http://home.indy.net/~jsdailey/CreativeMasters5.jpg

I received this Cobra from Revell Monagram in appreciation for some graphic work I did a year or so ago and had forgotten about it until recently. I did some research on line, but couldn't find out much. It is in a generic white box, no labels or printing. The car is wrapped in a foam imprinted Creative Masters. On the foam liner is imprinted Creative Masters, P-RMO18-F-2001. On the botton of the car is Copyright Revell Monogram, Made in China. License plate is 66-427. The car is die cast and is chrome plated. Very detailed and nearly flawless. Just curious if anyone has any info or anyone knows where I might start.

 

No info...but it's a beauty....

 

Question and it is very important about this car...is this a "polished" finish or a "brushed" finish?

Here is the brushed version of this car...



This is the Chromed Version...



The Creative Masters line of 1/20th scale cars has been a passion of mine for many years. They were a line that was developed in the early 80's by Revell-Monogram. Although the line only consisted of 7 different models, they now have a cult-like following. The original series was shut down by the parent company of Revell-Monogram at the time and a few years later enjoyed a short lived second generation.

I write for Toy Cars and Models magazine and recently completed a very long story for the magazine on this line of cars. The article that appeared in the magazine was greatly edited from its original version but a friend of mine that has his own website was kind enough to host the longer version.

Although it is a long read, I went straight to the horses mouth...well mouths on how, why and what was produced. There is also a ton of urban legends that were created about this line of diecast and some really interesting stuff. Such as the Yellow 1969 Camaro Z/28 that only 200 of were ever done (in yellow). By the way, i know of one collector that paid $5,300 (yes that was five thousand, three hundred dollars!) for a mint yellow Z/28 camaro that was a part of this line...not the real car. There is an interesting story that surround this car too as well as the cobra you mentioned.

The answer to your inquiry is found in that article and for your own sake, read it...you will understand why I am saying this. Was this person a retired employee of Revell Monogram Inc.?


Here's the link to the story...

http://www.jsssoftware.com/diecast/stories/CM_CARS.swf

Meanwhile, as a result of this article, Revell-Monogram is now accepting pre-orders for these 2 new additions to this lineup and brings the line out of hiding for a 3rd time with the debut of the Revell-Monogram 1969 Yenko Camaros in Daytona Yellow with a black vinyl top and Rally green with torque thrusts.

Here's some pictures...











These 2 Yenkos are of preproduction sample cars. The production cars are on the water and can ONLY be ordered direct from revell's website http://www.revell.com/catalog/catalo...ters-26-1.html

 

OOPS! I just noticed that you posted a link to a picture...this one right?



Read my article, you have a very rare car. Nice find

 

Thanks for the great info ! Can't say I have ever heard of these b4 ??
What's the detailing like?? (seeing they want $130)

 

Detail level is above standard. When they were developed, the target was the Franklin Mint but remember, this was the early days of higher detail diecast. Danbury Mint was not around then.

For the time, they were beyond state of the art. The chrome was done in the same manner a real car was done. The bodies are near perfect in lines. But they are still using the dogleg hinges.

Here's some pictures of the rest of the cars that have been done in the line. I beleive Tom McAlsiter is out here somewhere. Tom is aware of the level of detail in these also.

 

Brian, thank you for responding to my post. I read your article with great interest and now understand the significance of this particular model. I did reply to you via email with details and will get you some pictures after the Holiday.

 

My pleasure! This is part of what makes this hobby so much fun is when you stumble upon something like this or are given a gift that you know nothing about...only to find that you have a rare find!

This has happened to me twice in 20 years of collecting diecast.

Excellent find, Jim...congrats!

 

Just went online and purchased the 67 Vette! This will make a nice addition to my bosses collection. Can't wait to see it!

 

The original series and the 2nd generation of the Creative Masters cars can be had very inexpensively on ebay these days. They have hit the high a couple of years back and since they are not hyped up anymore, not too many people new to the hobby are aware of their significance to the industry. Those that do know already have theirs.

If you do go online and buy the series from ebay, be leary of the few 1/24th scale ferrari's you may see. As stated in the article, this was a piggy back venture for Revell of Germany and really had nothing to do with the series. The conceptual design was always in 1/20th scale and built for the American Markets. These ferraris were made by Jouef Inc. that was a small company owned by Revell of Germany and they had considerable problems in moving these. Revell-Monogram (US Revell) ordered Revell of Germany to correct the cars both in box art and the tooling that had the Creative Masters name tolled into the chassis of the 1/24th scale imposters.