To Him, Collecting Old Miniature Kits Is a Model Hobby

Bob Keller started collecting model kits in 1974, figuring that after he retired he would spend his time piecing together the miniature cars, airplanes and ships.

Wrong!

He has amassed 4,000 of the kits, but they have become so valuable as collectors’ items that Keller dares not open them.

“It would be throwing away money,” says Keller, 45, who runs a kennel in Stanton. “Right now an original kit issued in 1960 runs from $15 to $50.” When they were new, most such kits cost $1.

“In those days kids were into model-building,” he said. “It was something you did at home where it was quiet and you could research everything you built.” Keller knows. He was one of them.

Today, Keller says, “kids into building kit models are looked on as antisocial by their peers,” and model-building is thought of as a hobby for nerds.

Part of the reason for that, he says, is probably the fast tempo of life for children today. “It takes time, and the quick gratification isn’t there,” he says of model-building. “Kids can get that quick gratification by putting a quarter in a video game and setting a new score.”

Keller’s current challenge is finding kits--out of production and unopened--for his collection.

“I sometimes can find kits from people who had them stored away, but most of what I collect comes from trading with other collectors,” he said.

Keller stages model-kit swap meets three times a year in Buena Park. The gatherings have been held since 1984, and they draw a good crowd from the estimated 5,000 kit collectors in the United States, he says.

Keller said he started collecting after leaving General Dynamics, where he worked for 10 years along with his mother and father. His last position there was as a data processing programmer.

“I though it would be nice to build from kits the things the company made, such as missiles, aircraft and submarines,” he said. Keller wisely bought two of each model--one to build and one to save.

Three of his most prized kits, however, contain the makings for car chassis made of clear plastic. Kits such as these were once used as high school instructional aids in the early 1960s. Keller put their value at $400 each.

Keller did own a hobby shop for a time, but it never became profitable. “I spent most of my time making models because I didn’t have that many customers. But I did have the best display.”

Keller also tried making and marketing a kit model of his own--of an airplane built in the early ‘30s.

Keller believes that the companies producing kits nowadays are not nearly as creative as those of the past. “There isn’t much variety in the type of models being built today,” he says.

So far, there are two name plaques on the old-fashioned oak cradle that Ron Kautz built for his grandchildren, but there’s plenty of room for more.

“I built it with the idea that we would pass it on to our daughters to use as they gave birth,” said Kautz of Santa Ana, who has three daughters. A third grandchild is due in March.

Between babies, wife Bernadine will put an antique doll in it and keep it in their bedroom.