On March 19-20, 2024, Hake’s Auctions held their first premier auction of the year, featuring an exciting mix of pop culture and Americana collectibles. The auction realized $2.5 million, bolstered in part by the incredible prices achieved by rare Aurora Model Kits.
The rare Superman and Spider-Man store two-pack factory sealed boxed model kit pair sold for $54,516 – decimating its preauction estimate of $5,000. The kits were typically sold individually, but a store bundled both models for a special promotion with a paper strip announcing the deal and the kits shrinkwrapped together. Hake’s has only seen a few of these special offers and never one with two big name characters like Spider-Man and Superman. The model kit pair, which hails from the Janusey Brothers Collection, set a new record for a piece of Aurora merchandise.
The very rare Godzilla’s Go Cart unused boxed model kit set a new record for a single model kit when it sold for $36,344, exceeding its $20,000 estimate. Aurora decided to capitalize on the hot rod craze by releasing their Frankenstein and Dracula dragsters. They were followed by more monster hot rod kits, and plans were made for Godzilla and King Kong, but by then, their popularity was waning. Still, Aurora made small production runs of Godzilla and King Kong, but distribution was limited to several stores near their headquarters in West Hempstead, New York. The entire monster car series ended in 1966 with Godzilla being the last kit from the line. This model kit from the Janusey Brothers Collection is the only boxed example that Hake’s has offered in their 57 years.
The Frightening Lightning Dracula factory sealed boxed model kit mesmerized collectors, nearly quadrupling its $5,000 estimate when it reached $19,080. This kit advertises “the monster that glows in the dark” with great portrait art of Bela Lugosi as Dracula on the box. The rare high grade example also came from the Janusey collection.
“The Frightening Lightning Dracula set a new record for Aurora model kits, but was quickly broken by Godzilla’s Go Cart, and again by the Superman and Spider-Man two-pack. The record for Aurora model kits was set three times in our auction with each one achieving an even more impressive result. These sales prove once again that collectors come to Hake’s for rare, high quality material and that our consignors deliver top notch collectibles,” Hake’s President Alex Winter said.
The Mummy’s Chariot factory sealed boxed model kit sold just beyond its estimate for $5,855. In this kit that was part of the monster hot rod line, the Mummy drives an ancient Egyptian chariot style hot rod, complete with cobras serving as the fire-belching exhaust pipes. The box lid depicts great art of the racing Mummy and has the original store price sticker on the side.
The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Maré factory sealed boxed model kit hammered for $4,283, more than double the $2,000 estimate. Designed by Famous Monsters of Filmland and produced by Aurora as a joint venture, this was the last monster kit produced until the Glow kits were reissued in 1969. This sale was followed by the Frightening Lightning version that brought $4,130.
Other key Aurora model kit sales included the Dracula factory sealed boxed model kit (second issue $1 box) for $3,894 (over a $2,000 estimate), the King Kong factory sealed boxed model kit for $3,489 (over a $2,000 estimate), and Dracula’s Dragster factory sealed boxed model kit for $2,537.
The prices realized in Part I and Part II of Hake’s Auction #240 can be viewed on their website.
