Maker record
Novo
NOVO was a Soviet-era brand of plastic scale model kits made using tooling formerly used for British FROG kits. The range included aircraft and other subjects from the FROG catalogue. Production was distributed among factories in several Soviet cities and republics, while British company Novo Toys Limited handled the trade relationship and sales in the United Kingdom. NOVO kits therefore linked Soviet manufacturing with an established British model-kit range.
- Founded
- 1970
- Countries
- Ukraine
- Locations
- Donetsk, Ukraine
- Founders
- Unknown
The story of Novo
In the mid-1970s, FROG tooling for plastic model kits was transferred to the Soviet Union under a commercial agreement. The moulds were used at Soviet factories to produce kits from the former FROG range. Novo Toys Limited, a British intermediary associated with Rovex Models and Hobbies, supported direct trade with the Soviet export organization Novoexport; it did not manufacture the kits.
The NOVO name was registered in the Soviet Union on 18 January 1977. British sales used Novo Toys Limited branding, while manufacture took place at factories in several locations, including Donetsk, Moscow, Minsk and Tashkent. The tooling was distributed among enterprises across the Soviet Union, and some moulds moved between factories. The Donetsk Toy Factory was one production site, rather than the maker's sole base. British trading through Novo Toys Limited ended when that company was liquidated following the DCM concern's bankruptcy in 1980; Soviet production of kits from FROG tooling continued at various factories beyond that company's closure.