The Quarterly Newsletter of
The Girder and Panel (TM*) Collectors Club
Box 494
Bolton, MA 01740
(508) 779-6058
Newsletter Number 1, January 1994 Page 1
Introductions
Welcome to the Girder and Panel Collectors Club! Introductions are
in order, so let's do that first. My name is Ed Sterling, I am a
computer programmer who works at home, and I have been a long-time
toy collector. The "bug" first hit me in 1972 when I discovered a
long-forgotten toy store in a tiny crossroads hamlet in Pennsyl-
vania where I was attending Penn State. It was a gold mine! I only
wish I'd cleaned them out; oh well, I made a good haul, mainly in
toy guns, and I've been collecting "50's and 60's" toys ever since.
I'm not sure what has possessed me to collect Girder and Panel sets
however! This afflication is about two years old now, and it's only
getting worse! Like you (right?) I had a Girder and Panel set as
a kid; mine was a number 8 (what else!?) and it was the toy to
remember that Christmas in 1961. So two years ago, I bought a
number 8 from somebody in Toy Shop and it was great to see all
those familiar girders and beams, the yellow motor and the
elevator, those odd yellow and orange and brown panels, the always-
crushed-in domed blue rooftops, and that big green "peg-board." As
I read the old enclosed catalog, I began to wonder what all those
other sets were, and thus began my quest to locate all the Girder
and Panel sets ever made! I think I've found about 70% of them, but
I keep uncovering more and more sets I've never heard about. But
hey, that's the fun of it.
So who appointed me to do this? Well, I couldn't find any other
organization that seemed to cover the Girder and Panel sets, and
I thought I ought to rise to the occasion and get something going.
If anyone knows of any similar club, please let me know! Otherwise
I'll keep this group going. Right now, there are about a dozen "of
us," those of you who have written to me or with whom I've chatted
on the phone. I'm not asking for any dues, and I will return any
I receive, for now. All I ask for is a self-addressed stamped
envelope, the 9 by 4 inch business type. If you like the newsletter
which I return, then simply send me another SASE, and please,
enclose a letter introducing yourself as well. If you object to me
using or listing your name, please indicate that; otherwise I'd
like to include names in some of the articles, so that we get to
know each other. I will not release names and addresses for
commercial purposes without asking you first. I am not a dealer
myself, at least at this point in time!
(C) Copyright 1994 by Edward W. Sterling, All Rights Reserved
---------------------------------------------------------
(TM* Now a trademark of Irwin Toy Ltd., used with permission. There
is no connection between Irwin Toy Ltd. and the Kenner Toy Co.)
Newsletter Number 1 -- GPCC -- Page 2
So what I am trying to achieve in this newsletter? The main purpose
is to disseminate information about the Girder and Panel sets. Most
of my callers so far have no idea how many sets were made, where
they can find them today, what are fair prices, and what should
they be looking for when they buy a set? I plan to cover the basics
right here in this first issue. Down the road I will bring you an
interview with the chief engineer at Kenner who was part of team
that began the Girder and Panel line. I'll also try to get into
some detail about set contents, box layouts, restoring sets,
operating hints, etc. I would also like to profile the collections
of club members, obviously with your cooperation and permission.
I also hope the newsletter can serve as a exchange-point, so that
those of you wanting sets or parts can get in touch with those of
you selling sets or parts. So for now, I'm willing to try out free
classified ads here; we'll have a want list and a for-sale list.
A Quick History of the Girder and Panel Product Line
Girder and Panel sets were made by the Kenner Toy Company of
Cincinnati, Ohio. Kenner has been bought and sold numerous times
in the past twenty years, and they are now a division of the Tonka
Corp.; however, they still have offices in Cincinnati today. The
construction of a certain building in that city in 1956 apparently
inspired the founder of Kenner Toys to create a new construction
toy based on the actual steel girder-and-beam construction he was
witnessing (I'll detail this story in a future issue). The "number
1" set appeared in 1957, in a small 12 inch square box, having red
girders and beams, a green masonite base plate on which to build
structures, and vacuformed plastic panels which pressed onto tiny
pegs in the girders and beams. The toy was successful, and this
eventually led to the production of 30 different sets with set-
numbers from 1 to 33 during a ten-year "golden era" of the Girder
and Panel line (there is no record of set numbers 13, 19, or 20).
The earliest sets (#1 to #6) were produced with bright red poly-
styrene plastic girders. But the tiny dovetails and pegs soon broke
with use, and Kenner received many complaints. Luckily, high
density polyethylene (HDPE) appeared in the market, so Kenner
switched to this rigid yet more flexible plastic. These later
girders have a slightly dull finish, and flex about 1/16th inch
when bent. Avoid mixing the two types (to maintain authenticity).
It appears that the period from 1961 to 1964 represented the best
years of the Girder and Panel line, when five major types of the
product were manufactured:
Combined Bridge and Turnpike Sets 7, 8 and 9
Hydrodynamic Sets 11 and 12
Build-A-Home Subdivision sets 14, 15 and 16
Skyrail Sets 17 and 18
GirderMatic Sets 32 and 33
Newsletter Number 1 -- GPCC -- Page 3
Kenner wisely chose to scale the sets based on contents, with
proportional pricing, to attract parents in both the middle and
high income levels. Sets 8, 11, and 17 cost approximately $10 each,
and came with one motorized unit. The "double" sets 9, 12, and 18
cost approximately $20 each, and came with two motorized units and
often double the parts and accessories. $20 was a lot of money in
those days for a toy; today you'd be talking about $80 to $100 for
the same thing, so you collectors will thus realize that there are
not many of these expensive sets available!
It looks like things really wound down past 1965; there seems to
have been very little new development, and in fact sets 21 through
31 seem to be mainly repackaging exercises. The "last" 2 sets
(numbers 32 and 33), named GirderMatic, introduced a number of
strange new pieces both in metal and plastic, such as ferris-wheel
parts, large trusses, soft-plastic "cog" belts, and metal straps
replacing the familiar green masonite pads. Apparently, the set
numbers were not always assigned in chronological order.
Kenner was bought by General Mills in the early 1970's. But in
1975, the line was revived with new colors (blue and black girders,
instead of red) and flexible acetate panels that looked much more
realistic than the older brittle panels. The sets were numbered in
the 72000 range, and they were packed in vertical boxes that would
remind you of laundry detergent boxes. Unfortunately there wasn't
much new or special about these sets: they were "reruns" of the
earlier sets numbers 1 through 7, and no motors were used. Some had
a hand-cranked elevator which ran on the outside of the building!
The "International Airport" had 2 cheap little plastic jets just
2 inches long, and "runways" were just roadway pieces. This line
seemed to last two years, and finally in 1979, there was one final
group of sets called KenStruct, again mainly a repackaging effort.
Sears Roebuck had some role to play in the Girder and Panel story
as well. Girder and Panel sets were featured in the Sears Wishbook
(readers with Wishbooks: please can you provide more details? This
is a great subject for a future detailed article). I believe that
set number 33 "GirderMatic" appears in the 1965 Wishbook. Sears and
Kenner also collaborated on a special "Sears Tower" set in that
1972-1974 period, to mark the building of the actual Sears Tower
in Chicago. This may be the rarest set of all? Some of the 72000
series sets were made for Sears under the private Sears label
"Little Builders," and bear the 72000 series numbers on the boxes.
Availability
There are plenty of number 8 sets for all of us! You'll see them
for sale every month in the Toy Shop newspaper. There also seem to
plenty of the common 1976-era sets. Completeness and condition in
all of these sets really seems to vary. Most sellers know nothing
about what a Girder and Panel should contain, and will inevitably
tell you "it looks to me like it's all there!" But don't bet on it!
Newsletter Number 1 -- GPCC -- Page 4
The List of Sets When Kenner Was Independently Owned
Nr Name of set Date pieces
1 Girder and Panel Building Set 1957 104
2 Girder and Panel Building Set 1957 189
3 Girder and Panel Building Set 1957 287
4 Bridge and Turnpike Set 1958 214
5 Bridge and Turnpike Set 1958 330
6 Bridge and Turnpike Set 1958 543
7 Combined Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1959 613
8 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1960 675
9 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1960 921
10 Motorizing Set (adds 1 motor, esp. for sets 4-7) 1960 unk?
11 Hydrodynamic Building Set (1 motorized pump) 1961 437
12 Hydrodynamic Building Set (2 motorized pumps) 1961 634
13 No record of this number being used
14 Build-A-Home Set 1962 111
15 Build-A-Home Set 1962 200
16 Build-A-Home Subdivision Set 1962 410
17 Skyrail Building Set (1 motorized Skyrail car) 1963 481
18 Skyrail Building Set (2 motorized Skyrail cars) 1963 753
19 No record of this number being used
20 No record of this number being used
21 Modern-As-Tomorrow Girder and Panel Building Set 1964 137
22 Modern-As-Tomorrow Girder and Panel Building Set 1964 234
23 Modern-As-Tomorrow Girder and Panel Building Set 1964 376
24 Freeway USA Bridge and Highway Set 1964 246
25 Freeway USA Bridge and Highway Set 1964 369
26 Freeway USA Bridge and Highway Set 1964 736
27 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1963? 675
28 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1963? 921
29 No record of this number being used
30 Skyrail Building Set 1963? 481
31 Skyrail Building Set 1963? 753
32 GirderMatic Building Set (1 motor unit) 1963 687
33 GirderMatic Building Set (2 motor units) 1963 945
Partial List of Sets When Kenner Was Owned by General Mills
72000 Girder and Panel Building Set 1975 340
72011 Sears Little-Learners World Famous Buildings 1975 800
72030 Girder and Panel Building Set 1977 225
72050 Skyscraper Building Set with Working Elevator 1975 520
72070 Bridge and Highway Action Building Set 1977 400
72080 International Airport Action Building Set 1977 325
72081 Sears Little-Learners International Airport 1977 325
72090 Action Bridge and Skyscraper Building Set 1977 800
72110 KENSTRUCT Interstate Highway Set 1979 400
There are obviously more 72000-series sets. Readers, please help
fill in the list if you know about or possess such sets. In
particular, have any of you seen the special Sears Tower set?
Newsletter Number 1 -- GPCC -- Page 5
Current Prices
Here's how I would rank the availability and average price range
of the following sets, from most common down to rarest:
Set# Name of set Seen Ex - NMIB
8 Motorized Bridge and Turnpike Monthly $70-100
==> Any of the 1976-era 72000 series Monthly $20-50
17 Skyrail Quarterly $150-200
7 Combined Bridge and Turnpike 3 x year $40-70
5 Bridge and Turnpike 3 x year $30-60
==> Build-a-Home (14,15,16) 2 x year $50-80
25 Freeway USA 2 x year $50-80
11 Hydrodynamic, 2 x year $120-200
9 Double Motorized Bridge and Turnpike 1 x year $150-200
18 Double Skyrail 1 x year $160-220
12 Double Hydrodynamic 1 x year $200-250
The rest of the sets are very rarely seen and really have no price
record. That doesn't make them priceless, just hard to find. It may
take you a year or two to locate, for example, a number 2 set, but
a fair price for this little set might be $50, not $250. It also
seems very difficult to locate any of the sets from number 21 to
number 33; the exception is set number 25 ("Freeway USA"), which
is a tiny turnpike set that comes in a "Lincoln Log" style "can."
Official Records and Catalogs
Unfortunately there is very little documentation about the Girder
and Panel sets. Today's Kenner Corp. appears to have very little
interest in the sets. In fact, in 1992 the Irwin Toy Company of
Toronto Canada applied for and received the rights to the abandoned
trademark "Girder and Panel." Perhaps we'll see a revival of the line
someday? I also appealed to Kenner to provide me with copies of any
Girder and Panel catalogs, done at my expense, but I was repeatedly
turned down. I have a few leads from catalog collectors and I will
attempt to obtain some color copies. I am hoping that by sharing
with each other, we might be able to assemble very accurate
contents lists and box-layouts. There is a list of most contents
on each box of the older 1-to-33 series, and a very general parts
list on the box top of the 72000 series sets.
So Let's Talk
I would like to hear about your experiences collecting Girder and
Panel sets, and I hope you can share your knowledge of these sets.
Email: ed@gpcc.ultranet.com