Classic Jonny Quest
Jonny Quest Models - Bandit

Models from The Shape of Things - Bandit

Photo by Louis Szabo. See his comments and other photos below.
This Bandit model stands 5 inches tall and about 3-1/2 inches wide at the base.

From long-time contributor Jim Alexander:

"I originally met and became acquainted with Matt Mcwhirt, the creator of the Jonny Quest model kits, in the early 1990s at a local International Plastic Modeler's Society convention in Southern Indiana. The two of us had a mutual interest in building model kits and, as we found out later, Jonny Quest. Not long afterward, Matt decided to pursue a Jonny Quest license and release the Quest kits through his small company, 'The Shape of Things.' At the time, dozens of small resin model kit producers were releasing unlicensed kits -- referred to as 'garage kits,' because they were sculpted and cast in small quantities, one-by-one, often in people's garages. Matt wanted to do his Quest kits the right and legal way -- meaning, he would pay the fees to actually license the series of kits he had planned. This also meant that he was subject to licensor approval on the sculpts and character likenesses. Knowing that I was a graphic artist, Matt contacted me and asked if I would care to be involved in the creation of the box art. I gladly accepted and undertook designing the art that would eventually appear on the Jonny, Dr. Quest, Hadji, Race and Bandit kits. Matt was working with Turner Entertainment, who owned the Jonny Quest license at the time. Doug Wildey became involved when someone at HB/Turner told him about the project. Matt did purchase the rights to use Wildey's box art, and Wildey was a big help in clearing the way at Turner to move the project forward. Wildey brought the project home and made the concept for the kits true to the series. Original artwork by a friend of Matt's began the discussions of what the kits would be conceptually, but the two of them were outsiders to HB, so the project stalled until Doug Wildey stepped in. Ultimately, after multiple revisions, Turner approved Wildey's commissioned art, the design of the box art and sculpted likenesses of all the kit figures. The Jonny Quest kits were to make their premiere in 1994 during one of the nation's larger model kit conventions, 'Wonderfest,' in Louisville, Kentucky. Doug Wildey had agreed to be a special guest at the convention to promote the line of kits, but passed away just a few weeks before he was set to appear.

"After the initial release of the Bandit kits, 'Graphitti Designs' later helped 'The Shape of Things' distribute Bandit, because of their established retail store connections that Matt's small company did not have. All the Bandit kits that 'The Shape of Things' released were identical, made of cold-cast porcelain and hand-painted with a red collar. There were some unpainted castings and there were a handful of Bandits painted with the blue collar, but those were mainly 'paint test samples' that did not pass Turner's approval. If anyone comes across a Bandit kit made of any other material than cold-cast porcelain, it's a recast, and not something generated from 'The Shape of Things.' There were some Jonny model kits that were manufactured in urethane, and those were primarily sold at the 'Mad Model Party Convention' in 1995. Multiple recasts of all the kits exist, and even the original box art was copied in some. Matt reports that he's seen both 'tan' and 'white' unlicensed recasts of his original kits."
Matt previously documented his involvement with the kits on Chris Webber's blog.

Louis Szabo sent in some great pictures of the statue, including the one above, along with these comments:

"I just discovered your website and I wanted to contribute some additional information regarding the 'Bandit' statue. I bought the 'original' Bandit statue, then later I bought another Bandit for my daughter. When I received the second statue, I was disappointed in the finish, coloring, etc - It looked like a knock-off of my original Bandit from Graphitti Designs. I'd had the pleasure of conversing with John, the owner of Graphitti Designs on a previous occasion, so I called him to tell him what I found.

"'He told me the following: Graphitti bought the molds from another company that had released the Bandit statue as a one piece model kit. I apparently bought that model kit. It was cast much rougher than the production pre-painted statue version. Graphitti, cleaned up the molds, and sold a limited number (I believe the total number is 750 [Ed.: That's the edition size for the Shape of Things edition], but they may not have actually sold that many). You can see from the images that the sculpting around the ears is very rough. Its still nice to see the evolution of the product from early rough state to final finish product. The description on the stomach is JonnyQuest ™ © 1994 Hanna Barbera Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

"I've included some pictures so people know there are a very small number of 'artist proof' or pre-production versions available. I added the pads on the paws to protect the furniture."





Here is an another image showing the model sitting atop its box.

Terry Kelly (WDX6TJK at aol.com) writes: "Here are some snapshots of the great Bandit figure I told you about. Note the size! I have him in a place of honor, next to my Catalin Fada Bullet radio (Model 1000)."


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