Kitmaster

General Guidelines on condition and price

It is self evident that mint, boxed kits in the original cellophane are going to command a premium price, whilst a badly-painted assembled kit with no box may seem to be "going cheap". As a general rule, the larger and later the kit was issued, the more it is going to fetch. When assessing kits, these are the questions to ask. For example, if it is still in the cellophane wrapper, a premium might reasonably be expected over a similar kit which had been opened.

	Is the box in good condition? After 1960 all kits were shrink-wrapped in cellophane, whilst earlier boxes will show signs of sellotape damage.
	Is the kit still on the sprues? A good clean kit with the majority of parts still on their sprues indicates a kit that has been properly stored. It also makes checking for completeness a lot easier.
	Is the instruction sheet in good condition? Kitmaster's larger instruction sheets were multi-lingual affairs and are often found with the bottom chopped off. This seriously affects their value, as does over-enthusiastic checking off of the parts.
	Are the decals present? A cut or missing decal sheet always detracts from value.
	Is the original catalogue present? The 1959 issues were all packed with a small catalogue showing that year's releases. Whilst a missing catalogue is not serious, a premium may apply if a catalogue is included. This would certainly include the rarer overseas issues of that catalogue.
	Is the glue present? Small gelatine capsules of glue were included with each kit. This can be a double-edged sword, as leaking glue reduces value, but some collectors like the capsule to be present. If it is one of the rare Kitmaster 1/2oz tubes of Humbrol glue, or an early branded glue by Airfix, Revell or Frog, these are now collectable in themselves.
	Is the Peco insert present? All 1959 UK kits were packed with a small blue/white Peco leaflet advertising the Railway Modeller. Nice to have, but not essential.
	Are the wire parts present? Three of the kits, Rocket, The General and the Hudson, were supplied with metal handrail wire. This is often missing because it fell out of the boxes easily.