Today's memory will be viewed through my eyes as an observer, not a participant. I don't recall ever making an Aurora monster model, but I played in the bedrooms of many of my friends that had shelves with the likes of Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Dracula, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon staring menacingly at us while we played with our Tonkas, green army men, or whatever else was on hand.
These things were creepy looking indeed. The plastic was molded into detail that revealed every fang, bloody gash, or severed limb.
Of course, you needed plenty of red Testor's enamel to provide the bloody highlights necessary to make your monster seem real. 
The monsters stood about a foot tall. They were modeled after classical movie meanies like Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's Monster, Bela Lugosi's Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr's Wolfman, and Lon Chaney SR.'s Phantom of the Opera.
These flicks were responsible for nightmares our parents might have had long before we were born, in their original theatrical releases. But in the late 1950's, TV stations started airing them in late night horrorfests held on Friday and Saturday nights. When I was a teenager in the 70's, a TV station in Ft. Smith, Arkansas showed Boo! Theater on Saturday nights, replaying the classics (and some Ed Wood offerings that weren't so classic).
You don't see them so much any more, but late night horror flicks were a steady source of revenue for TV stations when we were kids.
Anyhow, all those old monster movies created a tremendous interest in the monsters themselves among that solid gold demographic of Baby Boomer kids whose parents happened to be able to spare a few bucks here and there for the indulgence of their offspring. And the Aurora Model Company took notice.
They began marketing the garish models in the early 60's, and kids started grabbing them up. 
Soon, bloody monsters were festooning bedrooms all over the US. And kids were painstakingly snapping the various parts loose from the plastic spines which were part of the molding process, carefully painting the pieces with tiny brushes and extremely redolent enamel, and then assembling them with model glue, ten times as smelly as the paint.
Aurora lasted through most of the economically turbulent 70's, but finally went belly-up in 1978. During the 70's, they introduced glow-in-the-dark monsters, which gave them a temporary rise in sales. Alas, it wasn't enough to survive the Recession.
There are a whole bunch of sites out there dedicated to memories of Aurora monster models. Try searching for "aurora models" on Google.
Comments (9)
Ron, thanks for this trip down memory lane. when I was 6 or 7 my older brother loved making these models, but then he would give them to me, as he did not want them in his room! In fact, I had the Frankenstein pictured on my night stand! Sadly, my brother passed 5 years ago, I would have loved to tease him with this one!
Posted by Linda | April 17, 2007 11:46 AM
Posted on April 17, 2007 11:46
My brother had Frankenstein, Creature From The Black Lagoon and Phantom Of The Opera. He's 4 years older than me so when I was little I used to love to go in his room and look at them up on his shelf. I was too scared of them to touch them though! :)
Posted by Rhonda | April 17, 2007 5:52 PM
Posted on April 17, 2007 17:52
MAN, does this bring back memories. I recall a variation in which you could buy a plastic model of a guillotine in which the guy's head would actually fall into a basket. Had a great time with the red Testor's paint on this one.
Posted by Wankel | April 21, 2007 11:16 PM
Posted on April 21, 2007 23:16
I had the Aurora model of Bela Lugosi's Dracula and my younger brother had one of Toho Picture's Godzilla. We also had many excellent Aurora models of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures and settings. We had models of an Allosaurus, Pteranodon, a prehistoric cave dwelling, a cave bear, sabre-toothed tiger, and a tar pit diarama featuring a drowning wooly rhinocerous being attacked by a vulture before sinking into the black goop.
I believe Aurora models still live on manufactured by a company called Polar Lights.
Posted by Mike | December 30, 2007 5:20 PM
Posted on December 30, 2007 17:20
I still have my Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Guillotine (which still works). My wife tried to get me to throw them out but that's not gonna happen! They are just too cool!
Posted by Howie | May 16, 2008 7:07 PM
Posted on May 16, 2008 19:07
I was lucky enough to have built all the Aurora monster models (except for the Witch. Witches aren't monsters!) when I was in 5th and 6th grades. I am now 47, and would love to build them all over again. (Mom tossed the originals when I went to college) Does anyone know of a source to buy any reissues without paying hundreds of dollars? I don't even care if there is no box. My son is now 8, and would really get a kick out of building them with me. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by Mark | October 15, 2008 12:32 PM
Posted on October 15, 2008 12:32
Mark, over the last decade every one of these has been out again. I've heard a solid rumor that four of them are due again soon. many were put out by Polar Lights. PL was bought out and dismantled a few years ago, but have recently relaunched. That's one of the names to do a web search for, especially at the auction sites. I won't use this private blog to shill someone's product, but there is a hobby forum on which you can find plenty of info: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/forumdisplay.php?f=4
Go to The Modeling Forum, it used to be the official Polar Lights bulletin board before they went under.
For anyone else interested in tracking these down, there were thirteen kits in the original monster line: Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera, The Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Huncback of Notre Dame (PL released it as "The Bellringer", fearing a dispute with Disney over the name), The Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde (that's how they named it - it is currently on the shelves), The Witch, The Forgotten prisoner, King Kong, and Godzilla.
The Guillotine kit was also re-issued around the turn of the century (a turn of phrase that's still difficult to get used to.)
Posted by Jeff Larsen | November 17, 2008 7:41 AM
Posted on November 17, 2008 07:41
I too remember all of these cool models. The one I have been searching for however is actually one of President Kennedy in his presidential rocking chair. I can't recall the maker or whether this was issued before or after his murder. I, like many, lost my collection to a mother's cleaning. Any help in locating a reasonably priced replacement kit will be greatly appreciated. Thank You.
Posted by Will Gregory | November 17, 2008 11:46 AM
Posted on November 17, 2008 11:46
This is definately a memory maker! I had all those models! The first runs too! Unfortunately a not so nice cousin of mine destroyed them! I also rebuilt the glow in the dark versions too! The detail was good and my favorites were the Phantom, Dr. Jeykll, Salem Witch and Forgotten prisoner! I wish I had all these models today as they fetch a good price! I put the photo discription directions up on the wall! I didn't like the Dracula model as it depicted his cape draped over the front of his body? I don't recall Draculas cape doing that? But who knows! I was a monster kid and these models were 1st rate! I also liked the Kand of the Giants models too!
Posted by Rivers End | January 1, 2009 8:02 PM
Posted on January 1, 2009 20:02