attached thread for more on the Monogram history -- not mentioned within it, though, is the other mystery as to why Monogram depicted the duel batteries in the Blazer and GMC Jimmy. Maybe somebody answered it elsewhere. Off the top of my head, I don't think the 1:1 Blazers/Jimmys needed two batteries, except for the quite uncommon '76 / '77 Chevy Blazer Chalet and the GMC Jimmy Casa Grande 'mini-motorhomes' where the second battery powered the interior lights in the campers when parked. Btw, the lump and lines over on the passenger side fender liner are the GM factory-supplied jack and tire irons, as seen in this photo from a '76 Blazer Chalet. I'd forgotten until I looked at that photo that the other lump over on the driver's side fender liner was the windshield washer fluid bottle.

[Mike C.]

So who owns the Blazer tooling? And why don't they reissue it based on the popularity of the squarebody Blazer now? I would certainly buy 1or 2 more.