The latest issue of Amazing Figure Modeler includes a profile I wrote about George Stephenson, who was one of the founders of the classic garage-kit company GEOmetric Design. George now owns Black Heart Enterprises and remains one of the most ambitious producers in the business. What follows is an account of what George refers to…
WonderFest Diary 1: Five decades and a little more since Dad helped me build my first monster model
Dad was flying Air Force helicopters in Southeast Asia, must have been 1972. My sisters and I were home with Mom in Colorado Springs. I was 7 years old. Somewhere around that time I discovered monster model kits, specifically the square-box glow releases from Aurora, on the toy shelves at JCPenney, which used to be…
Jeff Yagher’s Aurora Box Art Bride
First published Feb. 23, 2006, at GJSentinel.com. Slightly edited. “Aurora” is an important name to anyone who enjoys monster models. It was the company that introduced the world to such kits back in the ’60s, first with the Frankenstein Monster and followed by many more, including a wonderfully detailed kit of the monster’s Bride: For…
Night of the Living Dead with Al Matrone
First published Feb. 16, 2006, at GJSentinel.com. Slightly edited. Back in my grade-school days, I’d sneak out after bedtime Friday nights to catch “Shock Theater” on late-night TV. I saw some wonderful horror movies, including a lot of the Hammer Studios stuff and some classics from the ’30s and ’40s, but it wasn’t until I…
Nuked Supes by Mad Dog Resin
First published Feb. 8, 2006, at GJSentinel.com. Slightly edited. Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … a roasted Kryptonian! “Nuked Supes” is a 1/4 scale resin bust available from the friendly folks at Mad Dog Resin for $55 plus shipping. It was sculpted by Gabe Perna and inspired by…
Forbidden Zone’s Young Frankenstein
The premiere entry for Resin the Barbarian, written on “Todd P.’s Blog” for my employer, a western Colorado newspaper. First published Feb. 1, 2006. Growing up, the classic movie monsters were right up there with superheroes as my favorite things. I spent hours reading comics and magazines such as Famous Monsters, and I loved building…
My hobby autobiography
The following served as an “about me” page for Resin the Barbarian. When I was in my mid-30s, model kits were mostly memories for me. I’d slapped together a bunch of Aurora kits when I was little, then played with them until they fell apart. After that I spent a few years building sci-fi spaceships…