Long gone model company AURORA made quite a name for themselves with these horror kits in the early 1970's, with a line that included great looking dinosaurs, classic Universal Studios monsters, and a fairly decent Godzilla and Mothra. They were THE great model company of the day. Based in West Hempstead NY, right here on Long Island, the buildings that once housed the models has since been destroyed, but the geniuses over at Dencomm & Moebius Models decided to re-release the kits for nerds like us!
The pieces, plastic and made to snap together, are reproduced to be EXACTLY like the originals (which you can still find on Ebay but they will cost you an arm and a leg - they retailed for about $1.30 when they first came out). The new re-issues go for under $30.00, with especially cool designs like Dr. Deadly and The Hanging Cage.
The tagline "Rated X for Excitement!" and the focus on scenes of torture made these kits extremely controversial for their time, when American families thought violent films were turning their kids into serial killers. Religious groups and newspapers protested against the products, claiming they promoted sex and sadism to children. As a response to the controversy, Aurora stopped production in 1971 and the products were removed from the shelves - but now, over three decades later, you too can own a piece of horror history!
Being born in 1979, I didn't get to experience the original Monster Scenes. But you can bet I have at least two of these kits on my Christmas list this year. I heard there are only about 5,000 of them made, so grab them while you can.
Visit the Moebius Models website for info on these kits, the upcoming Chamber of Horrors series, and to order the new Monster Scenes:
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