Trick T decal variation ???

[gentlemanjake]

Hello all, I do quite a bit of model building and love the Tom Daniel stuff. Im a bit lost on the Trick T dragster. I purchased a 1/25th "parts lot" at a local junk store and in it was a very partial Trick T  missing the T body and no box). The decals on the nose portion of the body were the same images as the Trick T I have had since high school but the colors are white/yellow/red instead of the yellow/blue/white that are on my dragster. I know that the Trick T became the Stinger but was there something else issued in between ?   Thanks for any help, Jacob

[70spop]

In 1973 or so the box art changed slightly: the grandstands were removed from the illustration and replaced with a white background with an inset of Daniel's picture. The color of the stripes was also changed to purple and orange.

Both sets are available on eBay from this seller.

m.ebay.com/itm/301036402316?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1

Brian

[gentlemanjake]

Thanks Brian, no purple in this, but there is bright red. I hope I did the Photobucket link thing correctly, it shows what I have.
Jacob

[Pegleg (Hotwheels Bob)]

Here's the ones I have

[Bert]

Neat! I didn't know about the decal variations, or just didn't pay attention. I figure the latter

[Deleted]

Good info!!! I had not seen all three variations!

[70spop]

Oh cool! I've never seen those variants before.

Brian

[A.J.]

Something I've explained in the past that almost nobody else seemed or seems to know is that the second 4 digits in the kit number is a revision. I figured this out from a combination of my engineering background and years of collecting these kits. Anyway, the 0300 would be the first issue and the 0302 would most likely be the third issue. The other doesn't have a kit number so I'm not sure where it falls in. I'd guess later than the 0302 as it shares most of the same decals. Oddly though it keeps the hot wheels so that would place it in between the other two when Mattel still owned Monogram. Interesting scenario, I'm going to have to look at some of mine and figure it out.

[gentlemanjake]

That would make sense too. I have a reproduction purple/orange decal sheet that Decals by Gooche did several years ago, and it has no kit/series numbers and looks identical so that MAYBE the case with the decal sheet Pegleg posted here. My memory might be wrong, but I recall a box art version with the 0302 decals. The box lid would have been like the Wildfire 57 Chevy F/C or the Troublemaker El Camino F/C showing a built car with a mostly all white background I'd sure like to build the 0302 white/yellow/red version. Does anyone here have a sheet or know if its being reproduced ?

[A.J.]

I'd like to see a box version like the Wildfire. If you've seen it, then you've seen something I haven't. After some of the plastic color variations I've seen, anything is possible.

[donculley]

Oddly enough the Trick T Is kit is going to be my entry for this years contest...

[A.J.]

Well, I've thought about this some more and figured I'd make yet another post. If anyone is tired of reading this stuff, just say and I'll quit. I know there are some collectors out here yet that do take an interest like I had done for so many years.

0300 has Hooker Headers, Isky Cams, Moon Eyes, Hot Wheels/Mattel, Monogram/Mattel, flamed sponsor decal (that I’m unsure of)

It is my thought that this one is 0301 but wasn’t printed on it.
Unnumbered retains Moon Eyes, Hooker Headers and Hot Wheels/Mattel but adds Mr Gasket and the Keystone logo thus ditching any Monogram logo which could have been in the transition of the previous Monogram/Mattel logo and the next version which is the plain red blue striped logo. Also gone are Isky Cams, and the flamed sponsor decal that I’m unsure of what it was.

0302 carried through with the Moon Eyes again, Mr Gasket, Keystone logo, and Hooker Headers but now added the new logo which made its appearance around 1973 I think. Also gone on this sheet is the Hot Wheels logo which makes sense for later kits because 1973 was the last year for the Mattel logo to appear anywhere on a box.

After writing it all out and thinking about it this would really make sense for the transition between 1971 to 1973 although I wasn’t sure that the Hot Wheels/Mattel logo was removed during 1973 but it probably was. The Mattel logo was very small on the 1973 boxes and usually only on the longer side panels. I hope I get some time over the holiday to dig out these kits. I’m now anxious to see what decal sheets appeared in mine. I may have never noticed the difference between 71 and 72 because they maintained that heavy blue stripe. I always knew about the later dominantly yellow stripes because they came in the alternate colored kit being molded in orange. Also I’ll note that the middle year most likely had smoked glass since they changed from red glass after 71.
Just too also note, all my information is from my personal collecting experience. I’ve never talked with anyone in the real know. Even Tom I’ve never talked without about it although I think I’d really enjoy a conversation about it with him. I have talked with heavy collectors over the years and none of the ones I talked to picked up on the revisions until I brought it up.

[gentlemanjake]

After closer examination I see the kit was molded in orange and the windshield is molded in clear green! Every Trick T I have seen was molded in silver, with a red windshield.Somebody had lightly sprayed the parts with Testors Met. Silver so I assume the box art would have been silver ? These parts are not Stinger issue, they are Trick T only parts. I also discovered a Trick T driver figure molded in a dark blue.

[A.J.]

The glass may appear to be of a green hue but it's really just the smoked glass. Monogram did use green glass in the snap dragon kits but I've personally never seen it in a regular issue kit. The green glass is unmistakably green as well. As for a dark blue Trick T driver, that would mean there is most likely a dark blue Trick T as well and it is entirely possible. It'd be a first if there was at least in my experience but definitely possible. Some kits to note that were molded in blue are the Little Coffin and the Bad Medicine. The Little Coffin not so hard to find, the Bad Medicine a little harder to find.

[gentlemanjake]

Ok, I see from the A.J. post that the 0302 issue was molded in orange and had a smoked windshield. I wasnt aware of this either, and no doubt I would have just considered it a Stinger issue had I seen a built one. I think my questions have all been answered except if there is any of the 0302 white/yellow decals available reproduced or if anybody has a spare sheet to sell? I want to build that version.

[A.J.]

Jake, you were correct by the way that the orange was used both with the Trick T and Stinger. The Stinger never had smoked glass that I know of by the way and had the full bubble rather than the screen.

[gentlemanjake]

[gentlemanjake]

Thanks A.J. Here is the molded in blue driver, it was assembled when I got it in the parts stuff, I popped it apart.

[AL]

Dec 16, 2013 13:29:59 GMT -6 A.J. said:

Well, I've thought about this some more and figured I'd make yet another post. If anyone is tired of reading this stuff, just say and I'll quit. ....

I don't think this would be the case here AJ, I like reading your stuff, and I'm glad that we have someone here that knows as much as you do about Vintage TD/Monogram kits. --I just had to say that, so ... don't be "silly"

-AL


btw, i have three unbuilt stinger kits, and this dude named "Cully" sent me the necessary parts to build a "Trick-T" .... !GEEZ, you'd think, I could build one already, ...... AAAAArrrrGGGGG !! !! !!


---anyway, thank-you Cully, ... and I'm sorry Dude, ........

[A.J.]

Dec 16, 2013 21:50:23 GMT -6 AL said:

Dec 16, 2013 13:29:59 GMT -6 A.J. said:

Well, I've thought about this some more and figured I'd make yet another post. If anyone is tired of reading this stuff, just say and I'll quit. ....

I don't think this would be the case here AJ, I like reading your stuff, and I'm glad that we have someone here that knows as much as you do about Vintage TD/Monogram kits. --I just had to say that, so ... don't be "silly"

-AL


btw, i have three unbuilt stinger kits, and this dude named "Cully" sent me the necessary parts to build a "Trick-T" .... !GEEZ, you'd think, I could build one already, ...... AAAAArrrrGGGGG !! !! !!


---anyway, thank-you Cully, ... and I'm sorry Dude, ........

Ha ha ha, I know you like reading my stuff Al. Thanks! There are others that know as much as I do and in some cases most likely more but they don't take the time to share that info. You already know that my intent has always been to preserve the history of these kits and hope that it doesn't get lost in the mix. So when I see somebody asking questions about variations, I feel a bit better knowing that there are still some out there that care about them more than just building the kit. It's even cooler when somebody remembers a version that wasn't as common.

Thanks for the pic Jake! I'm thinking a blue version would have been cool to see now. It would have most likely had the 0302 decals which would have shown up pretty decent on it. Too bad you didn't get the rest of it. I'd really like to see that one.

[gentlemanjake]

Hey A.J. Thanks for the great communication and all the info! Greatly appreciated! Jacob

[70spop]

I love reading this stuff! Thanks, guys. I like Monogram/Daniel stuff, but am a pretty casual collector of it. It's always fascinating to find out about variations that are not the commonly known box art versions. I'd love a set of those yellow/white decals, too.

AJ, you mention the green glass in the snap kits. Don't forget that the Cherry Bomb, Jinx Express and Sand Crab all initially came with green glass. I know the Cherry Bomb and Jinx Express went to smoked glass around '73, before eventually using clear glass (as the Fast Buck in that case). I presume the Sand Crab kept its green glass until it was updated to the Lil Van.

Brian