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Revell
The company Revell GmbH has set the milestone for the hobby of model building in Germany.
With its uniquely wide range of products from cars, tanks, planes, ships to science fiction, it serves all ages and interests with plastic model kits and accessories.
Founded in the USA, the German subsidiary has been based in Bünde (North Rhine-Westphalia) since 1956.
Read on...
The company Revell GmbH has set the milestone for the hobby of model building in Germany.
With its uniquely wide range of products from cars, tanks, planes, ships to science fiction, it serves all ages and interests with plastic model kits and accessories.
Founded in the USA, the German subsidiary has been based in Bünde (North Rhine-Westphalia) since 1956.
Revell: A paradise of diversity for model building hobbyists
Revell has always been known for an incredible variety of the individual model building sections. You will find vehicles, ships, motorcycles, tanks, remote-controlled models and much more.
The themes range from classic cars to agriculture, WWII to space travel and science fiction, only to name a few.
Every age class will find what they are looking for, and to make things easier, they have defined a level of difficulty for each model kit, so that for both beginners and professionals it is easier to choose the appropriate kit difficulty level.
Conveniently, Revell offers a full range for this interesting hobby, from which you can purchase the appropriate paints, glues and tools for your model.
Where does the well-known name come from?
Lewis H. Glaser, founder of the parent company in the USA, lived in Venice/California. His first job was to repair radios. In 1941, he began selling plastic products of his own manufacture.
One year later he founded his own company with Jaque Fresco Under the name “Revell Plastics Company.”
As they were also developing cosmetic products at that time, they agreed on the melodious company name Revell in connection with the cosmetics manufacturer REVLON and the word Reveil (= french for Wake/Waking).
Who wants something like that?
Starting in 1947, the company sold finished car models, but soon came up with the forward-looking idea of whether cars could not be sold as kits for people challenging them to put the parts together themselves.
Skeptical, but encouraged by the Woolworth department store chain that took over distribution, Glaser released the first car kit under the name Revell Highway Pioneers (scale 1/32) in 1951.
It was a successful, bold move and it paved the way for modeling into the hearts of countless people. A popular hobby was born.
Focus on historical models
Under the name Authentic kits, the next step was to produce 1/32 scale model kits, based on historical models and accurate in every detail. In this series, for example, the famous battleship USS Missouri was launched in 1953. This one can still be purchased today and is considered a sales hit in the world of model building.
It was soon followed by the first aircraft model, the Lockheed F-94C Starfire.
To attract customers, Revell placed great emphasis on appealing package illustrations even back then. These fetch high prices as model collector's items today.
In 1956 the spark ignited Germany
At a meeting between Lewis H. Glaser and the German toy manufacturer Heinz-Georg Schöneberg, the model building idea was also convincing here, and so Revell Plastics GmbH was founded in Bünde (North Rhine-Westphalia) for the distribution of American model kits in 1956.
Soon after that, the company started its own production at this new location using injection molds from the USA.
Since the German customers were less interested in toys, but more specifically in historical, detailed kits, Revell began to develop and manufacture its own models at the Westphalian plant.
Thus, the first self-developed kit was ready to sell in 1971, the BMW R75/5 motorcycle in 1/8 scale, which is still a classic today.
Evergreens but also unusual stuff
Now Revell's distribution network covers the whole Europe, and countless models have been developed. In Germany, the company is the unrestricted market leader in this sector.
The production of classics and new models, adapted to current events, is standard at Revell.
From time to time, however, they have also surprised with something quite unusual, e.g. in the 1959 catalog, a nuclear power plant was offered as a model-making hobby project.
In the 1965 catalog, one found The Beatles in 1/8 scale in a small edition, the collector's value of this item is surely astronomical today.
After the reunification of Germany, it was only logical for Revell to develop a Trabi model (Link!) in 1/24 scale in 1990. This one still enjoys great popularity in various model versions today.
Profile
| Name of the company | Revell GmbH (parent company: Revell-Monogram, USA) |
| Founder | Heinz-Georg Schöneberg (founder of the parent company: Lewis H. Glaser) |
| Founding year | 1956 |
| Located | Bünde (Germany) |
| Employees | Approx. 120 (in 2020) |
| Specialized in | Plastic injection molding kits, paints, glues, tools |
| Videos | Interesting Videos on the MBK-YouTube-Channel |
