Along with a passion for collecting Liberty Seated dimes, I have been a "Born Again Rocketeer" or "BAR" several times in my life. My first exposure to model rocketry began in 1973 while in high school. Our Catholic high school in Lewiston, Maine had a small model rocketry club with four members and a science teacher as moderator. During a short three to four year passion with model rockets, I built some of the classic designs including the Alpha, Mark, Falcon and Gyroc. Our club sponsored several regional competitions and demonstration launches. The first BAR eposide occurred during the 1993 through 1996 timeframe and corresponded to my son's early teen years and interest in rocketry. During that period, I built a significant number of late 80's kits including the Army Hawk, National Space Plane, Deep Space Transport, Broadsword, The Shadow, Tornado, Yellow Jacket, Eggxpress, Pathfinder, Sentinel, Tomcat and Pheonix. I also started to collect a few OOP kits during that time period but never ventured into the early K kits. The most recent BAR event started in early 2008 when I decided to study the history of Estes kit production and to build a reference collection (if possible). One of the first project steps was to build an excel database to capture all Estes kit transactions on eBay for developing an understanding of each kit's availability and pricing range. Little did I realize the scope of the project and the amount of effort to maintain the database since February 2008.

Estes Classic Model Rocket Collection

Starting June 2012, I will be adding pictures of finished Estes classic kits in the collection. Images will demonstrate how Estes vintage kits should look if completed according to building and finishing instructions. The collection includes vintage kits built by me and Mike Kalmar. Click Estes Model Rocket Collection for access!

Estes Kit Databases

Below are links for three separate Estes kit databases.

Kit Catalog Numbers 0650 - 1299: Years 1961 - Onward - captures the earliest Estes kits including K kits, Mini Brute series, Citation kits and Goonybirds.

Kit Catalog Numbers 1300 - 1999: Years 1978 - Onward - includes Estes kits with catalog numbers 1300 through 1999 typically starting in 1978-1979 timeframe

Kit Catalog Numbers 2000 - 7300: Years 1988 - Onward - includes Estes kits catalog numbers 2000 to present day. Kits issued starting 1988 through 2012 are here.

The databases are a work in progress. Each database's content and starting point originated from a combination of several model rocket information sources on the web. The first was JimZ Rocket Plans followed by Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe website and expanded Estes model rocket kit list. The latter html document was copied into excel and formed the basis for the initial database and additional notations. This is the reason for listing the Estes kits by catalog numerical order rather than by alphabetical order. With time and after detailed study, the individual kit listings are being segregated by specific kit attributes including hang tag/no hang tag and by the various facecard and header card styles and combinations there of. I am using a slow empirical process of capturing kit variant information from eBay, Ye Olde Rocket Forum and other websites to expand and fine tune the databases. Help from others who have their own records and information sources would be greatly appreciated. Mojo1986 on Ye Olde Rocket Forum supplied his historical model rocketry database for eBay sales activity primarily during 2004-2006 timeframe and this document has proven to be an important reference document.

Pictorial Guide For Kit Packaging History

As more research is performed and content added to the Estes Model Rocketry website, I have become fascinated by the long packaging history of certain models and the variety of kit packaging designs and artwork. The pictorial guide is a simple concept. I wish to identify and view all of the different Estes kit packaging designs in a pictorial format and in chronological order from oldest to most recent release. This guide can be useful to kit collectors in several manners including serving as a reference during eBay purchases, as a personal inventory reference or for collectors who simple seek more information about individual kit packaging configurations for each of the Estes model rocket designs. As is said, "A picture is worth a thousand words", right? Pictorial Guide page link.

Gerry's Estes Kit Collection

Also included in the table are the Estes kits presently in the Fortin collection. A kit must be unopend to be considered "original state" though the condition of unopened kits vary widely. In the future, I hope to establish several "original state" grades to better describe the overall condition of sets; maybe State 1, 2 and 3. Attention will be paid to hang tag and facecard condition, body tubes and balsa separation and obvious plastic bag marks or pricing stickers.

Estes Kit Database - eBay Prices Realized

The Estes kit database captures eBay sales activity. The pricing history is current from February 2008 through June 2011. The listed prices include shipping costs. Only kits with true eBay auctions were recorded; Buy It Now listings are ignored. I've attempted to screen each listing to ensure that the offered kit is unopened and relatively undamaged. Listing for open kits were not recorded and are not listed in the tables. In general, kits that brought higher prices were nice and original with few obvious defects. Lower prices were either a function of an inferior kit or at times, lack of listing attention and the kit selling at a lower than expected price.

Effective March 2012, I will make selective updates to the Estes kit database. I will continue to check eBay for earlier K kit transactions and add those events to the database. Each entry will list the sale price and sale date.

A hang tag guide link is available at the top of each Estes kit table page. The hang tag guide is a comprehensive review of paper and plastic generations of header cards employed by Estes until about 1994. Please note that the Star Trek kit hang tags are not included in the hang tag guide.

A skill level facecard guide link is also available at the top of each Estes kit table page. The skill level facecard guide illustrates the differences between two distinctly difference skill level facecard styles employed from 1973 into the mid 1980s.

At current eBay sale prices, the building of a complete Estes kit collection (including Astron and Damon era kit variations) might consume $60,000+ or more and will take years of diligent searching.

Estes Kit Database - Pricing Statistics

After two years of collecting Estes kit pricing data, the database could be considered mature and usable for pricing trend analysis and judging rarity levels of earlier kits. To that end, I will update the online database only once every 4-6 weeks but will continue to collect pricing results information in the background. Within each kit pricing table, pricing trend is now marked with Green numbers for an increasing average kit price or new high kit price while Red numbers are used for decreasing pricing in the same manner. The use of a visual pricing guide will allow readers to judge pricing trends themselves without my previous broad market intepretations. Effective end 2011, I have stopped tracking individual Estes lot sales on eBay due to time and workload considerations. The practice of marking pricing in Red and Green numbers to designate downward and upward pricing trends is discontinued. Sorry about this.....

Individual Estes Kit Description Pages

Links within the Estes kit database are being added for individual Estes kit description pages. These pages provides detailed kit information including hangtag and facecard variations, estimated production years, kit features and specifications, links to pertinent online rocket plans (JimZ and Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe), links to EMRR reviews and other pertinent links for scale models. A graphical presentation of Estes artwork summary from catalogs (Ninfinger Productions) consistent with the kit production years is also added to each individual kit description page. I still planning to add historical pricing information from 2004-2005 timeframe as collected and supplied by Mojo1986 (Ye Olde Rocket Forum) but have given priorities to building up the individual kit pages first. Each kit page is meant to be a comprehensive summary; inputs from serious collectors are always welcomed to capture more information about a particular Estes kit that is not listed or to correct a statement that may not be factual on consistent with consensus opinion of Ye Olde Rocket Forum members.

June 2011 Database Statistics

Total eBay Kits Captured: 9680

Database Date Range: February 2008 - June 2011

Estes Kit - Cross Reference Table

Estes Hang Tag Guide

Estes Skill Level Facecard Guide

Estes Model Rocket Kit Databases

Kit Catalog Numbers 0650 - 1299: Years 1961 - Onward

Kit Catalog Numbers 1300 - 1999: Years 1978 - Onward

Kit Catalog Numbers 2000 - 9704: Years 1988 - Onward

Top 15 Active Estes Kits on eBay

Top 15 Expensive Kits on eBay - Mean Price

Top 20 Estes Exotic Kits on eBay

Ye Olde Rocket Forum - Informal Discussion Results

Estes Kits - Collection Registry

Estes "K" Kit Collection Registry ......click on the link to access!

What is an Estes Kit Collection Registry? A registry is a vehicle for having a common method to track individual BAR Estes kit collections and to publicly list those collections. The registry concept is taken from numismatics (coin collecting) whereby a person can "register" his collection on the web and compete with other collectors for bragging rights as to who has the most indepth (complete) and highest quality collectables. If you wish to explore this concept further, you can visit the Liberty Seated Dimes registry on the numismatic portion of my website; http://www.seateddimevarieties.com/registry/reg_index.htm

Discussions on the Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe Forums (Kit Collecting) indicate that large quantities of vintage Estes kits have been saved by passionate BARs. Collection registry is not focused on kit quantities but rather build a complete set of Estes kits. A specific set or collecting objective is defined and collectors try to complete that set by having one of every required collectable. The first collection registry being assembled is for the Estes "K" Kits. These are the kits produced from 1961 through 1973. Only kits marked as "K" would qualify. A complete set of "K" kits might have up to 59-62 different kits depending if the Phamton 7B, Farside X, and Apogee and Apogee II kits are included separately. No later kits with the combination catalog numbers K-28/1228, for example, can be included. Only true kits that are "K" vintage can be listed in this collection registry. The "K" kit registry does not differentiate between kits with and without hang tags; the acceptable hang tags are the yellow PreDamon, Countdown and yellow Post Damon with double oval..

A Collection Registry input spreadsheet can be download here. This sheet was designed as an input template for a BAR's serious Estes K kit collection. The components of the spreadsheet are explained as follows;

Collections are evaluated (or for competition) by three parameters;

- The Percent Completion of the collection
- The Average State of Preservation of the kits in the collection
- A Collection Rating based on the number of kits in the collection and their preservation for comparison to other collections.

Percent Completion: is the total number of collection entries divided by the number of required kits to have a complete collection.

Average State of Preservation: three states of preservation are defined.

Gem Kit - 3 points; A gem kit with original hangtag and facecard colors, round tubes, balsa not completely separated and no traces of air leak in the bag
Unopend Kit - 2 points; Kit can have fading of facecard and/or hangtag colors, scuffing of bag, Estes free kit sticker, etc.
Opened Kit - 1 point; Kit is opened but all contents are present

Collection Rating: a rarity scale first needs to be defined as some kits are more difficult to collect than others. a Rarity Scale is used as follows;

3 - Rare; is a rare kit to locate and may appear on eBay once every 1-2 years or longer
2- Difficult; is a difficult kit to locate and may appear on eBay within 1 year's time
1- Common; is a easy kit to locate and can be found on eBay within a few month's time

The following table proposes a Rarity Scale for the Estes K kits.

Cavachon Puppy Pictures

Copyright Gerry Fortin 2008-2013. All rights reserved.