This is the 1974/'75 AURORA reissue of their '60s SUPERBOY kit. Unlike the first one, the 'S' emblems on his costume and cape (and KRYPTO's as well) weren't moulded onto the plastic, but supplied as adhesive labels, and the sign was also omitted from this release. (I typed out the one you see in the photos.)
There's a semi-interesting tale about how I acquired it. Back around 1981 or '82, someone I know asked me if I'd like a Superboy model. One of his pals had one, but it had no box or instructions, nor any decals. His pal didn't want it and was giving it away. "Sure I'll take it!" I said, but no plastic model was forthcoming. Several months later, the same someone asked me if I wanted an Aurora BATMAN kit, as there was one on sale in Glasgow for a mere £1.50. I gave him the dosh, he got the kit for me, I started to build it - then we moved house.
In our new house, I completed the Batman model, and sometime around 1984 or so, the same fella said to me one day "Hey, I've got that Superboy kit for you!" It was at least nine years later (in '93), after having returned to our previous abode in '87, that I finally built and painted it. (I find it amazing that I completed the kit in the house I lived when first offered it, but didn't actually get until living in another.) I copied the 'S' symbols from an MPC reissue of the Superman kit, which were slightly different to the Aurora ones, although I didn't discover this until later.
I eventually acquired an instruction sheet so that I had the box art. If I wanted to, I could now make a facsimile of the box, as it has all the pictorial information required to do so, but there's no hurry. A few short years ago, MOEBIUS MODELS reissued the 1960s version of the kit, complete with moulded emblems and a facsimile of the original box, the only difference being that it has the Moebius name instead of Aurora's. It also has the sign that was omitted in the '70s.
So here's my Superboy model, assembled and painted by myself. Whaddya think, frantic ones?
And below is DAVE COCKRUM's original art for the 1974/'75 reissue box. Have to be honest and say I prefer the original '60s box art. Dave's is nicely done though.
16 comments:
Dontcha love it when people say that they'll do something and it never happens?, although in your case it did...eventually. Do they just forget, or forget to tell you when the deal falls through? Who knows - that's people for you. Are new model kits created these days or has that niche been filled by the likes of Sideshow Collectables and the ever present action figure? Full of questions ain't I?
I think the person I know had to wait on his pal getting the finger out, PC, but it seems I was waiting for what seems like a couple of years until he did. Moebius kits still make styrene plastic kits, I think, but I have the impression that vinyl kits are what collecters go for now. Don't know for sure 'though.
That's really neat. I love how they included Kryptyo. One problem I always had was painting the faces, They end up looking like death masks if you don't shade them properly,
I don't really bother too much about shading, Phil - that's a modern thing. My main concern is painting things between the lines and disguising the joins. I rely on natural light to cast shading where it would be on real people and objects. A camera flash tends to obliterate that 'though.
Kid, isn't it your birthday around about now ? Happy birthday - at last you can claim the winter fuel payment :) I know zilch about Superboy but I thought Clark kent didn't become Superman and get his costume till he went to Metropolis so how could there be a Superboy ? If Spider-Man had been invented by DC I suppose there'd be Spiderboy and Spiderbaby. And a dog wearing a cape...? Didn't DC have something called the Legion of Super-Pets...good grief.
Yup, my 'official' birthday is not long passed, so ta much, CJ. I don't think I'm old enough for winter fuel payments, am I? Dunno much about it. Remember that Superman's origin evolved over the years and had retroactive ramifications. Also, don't forget that when all that silly DC stuff with the pets first happened, comics were aimed primarily at kids. It was Marvel that started gearing them towards late teenagers and young adults.
What's wrong with the Legion of Super Pets? They were super! I believe it was Krypto, streaky. comet, proty 2...um...beppo the super monkey...I forget who else.
Also Superboy was created my Jerry Siegel. His estate sued for ownership and I think the courts ruled in his favor. That's why Superboy as we know him no longer exists since DC wasn't sure of the ownership. It's an interesting story. Google it.
Yeah, I know - I think S&S also got around $90,000 in a previous settlement of their Superboy dispute with DC, and I think that was back in the '40s or '50s, if I recall correctly. (Could be wrong 'though.)
Kid, my mention of the winter fuel payment was meant to be a joke (that's why I included a smiley face) - you have to be 65 to get it. But if you did have the payment you could spend it on frivolities like all those "poor" pensioners do - poor, my @rse.
I thought the smiley was to indicate your happiness at me coming into money, CJ. You need to work on your delivery. (I don't do smileys, so you'll just have to imagine one there.) Some pensioners are poor 'though - that's why they die of cold because they can't afford to heat their houses or flats in the winter.
As a kid I loved all those silly DC stories and lts not forget that Marvel (recently) did a few super pet comics as well including a few Spider-Ham titles . I was never a big fan of the Superboy comics until the Legion (my favourite comic) starred in it in the 70s saying that the Superboy title had some amazing covers in its day that I would pick up in a heartbeat. Models nah they dont interest me.
Kid, any pensioner who dies of cold didn't put the heating on because they had dementia or something. My mother used to get so much money from the government every week that she had a tin box stuffed with money as well as the money in her bank account. New Labour introduced the Minimum Income Guarantee for pensioners as well as the winter fuel payment, free bus passes and free TV licences - the notion that pensioners have to choose between heating and eating is utter bullsh*t. And I'll bet a big proportion of those 20,000 Brits stuck in Sharm El Sheikh were pensioners - any pensioner who can afford to go on holiday to Egypt doesn't need the winter fuel payment. Did you know they were even sending the payment to British pensioners who'd retired to the Costa Del Sol ???
Oh damnit! I went and forgot, didn't I? Good on yer, Col, for reminding me! A belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Kidda! ( the 8th, was it? )
Must try harder next year!
Of course you're into models, McS - as long as they're of the female variety. 36-24-36. Wow!
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CJ, I think your mistake here is to assume that every pensioner in this country is in the same boat, and that they're all as fortunate as your mother was. While I agree that some could survive quite comfortably without government money and free bus passes and TV licences, etc., not all pensioners are that fortunate. I'll bet that some of those pensioners on holiday in Egypt had saved long and hard, and done without certain things in order to be able to afford their holiday, which may have been their first holiday abroad in a long time - if not the first time. As for retired pensioners who live abroad, I've got reservations there, but one point of view is that if they've paid into the system all their working lives, they're surely entitled to what they were paying in for regardless of where they've retired to.
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My present's in the post, isn't it, JP? What is it? Give me a clue.
Pensions are like everything else. Some pensioners are legitimately drawing honestly-earned benefits, and some are crooks abusing the system.
Superman began in Action Comics in 1938. In the early comic book stories, and in adaptations (movies, radio, TV), it appeared that he was an adult when he began his superhero career. Superboy first appeared in 1945, became the lead feature in Adventure Comics, then got his own self-titled comic in 1949. So the character was what today would be called a retcon. In the mid-1980's, with the Crisis series and John Byrne's reboot, DC retconned the retcon, and canon was that Superboy never existed.
I read somewhere that Siegel and Shuster had proposed a Superboy spin-off in 1939 or '40, but DC rejected the idea. Then they evidently changed their minds in '45.
Also, the name "Superboy" has been used for other DC characters in recent years (probably so that DC could retain the trademark). One was a clone of Superman, and another was from an alternate universe. Or something.
Thanks, TC. Of course, I knew all that, but couldn't be bothered typing it all out as CJ isn't much interested in DC Comics anyway. I'm sure he appreciates your efforts on his behalf 'though.
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