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 among 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. 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.
Competition 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 were more diversified, offering aircraft, naval craft and other military vehicles. Monogram aircraft kits were known for imaginative "operating features", such as a spring-loaded ejection seats 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. In the 1970s, Monogram wanted to portray a different perspective of its kits and add some spark to sales. 'Make it large' was one marketing approach that the company returned to. For example, Monogram introduced a 1978 Corvette kit in 1:8 scale - when assembled it was over 23 inches long. Examples of vintage auto offerings were a 1930s Rolls-Royce Cabriolet with rumble seat, a 1930s Packard Phaeton, and a 1941 Lincoln Continental. The company's Early Iron series featured variants of Ford Model As. During the 1970s, the company also hired modeler
Sheperd Paine to construct and paint aircraft models and dioramas, which were used for photographs on boxes and instruction booklets. Some metal kits, like a 1953 Corvette, also appeared.
Daniel hot rods and customs While Revell carried many foreign cars and AMT and MPC handled the promo markets (and so moved forward with mostly American car brands), Monogram's emphasis was on aircraft and military vehicles. In the 1970s, however, Monogram started to focus more on hot rods and customs and, in 1961, was the first company to hire a well-known automobile stylist, when Darryl Starbird was brought on board. Similarly, AMT hired customizers
George Barris,
Alexander Brothers, and
Bill Cushenbery, and MPC had
Dean Jeffries. In 1968, Monogram then hired stylist Tom Daniel who designed more than 80 fantastical vehicles, not always based on real cars. When the company was bought by
Mattel in 1968, custom vehicles designed by Daniel and others were seen in both small and large sizes in Hot Wheels diecast - and then in Monogram kit form. Examples seen in both Hot Wheels and Monogram venues were the Ice-T, the
Red Baron, the Paddy Wagon, the S'cool Bus, the Sand Crab, and the T'rantula (even made by Mattel subsidiary
Mebetoys of Italy). Some of the handsomest vehicles were the simpler rods, 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 in this series, like the sleek "Street Fighter", a Daniel-designed '60 Chevy panel truck powered by a Camaro Z/28 engine (
Quicksilver was another variation of the same kit), and the 1955 Chevrolet
Bad Man gasser. Concerning plastic kits, Hobbico also owns Estes, and is the exclusive distributor of Hasegawa, as seen on their company websites. Hobbico declared bankruptcy on June 30, 2018 and went into liquidation. == Product lines ==