The most recent Auckland model fair proved an amazing day out, and included several vintage kits. Among them four of the Aurora Prehistoric Scenes snap-together kits from the early 1970s.
This series included dinosaurs, mammals, and early humans, and all were made to 1/13th scale, the same as the infamous Monster Scenes kits. All included diorama bases, and a choice of limbs.
The bases were designed to fit together like a giant jig-saw puzzle. One of the box sides showed two glimpses of a Prehistoric world, each made up of several Aurora Scenes.
The four kits I found had all been put together, and partially painted. All were missing a few minor parts, such as the name-plates for the bases, but the figures themselves were complete.
The loose parts for all four models had been placed in to two boxes. According to the Thomas Graham book on Aurora, all four of these kits appeared in 1972, and remained available until 1976.
Of these four, only the Saber Tooth Tiger (that is the spelling Aurora used) has been re-issued, by Atlantis in 2024. The three human kits have not been available since the 1970s.
These are the first actual Aurora kits I have ever owned. The fact that they had already been made up and painted, means that I can re-store and re-paint them without destroying a pristine 1970s kit.
First up, a closer look at the beautiful Aurora box art. All my kits and boxes carry 1971 copyright dates, and the box tops say Printed in Canada, Made in U.S.A.
The boxes I have are for the Cro-Magnon Man and the Saber Tooth Tiger, but I found some photographs of the Neanderthal Man and Cro-Magnon Woman on Worthpoint to complete the line-up. I was also missing the instruction sheets, but managed to find images on-line, so I know what parts go with what kit.
729 Neanderthal Man - there were two versions of the box, with the early one including the head of a dinosaur - Mr Neanderthal is throwing a big rock at it. There were two sets of arms and legs, and an assortment of weapons and accessories.
730 Cro-Magnon Man - again there were two full sets of arms and legs.
731 Cro-Magnon Woman - two full sets of arms and legs, and a strange two-headed snake. She is very modern looking, and could easily be painted up as a second Victim to go with the Monster Scenes.
733 Saber Tooth Tiger - two full sets of legs, in different poses. There were two different boxes - with or without the snake, with the second version also having an extra base section.
Nine photographs, including two from Worthpoint.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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