Hubley 495 Box

[soslipstream]

Would any members have an original box for the Hubley 495 Fighter Bomber? I am looking for any inner corrugated spacers. Any pictures will certainly help. I am restoring a 495 with a pristine box and want to make it complete.

Thanks, Tom

[grwebster]

Here you go

this is the second version with the hump at the top of the engine cowling

[soslipstream]

Interesting. Here's is the box that I have and it is a different configuration. Now I wonder which box is the earlier version. I plan on restoring another early version without the hump in the same color scheme as the last of silver and red...
Thanks, Tom

[grwebster]

Pretty sure the one you have posted is the early box. The early Hubley smaller Buffalo has the same box.

Most of the later Hubleys I have seen right up to the end had the open cardboard base with illustrated sleeve. I have never seen a P-38 done any other way.The final issues of the Flying Circus were like this too

[soslipstream]

Thanks GR,
Sorry for my delayed response but I have been with "real" customers at my "real" job all day. Thanks again for that info!

Tom Sanders

[mett]

Well this is my first post on this board.
As a kid I had some cool toys MIA. And I was always fascinated with planes and WWII stuff. It took me 2 years of image hunting on google to find I had 2 of the hubley 495s as a kid. With that info I now could find auctions to buy one. That only took 4 years. Either no money, or the ones I wanted were to expensive what my taste. Well, this wait ate at me BIG Time.
A few weeks back I won this one, pic below. I have not taken my own pics yet, but I will. I think I was the first to take it out of the box. It seems perfect except for 2 tiny rubs on the undersize from being in the box all these years. Maybe 1/16"-1/8" dia. I'm debating on a touchup? A pro could do it and no one would know. But me.
It cost me about $160 off enay with shipping. My kids think I'm nuts lol. it seem to be a good price considering the 100s I have watched over the years.
I post this mainly as it is yet a different box. As I recall, my box is newer than the other 2 on the thread. I think the enclosed box in the oldest, and the one with the lift top is next then mine. I'm pretty sure this style I have is the one my mom bought me and I beat to death my plane in my back yard under my pine tree in Cleveland Ohio.
many many fond memories back there.

Any and all thoughts appeciated.
Tom

mett.com

[grwebster]

Welcome to our forum. Post any questions and especially photos you wish.

Unfortunately, little has been published about the Hubley aircraft, or their boxes. So there is nothing to refer you to.

Here are some of my boxed Hubley toys





I do know that the plane in the photo, a Navy Fighter Bomber as it was called by Hubley, appears to be the less common version of that toy aircraft unless the tie down is covering a detail, and it has the often missing canopy so you made a good buy in any case.
The first version of the toy had a design fault that required a later tooling change to add a hump on the top of the fuselage just behind the engine cowling to help keep the cowling attached and it looks like yours does not have it- so 1st, uncommon version- or it is it covered over with the tie down??
If you kept photos of the ones you have looked at you will clearly see this hump.
Below is one of the early versions with out the hump, but while the casting is original, the toy has been refinished so pay little attention to the paint schema and finish. {Was No. 495 a P-47 Thunderbolt with folding wings? Why the air intakes on the leading edges of the wing??}


This one below is all original but has the hump and is the second version casting.


I do not have a date range of production for the toy, but I assume it was late 1940s. Sears, FAO Swartz, MW, and other Christmas catalogs have helped date toys such as these so, perhaps someone else on this forum can advise.

As far as touching up the box worn area, I would strongly suggest you do not touch it. Original shelf or in-the-box wear as opposed to child's play wear doesn't detract from a toy's value, but any type of refinishing, renovation does.

BTW Perhaps you remember these other Hubley 'Navy Fighters' from the same period. {A Buffalo with folding wings? Or perhaps just a generic fighter?}


There was also a nicely made P-40 in several versions and a P-38 Lightning in similar finishes

[mett]

Thanks for the info. Over teh years I picked up on a lot of that info but it certain never hurts to re read think I forgotten at my age lol.
I passed on 6 of teh 1st year models on ebay months ago. It was very veyr tempting as the person took them all apart and stripped them. maybe one day I will be redoing them? but with teh cost of parts you really have to get deals.
1 main reason i jumped on this one was the canopy pieces were as close to perfect as i have seen. And it did have a ncie box.
Also this was teh color combo I had as a kid. I think next I want a 1st year version. I do like the colro combo a lot.

You have a very VERY nice collection. congrats. Now I just wish I had some of teh 30-40k I blew on baseball cards in 98-01.

Also I would not touch up the box, but I have thought of those 2 tiny bare paint areas on teh belly of the plane itself. they are very very small considering. but for now it jsut sits in the box it was shipped in.

Thanks for the welcome and all the info. looks like this could be another fun hobby for me.

Tom

[soslipstream]

Afternoon Tom! Welcome aboard. I was in your seat as a rookie two years ago. This is the greatest collective of the most willing and knowledgeable of miniature aircraft enthusiasts that you will ever meet.

About your new teasure. The touch-up idea can be difficult to wrestle with. It will take a knowledgeable pro who can actually match the paint then "feather-in" the spot. And that little spot might cost another $100.00 bucks. Others here can recommend a pro to use.

On the other-hand, if you ever want to try a restoration yourself, You can do it. I have done five and I am to not that talented. The pictures show my first which is the same as yours. Send me a note off-line and I can make you a "cheat-sheet" of the process.

GR, I love your early 495 with the silver fuse and dark blue wings! I have an extra one that I might just redo it that way!

Regards, Tom Sanders

[soslipstream]

GR,
I re-read your post where you questioned the design features of the Hubleyb 495. I believe the answer lies in the close relationships that Hubley cultivated with the east coast airplane manufacturers. Being in Lancaster County, PA, they were within a day's drive of Baltimore. Long Island, NY and Warminster, PA all WWII aviation factory center. The 495 is, what amounts to be a Navalized Republic P-47D/M/N. The folding wings were a popular feature on their previous airplane, the "Navy Fighter", which was directly based, as you know, on the humble Brewster Buffalo (Long island and Warminster). So the folding wing feature was kept and it was "modeled" using the folding wings on a Corsair (being manufactured by Brewster as the Brewster F3A-1). That is where the air intakes were also inspired. The Martin Mauler, to a degree, also influenced the later version of the 495. The infamous "Hump" behind the cowl was reminiscent to the air intakes on the Mauler's upper cowling. Grumman's Hellcat inspired the cowling. For the most part, Republic influenced the remaining parts of the airplane.

So why all the various influences? The marketing folks at Hubley new the veterans from WWII came home from all the branches of military service. Hubley's staff wanted each airplane to have some feature that each father would recognize thus influencing the choice to purchase. Yea, the airplane was designed as a toy for the kids but the kids never were the ones making the purchase. Hubley just knew where their bread was buttered...

Regards, Tom Sanders