# How was original Aurora cellophane applied?



## fantasymodeler (Nov 28, 2004)

Does anyone out there know how the original pre-1970's Aurora kit cellophane (not the later shrinkwrap) was applied? I have several original Aurora's where the cellophane has stuck to the front. That's not an issue for me as I don't plan on opening them. But on a few (Flying Sub for one), not only is the cellophane stuck to the front, but there's a line impressed in the cellophane down the front, about 1/8" wide, like a wheel of some kind was used at the factory as part of the machinery that attached and/or sealed the cellophane. It's subtle and you can best see it if you hold the box at an angle. Also, it's not on all the cellophane-wrapped kits. Any input on the cellophane application process from an Aurora guru or two (and you know who you are) would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

Colonge companies like Issy Mikake still use cello wrapping gift box style like Aurora. I wish Round 2 and Moebius would still use cello for certain kits like the Batmobile.


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

I personally haven't seen a sealed Aurora with a line down the front- they usually have an overlapping seal down the back....

Chris.


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## Desslock (Mar 5, 2011)

Maybe a previous purchaser added new sealing wrapping to sell it as MISB? I don't know if that's even possible or practicable, but I always wonder if all the mint sealed boxes are legit.


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## 1bluegtx (Aug 13, 2004)

fantasymodeler said:


> Does anyone out there know how the original pre-1970's Aurora kit cellophane (not the later shrinkwrap) was applied? I have several original Aurora's where the cellophane has stuck to the front. That's not an issue for me as I don't plan on opening them. But on a few (Flying Sub for one), not only is the cellophane stuck to the front, but there's a line impressed in the cellophane down the front, about 1/8" wide, like a wheel of some kind was used at the factory as part of the machinery that attached and/or sealed the cellophane. It's subtle and you can best see it if you hold the box at an angle. Also, it's not on all the cellophane-wrapped kits. Any input on the cellophane application process from an Aurora guru or two (and you know who you are) would be appreciated. Thanks!


The clear cellophane came in rolls and was pulled over a couple of rollers in the machine that wrapped the box and folded the ends.Being pulled over the rollers probably left the marks you see.Only U.S. issue kits used the folded cellophane on the boxes,Canadian long box kits used shrink wrap like modern kits do.
BRIAN


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## IanWilkinson (Apr 23, 2010)

Im in the UK and ive only seen shrink wrap on the Aurora boxes??.. can some body please post an image of the other wrapping style!.. i would love to see it!..


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Slightly brittle, sometimes slightly baggy, and like the Bruegman Aurora History book says, made of the same cellophane as on a cigarette packet.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

IanWilkinson said:


> Im in the UK and ive only seen shrink wrap on the Aurora boxes??.. can some body please post an image of the other wrapping style!.. i would love to see it!..


Hi Ian...
Although this is the Original Parks Hitler...This is the Old School Shrinkwrap with the seam on the back...













































I, also, have only ever seen this seam run down the BACK of a kit...When I was a kid in the early 60's this is how the kits I got from Aurora out of New York looked:wave:
Cheers
Denis


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Just wanted to add that a lot of the Aurora kits we bought in the 60's weren't even shrinkwrapped at all and just had two small pieces of tape holding the lid on... which at the time, allowed us to open them up to see what color the plastic was. The idea was that whatever color the plastic was, negated us from having to 'waste' money on that color of paint 
Hey 15 cents was serious coin back then...
Mcdee


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

You're right Denis. I had maybe 4 colors at one time back then. I think I got a quarter allowance each week and a lawn mowing for the neighbors was worth $2-3. You had to be careful how you spent that money.

Bob K.


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## IanWilkinson (Apr 23, 2010)

Thanks fo rthe images!.. in the UK all i can recall is the shrink wrap type of wrapping. In the 70's the Aurora kits had quite a rise in price, shop keepers said it was due to oil prices?.. can anyone else remember this happening?


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

Yep, kit prices, or at least production costs, were affected by the price of oil, and the Aurora T-Rex, the largest figure kit they ever produced, came out in '74, the very year of the Middle East oil crisis!


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## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

The T-Rex used more plastic than Gigantic Frankenstein?


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## 1bluegtx (Aug 13, 2004)

mcdougall said:


> Just wanted to add that a lot of the Aurora kits we bought in the 60's weren't even shrinkwrapped at all and just had two small pieces of tape holding the lid on... which at the time, allowed us to open them up to see what color the plastic was. The idea was that whatever color the plastic was, negated us from having to 'waste' money on that color of paint
> Hey 15 cents was serious coin back then...
> Mcdee


Must have been the kids before you ripped it off.All Canadian long box kits originally came sealed:









BRIAN


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

I don't think Aurora kits were always sealed in the UK as kits turn up nowadays with a price sticker stuck to the box lid.

In a similar thread here a few years back someone posted to say that the boxes might or might not be sealed according to whether they were supplied to craft shops rather than model shops. Supposedly, craft shops stocked unsealed kits as the habit was for craft customers usually to open the box first before buying, maybe because they needed to see the kit's craft potential. If this is true, maybe model shops preferred kits to be sealed so that parts couldn't be removed from the boxes...


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Well I bought most of my Aurora kits from, what was called, a Smoke Shop and they weren't sealed...They had 2 pieces of Scotch Tape holding the lid on...
That was in Gatineau Quebec in the mid sixties...When (on that rare occasion) we ventured across the River into Ottawa and went to Towers (name of store) and I bee lined it for the toy aisle and the STACKS of Aurora Monster Models...That's when I would run into the shrinkwrapped kits.
Back then I usually used the Box Top for holding glue, paints, brushes and letting painted pieces dry in. Then, of course, the boxes got tossed and it was on to the next kit :thumbsup:
Mcdee


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