AURORA MONSTER SCENES ARE BACK!

In 1971, the Aurora Plastics Corporation was at a crossroads. Their line of the now legendary monster model kits they sold by the truckloads in the 1960's began to falter and sales dropped off, worrying the execs. But Andy Yanchus, the man largely responsible for Aurora's monumental success during that period had something new cooking in the R&D department, an out-building away from the main, two-story pile of bricks that was Aurora's headquarters in Long Island, NY.

His new concept was to combine model kit assembly with an interactive series of characters and props that seemed like a sure bet. He got the go-ahead green light and created "Monster Scenes". Lead by Dr. Deadly, the multi-kit series included assemblies for a DIY dungeon scene. Unfortunately, within a year of release, the line became notorious among parents who saw their children playing with scenes depicting torture and scantily-clad women "victims". Shades of pre-Code horror comics!

Yanchus blamed the over-the-top plastic scenarios on meddling executives and license-holders, using the apt phrase, "Too many cooks spoil the soup". The line was summarily pulled and entered into the hallowed pop culture halls of infamy.

In 2009 Moebius Models resurrected the kits, but they too were discontinued after a relatively short run.

Now, Atlantis has just announced they will be reissuing the Monster Scenes kits as special 55th anniversary editions, apparently after having acquired the molds from Moebius. The 1:13 scale snap-together kits will include movable and extra parts just like the originals. The parts will include clear and glow-in-the-dark pieces. The first wave will include Dr. Deadly, Frankenstein (the monster, not the doctor), Gruesome Goodies and my favorite, The Pain Parlor.

Due to be released in early 2026, they'll be priced at about 20 bucks or so and will be boxed in the classic, original style.

My go-to guy for model kits is Steve Iverson over at CultTVman. You can pre-order the kits from him HERE.

EXTRA! Here is a press release from Atlantis announcing the passing of Andy Yanchus in 2021.

RARE AURORA STORE DISPLAY MODELS

Back when the Aurora monster models were a big thing, the company would send hobby shops and other retail outlets kits that were pre-built and painted for display. Amazingly, a few more of these still exist and two of them went up for auction last month.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame kit was first released in 1963 and was designed after the 1956 Anthony Quinn film version. It was sold for $350.00.

The Guillotine was first produced in 1964 as a proposed "Chamber of Horrors" line. Parents pushed back on this one as being too morbid for their youngsters and the series was discontinued. This display model sold for a whopping $1,375.00.

The Witch came out later, in 1965, and was not based on any particular monster movie. The Witch sold for $450.00.

View my Hunchback re-issued kit build HERE.

I HAVE A HUNCH

Today, I proudly present another one of my monster model builds -- The Hunchback of Notre Dame, re-issued by Polar Lights. The original Aurora kit was first sold in 1963. The figure was based on the 1957 version of the film, and starred Anthony Quinn and Gina Lollobrigida. Technically, this kit was not a part of the Universal Monsters series as it was produced by Paris Film Productions and released by Allied Artists.

As for the box art, reportedly Quinn had an issue with his likeness being portrayed and artist James Bama created another version, this time with bushier hair.

I actually built this a little over two years ago, but the unfinished post got buried in my queue. This was a pretty easy kit to build as the parts fit better than most. I also got to work more on my wood coloring which I think is the best part of the model. If you look close at his head shot, you can see I added a little saliva coming out of the corner of his mouth, too. After all, it was at this point that Quasimodo cried, "I thirst"!

R.I.P. JAMES BAMA

I was very saddened to hear the news that the legendary artist, James Bama, passed away on April 24th. To us Monster Kids, Mr. Bama was instrumental in fueling our monster fantasies with his unforgettable paintings for the box art on the early Aurora monster model kit boxes. His many covers for the Doc Savage series of Bantam paperbacks were also notable for their images evoking those strange stories by Kenneth Robeson.

Bama began his career illustrating for men's adventure magazines. He was also revered as an accomplished painter of American Western Art.

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Born April 28, 1926, he died just a few short days before his 96th birthday.

Farewell, James Bama. Your artwork will live on.

MONSTER MODEL MADNESS!

Another batch of monster goodness coming up at auction is the things that Monster Kids dream of -- not one, not two, but three different lots of original Aurora monster model kits! It will be real interesting to see how much these finally sell for. In the meantime, we can roll our cortexes over these fantastic kits from yesteryear.

Lot Description:

Complete Vintage Set of (20) Aurora Monster Model Kits and Accessories in Original Boxes and Shrink Wrap (1962-1965). Vintage original complete set of (20) model kits including (1) 5.25" x 13" x 1.5" long, flat-boxed Frankenstein (Kit No. 423-98), (1) 5.25" x 13" x 2.25" long-boxed kits including 1-Frankenstein (423-98), 1-Dracula (424-98), 1-The Wolf Man (425-98), 1-The Creature From the Black Lagoon (426-98), 1-The Mummy (427-98), 1-The Phantom of the Opera (428-100), 2-The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1-Anthony Quinn and 1-Generic 461-98/) , 1-Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde (460-98) and 1-The Forgotten Prisoner of Castle Mare (422-98). With (1) 7" x 13" x 2.25" square-boxed 1-King Kong (468-149), 1-Godzilla (469-149), 1-The Bride of Frankenstein (482-149) and 1-The Witch (483-149). Includes (2) 5.25" x 13" x 1.5" long, flat-boxed Customizing Monster Kits (463-98/464-98) and (1) 5.25" x 13" x 2.25" long-boxed 1-Madame Tussaud's The Chamber of Horrors Guillotine (800-98). Also includes (1) Aurora Monster Colors paint kit, box professionally restored, with 6-pots of paint and 1-paintbrush and (1) Aurora 14" x 4.5" x .5" advertising wall thermometer. All kits unexamined out of their vintage original shrink wrap packaging. The Forgotten Prisoner is missing top wrapping panel. Some kits retain store price tag stickers. All present in vintage Very Good to Fine condition.

Lot Description:

Vintage Set of (14) Aurora Monster Model Kits in Original Boxes (1962-1965). Vintage original set of (14) model kits including (1) 5.25" x 13" x 1.5" long, flat-boxed Frankenstein (Kit No. 423-98), (8) 5.25" x 13" x 2.25" long-boxed kits including 1-Frankenstein (423-98), 1-Dracula (424-98), 1-The Creature From the Black Lagoon (426-98), 1-The Mummy (427-98), 1-The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Anthony Quinn 461-98), 1-The Phantom of the Opera (428-98), 1-Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde (460-98) and 1-The Forgotten Prisoner of Castle Mare (422-100). With (4) 7" x 13" x 2.25" square-boxed 1-King Kong (468-149), 1-Godzilla (469-149), 1-The Bride of Frankenstein (482-149) and 1-The Witch (483-149). Also includes (1) Madame Tussaud's The Chamber of Horrors Guillotine (800-98). All but flat-boxed Frankenstein, Phantom, and Forgotten Prisoner retain original vintage shrink wrapping. Unwrapped boxes exhibit handling and rubbing with contents complete and retaining instruction sheet. Wrapped kits unexamined out of shrink wrapping. In vintage Good to Fine condition.

Lot Description:

Vintage Set of (14) Aurora Boxed and Built-Up and Painted Monster Models (1962-1965). Vintage original collection of (14) Aurora Universal Monster models including (6) boxed with 1-Frankenstein (423-98), 1-Dracula (424-98), 1-The Wolf Man (425-98), 1-The Mummy (427-98), 1-(Frightening Lightening) The Phantom of the Opera (451-150), 1-The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Anthony Quinn version) (461-98). With built-up kits meticulously assembled and painted by Kevin Burns including 1-Frankenstein, 1-Dracula, 1-The Wolf Man, 1-The Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1-The Mummy, 1-The Phantom of the Opera, 1-The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and 1-Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde. Phantom and Dracula retain vintage shrink wrap and are unexamined out of wrappers. Boxes exhibit age, handling and light rubbing. Overall in vintage Very Good to Fine condition.

VINTAGE AURORA MUMMY 'RELICS'

I never know what I'll find next in the dusty bowels of the Mysterious Mansion. For instance, just the other day I came across an over-sized, crumbling-with-age manila envelope crammed with monster memorabilia such as lobby cards, folded movie posters, etc.

Among the trove was a stack of the original boxes of Aurora monster models and their instruction sheets. Back in the 1960's collecting stuff like this with the understanding that it would actually be worth something was pretty much unheard of. Nevertheless, I thought the box art was so cool I just couldn't bear to toss them in the trash. So, I cut off the side panels and kept the box top with the cool art, never knowing at the time that the artist that did these was the same person who was painting the covers to the Doc Savage books I was reading! In retrospect, it would have been better to cut the corners and lay the whole box top open, but golly, I was just a young Monster Kid!

I did, however, value my models and magazines and such as priceless and I hung on to my models until I was forced to sell them at a yard sale because we sold our house to go on a long road trip in a travel trailer right after I graduated high school. In the meantime, at least I've got these few items as mementos.

NOTE: The following scans are from my collection and are unretouched.

REVELL-ING IN DRACULA

Presented here today is my latest kit build -- Revell's 2009 reissue of the Aurora Dracula model. For a seemingly simple kit, this one had its challenges, mainly with parts joining, which isn't all that unusual, I guess. But still, I had to break out the putty more than once, especially on his cape.

Another detail worth noting is that the head that comes with this particular kit is gawd awful. I would describe it as almost cartoonish. Although it was a far cry from Lugosi's image, even the head that came with the original Aurora kit was better. So, I turned to Escape Hatch Hobbies and bought a resin replacement head (see photo below). Boy, am I glad I did as the result completely transformed the figure.

Another oddity on the parts tree was a tiny piece that didn't go with the kit. It almost looks the the inside mouth for the Creature From the Black Lagoon model. I'll find out when I open that box for a later build.

As with my other efforts, I spent a lot of time on this, building up colors, dry-brushing, etc., but it was worth it and a lot of fun.

I included the instruction sheet for the original Aurora kit and as you can see, it is superior in every way to the chintzy Revell version. Anyway, I was lucky to get it at a fair price some years ago at a fraction of the price that the Aurora versions are going for these days.

I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed the time putting Ol' Drac together.

Here are the steps I used in painting the base and nameplate.

And here are the kit instructions, alongside the ones that came with the original Aurora model:

The original Aurora kit box and parts: