Watching auctions for older models on Ebay got me thinking.
When did shrinking wrapping of model boxes begin?
I certainly bought them in the late 50’s and early 60’s but I have absolutely no recollections as to how the boxes were sealed, if they were sealed!!!
Many were just taped on the sides. I remember Aurora using cellophane wrap. Not sure when shrink wrap began though. I would guess in the 1970s.
No later than 1976. I worked at a Kay-Bee and was able to examine the latest releases (and repack them using a shrink wrap machine.)
in the mid-60’s at woolworths and ss kresges they would re-wrap models with a shrinkwrap machine evry day or so after the little brats would open the boxes to look inside or to steal a part
Just for some cultural perspective, here in Japan, kits aren’t shrink wrapped at all. You can rummage through kits to your heart’s content! Makes choosing a kit very easy. I’ve passed up plenty of kits that I was originally dead set on getting after having a good look in the box.
I wonder if the Japanese are inherently more honest than western society ? I know when I was a kid in the 1970’s, my friends were not adverse to enlarging their decal stash courtesy of some non-shrinkwrapped Airfix boxes. From a store owners point of view, I would rather have the kits wrapped. Being able to look at the contents of the box is a luxury I havent seen for some years. Most of the stores I visit are pretty down on that practise anyway.
I think it depends where you actually buy the kit. I have recollections of most kits from hobby shops (up to the mid-80’s anyway) being unwrapped and either “loose” or simply taped up with two tabs of tape at the sides of the box, while the same kit from a chain or department store would be shrink-wrapped. To this day one can still buy some kits from hobby shops (here in Australia anyway) without any form of box sealing.
I wont stick my neck out and say people are more honest anywhere, but its common practice in Asia. I remember as a kid opening boxes to look before buying.
The Austrian subway system doesn’t have turnstiles or anything blocking the entrances. They have a little ticket box next to the entrance way where you are suppose to put your ticket. Bus drivers at the start of a route leave their doors open while they take a break, people just get on and paid their fare in the farefox.
Boxes aren’t shrinkwrapped at my local store. Usually they’re just sealed with a few bits of tape, and occasionally, with nothing at all. Maybe it’s a European thing, since around here in Finland we don’t have the subway turnstiles either.