Showcase your Aurora figure kits here!

[Hepcat]

Aurora made more figure kits from the fifties to the seventies than did any other model kit manufacturer. Many would argue that Aurora also made the best - and for the most part they may be right. What's absolutely certain though is that Aurora had as pivotal a role in the Universal monster revival of the early sixties as did "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine. The Aurora monster model kits captured the imagination of kids across not only the depth and breadth of the country but overseas as well. This was partially due to the incomparable box art of James Bama which has since become the gold standard by which any other depictions of the Universal monsters are measured.

So showcase your Aurora MIB figure kits and built-ups right here! I'll start.



The bottom two shelves of my model cabinet are devoted to Aurora kits. Most of these are of figures:



Here I am with some of the individual kits:













 

[Hepcat]

Part of the success of the Aurora line of monster kits was the marketing. Professional build-ups from the Aurora factory were distributed to model shops across the country. At the time these were of a quality well beyond the capability of the target market to replicate. Nonetheless, they were the proverbial lollipop used to entice young boys.

In addition, Aurora sponsored contests for budding young monster builders. The contests and the fabulous ads promoting these on the back of comic books acted to fuel the already fevered imagination of a whole generation of youngsters.





 

[Prof. Hemispheres]

Nice collection, Hepcat!
Love those Aurora monsters!!!

[Flower]

I love the James Bama artwork .. The link below is an interview with him ...

http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/monsterkid7/bama1.htm

[Dr.Terror]

[Hepcat]

Wow! Great display! You have to post close-ups of some of your built-up kits. Are they reissues or originals? Are those the enpty kit boxes behind the finished models or do you keep extra M.I.B. kits?

 

[Hepcat]

Here's a picture of James Bama's original art to the Aurora Creature and Mummy kits.



I've always wondered who the original owner is and how he got his hands on it.

 

[RedKing]

Hep I don't know how you do it, but I would have to put those kits together! Seeing those open boxes with all the parts in there waiting to be assembled and painted is fantastic! I find there is such a great feeling of promise with a new kit in that state! But I am a model maniac for building and painting, I totally understand collecting mint in box is a whole different mind set!

[Hepcat]

One of these days I'll start putting some of the reissue Polar Lights or Aurora kits together but the paint jobs I see some of you fellows doing intimidate me. As a kid I painted them to reproduce the box art. Therefore the Mummy ended up a nice glossy turquoise colour with his cobra a metallic green with red eyes. So I'd be painting them the same way again. Why mess with a tried and true formula? And then you'd all sneer at my efforts.

 

[empty13]

hey i've got a lot of those ready to build... and 2 black cats wandering around... are u channeling me?

[Mcdee]

Here are a few of mine...










These 2 are my Favorite...MIB Kits



Love the Old Aurora kits
Mcdee

[BaronLatos35]

Great looking collections! I love the Aurora kits.

There are some real artists in the UMA. But this is the only place where people will care about a monster model and get it. My wife kept looking at me like I had three heads when I was painting my Drac and Frank, but the UMA was Kool and the Gang about it.

When I look at my Auroras, I know I painted them, whatever they look like. Drac may be too bluish white, but I loved those 70's vampires like Count Yorga and 'Salem's Lot as a kid.

[Hepcat]

Here are a few of mine...




Love the Old Aurora kits
Mcdee

Cool! Three questions:

1. What are those plastic boxes in which you have the kits stored? Are they intended for model kits?

2. Why do you have all those Guillotine kits? Are they all different variants in some way?

3. When it comes to the original issues, Godzilla's Go-Kart may be the toughest kit of them all to find. That's the only build-up I see though. Hopefully you built a re-issue.

 

[Hepcat]

But this is the only place where people will care about a monster model and get it. My wife kept looking at me like I had three heads when I was painting my Drac and Frank, but the UMA was Kool and the Gang about it.

Ask her whether she'd rather you grow up, i.e. grow old.

 

[BaronLatos35]

Ask her whether she'd rather you grow up, i.e. grow old.

 

My wife has a youthful soul...she says is "25" forever. She always says I'm the old one with my old school music and I'm three years older than her, which she always reminds me about.