2010 Recipient
John Mueller
John has served the model and die cast industry
for over forty-seven years, starting with the original AMT
(Aluminum Model Toys) company in 1963. As a very young man
fresh out of the Navy, he eventually directed product and
mold design and technical illustration groups for AMT, at
a time when they were one of the dominant players in the
plastic kit industry.
Following his time at AMT, John then moved
to Fundimensions, Inc., who (at the time) owned the MPC
and Craft Master tooling. John managed their hobby projects
from preliminary design to product release and also directed
their design draftsmen.
By 1986, the ERTL Company had acquired the
tooling assets of AMT and MPC, and John joined forces with
them. In the capacity of Model Kit Design Supervisor, John
was able to bring many desirable and award winning plastic
kits to the market. John was also instrumental in the development
of tooling resources in China, thus resulting in a significant
savings in product development for the company. Change is
always constant in the hobby industry, and in 1999 Racing
Champions became the new owner of the AMT and MPC tooling
inventory. John became their Product Manager and developed
more award winning plastic model kits along with numerous
die cast model products. If you've ever built an AMT or
MPC plastic model kit, odds are that John had a hand in
its making.
Since 2000, John has
been an independent design consultant to the model kit and
die cast hobby industry. He has done design work for most
all of the current plastic and die cast companies, and his
years of experience keep his services in demand.
2009 Recipients
Fred Ertl - Established in 1945 by Fred
Ertl, Sr., The Ertl Company gained prominence and a strong
following as the leading manufacturer of die-cast farm replicas.
Fred Ertl, Jr. followed his father into the family business
and formed lasting relationships with major agricultural
and implement manufacturers such as John Deere, International
Harvester, Caterpillar, and J. I. Case. The large majority
of Ertl replicas were sold through agricultural equipment
dealers as promotional replicas of full-size equipment marketed
by leading U.S. Ag manufacturers. In the early 1970's, Mr.
Ertl expanded into the unassembled plastic model kit market
with a range of highly-detailed farm and construction kits
followed by the acquisition of AMT and MPC model companies.
He also had a strong hand in the development of the "American
Muscle" brand of 1/18th scale die-cast American auto
replicas. Following 45 years in the hobby industry, Mr.
Ertl retired in 1992.
George Totef, founder of MPC and developer
of the revolutionary 1/25th scale model car kit, the 1963
Corvette Coupe, began his hobby career as a tool maker for
Aluminum Metal Toys. He was instrumental in the development
of side slide models that enabled model car bodies to be
molded in one piece. He and George Barris created models
of famed custom cars and built MPC into a leading model
kit manufacturer. Totef set new standards for implementing
design, tooling, and marketing techniques and ideas of scale
auto models.
