1 Million Kits! – The Enterprise at 55

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Desilu letter to Gene Roddenberry regarding sales of AMT kits. Gene: Perhaps NBS and the Advirtisers who contribute to the sponsorship of our show might be interested to learn something about the popularity of Star Trek. I have it on reliable information that the Star Trek model kit will sell a million copies within its first year of production. Previously, the most successful model kit was the Munster Model Car. You and I know our model kit is not that great a kit, but people continue to demand it. The machine that turns out plastic parts goes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and AMT is rushing another machine into production, My feeling is that AMT will be sorry they did not undertake a Galileo model kit. Regards, Bob Justman.

by Glen Swanson

In researching the history of the first AMT Star Trek model, I’ve come across numerous correspondence highlighting the phenomenal success of the first Enterprise kit. Sales seemed to have taken AMT and others in the industry by surprise as the kit began flying off store shelves starting in June 1967.

References to statements claiming that the kit was on target to reach and surpass the 1 million kits sold mark during the first year of its production were common both in internal correspondence as well as external ads. Here are some examples:

“As you know, the AMT kits of that ship are now passing the one million mark in sales, the hottest model kit toy item of the last five years.” (Gene Roddenberry, May 7, 1968)

“You will be pleased to know that the extraordinarily heavy demand for this kit has pushed sales towards the 800,000 mark, and gives every indication of reaching an all-time record of one million. (Stephen Whitfield, AMT Corporation and author of “The Making of Star Trek” January 2, 1968)

Was this all hype? How realistic of a claim was that? By 1966, could AMT or any other model kit company from that period produce 1 million kits of one particular model in less than one year’s time?

This is one in a series of original postings created to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the very first Star Trek model kit. In June of 1967, Michigan-based Aluminum Model Toys (AMT) Corporation began selling an 18-inch injection-molded model of the starship Enterprise. Before the year was out, AMT would sell over a million copies of the kit. Since that first release, AMT and its successors went on to release at least 23 unique kits making it one of the longest running and most successful Star Trek licensees in the history of the franchise. A close-to-the-original 1:650 scale model kit is still being manufactured and sold through Round2 LLC, the current AMT licensee. Just in time to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the kit’s first release, Round2 has reissued the kit in the more commonly seen second long box (S951) form that first appeared in 1968 which features on the box top an assembled model kit orbiting the Earth.

Editor’s note: I did some digging to see if it was reasonable or possible to sell a million kits in a year. After talking to hobby insiders and veterans, I am confident the number is accurate for the late sixties.. — Steve Iverson, CultTVman

  1. The Enterprise at 55 – an introduction
  2. What the heck is that?
  3. “I’m a doctor not a model maker!”
  4. AMT Kits Seen in the Classic Series #I
  5. AMT Kits Seen in the Classic Series #2
  6. AMT’s “Deep Space” Lights
  7. Remember View-Masters?
  8. Doug Drexler and his AMT Kits
  9. Doing a Double Take
  10. 1 Million Kits