Story of a great passion

The Revell history

The history of the Revell company is the story of a great passion that began in America at the end of the 1940s. There in Venice / California in 1947, the founder of Revell Inc. Lewis H. Glaser came up with the idea of ​​assembling a full-scale car from several plastic parts. That was the birth of plastic model making. As early as 1956, enthusiasm for the new hobby was to spread across the pond and revolutionize the leisure activities of countless hobbyists and collectors.

Then and now: Revell – the synonym for plastic model making

In that year, the German subsidiary, Revell Plastics GmbH, was founded in Bielefeld. Just a year later, the company headquarters were moved to the neighboring town of Bünde. From a traditional former cigar factory, initially only imported original kits from the USA and Great Britain were sold in Germany and neighboring countries.

The first in-house development - a BMW R75/5 in 1:8 - was created in 1971. In the mid-80s, however, a separate development department with attached production was established in Bünde. This expertise in the development and construction of true-to-original plastic model kits has been pursued and maintained persistently and with great continuity over the many years of the company's history. By the mid-1970s, the sales network covered all Western European countries. Since 1976, an extensive range of accessories has supplemented the kit range. Based on these successes, the sales network was expanded to Eastern Europe in 1978. Further consistent steps later included the inclusion of airbrush products and finished metal models (Die Cast) in the range.

The global success of the Revell brand can be illustrated in impressive figures from the plastic model making sector: In 1995, the mark of over 5,000,000 model kits sold was exceeded for the first time. Alone from the Fokker Dr. 1, several hundred thousand kits were sold. The most successful plastic model kit in the world is the Titanic: More than two million copies of the legendary steamer have been sold so far. These numbers are all the more impressive when you consider that in the early days there were only a few thousand models that made their way from Bünde all over the world every year.

Build Your Dream - model making is the core business

A look back at representative product highlights from the past decades reflects the fascinating diversity of the Revell model building world.

A product from the first hour is still relevant today: The Bismarck, one of the largest and most famous German battleships, in the range since the early 1960s, will be replaced by a new, spectacular edition in 2012. During the research, Revell was able to rely on old plans and new underwater photos. Model building history is also written by a small sailing ship that left the “Revell shipyard” in 1960 as the Peter Pan pirate ship. In 1969, the year of the moon landing, the entire Apollo-Saturn program caused a sensation. The space series was successfully continued with NASA's Challenger and Atlantis programs.

At the beginning of the 80s, Revell was the first manufacturer to present plastic truck model kits in a scale of 1:25. One of the highlights from the cinema world made its way into the model range in 2005 - Star Wars, probably the most famous cult series in the world to this day. The now extensive fleet of Star Wars space ships represents Revell's successful licensing business and the easykit product line for the youngest model builders. But even with modern, popular themes such as the cruise ships from AIDA or the car models from BMW, your own dreams can be fulfilled at any time with the help of the true-to-original model kits from Revell.

With additional, attractive concepts and ideas, Revell has repeatedly caused a stir on the toy market. These included, for example, the Grand Champions horse line and the MagCliks jewelry making series for girls. The Kick-O-Mania brand hit the heart of the target group of boys. Just in time for the 2006 Football World Cup in our own country, international football stars thrilled all young and old football fans as 30 cm tall toy figures.

With the market launch of the children's airbrush system ORBIS in 2011, Revell once again shows how innovative and creative products for children can be. With this system you can easily create your own ideas on paper, fabric, wood and glass as well as tattoos.

The successful entry into the RC toy market took place in 2009 and with it the expansion of the business areas towards remote-controlled products. With the Revell Control brand, a logical addition to plastic model making was created, with this segment benefiting greatly from the recognition and image of the traditional Revell brand. The Revell Control range is positioned as a fun and entry-level brand and includes attractive RC models for air, water and land. This offer is complemented by the self-developed RC cars from Revellutions, which impress with their unusual design and combination of unique features. This means that the cars in 1:14 and 1:18 scale guarantee pure driving fun. With these RC products, Revell has also developed into one of the top manufacturers in the RC toy market.