Gemini Jets: 1998-2004Incl: DreamJets, Biggest Bird, Schuco and Socatec
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YEARS: 1998-STILL IN BUSINESS
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# OF 1:400 MODEL VARIETIES MADE: 2,200+
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Gemini Jets remain for many the most important and well-known brand in 1:400 scale die-cast airliners, especially if you are a collector of American jets. They are also one of the most venerable brands having started releases of models in early 1999 (of major manufacturers only Dragon Wings pre-date them) after formation in late 1998.
Gemini Jets is based in Las Vegas and owned by the Ashers and the Marx brothers. The latter also own Daron which runs the well known giant die-cast store – The Airplane Shop. Airliners Distributing Inc (ADI), run by Elliot Epstein, undertakes the licensing side of the business and distributes both Gemini Jets and other major brands such as Phoenix. |
Gemini are also well known for considering themselves the fathers of 1:400 die-casts and aggressively protecting their marketshare against competition. There have been numerous occasions over the past 20 years when Gemini have actively attempted to block other manufacturers. They have gone so far as to send out letters to retailers and publish missives on their website and collector forums. These generally warn against other brands and those who dare to publicise them, as well as people who critique models in general. This collector has been the subject of such letters himself, but hey no hard feelings Gemini!
Gemini's 2nd Ever Release: Virgin Atlantic Boeing B 747-4Q8 GJVIR002 G-VHOTÂ
Often Gemini’s annoyance is associated with licensing, as Gemini are one of the few brands that actively try and acquire permission to make the aircraft and liveries they produce. Being based in the USA they are far more open to prosecution if they did not, whereas the other manufacturers, being based in China, can manage a certain anonymity from prosecution.
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This hasn't necessarily stopped Gemini from using their own ‘mystery’ brands (DreamJets especially) to get around licensing issues now and then. Indeed, DreamJets has been used at various times for special liveries and Cathay Pacific models that it was hard to get licensing for. Another cheekier example of this was a Delta 'Powerpuff Girls' 737-200 marketed under the brand Biggest Bird.
Below: A couple of DreamJets releases I own (clearly Gemini models)
Anyway, regardless of all that there is no taking away what Gemini Jets has done for 1:400 scale. Without them it is arguable that the scale would never have become as popular as it has. Plus, they have a long history of producing quality models.
1999-2003: Gemini Jets 1 – All Metal with Tail Seams
Above: A selection of Generation 1 Gemini Jets Boeing 747-400s
Gemini’s first active mould was the Boeing 747-400. This mould introduced what would become the standard features for non-Dragon Wings based 1:400 models for many years. Aside from the undercarriage the mould is all die-cast metal and the wings are attached via a cradle (i.e. the fuselage sits on the one-piece wings creating a seam where they meet the fuselage). The very earliest releases also often lack a stand-hole on the underneath, but this was added in later on. Early Gemini Jets moulds also featured a second seam at the rear to allow easy fitting of the horizontal stabilisers.
Below: A selection of Generation 1 Gemini Jets Boeing 747-100/200s
Gemini has also always stood out for the care it has taken with its boxes, which typically feature a flip top lid allowing viewing of the model within. On the inside of the flap there is a potted history of the aircraft and its basic details.
Obviously being such early models, the first Geminis do not compare to modern moulds, and for example the early 747 has simple non-rolling gear and a poor wing/engine pylon join, but they were good models for their time and still stand up well today. There can’t be many proper collections of any size that don’t still contain a number of early Gemini Jets models.
Above: Only a single 747-300 made it into production between 1999 and 2003. GJJAL008 this rather nice JAL Resort Express example
During 1999 Gemini produced the following moulds: Boeing 707-320B/C, 747-100/200/300/400/SP, 757-200, Lockheed Tristar 1 and Tristar 500. Of these even today I would say only the 707 is poor. Although all the others have been surpassed by newer moulds from other manufacturers the rest are still decent efforts in 2020. The 747s and 757 have been modified heavily over the years and are still in use today albeit with less seams, aerials and rolling gears. I still own nine of the original 1999 releases myself, as they haven’t been bettered or the BigBird alternatives are insanely expensive and rare.
Below: A selection of Generation 1: Boeing 707s, Douglas DC-8s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s
Below: A list of the first 25 Gemini Jets by part number. This doesn't necessarily match up with production order as there are part numbers well into the 60s made in 1999 still but gives a good idea of the early production priorities. 747-400s rule with only a few other 747s, 1 707, 1 757 and 1 777 thrown in. British Airways World Tails were popular. Also note there are a couple of gaps in the sequence.
Interestingly 1999 also seems to have been the year that there was a stoush between Gemini Jets and Dragon Wings over the production of a Pan Am Tristar 500. Dragon had the license and successfully stopped the sale of the entire 2,500 piece production run of pre-made Gemini Jets Pan Am Tristar 500s (piece GJPAA046).
Below: The abortive Pan Am L-1011-500 N514PA. Photos from the collection of Keith Stowe
Below: The abortive Pan Am L-1011-500 N514PA. Photos from the collection of Keith Stowe
Commendably Gemini Jets were also one of the first, if not the first, manufacturer to expand into ground service equipment. In 1999 they released the set GJAPS001. Although this looks primitive by today's standards at the time it was groundbreaking. A second set (GJAPS002) included a set of 3 airbridges. These were the first steps towards making its own entire airport layouts, which it would achieve later.
Below: Generation One Gemini Jets Boeing 727-200s
At this point only Dragon Wings were producing models in the sort of numbers (typically 2,000-2,500 units) and varieties as Gemini. The year 2000 saw further expansion of their mould catalogue with new Boeing 727-200, 737-200, 737-800, 777-200, 777-300, Douglas DC-8-20/30/51, DC-8-61, McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 and MD-11 moulds.
Below: Generation One Gemini Jets Lockheed Tristars and McDonnell Douglas MD-11s
Once again these broadly were, and remain, solid decent moulds and several are still in use in modified form. 2001 brought even more new moulds such as the Airbus A319, Boeing 767-300, Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde. Due to its configuration the Concorde was technically the first mould not to feature two seams as it has no horizontal stabilisers.
Below: Generation One Gemini Jets Boeing 767s and Aerospatiale / BAC Concordes
The last new mould featuring a tail seam was the 2002 Airbus A320. Eight models were made using the new A320 in 2002 and then the mould went on hiatus until 2004 when it returned as a seamless Gemini Jets II mould (see below section).
Generation One Gemini Jets Airbus A319
Gemini made a large variety of airlines including both retrojets and modern airliners from around the globe (although mainly American and European). A large variety of sample models were also made most years with production at usually 6 units only.
Below: A typical sample model made in tiny numbers only - British Airways 'Bauhaus' Boeing 747-100. Photos from the collection of Keith Stowe
Below: A typical sample model made in tiny numbers only - British Airways 'Bauhaus' Boeing 747-100. Photos from the collection of Keith Stowe
Below: A rough summary of Gemini Jets Generation 1 production up to the mould changeovers in 2003. Note how many varieties of sample models were made. Very few of these ever got into production, although some did with modified registrations or for other brands:
Gemini Jets Generation 1 Production
Below: The 2003 Fall Gemini Jets Catalogue
Gemini Jets Select
Gemini production runs typically ran to between 1,500 and 2,500 units but in certain cases where they didn't believe bigger runs could sell Gemini produced smaller runs of 500 units. These models were marketed as Gemini Jets Select and came in non-flip-top boxes with different artwork. I'm not sure how many were produced but I own four:
Gemini Jets Club
Gemini also seems to have had some form of club from its early days and each year it looks like it produced a club model in lower units 500-800 pieces. At least 7 models were produced between 1999 and 2008 as follows:
Retail Partnerships
Right from the very start model manufacturers paired up with others to produce sub-brand lines for them. Often these were retail stores or other geographic model entities. In the former category of retail stores Gemini produced the first AURORA models release in 2003 and had a much more fertile relationship with Skyjets400, which lasted from 1999-2006. Black Box models was another retailer related brand that used Gemini moulds from 2003-2005.
Gemini also paired up with Gordon Werner’s 737Club in 2001, but when he went on to start his own Seattle Model Aircraft Co (SMA) brand and own moulds the relationship quickly went south.
For the history of these related brands see the following pages:
Another major partner for Gemini was the German model maker Schuco. They had a deal with Gemini from 2002-2004 whereby Gemini models were repackaged as Schuco models. The models and boxes were essentially the same as the standard Gemini releases aside from the box having the Schuco logo on it.
Socatec was another example of a partnership. Socatec remains a French retail store that distributes Gemini Jets in France. It once had the licence for Air France / UTA models and between 2005 and 2008 a decent selection of French models were made using the Socatec brand by Gemini, covering airlines such as Air Inter, Corsair, Air France and UTA.
Below: A selection of early Socatec / Gemini releases
Sovereign Models were yet another brand that used Gemini Jets (and other) moulds from 2003 to 2005.
Gemini Jets II
Gemini worked hard to improve their moulds and to their credit during 2002 and 2003 re-engineered most of their older moulds to remove the rear fuselage second seam and modify the horizontal stabilisers to be slot in. For a while these new models lacking the rear seam were called Gemini Jets II to differentiate them.
Below: A selection of Generation 2 Gemini Jets Moulds with the rear seam removed
The only older widebody moulds that were not re-engineered were the Tristar 1 and Tristar 500s. It took longer to remake some of the moulds and there were no more DC-8s for example until 2006.
Below: A range of Gemini Jets II boxes - note the new name is spelt out on the box
Below: A range of Gemini Jets II boxes - note the new name is spelt out on the box
Of the smaller moulds the 737-200 and 737-800 moulds both had a less unsightly rear seam as the stabilisers were slotted in from the rear. Neither of these moulds was updated.
Below: Generation One Gemini Jets Boeing 737s. Note the hidden tailcone seam
The Boeing 727-200 mould was not updated until mid-2005 with new slot in horizontal stabilisers on the T-tail.
The first all-new rear seamless Gemini Jets II moulds were Airbus products – the A340-300, A340-600. These were followed soon after by an A330.
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Gemini's Involvement with Tucano and Phoenix
Gemini Jets was a major victim of the TucanoLine scandal of 2002 (see upcoming piece on Tucano for more details) but did at least benefit from the collapse of Tucano. In 2003 they assisted with the repackaging of unpaid for Tucano stock as Phoenix Models. This is a quote from 2003 of CrownVic who is closely connected with Gemini:
“Okay once and again here is the skinny on this whole Tucano/Phoenix models deal, as you all know while back Tucano got a hold of some molds that were being held and financed by Gemini Jets, but we will not go into that right now because it’s way too old, but the losers running Tucano found a factory to manufacture their models with those molds and pre-ordered a whole lot of models with the promise to pay for them... Guess what??? no payment so the factory is sitting on inventory unpaid for.
They approached ADI to help them redistribute the models under the Phoenix name to help them out. ADI agreed to do it to try to recapture the lost revenue that would have been theirs to begin with since they are the worldwide distributor of Gemini Jets.”
They approached ADI to help them redistribute the models under the Phoenix name to help them out. ADI agreed to do it to try to recapture the lost revenue that would have been theirs to begin with since they are the worldwide distributor of Gemini Jets.”
Below: Three of the four Gemini Jets TU-154 releases using the Tucano mould
Gemini also gained access to several of the ‘stolen’ Tucano moulds (TU-154, DC-9-30, ERJ-145 and 767-300 for example) and began to use them for some of its models. This wasn’t especially well received by several collectors on the Diecast Aircraft Forum (DAC) and some, who felt betrayed even called for a boycott. This was rather over the top as Gemini explained the situation and went to some lengths to improve the moulds - especially the 767-300, which got a much improved nose for later releases.
The first few Gemini ex-Tucano 767s had a rather pointy nose
It does appear though that the push-back had an impact on Gemini's usage of the moulds as none, aside from the DC-9, got any form of extended usage. Although from the numbers above it looks like the Tucano MD-80 got some decent usage all of these models were Allegiant Airlines examples - presumably the result of corporate orders, an area that has long been an important part of Gemini's business model.
In the end everyone was the loser from the Tucano mess aside from the newborn Phoenix Models.
In the end everyone was the loser from the Tucano mess aside from the newborn Phoenix Models.
At some point around 2003 Gemini moved factory for the first time, leaving the kwai da, Highspeed factory and moving to the same factory that produced the new Phoenix Models brand. The exact timing of this move is unclear to me. It was probably around the time of the move to Gemini Jets II models and the birth of Phoenix as its own brand, but may have been later.
Gemini Jets would continue to expand its moulds and releases from 2004 onwards and this later period will be covered in a subsequent part.
Gemini Jets would continue to expand its moulds and releases from 2004 onwards and this later period will be covered in a subsequent part.