Train set box art

[Andy Y]

With early memories being jolted by another topic http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135218-how-it-all-began/ the box art of train sets of yesteryear seem to evoke far more about an environment in which the train could be found. Maybe some of the art was a little interpretive rather than literal but I think they offered a bit more mental and imaginative stimulation.

 

Even this...

 

 

I always liked this:

 

Over time we have lost such portrayals to end up with something which is more product centric and less about stimulation:

Maybe there's a subliminal thing in there that limits the imagination and makes it more about 'here's what you get' rather than 'here's what you could have' - one appeasing the acquisitor and one the modeller?

 

I feel that Bachmann are a bit better in this respect illustrating that there's more to a scene than just what's in the box but it still seems to lack a little of the visual stimulation.

 

 

Who can't have loved an Airfix box or two?

 

 

Branding certainly seems to be as significant a part on the shelf as the contents today. Or am I just wallowing in nostalgia today? 

 

 

[Banger Blue]

Probably not just you Andy, you mention Airfix, their boxes still carry decent artwork IMO and indeed they now have the ‘Vintage Classic’ series with rereleases of classic kits and the boxes will have the old classic artwork on them, that seems to have been well received, everybody loves a bit of childhood nostalgia!

Edited June 26, 2018 by Banger Blue

[BernardTPM]

Tri-ang Railways raised their game in the early '60s and the use of such artwork was all part of it. Just look at their catalogues from that period too. Can't beat a good Cuneo!

 

[Nearholmer]

What a fertile field!

 

The TCS magazine frequently contains superb examples, and the general rule seems to be that the earlier a set was produced, and the cheaper it was, the starker the contrast between the opulent box art and the deeply disappointing contents.

 

The 'posh' makers, like Bassett-Lowke and Leeds used really plain boxes, I think, but am open to correction.

 

Of the British ones, I think that I like Mettoy best. They had a number of styles, but always seem to have invested heavily in box art.

[Spitfire2865]

Now-a-days, Im sure the reasoning is tied heavily to the fear of "False Advertising" and misleading customers.  How much uproar would we have today if little Timmy was disappointing on Christmas morning because his new trainset didnt have everything pictured on the box exactly as it appears.  

Then you look at prewar with either plain boxes or pretty patterning ala Lionel with only stamped identification for contents.  

[petethemole]

Now-a-days, Im sure the reasoning is tied heavily to the fear of "False Advertising" and misleading customers.  How much uproar would we have today if little Timmy was disappointing on Christmas morning because his new trainset didnt have everything pictured on the box exactly as it appears.  

Then you look at prewar with either plain boxes or pretty patterning ala Lionel with only stamped identification for contents.  

 

Embodied in the Trades Description Act; the old train set boxes, whether showing artwork of real trains, or huge layouts, were misleading under the new law. Airfix and other plastic kit box artwork did show the actual 'plane, vehicle, etc. that was in the kit.

[Andy Y]

Now-a-days, Im sure the reasoning is tied heavily to the fear of "False Advertising" and misleading customers.  How much uproar would we have today if little Timmy was disappointing on Christmas morning because his new trainset didnt have everything pictured on the box exactly as it appears.  

 

I don't think it's a problem in reality. I don't suppose many expect to get a painting of a Hall in Bachmann's Shakespeare Express box as an example.

 

[Nearholmer]

The Germans made some absolutely stunning illustrated set-boxes back before WW1, let alone WW2.

 

This one contained a station, rather than a set, and is the best I can find quickly on the web ..... it doesn't get anywhere near being the best.

[BernardTPM]

Embodied in the Trades Description Act; the old train set boxes, whether showing artwork of real trains, or huge layouts, were misleading under the new law. Airfix and other plastic kit box artwork did show the actual 'plane, vehicle, etc. that was in the kit.

Actually if you look at the artwork on the 'Dockmaster' set above and you'll see a steam outline loco with red wheels, dummy cylinders, no bufferheads and red and blue wagons - exactly what you got in the set! Luckily bufferheads were standard spare parts so that deficiency was easily sorted.

Admittedly the Mettoy artwork is quite a way off what the contents looked like.

Edited June 26, 2018 by BernardTPM

[Spitfire2865]

I don't think it's a problem in reality. I don't suppose many expect to get a painting of a Hall in Bachmann's Shakespeare Express box as an example.

 

But that painting displays the train in the box.  Painting or photo, you get what you see, a green 4-6-0 with some choc and cream coaches.  Nothing you see, bar the fence in the foreground or rolling countryside, isnt included in the box.

[Andy Y]

You get a bus instead of the fence - a fair swap?

 

Did you really think you'd get blast furnaces and cooling towers with a Triang Car-a-Belle set?

[gwrrob]

But that painting displays the train in the box.  Painting or photo, you get what you see, a green 4-6-0 with some choc and cream coaches.  Nothing you see, bar the fence in the foreground or rolling countryside, isnt included in the box.

 

You also get an open topped bus which do well on Ebay so I'm told.

Edited June 26, 2018 by gwrrob

[bennyboy]

When I got my first Hornby train set in 1978 it was the complete opposite of the artistic artwork illustrated here as they used photo-realistic artwork of the rolling stock in profile, which wasn't very inspiring at all!

[jjb1970]

I love inspiring box art for models, whether it be train sets, plastic kits, toy soldiers or diecasts. The old Airfix boxes were really wonderful, and Tamiya had some super paintings on their boxes which combined superb paintings with a white background in a very clean and stylish corporate house style. The only problem with those classic Airfix boxes was that the finished product never quite lived up to the box art. For all that I also love the plain, minimalist but high quality boxes used by companies like Overland.

[Steamport Southport]

I think mine from the same era just has a red box with a clear front panel like this.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hornby-g-w-r-freight-train-set-gwr-/283023231533?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

 

 

Jason

[jjb1970]

Mine had a lovely picture of a BR blue class 37 on Mk.2 coaches, a very accurate reflection of the contents, for me the box art really made the train set.

[GoingUnderground]

Meccano/Hornby O gauge box art work from the late 1920s bore very little resemblance to the contents. Sadly, I don't have the box any more, it was my father's train set. but the 4-4-0 tender loco hauling bogie carriages on the lid was rather more impressive than its contents, an LMS liveried 0-4-0 tender clockwork loco and three 4 wheel clerestory carriages. I still have the loco, carriages and track, though.

[tomparryharry]

You get a bus instead of the fence - a fair swap?

 

Did you really think you'd get blast furnaces and cooling towers with a Triang Car-a-Belle set?

You mean we didn't? Blast! Once again a loss to my over-fertile imagination. Back to the Minic Motorways for me!

[LBRJ]

I mnetioned this in another thread where someone thought the box art was a waste of money.

The design of, an on, the box is an integral, and as this thread shows, often an Iconic, part of the whole product.

[cypherman]

Hi all,

As a child these were the two pictures that really did it for me. I always wanted both of these as a child and suppose I was quite lucky in that I got one of them. I received the freight master set for one Christmas.

[grahame]

Now-a-days, Im sure the reasoning is tied heavily to the fear of "False Advertising" and misleading customers. How much uproar would we have today if little Timmy was disappointing on Christmas morning because his new trainset didnt have everything pictured on the box exactly as it appears.

 

I don't think that is necessarily the sole reason. Take a look at current food packaging. It often includes a photo of a beautifully cooked and presented dish with all manner of accompanyments and extras, whereas all that is in the packet is an uncooked raw single item. The box art usually includes some sort of excuse like 'serving suggestion' to brush away fear of false advertising claims.

 

G

Edited June 27, 2018 by grahame

[grahame]

But that painting displays the train in the box.  Painting or photo, you get what you see, a green 4-6-0 with some choc and cream coaches.  Nothing you see, bar the fence in the foreground or rolling countryside, isnt included in the box.

Apart from the track the train is pictured running on. AFAIA these 'train packs' don't include track either.

 

G

[kevinlms]

With early memories being jolted by another topic http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/135218-how-it-all-began/ the box art of train sets of yesteryear seem to evoke far more about an environment in which the train could be found. Maybe some of the art was a little interpretive rather than literal but I think they offered a bit more mental and imaginative stimulation.

 

Even this...

 

 

I always liked this:

 

Over time we have lost such portrayals to end up with something which is more product centric and less about stimulation:

Maybe there's a subliminal thing in there that limits the imagination and makes it more about 'here's what you get' rather than 'here's what you could have' - one appeasing the acquisitor and one the modeller?

 

I feel that Bachmann are a bit better in this respect illustrating that there's more to a scene than just what's in the box but it still seems to lack a little of the visual stimulation.

 

 

Who can't have loved an Airfix box or two?

 

 

Branding certainly seems to be as significant a part on the shelf as the contents today. Or am I just wallowing in nostalgia today?

Took me ages to figure out what 'Whiskies Galore' meant. Doh!! Edited June 27, 2018 by kevinlms

[Legend]

Airfix boxes had some fantastic art . I’m thinking ships and aircraft here, the VC10 leaving Heathrow , the battleship Bismark all dark and gloomy firing its guns , the B17 engine on fire.

 

I think marketing has taken the upper hand in packaging now . Pictures of locos on the catalogue transferred onto boxes , a seemless transition in product placement . You can hear the marketing speak now . Reality is fairly sterile catalogues compared to years ago . If we are a more mature market now , wouldn’t packaging and catalogues that are more nostalgic be more appealing ? I think so, but while it may be an age thing , isn’t that who they are trying to appeal to?

 

Love the box art and trainset threads

Edited June 27, 2018 by Legend

[Nearholmer]

"I think marketing has taken the upper hand in packaging now"

 

That isn't anything new or modern. If you want to see relentless marketing, using very carefully aligned advertising, point-of-sale material, packaging etc, look at what dear old Uncle Frank Hornby was up to from very early in the life of the Meccano product, reaching great heights with both Meccano and the railway material in the 1930s. The Meccano Magazine, clubs all over the world for either or both products, etc etc.

 

Before even Hornby, W J Bassett-Lowke had it taped too. Extensive press advertising, a truly enticing mail order catalogue, founding of the first model railway magazine (although less obviously a 'house' product than MM). The BL marketing model was much more mail order focused, though, it was Hornby who went to the mass market through hundreds of toy shops, hardware shops, newsagents etc acting as agents.

 

The change in style of packaging over the years probably reflects changing target audiences, as well as general changes in taste, and tightening of the law around misleading advertising.

 

It's a pity Nicholas Oddy, editor of the TCS magazine, isn't on this forum, because he is not only a hobbyist in this area, but also a highly respected academic in the area of the history of art and design of mass-produced products and their marketing.

 

Kevin

Edited June 27, 2018 by Nearholmer