Peter-Austin case file update

Peter-Austin Structural Building Set, No. 511 / girderpanel

There were a few good finds after this morning's post. I was again chatting with Vince about this investigation, and it dawned on me to check the Eaton's and Simpson's 1956 catalogues, especially the Christmas ones. I could only find covers, and with this failure I decided to reread the girder and panel section in the Vale's book, especially all the references. This time I remembered I could look for their reference to girderpanel.com in the Wayback Machine even though girderpanel.com appears to be long gone.

That did the trick and I was able to find the page about the Peter-Austin 'Girder and Panel' sets. The Wayback Machine has site snapshots from a variety of dates. The Vales noted they referred to the site on 18 Nov 2011. The last 2011 Wayback snapshot is from 11 July, and that's the one I'll link to here, but I should check the others for further updates.

There appear to be 5 sets, 2 are named, numbered, and come in colourful boxes, and the 3 others are simply referred to as 'Building Set', with set numbers and boxed parts, but it appears that any decorative retail boxes are missing. 

Peter-Austin Highway Bridge Set, No. 500 / girderpanel

I like the name of set No. 500. I thought it might be giving a nod to the Trans-Canada Highway, but that didn't officially exist until 1962, and this set was released in 1956.

The box art on the blandly named Structural Building Set, No. 511, is surprisingly good. It has an iconic late-50s modern vibe, and at the same time is a fairly accurate depiction of what's in the box. 

Speaking of what's in the box, girderpanel.com has a page that compares the various parts in the Peter-Austin, Kenner, and other releases. You can see for yourself the strong similarities - the parts are nearly identical.

Ok, even though the girders and panels are highly similar between the 1956 Peter-Austin version and the 1957 and beyond Kenner releases, that doesn't confirm the Vales' speculation as there might have been some business arrangement between the two companies regarding this toy. girderpanel.com doesn't have anything to add to the story. I'm thinking what actually happened is somewhere between the story the Vales assert and the one confidently given at Wikipedia. Maybe there's more out there waiting to be found.