Kaiser-Frazer toys

[Gordie]

A light gray Henry J Banthrico promotional model is presently on eBay with some condition problems.  It looks nice and has been bid to $297 with two days to go.  A new price record?

[Fid]

$297 with two days to go.  A new price record?

Gordy, I saw one sell for over $600 back in 2002 or so.
Of course it was in very good condition.  My bid was obliterated after 1 day
 

[Gordie]

This one brought $431 after the final bid.  I found four new ones in the original boxes this year.  I think that I should sell them and retire!

[Gordie]

There has not been much of interest in Kaiser-Frazer toys on line but today I noticed a model from England where the Brooklin models are made and it is a 1954 Kaiser convertible.  Of course Kaiser never offered a convertible in 1954 but but a convertible is available in model form and I had never seen one.  There have been several limited edition Broooklin models made over the years and this must be their latest offering.

[Gordie]

For you toy and model collectors there are two very scarce Madison models from Holland on line.  One is a 1947 Kaiser in Buckeye maroon and the other is a 1949 Frazer in tan and maroon colors.  These were made in very limited numbers, are 1:43 scale and are far cheaper than what I paid for some last year.  Both are new in the boxes and if you are interested jump on these as they are very hard to find.

[Gordie]

One of the first companies to offer die cast metal models was a small company in England in the 1970's called Mikansue.  They offered a large assortment of popular English cars, a series of famous race cars as well as their Americana series which offered about twenty popular American cars of the 1950's. all in kit form.  Their second offering in the Ameriana series was what they called a 1956 Kaiser Darrin, car #16 was a 1952 Henry J and #19 a 1953 Kaiser Manhattan sedan.  The Chevrolets and Studebakers and English cars seem to show up occasionally but I have never seen one of the Kaisers offered for sale either in kit form or fully built and finished.  They are three more hard to find Kaiser-Frazer models to look for out of over a hundred known models.  Do any of you own one?

[Gordie]

A pretty yellow Henry J resin model came up for sale in 1:43 scale which is approximately four and one half inches long.  There are quite a few Henry J's in resin but this is the first I have seen in this smaller scale.  It looks to have been professionally made with screws holding the separate chassis to the body.  The body has a dash and full interior, clear windows, all trim painted and small hubcaps. It is possible that it was a kit but there is no ID and it is very authentic except for the bright red wheels.  Does anyone else have anything similar or know who made these?

[h-e-n-r-y-j]

I dug these out of the closet for the first time in ten years. Looks like three Banthrico and three Lincoln Line plus a Lincoln Line Stock Car. The red, yellow, and green cars had broken/missing windshield dividers. I trimmed toothpicks and painted them to match the color of the cars. The repairs have held up for 20+ years.

[Gordie]

Your models look great!  All different colors and even a couple of original boxes.  The Banthrico models are the three in the front and the Lincoln Line models are in the back row.  They used the same bodies but the Lincoln Line were all push models and had no windows or hub caps.  The Banthrico's were a little nicer and some had wind-up motors.  They are all hard to find today.  Thanks for sharing them with us.

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Barbara got me 2 1949 Kaiser Convertible model cars (the Toy Founders cars, around 1/20th scale with steerable wheels, working "transmission" and wind-up motor).  Like almost all of these cars today, my ceramic green one  which I am working on with aid of pieces and bits from my dark red one (usually they are fleshtone or dark red in color) needs is a windshield.  If anybody has a spare one of these and wants to part with it, please advise with picture so I can put finishing touches on my birthday present.

Thanks

[Gordie]

These are interesting toys.  The original advertising images of them were with 1948 style front ends but they ended up being the 1949 style.  They came in about eight colors and unless you find one that is still in the box they will have various kinds of damage and they will be missing the windshield and the key and maybe a hub cap. They are among the largest Kaiser-Frazer models made and are certainly hard to find and nice to have on your shelf.

[Gordie]

If you have been looking for a hard to find 1953 Kaiser promotional model by Banthrico there is presently on eBay a very nice dark blue one with original paint for far less then the $400 I had to pay for one a few years ago.  These are very hard to find in good condition due to the poor quality paint used on them originally.

[Gordie]

I  hope that it was a Kaiser enthusiast that snapped that one up as it did not last long on eBay!

[Gordie]

The first Henry J models released were like the illustrations sent out by Banthrico to K-F dealers and they were in two styles, one with a wind-up motor and one without the motor.  They had silver colored windows achieved by painting them from the inside and they had front bumpers with no reinforcement for the bumper ends which would break off if the model was dropped on that fragile front bumper.  Shortly after introduction the windows were no longer painted silver and were clear plastic and the front bumper grille assembly now had what looks like a gravel deflector added behind the bumper which I am sure solved the bumper  breakage problem. If you tried to find one of each type you would end up with twenty different variations considering four different styles in the five colors offered.  Not that problem with the Lincoln Line promos as they used the Banthrico bodies with a choice of six different colors and they never installed the plastic windows although the inside of the bodies show that they were set up for them.  How many of us have a scarce Henry J promotional model?

[kaiserfrazerlibrary]

Here is the 1951 Henry J model I have