Aurora Prehistoric Scenes Models

My Aurora
Prehistoric Scenes
Model Site

Giant Bird

Allosaurus


GIANT BIRD - SNAP TOGETHER - 1:13 SCALE
Kit # 739 Designed by - ??? Sculpted by Bill Lemon Box Art - ??? Instruction Illustration - ???
28 parts. Molded in metalic blue. '72 series kit. Never reissued. Legs, wings, and jaw are moveable. Being part of the '72 series, it has some nice details and extra pieces. That said, it still doesn't have a lot of demand. Just not prehistoric enough for a lot of people. Though a complete kit is pretty tough as there are some small pieces that are lost easily. Look for prices to be mid-ranged, though a totally complete one can get pricey.

To veiw a parts list for this model, ckick on the link. It is in .txt format. You are more than welcome to copy this list.

PARTS LIST

Click to see a pic of all the parts with each numbered.

NAMEPLATE TEXT

PHORORHACOS
24 MILLION YEARS AGO
LOWER TERTIARY PERIOD
SOUTH AMERICA

My model

I don't really know that much about this model. I do have a built-up that I won on ebay. It doesn't look bad, so it will probably be a while before I get around to re-doing it. It does come with 2 sets of legs, so you can decide it you want it to stand on 1 leg or 2.
For some reason, I just can't get excited about this kit. Might be because it is a bird. I know they were predators, but c'mon. A bird. No where near as much fun as a dinosaur. The kit itself looks ok. The seams aren't bad, and are in fairly easy to hide spots. The base is interesting with a nest, some plants. The flying reptile that comes with this is the same as the one in the swamp.
The wings, beak, and legs are movable on this kit.

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Added 9/5/01

The photo and text bellow are courtesy of John Ross. He recently auctioned this piece off on ebay for $2000.

This is the original painting used to make the box for the Aurora Prehistoric Scenes kit of the "Giant Bird". The colors of the painting are much brighter than the photo shows. The frame measures 22 x 18 1/2 inches. The painting shows more than the cropped down image on the box. It was aquired in 1997 from Bill Bruegman of Toy Scouts, Inc. He purchased it, along with other paintings, from an ex Aurora employee.

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Added 9/5/01

The following pictures and description are courtesy of Jim Makowski. He recently had this up for auction on ebay. Went higher than I could go. Still didn't meet reserve.

From the auction description :
"Aurora Prehistoric Scenes Prototype(also known as a "pattern")of the Giant Bird figure kit.The figure is made of the same material as the other prototypes we are offering.It was hand painted by Aurora artists.The figure is complete but there is no base or accessories.The figure is near mint but one leg is not attached and is neatly glued in one spot. All pieces were purchased from the same source-a former Aurora employee(Hempstead-Long Island,New York).According to our source these items were in the Aurora archives when they were going out of business.They remained in his possession until we purchased them."

From an email from the seller :
"The prototype is made prior to the kit being produced in styrene.It is made up of pieces(the small wings move on their hinges) but it is assembled.The kit is made of some type of sculpting material that was used in the 1970's. If you look at our other proto auctions you can see the material without paint on it.The pieces are solid-not hollow like injection molded styrene.This was probably used as a paint master for the box art."

From this close-up, it looks like this master had a little more detail than the kit version does.

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