1978- The Year For Changes....In 1978, a few changes were made to the lineup. The most noticeable change in appearance was the new color for the packaging. The boxes were originally red with a blue stripe running vertically through the left third of the carton. This year they changed the base color to blue, with a red perimeter stripe. The lettering also changed to a shadowed block lettering, from the original 'typewritten' style of letters.In '78, they changed the description on the box from actually calling the truck what it looked like (Kenworth, or Peterbilt) to "a model BASED on the Kenworth, or Peterbilt". I would guess that they ran into a licensing problem. Because these trucks were not licensed, the Peterbilts were soon called "Pacers". They could not legally call them "Paccar", or "Pacemaker cabover" as Peterbilt did. However, they were identical to the real thing-The Pacer had the roof mounted air intake, the typical "Peterbilt" grille, and the exact shape and design as the actual truck. The next item that changed was that the cabs got some striping. Cheap, adhesive-backed paper striping. The decals on the cabs wore out very easily, and lifted at the edges quite readily. This however, was not a malady of the decals on the trailers. The decals on the trailers were made of high grade plastic-ask anyone who ever tried to remove them! The trailer decals were of an exceptional quality, and most surviving trailers still retain their stickers. (The only notable mention being the Watkins trailers. They were made with the inexpensive paper decals, and many have come off with the years.)
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The Newest Addition- The K-Mart rig!
There was also an addition to the model lineup. New for 1978 was the official K-Mart truck! The cab was the Kenworth cabover painted red, with blue and white stripes on it. The trailer was a white refrigerated trailer (probably a bare Consolidated Freightways trailer) with a bold "K-Mart" logo centered upon it's flanks. This was not uncommon in the day, as K-Mart had many of it's diecast suppliers emblazoning regular run units with the store's moniker, and then offering them for sale beside the store's normal diecast selection.
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Mid-year Crisis- Along comes Kidco
Sometime during the late 1978 production run, Universal Associated formed a small company in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. This company was to be named "Kidco". Kidco was to handle the United States distribution of Universal's products. Although this would have been considered a distributorship, it seems that Kidco had quite a bit of pull with Universal, because there were more than a few changes made even before the 1979 production run. |
Here Comes the Kidco Wrecking Ball...
The tractor/trailer combinations also got a major workover. First off was the new packaging. A black, red, and orange box quite similar to the one they had been using, but with "Road Baron tractor n' trailer" emblazoned across the rear flap. Other changes included the Exxon tanker, and the Consolidated Freightways refrigerated van being molded only in yellow. The curious note to this is that the Union 76 tanker stayed in white. Strange, if I do say so myself. The cabs also took on a new color scheme during this transition. However, the cabs noted here could not be had individually. The only way to acquire them was to purchase the tractor/trailer combination. The Peterbilt Cabover could now be had in dark blue with the Exxon tanker, and the Kenworth cabover could also be had in dark blue, but only with the Union 76 tanker. The striping on ALL of the cabs was discontinued at this point, but that was not to last for long. |
