Monogram Models

Author Thomas Graham has done a fantastic job in capturing the story of the Monogram model company. From its humble beginnings marketing simple balsa wood models to becoming one of the popular model kit companies of the 1960's and 1970's, through to the company's sale to Mattel and the changes in staff, this book captures every salient event in Monogram's rise to fame. In addition to being packed with photos of the various kits Monogram released over the years, the book captures the story of the people who made the company great and how they went about their work. Under its original Boss, Jack Besser, Monogram was populated by people who just loved doing what they were doing, either designing another kit, or doing artwork for the boxes, through to climbing a ladder and charging the model moulds with coloured plastic. I enjoyed this book immensely as it brought back memories of all the Monogram models I used to put together as a young boy growing up in the 1960's and 1970's and looking forward to seeing the end results. The book reveals how these models came to life from idea through design to mould construction to boxing and distribution. It also traces the ups and downs of the company from its inception as an idea two young men developed through to its present day status. For anyone who has ever constructed any of the Monogram model range, from model aircraft, through cars and dragsters and hot rods to slot cars and big rig models, this book is a fascinating journey of nostalgia and also a tinge of sadness as the company went through a change in the past few decades. The book is packed with photos of built kits and box artwork that will bring back memories for many people. In summary a very well researched and written account of one of the top model companies and their array of kits covering everything and anything a young boy would be interested in especially back in those heady days of the '60's and '70's....Well done, Thomas Graham!

Excellent. I wish the author had shown more of the sculpting and design process for the models, but overall this is great, and a sharp pang of nostalgia on every page for baby boomers like myself.

This brings back lots of wonderful memories of building models with my Dad during my childhood. It also shed light on a number of built models my father left me. It was great to read about those kits and to get a sense of when he probably built them. Some pictures actually made me teary-eyed! Great tribute!

I was a kid that grew up building Monogram airplane models in the late 70's. Monogram became my brand, my standard to scale modeling. I always wanted to read a complete history on the company. Enter T. Graham and his book. When I bought it, I started to read it as soon as I've got it in my hands. It is a very pleasant book, well edited and ordered in a chronological way. My first impression was that It was a very detailed account of how the company was born and how it developed over the years from a business management point of view. The book in general is very nice with lots of pictures and a very detailed annex with dates and market prices of a lot of Monogram's models, nevertheless, I only gave it 4 stars because I think the author did not went more deeply regarding Monogram's model airplanes and the last days of Monogram in the 90's. The book is 70% devoted to cars and trucks. Since my modeling area are scale aircraft I expected to be more balanced on that regard. Recommended !

I enjoyed perusing the book. Brought back a lot of memories and learned quite a lot about the history of Monogram!

Brilliant renditions of aircraft, spacecraft and automobiles and how they became model hobby kits, accessible to all.

While this book includes a great text story on the history of the company, and how it evolved through the years. It's also a great reference, with some well done photos of the many kits we all have all loved to assemble over the years. It's a book you will pick up time after time to browse. Maybe even choose your next model project from.

Great book! Really enjoyed it. I was a little disappointed by the fact that it was supposed to be the latest updated edition(2013), but the end of the book still stated that the Monogram name continued to appear on the former kits now being released by Revell, which is not the case. It would have also been interesting to see how some of the individual box art had evolved over time, say, for the B-17. Still, it was worth the price and I've ordered a couple of more Graham books.