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Hasegawa Boeing 747 Jumbo 1987 with "Boeing" Blacked out


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I have a Hasegawa Ld5 Singapore 747 Jumbo 1/200 model factory sealed from 1987.  
The funny thing is that UNDERNEATH the factory sealed plastic, the word "Boeing" is crossed out with what appears to be silver model paint.
Was there a trademark issue?  This is the only one I have seen with the word "Boeing" crossed out. 
Thanks!

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I had a 1/200 737 with a box like that. I guess Some kind of licensing issue emerged after they boxes were printed, so it was easier to cover the boeing logo than re-print the boxes. Or maybe once the kit was imported the local distributor had to cover the boeing logo. 

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You are 110% accurate. There was a trademark issue. Just around that time. a lot of the US companies went after the plastic model manufacturers with trademark infringement lawsuits. Boeing was a big one. Academy got hit real hard with this suit. you will notice the boxes were all printed with out the Boeing name. Other companies embraced and actually supported the model industry. those were Air Buss and Ford. There were a few toy manufacturers that paid for trademarks. there were special stickers on those boxes. The Asian toy manufacturers were hit the hardest and it was intended for them. It actually brought Academy to their knees. Than when McDonald Douglas got bought out by Boeing, it happened again. I think that Boeing is still one that is that way to this day.

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Minicraft and Academy got hit really hard by this. I think that the trademark issues have been lifted. There are a lot of modern kits that have the Boeing logo today. 

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2 hours ago, Otto said:

Minicraft and Academy got hit really hard by this. I think that the trademark issues have been lifted. There are a lot of modern kits that have the Boeing logo today. 

part of me gets very angry when I see the Boeing logo on P-51 and B-25 products. I even saw one article that called it the Boeing P-51!

 

Sean

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North American became North American Rockwell which than became Rockwell International which was than bought by Boeing. What really frosts my goat is Boeing F-4 Phantom.😠. But I guess that there are a LOT of such examples. Boeing bought out almost everyone. I guess it's now the Boeing B-1 Lancer. Etc. Etc. Boeing F-86  or F-100? Take your pick.

Edited by Otto
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On 7/11/2020 at 6:37 AM, Travel Animal said:

I have a Hasegawa Ld5 Singapore 747 Jumbo 1/200 model factory sealed from 1987.  
The funny thing is that UNDERNEATH the factory sealed plastic, the word "Boeing" is crossed out with what appears to be silver model paint.
Was there a trademark issue?  This is the only one I have seen with the word "Boeing" crossed out. 
Thanks!

 

There is no such thing as a Hasegawa 'factory sealed' box. Sealing is done by the importing company.

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I never realized that Boeing was the "Buy-n-Large" of the aircraft industry!  

 

Sheesh.  "Boeing P-51".  That just has the oddest ring to it.  When I think "Boeing P-51", I can't help but get this image in my head of a P-51 with four B-17 engines on the wings.

 

Eric

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I seem to recall a photo of the Blue Angels back when that buy-out first happened and they had a few planes with Boeing logo and the others with McDonald Douglas. I always thought that was odd looking. At least with current production aircraft though it makes a little sense to absorb them into your brand. But an aircraft that's older and no longer made like a Mustang....that's just silly.

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Boeing wasn't the only to aggressively go after model and decal manufacturers over copywrite infringement and licensing fees.  UPS comes to mind.  Back in the mid-late 1980s, I had a complete set of "Un-named Parcel Service" decals for 727,747,757, & DC-8 in 1/144 scale.  The company titles and tail letter decals were all printed separate so that nothing appeared together, hence no copywrite infringement. You'd think that a company would want it's logo out there, sorta like free advertising!  Flying Tigers had no qualms, allowing Revell to box 747s and DC-8-61 kits before being absorbed by FedEx in 1990. 

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yeah, I remember when Nascar kits got hit especially hard and you just couldn't find any with sponsor stickers unless they were aftermarket and eventually hard to find ANY because the car manufacturers started wanting to license the bodies themselves. I SORT of understand perhaps wanting to maintain some sort of quality control for things associated with your name brand...but really, a model kit? Who would look at a model and decide not to buy a car based on it? I think it pretty much was just trying to squeeze a little extra cash. Pretty bum deal actually.

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2 hours ago, Dutch said:

UPS comes to mind.  Back in the mid-late 1980s, I had a complete set of "Un-named Parcel Service" decals for 727,747,757, & DC-8 in 1/144 scale. 

Happened in model railroad world too, and the hobby press commented on the irony of UPS fighting production of model UPS trucks & decals when a huge percentage of model railroaders did mail order business which paid to employ those very UPS trucks for shipping. 

Somewhere along the way things changed and now there are plenty of UPS models and decals available.

For instance, https://www.walthers.com/ups-r-store-kit

 

Even the US military got in on the licensing and trademarking, which caused Estes to change the decals for at least one model rocket kit.

 

Relevant reference, https://www.defense.gov/Resources/Trademarks/DOD-Trademark-Licensing-Guide/

Quote

 

However, many people are unaware that these official DOD and military service marks are protected by law from unauthorized use. The Lanham Act, also referred to as the Trademark Act, dates back to 1946. Other trademark licensing laws and regulations also exist that give the DOD, each military service, and other DOD Components authorization to protect and license their names, insignia, seals, symbols, phrases, and similar identifiers.

Consequently, when the DOD seal or military service insignia are used without permission, the Department(s) may take appropriate action upon notification.

This document is intended to serve as a guide not only to educate NFEs about Military Service intellectual property but also to ensure that when use is authorized NFEs use the correct, accurate, high resolution identifiers for the military services. This guide is not all-inclusive, but addresses our most frequently asked questions regarding use of our protected marks. It is also designed for requestors to recognize their specific circumstance and know whether their request will be favorably considered or denied. Please consider this information prior to contacting a Military Service Trademark Licensing Program Office.

If you have questions, feel free to contact the OSD Community and Public Outreach Division at osd.pentagon.pa.mbx.cpo-review@mail.mil or contact the Military Service Trademark Licensing staffs found in Part I of this document to address your matters.

 

 

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You’ve gotta understand copyright laws to understand this craziness.  Companies aren’t doing this to just grab an extra buck or two off our kits.  If they don’t defend every infringement brought to them, they will lose the rights to the name or logo.  There are law firms that do nothing but surf the internet to find infringements to get this business.  

There was a guy on YouTube that took a new Mustang, stripped the body off the floor pan and firewall and started building it up as a ‘67 Mustang that he decided to use one of the Eleanor body kits on it from the last Gone in 60 Seconds movie. Unfortunately for him he decided to title the video series something along the lines of “Building the Eleanor on a new chassis”.  They lady that owns the rights to the Eleanor name (Wife of the original writer of the original movie) sued him, won in court and he had to turn the project over to her since he had monetary gains from his videos.  And of course the videos were taken down as well. 

She protects that copyrighted name like it was her baby.  It is her retirement and probably a nice nest egg for the family.  

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2 hours ago, southwestforests said:

Happened in model railroad world too, and the hobby press commented on the irony of UPS fighting production of model UPS trucks & decals when a huge percentage of model railroaders did mail order business which paid to employ those very UPS trucks for shipping. 

Somewhere along the way things changed and now there are plenty of UPS models and decals available.

For instance, https://www.walthers.com/ups-r-store-kit

 

Even the US military got in on the licensing and trademarking, which caused Estes to change the decals for at least one model rocket kit.

 

Relevant reference, https://www.defense.gov/Resources/Trademarks/DOD-Trademark-Licensing-Guide/

 

 

Interesting about the Military trademark issue.  I wonder if this is why Tamiya no longer kits the 1/32 Thunderbird kit?  

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Even the Blue Angels protect their name. When I was making masks, it was highly recommended to me to leave off the crest and the script. Otherwise, I'd have a knock at the door and a cease-and-desist letter handed to me unless I got permission.

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2 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

Otherwise, I'd have a knock at the door and a cease-and-desist letter handed to me unless I got permission.

 

(kindergarten teacher's voice) Just tell them they're not being socially distant from you......wah wah wah.... 

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