# A Big Frankie Story



## docplastic (May 10, 2003)

Robert Buck has been operating Buck's Hobby Shop in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, since 1950. Here's a story he tells:

I bought a few of the Gigantic Frankenstein kits when issued by Aurora, and it is true they were not the biggest selling monster kits. Maybe because they were $4.95, which at that time was a lot when the regular monster kits were selling for 98 cents.
Years later I was in New York City at the Import and Variety show now in the Jacob Javits Center. As I walked the show I came across a close-out jobber who was showing the Gigantic Frankenstein model. "How much is the Frankenstein?" He said, "$2 each." I thought, what a deal! "But, he said, you have to take all that I have." "How many do you have?" I asked. ""500."
That amount of money was not in my budget, and I passed on the deal.
Had I bought 500 Frankenstein models and held until today I could have sold them for $1,000 and moved to Florida.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Man...opportunity knocks...and often goes unanswered... That's an amazing story that begs the question...I wonder what happened to those 500 kits?
Mcdee


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Cool story! Thanks for sharing it Tom.
Denis, if you find 'em I'll be happy to go halvsies.....

Chris.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

You got 'er Chris...the romantic in me wants to believe that they are burried in the back of an abandoned warehouse in New Jersey under a tarp...long ago forgotten...
Mcdee


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Wouldn't it be luvverly?!?:hat:
Remember the warehouse find of original Robin kits? 
No one can say it doesn't happen.....

Chris.


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

I just had an idea for a new book....... a book of modelling anecdotes about Aurora, Revell, Monogram, Renwal, etc......
Hey Tom....

Chris.


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## Old Ghosts (Nov 14, 2008)

Well, if you think of it, it's not that great a deal, then.
If the kit retailed at $4.98, then wholesale, on average is 50% of retail, 
so it would be around $2.50.


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## Tim Nolan (Jul 9, 2008)

Good story Mr. Graham! (Remember me asking you about Big Frankies not too many ages ago?!) If you get down this way give me a call! Tim


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

*a small story...*

One Birthday of mine, I believe it was my 4th or 5th..I recall someone giving me a Godzilla go Cart...I do remember my late mother saying "thank you..but its a bit too advanced for him"..(.Dont ask how This memory still stands out so vividly from back then..I have no idea.. some later stuff I cant remember..lol)..so she didnt even allow me to open it, but just took it and said to wait until I got a bit older..It waited allright...It waited in storage_,completely _forgotten, until I was 17 years old.. 
On day,one of my mothers friends visited the house, and brought I think, her nephew with her..The kid was being a real annoying brat, and as I was heading out, my mother asked if I could do something to occupy him and keep them out of thier hair..I went down to our bin in the basement, to see if I had a basketball to give him to play with, and there on the shelf was the still Factory sealed Go cart, dusty and all..
I brushed it off, and thew him whatever glue was in the house, and told him to have a ball...when I got back that night, I found the kit on the table, with one tiny part glued, but it just fell apart..packed it back into the box...and 10 years later..lol..sold the kit for $2,000 Bucks when I discovered what it was worth when I returned to the hobby.Even though I sold it for an unbelievable price, I still regret it to this day..Even though I have the PL reissue..

Z


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

Auroranut said:


> Wouldn't it be luvverly?!?:hat:
> Remember the warehouse find of original Robin kits?
> No one can say it doesn't happen.....
> 
> Chris.


I remember that very well..I bought 4 of them at $11.00 each..built one, and still have Three! :thumbsup:

Z


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Way to go Zathros!:thumbsup: Wanna double your money?? 
Can you remember when it was? For some reason I have 1992 stuck in my mind. I think it was 100 cartons....
I know the price of original Robins fell practically overnight!

Chris.


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## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

When my old neighborhood Aurora hobby store closed down in 1976 after the building was sold, the owner still hadn't moved out when they were knocking down the walls. In a hurry, he and his family threw all their Aurora sealed kits and displays in the garbage. Luckily he saved some Aurora factory builts like Superman, LOG snake, JFK and Lone Ranger. I went to his house and bought them for $3.50 each.


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

Auroranut said:


> Can you remember when it was? For some reason I have 1992 stuck in my mind. I think it was 100 cartons....
> I know the price of original Robins fell practically overnight!
> 
> Chris.


Yes, I do...It was earlier than 1992...It was in 1985..and I believe they found 1,000 kits..In fact, I think there was a stock of Capt Kidd kits as well found...they also sold for I believe, 12.00 each...I grabbed 2 of them...

Z


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

Auroranut said:


> Way to go Zathros!:thumbsup: Wanna double your money??
> Chris.


well..thats a nice offer chris..lol...but I SO enjoy looking at them now & again, in thier MINT factory sealed condition :thumbsup:


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

I am pretty optimistic about future Finds...

I went with an antique radio dealer friend of mine to a home that had an old console radio he was buying..in thier basement , was a MINT Remco Lost in Space robot..I asked the guy how much? he said $20.00..He also had some old metal Toy Fire engine toys as well as some old japanese battery operated space toys MINT in thier boxes, from when he was a kid...He even went and fetched the box and the inserts with the instruction sheet for the Remco Robot..This was about 10 years ago..I of course, kept the robot , paid $30.00 for the rest of the stuff, and sold that stuff for over $300.00..and I still have the robot...So I still believe that there is stuff out there...it takes perserverence, and a bit of luck...In fact, I still have my Aurora munsters Family Kit built with the original box, that I paid $2.50 for at a Garage sale it was partially built, and I completed the build....back in 1987..:thumbsup:

Z


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Thanks for the info on the Capt. Kidd kits Zathros. I didn't know about that one! It probably explains why I bought my mint sealed one for only $100 a few years ago. It's built now but I'm gonna redo it as I'm not happy at all with my paintjob.
You're right mate- there's still bargains to be had. Yesterday I bought an original Guillotine for ten bucks!! Complete unbuilt,mint instructions but boxtop only. I wouldn't mind finding a few more Auroras languishing in sheds.....
I have a theory- nearly everything you've ever wanted is within a 100 mile radius of where you are now. The trick is trying to find it....... these kits were sold in their hundreds of thousands so it makes sense that there's still a fair few that are sitting forgotten in a dark corner or attic....

Chris.


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## stunttunneler (May 8, 2009)

Nothing a house to house hard target search won't fix! heh heh:thumbsup:


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

Auroranut said:


> Thanks for the info on the Capt. Kidd kits Zathros. I didn't know about that one! It probably explains why I bought my mint sealed one for only $100 a few years ago. It's built now but I'm gonna redo it as I'm not happy at all with my paintjob.
> You're right mate- there's still bargains to be had. Yesterday I bought an original Guillotine for ten bucks!! Complete unbuilt,mint instructions but boxtop only. I wouldn't mind finding a few more Auroras languishing in sheds.....
> I have a theory- nearly everything you've ever wanted is within a 100 mile radius of where you are now. The trick is trying to find it....... these kits were sold in their hundreds of thousands so it makes sense that there's still a fair few that are sitting forgotten in a dark corner or attic....
> 
> Chris.


Well..they werent just sold in the "hunderds of thousands"..The aurora batmobile had a Preorder from dealers back in 1966 of _ONE MILLION_ pieces...


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Zathros said:


> I remember that very well..I bought 4 of them at $11.00 each..built one, and still have Three! :thumbsup:
> 
> Z


Unbelievable,I had heard about the Aurora Robin kits being found in a ware house.How did the kits stay forgotten and stored safely all those years?Was the warehouse still in use by another company, Or just an old closed Aurora storage facility someone decided to investigate.I never knew the full story on that oneNow, if i could only find an old Remco warehouse with a couple cases of mint LIS Robots!


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

spocks beard said:


> Unbelievable,I had heard about the Aurora Robin kits being found in a ware house.How did the kits stay forgotten and stored safely all those years?Was the warehouse still in use by another company, Or just an old closed Aurora storage facility someone decided to investigate.I never knew the full story on that oneNow, if i could only find an old Remco warehouse with a couple cases of mint LIS Robots!


One TRULY never can tell about anything in the field of collectables..the strangest thing to me..( even though I myself had that Godzilla go cart for YEARS..sitting in storage) is how ANY of these kits and toys ever survived
fo so long, and especially untouched..we keep forgetting these toys and models were meant to be built and played with..and throughout the country and the world in thier day...played with they were..

I cant tell anyone how many 4th of Julys I had seen kids on my block blow up Frankenstien, Mummy, wolfman, etc.. Kits, and if we didnt throw out the boxes, they would be cut up for other uses..I also remember someone taking in head of the Remco LIS robot to school, and throwing it around..until it hit the wall, and broke to pieces..In the case of the Remco robot..I had about 8 of them one after the other...and played with them until they literally broke apart...So in my view..Any of these are indeed a miracle to have ..especially in unbulit and in the case of toys..mint and functioning condition..

Z


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

Zathros said:


> One TRULY never can tell about anything in the field of collectables..the strangest thing to me..( even though I myself had that Godzilla go cart for YEARS..sitting in storage) is how ANY of these kits and toys ever survived
> fo so long, and especially untouched..we keep forgetting these toys and models were meant to be built and played with..and throughout the country and the world in thier day...played with they were..
> 
> I cant tell anyone how many 4th of Julys I had seen kids on my block blow up Frankenstien, Mummy, wolfman, etc.. Kits, and if we didnt throw out the boxes, they would be cut up for other uses..I also remember someone taking in head of the Remco LIS robot to school, and throwing it around..until it hit the wall, and broke to pieces..In the case of the Remco robot..I had about 8 of them one after the other...and played with them until they literally broke apart...So in my view..Any of these are indeed a miracle to have ..especially in unbulit and in the case of toys..mint and functioning condition..
> ...


I had a few of the Remco LIS robots,I grew up during the seventies/eighties and even up until around 1972 my local toy store carried them.They were still very popular years after the show went off the air.The last version i had was the black torso and tread section/Red arm/leg color combo.I remember about three shelves were filled up with the robot boxes,And looking through them trying to find the blue body version like the one on the front of the box.No luck, All black/Red.And yes, it was a very much played with toy,One of my favorites from the seventies.I wonder what happened to the molds for it when Remco shut down.Probably scrapped


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