“Make a Friend!” the comic book ads said in ‘64, showing a kid holding Big Frankie’s hand, as if they were out walking together.
A wonderful sculpt, topping out at 19 inches, Gigantic Frankenstein was a squat monster with a big head, and big moveable arms. He was chained to a chunk of concrete, which might explain his morose expression. The box art — highly collectible even without the kit! — features a bright green and yellow painting by legendary illustrator James Bama of The Monster based on Glenn Strange’s appearance, modified with the forehead “clamped horns” of the original 1931 test makeup.
Today, nostalgic collectors will pay a small fortune for an original Gigantic Frankenstein in good condition. Availability is limited because the kit was not successful and soon discontinued after it was first released, late in 1964. The term "gigantic" could be applied to its original price tag of $4.98, at a time when you could still pick up an Aurora model kit (including the classic tomb-striding Frankenstein) for ninety-eight cents.
Unauthorized recasts and reproductions of the box have popped up through the years, but now toy collectors and Frankenstein fans will be delighted to hear that Moebius Models will be offering an official, licensed Gigantic Frankenstein reproduction, on release this summer. Price tag is around a hundred dollars, but then again, Gigantic Frankenstein never came cheap.
Here’s the Moebius Models site.
Here’s a gallery of beautiful, high-resolution photographs of the original Aurora kit.
Thanks to John Cozzoli’s Zombos Closet of Horror for the heads up!
3 comments:
The greatest model kit of all time, and the only one I ever built that I've kept. I just might spring for the re-do for the pleasure of painting it, because I've been faithful to my original (awful) paint job all these decades; I can't bear the sight of it, but neither can I bear the idea of painting over it. The paint job shown in the ad is odd: the shoes and shirt are much too bright, and the suit doesn't appear to have been painted at all.
you'd think the infantilization(?) of what began as a terrifying monster would somehow weaken the character over time, but somehow it never did
frank can be scary, or someone's childhood toy "pet". the kid in the ad is walking with frank like you would with an infant. both of them work.
a tribute to the durability of the character.
Dear the frankenstein blog,
my name is william, i was wondering if you knew who has the copyright to this picture, if you know it would much appreciated
Thank you for your time,
William Burns
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