The original Girder and Panel sets were created by the construction of a new office building in Cincinnati, Ohio, the original home of Kenner Toys. Kenner Toys president Mr. Steiner was intrigued by the girder steel beam and girder structures buildings. This then led to the development of girder and panel construction sets. Many adults who had Girder and Panel sets back in the 1960's and 1970's will remember the famous building and turnpike sets. These sets were characterized by hundreds of red, blue and yellow plastic girders and beams, the green baseboards, yellow electric motors and pulleys, plastic grey road pieces, and various colored plastic wall panels.
The memorable best-selling set was the motorized #8 set: Combined Girder-and-Panel Bridge-and-Turnpike set
Other sets were known are the Skyrail sets, which had a battery powered monorail steel rails run from building to building, and the Hydrodynamic sets, which consisted of some motorized pumps in a large plastic tank. As new subdivisions started to spring up around cities beginning in the 1950s and after, then Kenner Toys reflected the trend in their Subdivision sets which built brick or colonial-clapboard homes, with patios, swimming pools, TV antennas, and landscaping.
Kenner Toys set name: Date Pieces
1 Girder and Panel Building Set 1957 104 2 Girder and Panel Building Set 1957 189 3 Girder and Panel Building Set 1957 287 4 Bridge and Turnpike Set 1958 214 5 Bridge and Turnpike Set 1958 330 6 Bridge and Turnpike Set 1958 543 7 Combined Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1959 613 8 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1960 675 9 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1960 921
10 Motorizing Set (adds 1 motor, esp. for sets 4-7) 1960 100 11 Hydrodynamic Building Set (1 motorized pump) 1961 437 12 Hydrodynamic Building Set (2 motorized pumps) 1961 634 14 Build-A-Home Set 1962 111 15 Build-A-Home Set 1962 200 16 Build-A-Home Subdivision Set 1962 410 17 Skyrail Building Set (1 motorized Skyrail car) 1963 481 18 Skyrail Building Set (2 motorized Skyrail cars) 1963 753 21 Modern-As-Tomorrow Girder and Panel Building Set 1964 137 22 Modern-As-Tomorrow Girder and Panel Building Set 1964 234 23 Modern-As-Tomorrow Girder and Panel Building Set 1964 376 24 Freeway USA Bridge and Highway Set 1964 246 25 Freeway USA Bridge and Highway Set 1964 369 26 Freeway USA Bridge and Highway Set 1964 736 27 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1963 675 28 Motorized Girder and Panel, Bridge and Turnpike 1963 921 30 Skyrail Building Set 1963 481 31 Skyrail Building Set 1963 753 32 GirderMatic Building Set (1 motor unit) 1963 687 33 GirderMatic Building Set (2 motor units) 1963 945
By about 1968 the production of Girder and Panel sets had stopped and did not start up again until about 1974 when Kenner, now owned by General Mills produced the larger 1100 piece Sears Tower set #72001 with black girders and panels which could make a 5' model of the Sears Tower.
Kenner Toys then revived the Girder and Panel line with a series of inexpensive sets. The green masonite base boards were replaced with interlocking plastic plates. The panels were now flexible printed acetate sheets.
The following list of sets were made when Kenner was owned by General Mills: 72000 Girder and Panel Building Set (1974, 340 pieces) 72001 Sears Tower set (1974, 1100 pieces) 72011 Little-Learners World Famous Buildings (1975, 700 pieces) 72030 Girder and Panel Building Set (1977, 225 pieces) 72031 Little-Learners version of the 72030 set 72050 Skyscraper Set with Working Elevator (1975, 520 pieces) 72051 Little-Learners version of the 72050 set 72052 JC Penny version of the 72050 set 72070 Bridge and Highway Action Building Set (1977, 400 pieces) 72071 Little-Learners version of the 72070 set 72080 International Airport Action Building Set (1977, 325 pieces) 72081 Little-Learners version of the 72080 set 72090 Action Bridge and Skyscraper Building Set (1977, 800 pieces) 72110 KENSTRUCT Building Set (1979) 72120 KENSTRUCT Skyscraper Set (1979) 72130 KENSTRUCT Interstate Highway Set (1979) 72140 KENSTRUCT Super Set (1979 pieces)
Kenner Toys ceased production of the 72000 series of Girder and Panel sets in 1979, ending the long run with their four "KENSTRUCT" sets, the Girder and Panel trademark seems to have been abandoned by the company. In 1992, Irwin Toys of Toronto, Canada applied to the US Trademark Office for the assumption of the abandoned trademark. Irwin then began an entire new line of Girder and Panel sets unlike any that were made before. There were new blue/grey girders, beams, and new diagonal beams for slanted roofs along with new wall panels and some new plastic items were also added. Initially they produced three sets, called "Town Centre," "Cityscape" and "Deluxe Skyscraper." All sets now had an internal light run by 2 AA batteries. Beginning in 1996, Irwin produced a second line of speciality sets beginning with the Gas Station set listed below. These sets had very little U.S. distribution and were mainly sold in Canada.
Irwin Toys Girder and Panel Sets: Town Centre 55000 213 pieces CityScape (called The Architect, in Canada) 55120 298 pieces Deluxe SkyScraper 55130 550 pieces Gas Station 55101 133 pieces Fast Food 55102 133 pieces Police Station 55201 299 pieces Fire Station 55202 299 pieces City Centre 55301 591 pieces Emergency Centre 55302 589 pieces
Beginning around 2005 and to the present the Girder and Panel sets are again being produced and now sold in some speciality shops and on the internet by Bridge Street Toys. They have produced number of different sets along with matching parts for the older Kenner Toys and Irwin Toys sets and some are listed below:
Bridge Street Girder and Panel Sets: Tekton Bank Tekton Fire Station Tekton Tower Building Tekton Truss Bridge Hydromatic Sets
They can be viewed at: ((http://www.bridgestreettoys.com/index.html))
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