Welcome to the Girder and Panel Collectors Club! My name is Ed Sterling, and I hope you have read our first two newsletters! A lot has happened personally since Issue #2. Unfortunately for me, I GOT LAID OFF! I can't feel too bad, it's pretty common in this part of the world these days. Well, life goes on and we'll just keep going forward! So perhaps you'll forgive me a little, that I haven't been on schedule for my hoped-for quarterly newsletter!
There seem to be a healthy number of sets trading lately. But, the Hydrodynamics have REALLY dried up in the past year, they must be the most popular set for collectors. Skyrail sets have been plentiful and many are in excellent condition. You can generally have all the number 8 and 9 sets you want, but they don't show up in really fine condition too often. It continues to be tough to find sets #1, 3, 4 and especially #6 which is rare! As well, the late series sets continue to be hard to find, but we're seeing the odd one appear now and again at fairly reasonable prices. It is easier to find 21 through 26 than 28 through 33. 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 Exc. - NMIB 8 Motorized Bridge and Turnpike Monthly $100-130 ==> Any of the 1976-era 72000 series Monthly $40-80 9 Deluxe Combined Girder/Bridge set Monthly $140-170 5 Bridge and Turnpike 3 x year $50-80 18 Double Skyrail 3 x year $170-220 16 Build-a-Home 2 x year $100-120 26 Freeway USA 2 x year $100 17 Skyrail 2 x year $150-200 32 Girdermatic 2 x year $50-90 11 Hydrodynamic 1 x year $150-200 12 Double Hydrodynamic "never" $220-280
The rest of the sets are very rarely seen and really have no price record.
Each issue of The Toy Shop newspaper has generally had one or 2 sets for sale. Recent offerings noticed were: #11 in an auction (Jan. 20 95); #2 and #6 (Feb. 3 95); #72070 (Mar. 3 95), #72011 (Mar. 31 95); #17, #18 and #32 (Apr. 14, 95). As well I recall seeing a #9 and #18, plus a supposedly sealed-box #5 from a dealer in PA sometime around Christmas. The larger sets generally appear in a larger dealer ad with a photo. But note that several #32 Girdermatics have been for sale in the "tiny" want ads towards the rear.
How well do you know your red girders? There are usually so many, we take them for granted in the average set. The early Girder and Panel sets had girders made of polystyrene (PS). According to Mike Oppenheim, senior Kenner employee, polystyrene was "the only choice" when the sets first came out. Soon, angry parents wrote letters of complaint to Kenner, stating that the tiny pegs and dove-tails were snapping off. If you have ever owned one of these early sets, you can see this problem first-hand! Often half of the girders and beams have some piece broken off them. Sometime around 1958-1959, high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic was developed, which was strong and slightly flexible. Polystyrene girders were totally inflexible and thus broke under slight pressure.
You can distinguish early PS upright girders from the later HDPE ones by checking the bottom peg which went into the green masonite pads. The PS girder bottom peg is an elongated rounded peg, which seems to attach to the side of the girder. The later HPDE bottom ped is squared off, and comes straight out of the bottom of the girder. Now distinguishing the cross-beams is a little tougher. They are of identical design, so you need to check the color and the "flex" of the beam. The earlier red color, compared to the later HPDE beams, is lighter and not quite as deep red. As well, if you drop the early HDPE beam onto an uncovered table or desk top, it makes a distinctive "clink" sound. The later HDPE beam makes a less crisp "clunk" sound. If you drop both types at the same time, you will distinctly hear the PS beams, and they are easily picked out by sound!
There are two interesting variants of red girders that may surprise you! The #26 Freeway USA set has small one-inch high vertical girders, with rounded tops; they appear like slightly tall "stub" girders. They are used specifically in the suspension-wiring of a bridge, as they have a "V" shaped cut in the top into which the string passes. The Girdermatic sets have small one-inch long horizontal beam girders, which are used to brace upright girders which fit into the yellow plastic base. The Girdermatic base has several cut-outs for travelling wheels (e.g. gantry crane) and these are narrow slots. Thus, the spacing between holes for the upright girders is only one inch across these "wheel cut-outs" (but it is the usual three inches between holes for the rest of the base.
Over the past year or two, I have had the occasion to purchase a few #8 Combined Sets which had a lift-off top. The usual type of top is an integral flap hinged at the rear, so a lift off top is quite a surprise . Inside I have found some small yellow strips, and an explanatory printed note that shows them to be elevator guide rails. Anyone who has built an elevator tower knows how often the elevator twists and gets caught on a corner. The guide rails attach mid-beam, vertically, and fit into the side grooves of the elevator cab. The other small feature of note is that these "late" sets have a slightly redesigned motor gearbox, in which a larger main gear turns the axle, on a slightly raised-up axle mount. Nothing indicates any special identifier such as "Set #8-A."
The #10 Motorizing Kit makes a very interesting addition to any G&P collection. It appears to have been created to help owners of sets such as #5, #6 and #7 move up to the features of the very popular #8 set. The set measures 11 by 12.5 inches, and is 3 inches deep. The box cover is very similar to the #8 set, but obviously for a much smaller area. A large black border on the top says "MOTORIZING KIT Set No. 10" and then continues down the right side of the box top, showing major parts such as the motor, battery case, elevator cab, and a yellow pulley. The rest of the box top is similar to a #8, with colorful photo clips of bridges, buildings with elevator, and gantry cranes.
Inside, we find a white cardboard shell containing four 4-inch-square compartments, and then a long 4-inch wide compartment running the full length of the box. The 4 small compartments contained two bags of yellow motorizing parts (such as pulleys, hooks, crossing gate, and elevator cross beams), 2 4-hole green masonite pads, and a bag of red cross braces, ties, and stubs. There does not appear to have been any additional girders included. The long compartment on the side contained the elevator cab, motor unit, and motor battery case. A spool of conveyor belt "tape" appears to have been packed in with the battery case. The elevator and battery case each have their own open-top white "box" set into the compartment hole, but the motor rests in the middle of the long compartment on a cardboard shelf. You have to wonder how they figured out the intricate patterns of those interior cardboard separators in the flat Girder and Panel sets!
A standard #8/#9 color project book was included, as well as a special #10 information sheet printed in black and white and red. This sheet contained photos and text suggesting how to create a motorized project from smaller sets such as #2, #3, #4, and #5. Each photo showed a project which could be built from the specifically identified set. All the normally-red girder and brace parts are printed in red, and all other parts appear in black and grey on a white background. The sheet is the size of the box, and is only the one page printed on both sides.
Motorizing kits are quite difficult to find. I have personally found that they show up in a "lot" deal; that is, I am contacted by a dealer who bought all the toys from an estate, and wants to sell all the Girder and Panel sets. Thus, you may have to take an "unwanted" #8 or #7 plus some other sets in order to get the #10 kit! These sets are probably hard to find for the reason that the kid who got it likely would have stuffed the parts into his #7 set box, or everything would have been dumped into another (sturdier?!) corrugated cardboard box.
If you find an empty #10 box, don't worry. The parts are easily obtained from an easy-to-find #8 set. If you need instructions on how to make your own interior cardboard separator, contact me for details.
I have finally located some reasonably priced color copying shops near me. I can reproduce any of the catalogs for you, on single sided paper. It may be necessary to have the image reduced (to about 75%) because most color copy centers only offer 8.5 by 11 copies at 85 cents (my cost). Legal copies run $3 each (my cost) so that gets very expensive. I'll offer the copies to you at a 25% markup of my cost to cover the time running around. Please don't expect rush service! I will let a few requests accumulate and then do a batch at a time.
WOW! You really have to see these sets to believe them. They were a radical innovation at the end of the "Golden Years" of Girder and Panel sets. What is so amazing is the number of unusual and unique parts which were created for these sets. In looking at it, you sense somebody really shook up the design department at Kenner and told them to come up with some really fresh ideas. When we consider the set numbers up to the Girdermatics (#32 and #33), it is clear the nothing radical occurred since the Skyrail. Sets #21 through #31 were really just variations on all the previous sets. The Skyrail sets #30 and #31 were actually spare parts packaged in the late style vertical boxes, with a special note saying "Any mention of set #17/#18 are the same as set #30/#31." Yes, the panels got a little bit of face-lift in the Modern As Tomorrow series, the roads became narrower in the Freeway USA series, but aside from that, there was nothing new and exciting in sets #21 to #31.
The Girdermatic planning book suggests all kinds of interesting ideas never before possible with any Girder and Panel set. It shows amusement park rides such as the whirling swing, ferris wheel, "parachute drop" etc. Long triangular trusses, big 9 inch diameter circles, a long armature, and flexi-plastic conveyor belts all provided many new opportunites for structures, never before considered in a Girder and Panel set.
Like previous sets, Girdermatic was packaged in two sets, standard (#32) with one motor, and deluxe (#33) with two motors. Both sets came in the late style vertical cardboard boxes, with a thin black plastic box top. The plastic top has small ridges running "depthwise", with the famous Kenner "bird" logo embossed in a circle in the middle of the top. The #33 box is quite large! It measures 13 by 20 by 7 inches deep, and it is packed with 970 pieces! #32 is a bit smaller on all sides by a few inches, but the box art on each box is nearly identical. The color planning book is wonderful to read, filled with picture after picture of unusual projects these sets would build. Suggested projects were:
ferris wheel - using the 2 large wheels and styrofoam seats (included in #33!)
several observation towers with two elevators (#33 especially)
ore mill with endless bucket conveyor - using the flexi-plastic belts
self-propelled boom crane - using a motor and the large 12 inch trusses
swivel crane and horizontal hook conveyor - motor and trusses
arched drawbridge - standard girders, roadways and motor(s)
vertical drawbridge - standard girders, roadways and motor(s)
derrick bridge - girders and large trusses
travelling dump bucket - special "giant rail," wheels, dump bucket, motor(s)
ferry bridge - standard girders, trusses, and motor(s)
travelling overhead crane - "giant rail," wheels, girders, trusses, motor(s)
"a modern eiffel tower" - standard girders, special "fan" piece, motor
giant steelmill crane - girders, trusses, motors, "giant rail"
mill with two long horizontal conveyors - flexi-plastic belts, motors, "giant rail"
rocket testing stand with movable gantry - just about every special part!
giant rock crusher - motors, trusses, "giant rail", armature, girders
incline ride amd whirling swing - just about every special part!
How were all these projects possible? Like the Hydrodynamic sets, the traditional red girders seemed hardly significant! Obviously, the girders and beams formed the tower and crane superstructures, but all the new parts gave birth to many new project ideas. One interesting new item was "the giant beam", a 24 inch by 2 inch plastic "ridge" which was as wide as a road piece, but narrowed to a 3/8 inch track. Large new pulleys fit on either side, thus providing a track for the travelling crane, the rock crusher, etc. The large 9 inch circle pieces also gave rise to many new ideas, such as the ferris wheel, or the whirling swing ride. Even styrofoam ferris wheel seats were included in the #33 set.
Girdermatic did not have masonite base plates. Instead, apple green metal strips (really!) with 2 or 3 holes were used as footings. A truly "unopended" Girdermatic would have the stampings all connected together (you then rocked them back and forth yourself to split them apart). The main base plate was made of bright yellow plastic, and was rectangular, with indentations at the ends to accomodate the medium-sized yellow plastic wheels. The project book shows how the base plate could be wheeled and motorized, which was done for the gantry crane project. #32 had one base plate, and #33 had two.
The motor units were completely redesigned for the Girdermatic series. Gone was the bright yellow plastic, replaced with a pleasant "apple green" color for both the motor and battery case. Long overdue were 2 push- down motor wire clips fixed to the motor base plate, which made connecting the motor wires and battery wires much easier. The battery case had a more convenient push- button cover, which was pressed to apply electrical power to the motor. Another improvement was the convenient 12 inch length of the wire from the battery case to the motor base. A small square "cup" was located on top of the motor unit, but its purpose is a bit unclear. I suppose it would accomodate some type of vertical support?
The traditional not-so-properly-square elevator cab was replaced with a closed round cab, like the type seen in very fancy hotels or shopping malls. It fits the amusement part theme better than the old square cab. There was one for set #32, two for set #33. Elevator guide rails were provided to improve the traverse. Some of you may have found similar guide rails in late #8 sets, with an enclosed special note explaining what these pieces did.
Run, don't walk, if you see a Girdermatic for sale. The parts list on the side of the boxes is very accurate and comprehensive. It will be typical to find the long trusses badly broken, and possibly the large ferris wheel spokes cracked. The black plastic box top is often missing, and if it is present, the corners and side flaps are often badly cracked.
In summary, Girdermatic was a fascinating set which might have done better if it were introduced a year or two earlier. It also represents a unique mix of parts from all the different phases of Girder and Panel, even the future 1970s sets (with their plastic bases). I would be interested to know how many of you might have had one of these as a kid? I do not remember them at all, neither on the toy store shelf, nor advertised on TV. Very few of them ever show up these days, and few dealers know about them. Being the last two set numbers in the series, it appears logical that these really were the last sets which the independently owned Kenner designed, until the revival sets in the mid 1970s. The sales catalogs bear that out as well, as only a lonely handful of sets are found on a single unobtrusive page in the 1967 catalog, one being the Girdermatic #32.
This is an interesting question which remains unanswered. Tiny cars and trucks were often shown on the roadways of the Bridge and Turnpike sets, but were they supposed to be included in the sets? I have always thought the answer was a definite no! However, to my great surprise, one of our members contacted me about this. Seems like me, he has found some tiny cars in some sets, particularly the #7 combined Girder and Panel and Bridge and Turnpike set. More amazing is that his cars match my cars! They measure 1.5 inches long, they are made of soft colored plastic, and they are simply a molded shell with no wheels or axles. The name of the car, e.g. "Lincoln" is found printed on the hood or truck. We have found three or four per set. There is no mention of these vehicles on the parts list, nor are they mentioned in project books or instruction sheets. It seems too much of coincidence that these identical cars would show up in identical sets. I am still trying to get a definite answer.
You know, related to that issue, never throw away anything "strange" which you find in a Girder and Panel set. Unless you absolutely recognize something, keep it in an "odds and ends" box somewhere. You may discover someday you have something like a Girdermatic or Hydrodynamic part which you didn't recognize. It is very common to find parts from one set mixed with another, and, the other set may have been destroyed long ago. I once bought a Girdermatic #33 and found plastic "crap" down in the bottom of the box. I threw it out, until a few days later, I realized that the "crap" was actually broken pieces of the large truss! Luckily I was able to recover the pieces, and eventually glued it all back together.