THE SKINNY:  Simple kit, low price, plenty-O-fun!

Atlantis Models apparently now has the molds to this classic, and they have had no problem getting the licensing to re-release this kit with its original box art.  Pricing at my local hobby shop was about 25% less than what you would expect to pay if this were a new Revell release.  At only $21.99 list, this kit's a bargain!
 
Atlantis produces its kits in the USA.  This one is molded in white friendly-to-paint styrene.  Two metal axles and decals are included.  This is another classic that I just had to start once I’d opened the box, so I’ll update this review as the model progresses.

For the first time in a long time, the original box art is back!  One of the best aspects of this kit is that the figure actually resembles the box art.

Vintage box art--in Spanish!  These kits sold in the millions and were marketed worldwide.  Ed Roth got one penny royalties from Revell for his efforts from each kit sold.  From 1963 sales alone, this resulted in $32,000 for Big Daddy.

​This is the second classic Revell kit released by Atlantis that I’m working on, and I must say I’m impressed with how Atlantis is executing these kits.  I had very low expectations for this one due to its age and vintage, but like their B-24, either the molds have aged well, or Atlantis has done some cleanup on them.  There are certainly a few gaps that will need your favorite filler, but nothing too egregious.

Instructions are on a rather diminutive 5X7-inch sheet

The decal sheet is likewise small, but appears to be of premium quality.  There are two pairs of eye-iris/pupil markings and "Mr. Gasser" titles for the doors of the car.

Sinkholes in the plastic are minor, and ejector pin marks will not bother anyone but the most fastidious contest modeler.  I don’t think anyone buys these old kits expecting them to fall together out of the box, but this one actually comes pretty close considering its vintage.

The parts!  Sorry I didn't photograph them on the sprues; I was just too excited to rip into this baby!

​One of my favorite aspects of this model is that it looks like the box art, especially the figure’s face and expression.
 
These were simple kits.  The instruction sheet is a small double-sided page.  Builders who’ve done a few glue-kits should have no problem with this one.  The small instruction sheet might be frustrating to very inexperienced modelers, but for the most part, assembly is pretty intuitive thanks to the low parts count and simplicity in both the figure and the car.

​It won’t be a lot of work to clean up parts and finish this model.  Perhaps most challenging to the modeler will be the painting since a number of colors will probably be required with either plenty of masking or a steady hand with a paintbrush.   The modeler will want to try some weathering to enhance details.  
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If you like Weird-ohs or Ed Roth’s monster kits, you’ll be happy with this kit.  Dem Brudders give it four thumbs-up!

More on Ed Roth’s Monster-Car Kits​:

We'd recommend these "cartoon kits" as a place to begin if one is interested in learning how to build historical figures.  Messing up things like weathering faces and clothing won't be such a big deal here, and mistakes made won't detract much from the cartoon nature of the kit.  Newfound expertise and confidence built here, frustration-free, can then be utilized on that expensive resin figure kit of Washington Crossing the Delaware, or whatever.

 A)  Beyond the Box:  I'm happy to say that I'm an anal-retentive modeler about some things but not others.  I don't consider myself a rivet-counter.  There are many times where I could care less about accuracy in a model kit, and I support others with the same opinions.  But on Mr. Gasser, my anal retentivity got the best of me when I saw the kit's steering wheel hand.

Drawing a blank:  How do you deal with that spot between thumb, index finger, and wheel?  This is the stock kit part prior to its surrender to my selective obsessive-compulsiveness.

I need a hand:  Bits of kit sprue and putty fill out that netherworld where there otherwise would have been a tooling undercut.  The modification is out-of-box, right?

There's a sort-of blank spot where there ought to be an opening between the figure's hand and the steering wheel.  I'll give it to Revell's attitude to go the easy route when tooling up the kit originally; they did their best to keep it simple and they succeeded in their goal of producing a Spartan kit that's easy to put together.

Brudder Dick bought the 2000 release of Mr. Gasser and finished the figure, seen here, but not the car.  A golfer himself, Dick had to convert the '57 Chevy into a golf cart, but the golf cart is still a work-in-progress.  If he ever gets it finished, we'll update the article.  He builds almost as slow as me.

​Dick built Mr. Gasser right out of the box, but has modified the shifter into a putter.  The golf ball is a 1/1-scale "beginner-orange" version and he printed the Roth-head decal himself using decal paper and an inkjet printer.  The image was scanned from the box art.

Mr. Gasser sans the gasser.  Thanks to Dick, he's Mr. Golfer.

B)  Beyond the Kit:  Mr. Gasser was first released in 1963, helping to kick off the "Weird Ohs" craze.  It sold well enough that a series of other crazy Fink figures with cars followed, such as Mother’s Worry, Drag Nut, and Robbin’ Hood Fink.
 
In 1999, I picked up Mother’s Worry and Robbin’ Hood Fink on clearance at the old Kaybee Toys outlet store.  Each of the Fink kits had a different theme; Mother’s Worry drove a T-bucket hot rod and Drag Nut was similar.  

Box art for the 1966 release of Ed Roth's Mother's Worry.  "Big Daddy" was still around to negotiate licensing for this kit with Revell.  Unfortunately, we lost Ed Roth in 2001, but his spirit lives on!

Robbin’ Hood Fink was different; the figure in this kit was a Wild West bandit (complete with bullet holes and a broken hangman’s noose).  Robbin’ Hood’s ride was none other than Ed Roth’s first custom car, the Outlaw.  This was no bare-bones caricature of a car, however; it included most of the plastic from Revell’s finely detailed Outlaw show car kit.  This model has a fully rendered engine complete with internal crankshaft detail and heads with cylinders visible.  Few manufacturers include such detailing in state-of-the-art kits released today.  Instead of the regular kit’s wheels, cartoon versions of the wheels were included, so it wasn’t quite possible to build a stock version of Outlaw with that kit.

Revell was on a tear with nostalgia releases in the late 1990's.  Although the box styling was 1990's contemporary, the original Roth artwork was there along with photos of a built model!

The Mr. Gasser figure was very close to the box art and in my opinion, he seems to have the happiest expression of the car-fink monsters--it appears that he enjoys his automotive mayhem more than the others.  I regretted not picking up a Mr. Gasser during the release around the year 2000, and he was getting hard to find until Atlantis announced their re-release.

Angel Fink was a piece of goth art compared to Roth's other work.  Her design suggests a bat-like creature.

​Other than Robbin’ Hood Fink, the cars included with the Fink-with-car kits are all very bare-bones, with just a handful of parts.  The ’57 Chevy that comes with Mr. Gasser has all the complexity of an old diecast Tootsie Toy car, that is to say that it has no chassis to speak of and the wheels are supported by posts that come down from the body itself. ​

Roth's Angel Fink, as built by Brudder Dick.  Dick followed the paint instructions to the letter--Not!!!  He says he tried to paint it as if he was on drugs at the time.  I'll just have to take him at his word on that.
Don't forget to visit our page on Weird-Ohs and Ed Roth's monster kits!

One of the more attractive aspects of these kits is license to customize.  A modeler can duplicate the box art colors chosen by Ed Roth as their tribute to Roth’s original drawing, or they can go nuts with their own color pallet.  A good example of this is Dick’s interpretation of Angel Fink as an aging, tie-dyed hippie.  Back in the day, Pactra had a paint set of “monster colors.”  Circa 2020’s, the modeler has a wide array of paint choices and there’s nothing stopping them from custom-mixing colors for a unique scheme.

Circa 1963, some parents were made very nervous by the thought that their kids would want these crazy monster models.  Perhaps a notion that they might instill depravity in the kids who built them perpetuated the mania caused by these kits and helped build their popularity.  I guess we survived them--more or less.  Over half a century later, they are remembered and still available.