I thought you would be interested to know that Moonbase Central gets a mention in the latest video from Max, of Max's Models [USA]. There is also a shot of the Moonbase Central logo and Gorgo week!
Paul Adams
NZ
Tuesday, 16 May 2023
ROB'S MONSTERS
Woodsy,
Your recent post about watching Godzilla v Kong made me wax nostalgic for some of my favorite Showa-era Kaiju flix, so I dug out my DVDs and offer them herewith, especially as it Gorgo week.
Some are budget labels, some are bootlegs, but as long as they boast the original English dubbing jobs, they are all gold to me!
Do you like them Moonbasers?
Rob C
USA
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16/12 SWIFT TAKE TWO: MIX & MATCH
Following on from my post on the 16/12 Retro Swift yesterday which went down much better than I expected, reader Mish, was of the opinion that the tanks would look better in the original red.
So I swopped the tanks on the normal Swift with the Retro to see the result.
I have to be honest, I reckon Mish is absolutely right, it looks pretty good. What do you other readers think?
Here's a reminder of it's intended look.
Now, what about mixing and matching the white tanks with the original Swift?
Ignoring the Moonbase Alpha insignia, the green rings at the front certainly don't help, along with the bright yellow and red bands. Personally, I'll stick with the original red tanks.
What do you think?
GORGO - THE NOVEL: RESEARCH BY PAUL ADAMS
Long before the film version of Gorgo reached the cinema screens of either Britain or America, Monarch Books in the USA had published a paperback novelisation. The book is credited to Carson Bingham, which was a pen-name of Bruce Cassiday (1920-2005).
Monarch Books were based in Derby, Connecticut, and published a wide range of titles, including film and television tie-ins. For a while, the film books were grouped together in a short-lived series called Monarch Movie Books.
The Gripping Story Of A City Threatened With Annihilation
By A Raging Prehistoric Monster - Gorgo - This classic thriller is now on the screen as a spectacular King Brothers' Technicolor Production.
Based on an original story by Eugene Lourie, screenplay by John Loring and David Hyatt. Novelisation by Carson Bingham.
A King Brothers Technicolor Motion Picture. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Release. MGM being the US distributor for the film.
MM603, Gorgo, carries a publication date of July 1960 (well before the film came out in March 1961), and sold for 35 cents. It contained 141 pages. There were tinted black and white photographs from the film on both the front and back covers.
Oddly, despite this being a British-made film, there does not appear to have been a British edition of the book. I do not know if the Monarch Books edition was available in Britain at the time.
In 2014 Bear Manor Media released a book on Gorgo, in both paperback and hardback editions. This included the original tie-in novel; the original shooting script for the film; and a production history.
The Amazon listing for the book includes a preview of a few pages, and some photographs.
Four photographs from Worthpoint.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
There will be much more on Monarch Books from Paul later in the week!
To Bat or Not to Bat? The X-40 BATJET
I've always been fascinated by this Bat Plane. We've seen it a few times on MC. Here's a rough looking and incomplete one I saw on auction this year, obviously worse for wear after a brush with Paint Man.
This SALCO Batman's Batjet is a gorgeous toy complete and when boxed I bet its a fabulous display item.
Here's a boxed example from an American auction.
I imagine the little black spike at the front is often missing!
Its a classic space design and the same as another beautiful space toy, the X-50 Space Racer, first introduced to us on MC by contributor and super collector Ferryman way back in 2009 in his fabulous and debut X-Series post,
Have you anything like this readers?
A RAGINGLY GOOD READ!
Carson Bingham's Gorgo novel, a Monarch* Movie Book, 1960.
Have you got one?
*Monarch - again! -
Is it a coincidence that Monarch the Organisation features as in the American Godzilla movies?
Some fabulous research to come from Paul in New Zealand this afternoon!
Monday, 15 May 2023
16/12 RETRO SPACE:1999 SWIFT
Sixteen 12 Collectables have begun sending out the pre-orders of their new Retro Swift die-cast model.
Continuing Sixteen 12's retro Dinky toy inspired collectables, which already includes a green Eagle Transporter and a Blue Eagle Freighter, their original accurately painted Swift gets a complete make over in bold garish colours!
It's fair to say that when Sixteen 12 gave collectors their first look at the Dinky inspired coloured model it was met with mixed opinions.
I did post some of Sixteen 12's preview photos on here, back in December, 2022, and a couple of our regular readers offered their own views.
Reader, ZigguratSF2000 liked the look of 'the goofy green cockpit', while reader, Mish reckoned the green should be darker, the windows should be black rather than yellow, and the fuel tanks and side pods, red.
I should add that most comments on social media were a lot less kind.
It's hard not to see it initially as an ugly duckling for sure. Personally, I think the green colour may have looked better in the metallic blue .
(I'm reminded of the original blue/red/yellow/white colours Corgi used for their James Bond DAF Moonbuggy which I found far more attractive than their later more accurately painted reissue)
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| Box rear |
There's just a limited run of 300 of these models, so not that many. I know a few people who kick themselves for missing out on the 16/12 Retro Eagle Transporter ,which also got a fair amount of stick when it first appeared.
So if you'll forgive my mixed metaphor, ugly duckling it may be, but it may well turn into a handsome frog at some point!
Gorgo - The Monarch Models Kit by Paul Adams
Monarch Models is a 21st Century Canadian company, which specialises mainly in horror and science fiction themed figure kits. They have deliberately set out to copy the look and feel of the old Aurora figure kits, but covering subjects that Aurora never produced.
Monarch Models Co., Inc., is based in London, Ontario, Canada. It seems the firm disappeared for a while, but was revived after a few years, and is again releasing new kits.
Part of the original Monarch line was a Gorgo kit. This carries the copyright date 2013 on the box, and has the model number 410-149.
In the days of Aurora in the 1950s and 1960s, the suffix would have been the retail price, but I am sure the Monarch kits sell for a lot more than $1.49. I think this is simply part of the whole 'Vintage Aurora Look' that Monarch is aiming at.
The 400-series numbers are also a nod to Aurora, with all the Aurora Movie Monster kits being numbered in the 400-series, starting with Frankenstein's Monster at 423.
The regular kit was followed by a Frightening Lightning Strikes version with Glow-in-the-Dark parts, numbered 460-200. The copyright date on this version is 2014. Again, this resembles the classic Aurora Glow-in-the-Dark versions of their movie monsters.
Scalemates give the kit scale as 1/200th. I have seen some sales listings for this kit describing it as 1/8th scale - the same as the early Aurora monster kits. The boxes say Made in P.R.C. (People's Republic of China).
Just like vintage Aurora kits, Gorgo includes a diorama base, with London clearly taking a battering. There is also a moulded plastic name-plate.
There are no decals or clear parts. The Monarch instruction sheets are printed in colour, rather than black and white, as they would have been in the 1960s.
There were two different boxes for the 2013 model, although the numbers are the same. Purely for the sake of convenience I am referring to these as the Day and Night boxes.
The Day Box has Gorgo trampling London, with a blue sky and lots of smoke in the background. This kit appears to be moulded in black plastic, although I am not sure if this applies to all models in this box style.
The Night Box is darker, and has search-light beams lighting up the sky. This kit appears to be moulded in green plastic.
Both have King Brothers (the makers of the film) Presents above the name Gorgo. Neither has the Monarch name or logo on the top, only on the sides and ends.
The Glow kit re-uses the Day Box artwork, but adds the Monarch name in an Aurora-style oval. Also added are a white lightning flash and a green star, just as on the original Aurora Glow kits. King Brothers Presents has been deleted, and the typeface used for the name Gorgo has been changed.
These kits were moulded in a mix of bright blue plastic, and white Glow parts.
Eight photographs from Worthpoint.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
*
Addendum
I sent a copy of this article to Max from Max's Models, and he replied that he had actually done one of his excellent model company history videos on Monarch. In fact, a combined video on Polar Lights, Moebius, and Monarch.
This answers several of our questions, so a very big Thank You to Max. Coverage of Monarch begins 10:11.
Scott McKillop founded Monarch around 2006.
The company only made five kits, including Gorgo, between 2007 and 2015.
The others were Nosferatu; Sinbad; The Ghost of Castel Mare; and a Dracula/Jekyll & Hyde triple kit.
Some of these were available in both regular and Glow-in-the-Dark versions.
Other kits were announced, but not produced.
Ceased operations around 2015.
Popped up again around 2018, with new kits.
These pages from the Universal Monster Army show the later kits.
Paul Adams from New Zealand
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