The Aurora Black Fury All Plastic Assembly Kit came up this year, so I thought it was time for a quick look at all the different versions. Between 1959 and 1968 Aurora released three horse kits, and two of these were used as the equine half of several mounted figures.
Black Fury - King of the Wild Horses was the first of these. It was also the largest, at 1/8th scale, and was 11 inches long, and 9 1/4 inches tall.
Although I can not see a copyright date on the parts, the earliest box design is dated 1958, and Thomas Graham in Aurora Model Kits gives a release date of 1959. It looks like Aurora planned to issue this kit with and without a rider from the outset, and all the kits appeared at much the same time.
The address on the side of the box is Aurora Plastics Corp. (later Aurora Products Corp.), West Hempstead, L.I., N.Y. - which is Long Island, New York state. Much later the ZIP postal code 11552 was added.
The kit contained only 12 parts (left and right body halves; four inner leg sections; left and right tail halves; and four horse shoes, which were not needed for the wild Black Fury, or the Apache Warrior on Horse. There was no base.
The various mounted kits also included saddles, reins, etc. Some of the horses were also moulded in different colours to the usual black.
Woodsy asked about the significance of the name Black Fury. Charlton Comics had launched a comic in 1955, called Black Fury, which lasted until 1966.
It was about a wild horse, and his adventures in the Old West. He had his own herd, and humans tangled with him at their peril.
There was also a TV series called Fury (1955-60) about a boy and his horse. Fury - King of the Wild Stallions, is also black, but the series was set in the present day West.
There is no mention of the comic book or the TV series on the Aurora Black Fury box or instruction sheet, but surely the name and the western setting can not be a coincidence ?
The Black Fury kit was initially included in the Famous Fighters series, before being moved to the Wild Life series in the 1962 catalogue. It was last seen in the 1975 Aurora catalogue.
It seems that the solo Black Fury kit has not been available in decades. However, the Gold Knight and Confederate Raider have been re-issued by other companies, with the horse being moulded in different colours.
400 Black Fury - horse kit
Also included in the Apache Warrior, Confederate Raider, Gold Knight of Nice, and Knights in Shining Armour King Arthur mounted kits. Twelve parts in black plastic. Three different box designs.
The earliest box, copyright date 1958, shows Black Fury protecting his herd of horses against a hungry mountain lion (barely visible, to the left of the picture). There are two versions of the Aurora logo - with either Famous Fighters or Educational Kits on the blue outer ring.
The second has him rearing up on his hind legs. This also has a 1958 copyright date on the box, although Scalemates says 1963.
The last box has Black Fury against a purple and orange sky, mane and tail flying. The kit is moulded with the right foreleg raised, but this style of box shows the left foreleg raised instead.
There are two variations of the box - either undated (the earlier version, 1969 according to Scalemates), or dated 1972 with a list of Aurora branches in various countries. This box has the Aurora name on a large letter A.
The instruction sheet was the same in each version, and is dated 1958. The back of the sheet promoted various other Aurora kits and product lines, and changed over the years.
The kit number remained 400, but the suffix changed as the price increased over the years, from 400-98 (98 cents) to 400-130 ($1.30), before the suffix was dropped entirely. Obviously, the mounted kits were more expensive.
401 Apache Warrior on Horse - included the Black Fury kit in brown plastic. Not re-issued.
Number later re-used for the White Stallion.
402 Confederate Raider - included the Black Fury kit in black or brown plastic. Re-issued by Moebius with the horse in tan.
Number later re-used for the American Buffalo.
K-5 Gold Knight of Nice - included the Black Fury kit in black plastic.
Also 475 new box, 885 Chrome-plated King Arthur (released in Britain by Aurora Plastics (U.K.) Ltd). The horse parts were not plated, only King Arthur and the accessories; and the horse was still moulded in black.
Re-issued by Monogram, with everything moulded in light grey.
Ten photographs from Worthpoint
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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