Author Topic: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"  (Read 13035 times)

ChrisW

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • Posts: 1231
Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« on: June 17, 2010, 07:50:46 PM »
After reading some comments in response to Mattel's new goth-doll offerings, I started analyzing my feelings in regards to the Aurora "Monster Rods" - Frankenstein's Fliver and the like. I did not like, and didn't buy, any of them as a youngster. I used to think it was that the monster's were being made fun of - but I always loved "The Munsters", "The Addams Family", monster comedy records and cartoons, monster joke cards, etc.
I realize now it was the poor spatial relationship between the "realistic" monster and the cartoon-like car. Even as a kid I recognized how ill-conceived they were. Out of all of them, "Godzilla's Go-kart" was the most successful at achieving a balance between car and driver. Had I seen that one in those days, I would have bought it. Even today it's the one I'm most pleased Polar Lights re-issued.
Any other thoughts?

empty13

  • Corporal
  • ****
  • Posts: 422
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2010, 08:05:04 PM »
ididnt care for them wbw.

but i have a few now in line for the workbench. theyre funny.

houseofdracula

  • Corporal
  • ****
  • Posts: 281
    • The House of Dracula - Monster Model Museum
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2010, 08:42:22 PM »
I never cared much for them either.
Visit The House of Dracula (Monster Model Museum) - https://www.facebook.com/houseofdracula

Jim Bertges

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • *
  • Posts: 3774
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2010, 09:14:00 PM »
I have to chime inhere and say I didn't care for them either. It's my opinion that they were rushed out in response to the success of the Ed Roth monster/car model kits.
You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred.

Anton Phibes

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • *
  • Posts: 11120
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2010, 10:17:17 PM »
I want my monsters treated with respect too. I went the extra mile and never really cared much for the Munsters, and have nothing of them in my collection. I absolutely loathed monsters on hot rods.  I dont care how much they are worth.  I would sell them if I had them and buy more items I like.  The closest thing to "caricature" style monsters I have is gigantic Frankenstein.

Mcdee

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • Posts: 1084
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2010, 06:16:25 AM »
I liked them as a kid and still do !
Would love to see custom bases made for them...
Mcdee
Remember, it's not just a hobby, it's an obsession!

Monster Bob

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • Posts: 4169
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2010, 08:55:16 AM »


Remember at the time (1960s) hot rodding and  custom cars were huge, and among young American males, model kits and specifcally slot cars and model shop race tracks were the going thing. Aurora, one of the main forces behind the Monster phenomenon, put them all together and the Aurora Monster hot rods were the result, which seems logical. Car customizer Carl Casper was in the driver's seat behind the kit line.

The only thing that bothered me about them was the scale problem- Godzilla and Kong were almost the same size as Frankenstein, Dracula's head was too big, etc. They just weren't in scale to each other. But nostalgia-wise and as a representation of their era, I think they were fantastic. 

Mike Scott

  • Army General
  • *****
  • Posts: 29286
  • So terrifying only screams can describe it!
    • Monster Magazines
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2010, 09:11:09 AM »
The only thing that bothered me about them was the scale problem- Godzilla and Kong were almost the same size as Frankenstein, 

How could they be? Either one is gonna be an eighth of an inch tall, or the other will be 8' tall.

You also forgot to mention the "Big Daddy", "Weird-Oh" influence and that Aurora was one of the biggest makers of slot cars.
CREATURE FAN

Visit My Monster Magazines Website

Scatter

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • *
  • Posts: 16146
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2010, 09:13:17 AM »

Remember at the time (1960s) hot rodding and  custom cars were huge, and among young American males, model kits and specifcally slot cars and model shop race tracks were the going thing. 

Heck yeah.........I hated the kid that lived next door to me back in Waterbury in the late 60s, but I pretended to like him a great deal after he got a cool slot car track down in his basement.

I've always been a toy whore.
We're all here because we're not all there.
http://www.distinctivedummies.net/index.html

Monster Bob

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • Posts: 4169
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2010, 10:34:56 AM »
How could they be? Either one is gonna be an eighth of an inch tall, or the other will be 8' tall.



A bigger Godzilla and Kong on the same size car (Like a clown on a little bicycle-scale). Still couldn't be exact scale to the others (but would look better); they are caricatures anyway-with really really bad scale.

The other problem- Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Mummy are proportioned normally to themselves, but not each other. Dracula is way out of wack with all of them and has an oversized Remco head to boot. Kong and Godzilla were later afterthoughts, but it would have looked better to make them 3X bigger on a hot rod in scale to the other monster's hot rods. Really, if brought Godzilla's GoCart up to size in scale to his real size, it would be as big as a building. Who "built" and works on it...Kong I guess would be the only thing big enough. Apparently they'd have to be each other's mechanics!

Like I said, I love the line for its nostalgia value, but I personally would have handled the execution a little differently.

Mike Scott

  • Army General
  • *****
  • Posts: 29286
  • So terrifying only screams can describe it!
    • Monster Magazines
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #10 on: June 18, 2010, 11:04:59 AM »
Kong and Godzilla were later afterthoughts, but it would have looked better to make them 3X bigger . .

Then they would have had the "Big Frankie" curse. Kids wouldn't have been able to afford them.  :D
CREATURE FAN

Visit My Monster Magazines Website

Opera Ghost

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • *
  • Posts: 6359
  • "To my Christine, I am forever Wed"
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2010, 11:34:55 AM »
Yes, I confess, I too, never cared for them either.
"In each of us, two natures are at war--the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer..."

Gasport

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • *
  • Posts: 3405
  • pull my finger...
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #12 on: June 18, 2010, 12:24:28 PM »
Yeah, a rushed attempt to cash in on the Ed Roth-Weird-Oh craze. I do however enjoy seeing the pimped out versions of these kits that the hardcore kit builders churn out.

MDG

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • Posts: 1520
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #13 on: June 18, 2010, 12:38:29 PM »
Actually, I like them a lot--I think the Drac, Kong, and Godzilla were most successful (in terms of design) because they were a little "loosened up" from the original characters--I don't think Drac wore a cap in any other incarnation.

They were another thing from my youth that I had totally forgotten about until I saw a picture of them in the mid-90s.
MDG

LundyAfterMidnight

  • Sergeant
  • *****
  • Posts: 3383
Re: Why I didn't like the Aurora" Monster Rods"
« Reply #14 on: June 18, 2010, 03:00:29 PM »
I like them & practically anything from the 1960's monster boom. I'd like to see them reissued as toys.
"Well friends, that's all there is to life: just a little laugh, a little tear." - Prof. Echo (Lon Chaney, Sr.)

 

en iyi bahis siteleri

https://diziizle.wtf/

totobo