MOULD SUFFIX: 906
YEARS: 1982-2006
AIRLINES: 46
MODEL VARIANTS: 110
Only the Boeing 737-300/400 had more releases in Schabak’s narrowbody range than the 727-200, another of their stalwart moulds that was used for Schabak’s entire initial existence. That longevity is part of the reason for the number of releases as there are at least 6 Lufthansa, 9 Condor and 5 Pan Am variants, representative of Schabak’s continuous tinkering with the moulds and decals. The 727 tends not to suffer from as much poor cockpit positioning as the MD-80 does and it is one of my favourite Schabak moulds.
Below: A lineage of all 4 Air France 727-200 versions. The difference in decal quality between the old black window versions and newer silver window versions is obvious, but ironically the later more detailed decals rather lack the same charm as the originals. They also often suffer from yellowing far more. Although the models themselves changed the box design remained the same.
MOULD VARIANTS
TYPE 1
The 727-200 mould is a decent version and obviously Schabak thought so too as it remained essentially unchanged for its entire history. The only mould change was the switch to small black wheels in the early 90s (and switch back to small silver wheels again in the last year of Schabak). Schabak never did make a 727-100 mould (which curiously did exist in the earlier Schuco moulds).
PRODUCTION
Schabak made a long line of 727 releases although as I have said the number of models is bolstered by many different varieties of the same airline/livery due to decal upgrades. The range of airlines is a good representation of 727 operators in the 1980s – mostly European and US / Canadian majors. These include a lot of Schabak stalwarts – most obviously Lufthansa, Condor, Air France, Pan Am, TWA, Air Canada etc.
For a complete list of 727-200 production by Schabak see the database at MADb that has been updated with photos and accurate records for the type:
Aside from models sold in a blister pack all 727s came in this small rectangular box, the same size as used for the MD-80 and A320, which was really too small for the model. Only a few of the latest released 727s came in a larger more suitably sized box.
A SELECTION OF NOTABLE RELEASES
Some of the earliest 727s almost had the look of old Schucos from the 1970s. This is the first version of 5 Pan Ams made and as you can see sports the old cheatline scheme, but with a very simplistic tail logo lacking the airline name. A second cheatline version would supersede this, which had black titles, a US Flag and a better tail logo. Also note the original ‘Jet Set’ box that the first Schabaks came with:
Condor was the 2nd airline Schabak ever made, not surprising since it and Schabak were both German. There were 9 versions of the Condor 727 made. Differences typically involved the fuselage colour, addition of a registration, door colour and window colour. Here we have the 2nd version made, wearing the cheatline scheme, and the 9th version:
Schabak always had a soft spot for German airlines such as Aero Lloyd and Hapag Lloyd. They also made 727s for Germania and its predecessor SAT. Note that the box calls this out as a 727-100, but of course it used the same 727-200 mould as all the other 727s:
Schabak made a nice range of US airlines. These featured the big ex-Trunk airlines like American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United etc. They also included some of the smaller 1980s carriers like Braniff Mk2 and American Trans Air as well as older airlines like Alaska and Piedmont.
They also produced a surprising number of US cargo airlines, such as Emery Worldwide, Flying Tigers and Federal Express.
United Parcel Service was also included in releases but unusually only for one year – 1986-87. That makes this one of the rarer 727s made. Note also that rather than paint the model white the decal covers the entire fuselage. Somehow they didn’t make a mess of it:
Schabak’s interest in the US continued into the early 90s while Schabak USA was still doing well. That led in 1991 to the release of a Trump Shuttle model, which was produced until 2000, far longer than the airline itself lasted!
European airlines weren’t ignored. In addition to the major flag carriers and German airlines, Sterling of Denmark was added in 1987, Icelandair in 1989, Air Charter in 1991 and Olympic as late as 1993.
Schabak already offered TAP Air Portugal but in 1989 they also released the TAP subsidiary Air Atlantis (who also got a 737-300 as well):
With Turkey being such an important market for immigrant workers, flying between there and Germany, it is surprising there weren’t more Turkish airlines made by Schabak. An outlier is the quite obscure airline TUR released from 1992:
Other areas of the globe also got a look in too. Ansett was a strong Schabak customer and got a 727 in 1986. Worldways Canada followed in 1988, Ethiopian in 1989, Air Jamaica in 1990 and All Nippon was a latecomer with a retro 727 in 1993:
Schabak continued to produce new 727s into the early 90s with a focus on Latin American airlines such as Avianca, Mexicana, VIASA and Aero Peru:
Between 1995 and 2000 there were no new 727 releases and the number of 727s still being made by Schabak dwindled to only a handful. The last new release came in 2000 with the somewhat controversial Palestine Airlines version. The carrier itself never flew as far as I’m aware, although I believe a Fokker 50 was painted into the scheme. As per usual with late release Schabaks decal yellowing is an issue too:
