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Post by ripper on Jul 1, 2023 19:55:27 GMT
Does anyone remember the Aurora Universal model kits that were sold in the 60s and 70s? There was a toy shop in Prestatyn high street that sold them, and each year on our week's holiday I would go there and buy one with my saved-up holiday money. As we almost always went to a seaside town in North Wales, a day in Prestatyn was a given. I had The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, the Mummy from the 40s film series, Dr Jekyll, and Gillman from Creature from the Black Lagoon. There was also a kit of a witch and something called Forgotten Prisoner, a skeleton in chains, both of which I had. All, I think, had glow in the dark parts. There was also a kit of a werewolf, not sure if it was supposed to depict Lon Chaney Jr, but that particular one didn't have any glow in the dark parts, and may have been the first one I got.
In the 70s there were ads in US comics for Pirates of the Caribbean models. Whether they required putting together I don't know. All seemed to feature skeleton pirates in tattered clothes and they had a mechanism that allowed an action to occur. There was one with a crocodile or alligator chomping on the leg of one of the skeletons and another where a skeleton plunges a knife into a map. There were more, I am sure, but my memory is hazy about them. They seemed to turn up as ads in DC titles, and I don't recall them being in Marvel or Charlton comics. I always kept an eye out for them in UK shops but never saw any.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 1, 2023 20:13:49 GMT
As a child I had a period when I was fascinated by various methods of execution (to the point where a worried teacher talked to my parents about it), so I was particularly fond of The Guillotine. It was very educational.
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 1, 2023 21:17:38 GMT
I think The Hanging Tree was one of Aurora's finest. Like The Guillotine it was also well enough made to be educational.
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Post by andydecker on Jul 2, 2023 9:14:31 GMT
Does anyone remember the Aurora Universal model kits that were sold in the 60s and 70s? There was a toy shop in Prestatyn high street that sold them, and each year on our week's holiday I would go there and buy one with my saved-up holiday money. As we almost always went to a seaside town in North Wales, a day in Prestatyn was a given. I had The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, the Mummy from the 40s film series, Dr Jekyll, and Gillman from Creature from the Black Lagoon. There was also a kit of a witch and something called Forgotten Prisoner, a skeleton in chains, both of which I had. All, I think, had glow in the dark parts. There was also a kit of a werewolf, not sure if it was supposed to depict Lon Chaney Jr, but that particular one didn't have any glow in the dark parts, and may have been the first one I got. In the 70s there were ads in US comics for Pirates of the Caribbean models. Whether they required putting together I don't know. All seemed to feature skeleton pirates in tattered clothes and they had a mechanism that allowed an action to occur. There was one with a crocodile or alligator chomping on the leg of one of the skeletons and another where a skeleton plunges a knife into a map. There were more, I am sure, but my memory is hazy about them. They seemed to turn up as ads in DC titles, and I don't recall them being in Marvel or Charlton comics. I always kept an eye out for them in UK shops but never saw any. I remember those ads about Pirates of the Caribbean. Can't put a finger to it, but think they were in books like House of Mystery? I have two Aurora kits, Dracula and the Witch, collecting dust on some books. I don't remember where I got them, must have been in the 90s, back when my fingers were still nimble enough to paint them. Always yearned for the Vampirella one, but no such luck.
The Hanging Tree is awesome. Was this really released for sale?
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 2, 2023 10:12:04 GMT
The Hanging Tree is awesome. Was this really released for sale?
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Post by Knygathin on Jul 2, 2023 10:33:18 GMT
Notice the hoof-marks of the horse being led away after he was tied up.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 2, 2023 10:36:32 GMT
As a child I had a period when I was fascinated by various methods of execution (to the point where a worried teacher talked to my parents about it), so I was particularly fond of The Guillotine. It was very educational. The Tower of London gift shop used to sell a build-it-yourself cardboard guillotine kit, complete with condemned man awaiting the blade. For all I know, they may still do so.
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Post by Swampirella on Jul 2, 2023 10:55:20 GMT
As a child I had a period when I was fascinated by various methods of execution (to the point where a worried teacher talked to my parents about it), so I was particularly fond of The Guillotine. It was very educational. The Tower of London gift shop used to sell a build-it-yourself cardboard guillotine kit, complete with condemned man awaiting the blade. For all I know, they may still do so. I just checked out their (Historic Royal Palaces so not even just the ToL) shop; it's all either boring or blingy or both. Not even a ghost/paranormal book to be found. I thought I was onto something when I saw a section called "Hanging Decorations", but no such luck:
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Post by ripper on Jul 2, 2023 11:23:53 GMT
As a child I had a period when I was fascinated by various methods of execution (to the point where a worried teacher talked to my parents about it), so I was particularly fond of The Guillotine. It was very educational. You have reminded me that I had a model pendulum. I have a feeling I bought it in Blackpool in the early 70s during a day-trip to the illuminations.
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Post by ripper on Jul 2, 2023 11:39:32 GMT
Does anyone remember the Aurora Universal model kits that were sold in the 60s and 70s? There was a toy shop in Prestatyn high street that sold them, and each year on our week's holiday I would go there and buy one with my saved-up holiday money. As we almost always went to a seaside town in North Wales, a day in Prestatyn was a given. I had The Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, the Mummy from the 40s film series, Dr Jekyll, and Gillman from Creature from the Black Lagoon. There was also a kit of a witch and something called Forgotten Prisoner, a skeleton in chains, both of which I had. All, I think, had glow in the dark parts. There was also a kit of a werewolf, not sure if it was supposed to depict Lon Chaney Jr, but that particular one didn't have any glow in the dark parts, and may have been the first one I got. In the 70s there were ads in US comics for Pirates of the Caribbean models. Whether they required putting together I don't know. All seemed to feature skeleton pirates in tattered clothes and they had a mechanism that allowed an action to occur. There was one with a crocodile or alligator chomping on the leg of one of the skeletons and another where a skeleton plunges a knife into a map. There were more, I am sure, but my memory is hazy about them. They seemed to turn up as ads in DC titles, and I don't recall them being in Marvel or Charlton comics. I always kept an eye out for them in UK shops but never saw any. I remember those ads about Pirates of the Caribbean. Can't put a finger to it, but think they were in books like House of Mystery? I have two Aurora kits, Dracula and the Witch, collecting dust on some books. I don't remember where I got them, must have been in the 90s, back when my fingers were still nimble enough to paint them. Always yearned for the Vampirella one, but no such luck. The Hanging Tree is awesome. Was this really released for sale?
I never bought the Dracula model kit. As my purchases were hampered by both a lack of money and opportunity, it might have been that the kit was always out of stock or I had spent my money on the penny bandits/donkeys/rock etc. House of Mystery was a DC title I think, though I only had the odd issue.
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Post by ripper on Jul 2, 2023 11:48:19 GMT
As a child I had a period when I was fascinated by various methods of execution (to the point where a worried teacher talked to my parents about it), so I was particularly fond of The Guillotine. It was very educational. The Tower of London gift shop used to sell a build-it-yourself cardboard guillotine kit, complete with condemned man awaiting the blade. For all I know, they may still do so. Sad that they don't seem to do so anymore. There used to be a recreation of a hanging in amusement arcades well into the 80s, though they must have been many decades old. Put your penny in the slot and a model of a man would walk to the gallows and be hanged.
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Post by David A. Riley on Jul 2, 2023 12:05:05 GMT
[/div][/quote]I never bought the Dracula model kit. As my purchases were hampered by both a lack of money and opportunity, it might have been that the kit was always out of stock or I had spent my money on the penny bandits/donkeys/rock etc. House of Mystery was a DC title I think, though I only had the odd issue. [/quote]
I never fancied the execution kits back in the day when I first came across these, but I did eventually have The Creature From the Black Lagoon, the Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy and finally Frankenstein's Creature. Oddly, though I no longer have any of them, I can't recall what happened to them.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jul 2, 2023 12:57:25 GMT
There used to be a recreation of a hanging in amusement arcades well into the 80s, though they must have been many decades old. Put your penny in the slot and a model of a man would walk to the gallows and be hanged. Gone! All the old innocent pleasures.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 2, 2023 15:24:16 GMT
The Tower of London gift shop used to sell a build-it-yourself cardboard guillotine kit, complete with condemned man awaiting the blade. For all I know, they may still do so. Sad that they don't seem to do so anymore. There used to be a recreation of a hanging in amusement arcades well into the 80s, though they must have been many decades old. Put your penny in the slot and a model of a man would walk to the gallows and be hanged. There used to be a recreation of a hanging in amusement arcades well into the 80s, though they must have been many decades old. Put your penny in the slot and a model of a man would walk to the gallows and be hanged. Gone! All the old innocent pleasures. Somebody's been neglecting their copy of Phil Phillips' Turmoil in the Toybox! From Chapter 10, The Barbarization of our Children
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enoch
Devils Coach Horse
Posts: 117
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Post by enoch on Jul 2, 2023 17:53:09 GMT
I remember them well. I owned one of them, where one skeleton pulls the arm off another one. I also remember the ads for the other kits. I recently saw those ads in one of comic reprints. If I come across it again, I will post the comic title in this thread. They must have been pretty easy to put together. It functioned well, just as described.
Remember the Aurora monster model kits well, with those fabulous paintings by James Bama on the front of them. I owned the Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. May have owned the creature from the Black Lagoon too, but can't remember. Wish I had bought "The Forgotten Prisoner of Castlemare" then. (I think you can buy modern reproductions, but they're kind of pricey). Warren later published a story about the forgotten prisoner in one of their titles, because people had complained that while there were stories behind the other Aurora monster kits, there was no such story for this one. As I recall, Warren did a really good job with the story, too.
In the 1979 "Salem's Lot" movie you can see some of the Aurora kits on a shelf in Mark Petrie's room. He even uses the cross off of one of them to repel a vampire.
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