F is for Follow-up - Kaster Kits

Isaiah Bowen was looking for more information on the Kaster Kits I posted a while back, and I glibly directed him to the link in that article, but it seems to have vanished, and various attempts to find it on what seems to be the original parent site, and the Waybackmachine have proved fruitless, but fortunately I did copy the article, at the time, and while I can't get the images out of a Word document in a usable format, I will reproduce the text below, but first Isaiah's images;

 

The same sailor as me, but definitely a Kaster Kit moulding (or molding!), where mine might be Agasee or other, as it was sourced in the US of A.

 

A novelty axe, useful for Action Man/GI Joe sized figures, but they wouldn't have existed back when these moulds were common hobby items, so I guess it would have been for craft type tchotchkes or ornamental 'objets d'art'? Being lead, not an ideal hidden pudding-prize, but that might have been another use?

 

Not having my Agasee to hand I can't tell you if this has a code in their catalogues, but she's in the same style and with a similar base, is probably from the same series, and while designed for large gauge railway layouts, has a formal/work dress style of the 1940's which make her ideal for painting-up as a servicewoman from the WAC's, WASP's, WAV's, WAAF's, FANY, WRNS, WRAF, ATS and/or etc...!

 

Possibly S52 below?

 

This guy was in the same lot, I suspect from the change in style and different base, that he's a more commercial or purchased 'as is' figure, Scruby, or one of the similar makers found in early Polk's or Bob Baird listings?

 

So many thanks to Mr. Bowen for the above images, and now, in order to help him and anyone else needing it, here's the text from that defunct link;

 

"A.C. Gilbert Kaster Kits

As all of you regular visitors to Girders & Gears know well, our focus here is on metal construction toy systems, often referred to within the hobby simply as "OS" (Other Systems). However, this time we'll look at something a little different: Gilbert Kaster Kits. Although the A.C. Gilbert Company is best known by most OS fans for its now famous Erector Sets, throughout much of its lifetime the company also designed and manufactured other products. Among these were a number of other toys, including games, magic sets, chemistry sets, and more. In 1931, Gilbert introduced their Kaster Kit line, a suite of products that could be used to create small lead soldiers and other toy figurines. This was a popular hobby of the period, and young boys, my own Dad included, spent many hours casting and painting tiny lead armies. My thanks to friend and G&G reader Bill Klein for the images shown on this page.

Part #	Name	Price
1	Metal Casting Set (non-electric)	$1.00
3	Kaster Kit Jr. (electric)	$2.95
5½	Kaster Kit (electric)	$4.95
7½	Kaster Kit (slush mold type)	n.a.
00	Pigs of Metal	$0.50
1	Kaster Kit Paints	$1.00
2	Mold Holder	$0.30
A	Sports Series Molds	$2.00
B	Band Series Molds	$2.00
C	Military Series Molds	$2.00
1-29	Individual Solid Molds	$0.50
S40-S54	Individual Slush Molds	$0.75

The available components of the Gilbert Kaster Kit line, which included lead melting and casting machine kits, casting molds (Gilbert used the English spelling "mould" in their literature) and mold sets, paint sets, etc. are listed in the table shown at right, along with their 1931 prices. As the list indicates, there were three different casting machines and/or kits available. The No. 1 Metal Casting Set was a non-electric all-in-1 kit that contained molds, casting metal slugs ("pigs"), melting receptacle, spring grip mold holders, pouring ladle, paints, and more. The pigs could be melted over an external heat source. The No. 3 Kaster Kit Jr. contained a casting machine that consisted of an electrically heated melting receptacle on a raised metal stand with spring grip mold holders attached to it. The entire apparatus was mounted on a metal base (see photos and diagram below). The No. 3 Kit also included mold handling and cleaning tools, 12 pigs of metal, 1 mold, and an instruction manual. The largest Kaster Kit was the No. 5½. It contained the same the casting machine as the No. 3 kit, but this time the machine was mounted on a larger base that had room to hold mold storage trays, tools, pigs of metal, etc. (see photos below).

A later addition to the Kaster Kit line was the No. 7½ Kit. It contained an updated version of the No. 3 machine that had been slightly redesigned in order to accomodate Gilbert's new "slush type" molds. Where the standard molds produced solid castings, the newer slush type molds produced hollow castings. The big selling point here, of course, was that less metal was required to produce a comparable figuine. The integrated heating units in all three of the electric kits were AC powered, but the kits did not include a cord or plug. These could be purchased separately, or a standard universal cord could be used. At this time, many small household electric appliances like steam irons, coffee pots, waffle irons, etc. used such interchangeable cord/plug units (each such appliance had two cylindrical prongs to which the cord/plug units were connected, as did the Kaster Kit machines). Most homes had at least one such cord unit, so it was not always necessary to purchase one. To expand the system, Gilbert sold a variety of additional molds, both separately and in sets. There were 29 different regular molds in all, including military figures, sports figures, animals, American Indians, and planes, trains and automobiles (see image above). When the No. 7½ Kit was introduced, 15 new slush type molds were added to the line to use with it.

No. 5½ Gilbert Kaster Kit (image missing)

Detail of No. 5½½ showing spring grip mold holders (image missing)

No. 3 Kaster Kit Jr. (image missing)

Manual diagram of the No. 3 Kaster Kit Jr. (image missing)

Molten metal in the No. 5½ melting pot (image missing)

Fire Engine (#20) and Infantry (#5) molds (image missing)

Infantry (#2) and Cavalry (#6) molds (image missing)

Gilbert expanded the basic system by offering a variety of additional molds for sale, both separately and in sets. There were 29 different regular molds in all, including military figures, sports figures, animals, American Indians, planes, trains and much more. When the No. 7½ Kit was introduced, 15 new slush type molds were added to the line to use with it.

G&G reader and good friend Bill Klein supplied the images for my previous feature, and recently he sent me a package containing a dozen or so freshly cast figurines from his Kaster Kits. Some of those figurines are shown in the photos below. Beneath the photos I have listed all of the individual Kaster Kit molds.

S41 Sailor and No. 9 Battleship; the ship shown at upper right is still attached
to its pouring tube (image missing)

No. 5 Infantry, No. 4 Howitzer, and No. 6 Cavalry (image missing)

No. 20 Fire Engine and No. 8 Airplane (image missing)

S45 Indian Chief and S46 Warrior with Gun (image missing)

No. 16 Magic Coins (image missing)

Illustration from the original Kaster Kit manual depicting some of the available molds (image missing)

KASTER SOLID MOLDS Mold # Name Price 1 Army Officer $0.50 2 Infantry (2) $0.50 3 Indian $0.50 4 Howitzer $0.50 5 Infantry (1) $0.50 6 Cavalry $0.50 7 Elephant $0.50 8 Airplane $0.50 9 Battleship $0.50 10 Cowboy $0.50 11 Boy Scout $0.50 12 Whistle $0.50 13 Jack Bones $0.50 14 Checkers $0.50 15 Police Badge $0.50 16 Magic Coins $0.50 17 Locomotive $0.50 18 Tank $0.50 19 Kneeling Soldier $0.50 20 Fire Engine $0.50 21 Football Linesman $0.50 22 Football Backfield Man $0.50 23 Baseball Batter $0.50 24 Baseball Fielder $0.50 25 Drum Major $0.50 26 Drummer $0.50 27 Bugler $0.50 28 Bass Horn Player $0.50 29 Machine Gunner $0.50

 

KASTER SLUSH MOLDS
Mold #	Name	Price
S40	Cannon	$0.75
S41	Sailor	$0.75
S42	Marine Officer	$0.75
S43	Automobile	$0.75
S44	Airliner	$0.75
S45	Indian Chief	$0.75
S46	Warrior with Gun	$0.75
S47	Soldier	$0.75
S48	Officer	$0.75
S49	Cadet	$0.75
S50	Cold Stream Guard	$0.75
S51	Medical Officer	$0.75
S52	Nurse	$0.75
S53	Stretcher Bearer	$0.75
S54	Wounded Soldier on Stretcher	$0.7

" [end of article]

If the original article is available on the internet I'm happy to revert to a link on this one, if you are the original author or one of the contributors, get in touch, and we could work out a way to save the article and/or re-publish the images?

C is for Christmas Exhibition - 3 of 5 - Metal Construction Systems

The lower shelves of this year's display are on the metal building systems and again the upper of the two has non-Meccano, the lower all Meccano, this post addresses that first, upper, Meccano-free tier.

Two from the same manufacturer at 1 and 5, one being Tobar's contract manufactured Junior Engineer's Workshop Racing Car and five a Bulldozer credited to FIA Toys marque; Nuts and Bolts Engineering. You can see the plastic parts are identical despite the plethora of brand marks!

The scales (9) seem to be a direct copy of- and contemporaneous with- early Meccano, from Masterbuilder of Loughborough, Leicestershire. While at ten we have an army Land Rover (Series One I think, or is it a Mini Cooper! See previous post!) from the Gift Box Co., who sound like another importer.

In front of the Lanny we have a vintage crane on a rail wagon from AC Gilbert's Meccano-similar Erector sets (6), note the nice truss-girders used on the arm. In the foreground is a snowmobile form German brand Eitech.

Hidden by flash reflection the 3 on the roof of the blue truck announces a Breakdown Truck from the department store chain Marks & Spencer, who credit it to Germany, as it has the same Phillip's driver holes as the Eitech, that might be a clue, but to be honest; I think even Meccano (still going as a French-owned brand) have gone over to crossed, from slotted?

The footbridge (7) is another vintage rival to Meccano; Trix, although I think it's a licensed US product, I just can't remember who, the third line of holes in the beams is the giveaway.

At the back is a nice looking Harley-D (11) type from Remco in the US, but not vintage; it's another modern Chinese import (and thanks to Chris Smith Remco will be reappearing soon have now appeared here recently!), brand-marked Steel Tech.

The two new ones here (from the previous picture) are another import from China; the little plane (4) is branded Metal Mechanic and credited to Padgett Brothers (A-Z), another rack-toy importer we've seen here before, while behind it we see a very old rail wagon from Primus Engineering (presumably the same people who made the camping stoves for the old Empire's expeditions and military?) with pre-shaped, real wood parts.

This doesn't have the flexibility of the other systems (although the engine, wheels and struts are re-usable) and is probably aimed at adult collectors? Credited to Metalcraft Corp., of St Louis, and unmistakably the Spirit of St. Louis which that wotisname fellow crossed the pond in.

Yep! Definitely a Series One!