Feeling nostalgic

It is really something, you two fellows having frequented the same hobby shop as kids.

I don't think I've ever heard of that happening here.

I'm enjoying reading about all of your memories.

Toshi, I also went to College Pharmacy to buy kits - they were one of the few stores that didn’t charge sales tax.  It was so cool that their window display was always jam packed with nothing but model kits, like a kid’s dream come true!  But the owner always warily eyed me when I came in. Maybe he thought I was just some punk kid who was looking for spray paint or model glue to “huff”.  Ah the 1970s.  As a kid I thought huffing was stupid, since model glue had better uses, and spray paint was too expensive to waste!  Yeah they were something like $1.19, which was about half the cost of my average kit purchase. 

I remember lots of models from my childhood memories, since I never really grew up!

I loved monster kits, and was thrilled that the Aurora Godzilla had glow in the dark parts.  I think I eventually painted out most of them except the eyes and the dorsal plates.  Yeah, glow in the dark...  It brings back those hippie drug culture days with the velvet black light posters, lava lamps, and the whole psychedelic thing.  Man, I thought teenagers and college kids were so dumb!

Revell’s 1/72 B-17 Memphis Belle was the kit that cemented (pun intended!) my lifelong obsession with plastic kits.  I had stopped building models by 4th grade, but my interest was rekindled when my best friend bought one.  It was so cool that everything moved, so we rode our bikes to the neighborhood pharmacy (Thrifty’s in Kaimuki) that weekend and I bought one for myself.

I think out of all the model kits I built as a kid, the one standout was Monogram’s SBD Dauntless.  It built easily, looked great, AND had all kinds of working features, like the linked dive brakes and the dropping bomb!  And the movie “Midway” surely helped market the kit.

I craved any model catalog, and saved all the ones that came with kits.  Me and my friends would spend hours poring over them and picking the ones we wanted to get next.  I had the 1974 Revell catalog, and hung onto it until it was tatters.  The 1977 Tamiya catalog fared much better, but it too was worn to oblivion.  Those featured Francois Verlinden dioramas were fantastic!

Speaking of dioramas, the Shep Paine diorama sheets that came with certain Monogram kits were to die for!  They were certainly instrumental in inspiring me to move beyond the OOTB experience.

Looking back to the 1970s, it is striking how we got so much enjoyment from so little, when you compare to what is available today.

NOSTALGIA,

A word that brings about many memories!  Bike rides, roller skates, cuts and bruises, scoldings from mom and dad, and models.  I seem to draw a blank on my first models and so on.  My TBI plays games with me, and I now just play back.  Lol!  

Being a only child the first seven years of my life, my brother and I are seven years a part of course, I remember playing with toys by myself, and seeing some odd and ends of newspaper, plastic, and glue somewhere.  My best recollection is of my walks down McCully street in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Heading over to my friends house on the way to College Pharmacy of which of course is long gone now.  

There in the front window, my best friend Scott and I drooled over the gigantic Monogram 1/48 B-17G Flying Fortress, B-24J Liberator, the viewable and working V-8 engine, and kits of other scales.  Once in, we were always greeted with a nod and wave of the pharmacist and ignored everything else to our way into another world.

I remember in the back of my mind in that there was a very very few phamacy type stores like this in Honolulu at that time.  Knowing that I must purchase and build as much Monogram kits as possible!  Lol!  Most of my kit building consisted of assembly with glue and decals.  Then going back the next day for another kit.  

When I did paint, it was God awful.  Everything was Monogram to me, until one day a Revell “Baa Baa Blacksheep F-4U Corsair“ appeared and my dad got that for me again and again as I must have broken the foldable wings a many of times as I still do now.  Lol!  How exciting were those days, many years ago.  That was until Jazz and girls struck me.

Now some forty years later I‘m back in this beloved hobby again, I have almost everything I need to build a kit.  I sometimes think back at what Scott is doing now, and if he remembers me.  Then I look at my new best two and a half year old best friend and grandson Ezra as we build together another wonderful kit and realize this vicious karmic cycle doesn’t always have to be vicious.  Just ask my grandson and I.

Your Friend, Toshi

Here is the pilot figure.  

yes I started out with the big Revell Spits,Hurris and Gustavs!Made the Guillows and Comet stick and tissue planes that looked nice but never flew very well.Recently built this stivk and tissye Eindekker.   

Greg

However, back in the late 60's, early 70's there was a place before Spencer's existed in Scottsdale AZ that sold psychodelic and drug-culture stuff. I came home from spring break with quite a haul one year.

Nice haul, Greg! 

Bakster

So, what did you guys buy from there? We bought incense, a black light, candles, stickers, and glow in the dark paint. I think that covers my list.

I don't think I ever bought anything at Spencer's, but I couldn't resist stopping in and looking around at almost every trip to the mall.

However, back in the late 60's, early 70's there was a place before Spencer's existed in Scottsdale AZ that sold psychodelic and drug-culture stuff. I came home from spring break with quite a haul one year. A black light, some posters, and a strobe light that we had fun with for over a decade.

Greg

 

 

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

But let’s not forget the black velvet with neon color posters and the black light light bulbs we used to buy at Spencer’s Gifts

 

 

Zowie, there's a memory. Forgot about Spencer's Gifts. Remember the incense smell?

 

Tanker - Builder

How dare you stop my brain !

Hey Tanker... My brain has been stopped for a few years; welcome to the party! 

Yeah I agree about growing up. If I could be a kid and legally drive a car too... I'd be happy. Oh, and get a LARGE allowance.

It is cool to hear a little bit about your yute!

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

But let’s not forget the black velvet with neon color posters and the black light light bulbs we used to buy at Spencer’s Gifts

Zowie, there's a memory. Forgot about Spencer's Gifts. Remember the incense smell?

Bakster !

 How dare you stop my brain ! Now , here I am replying to this thread .You know I'll be 76 soon .Now you guys done went and got me all nostalgic too . Think as many of the solid wood and stick and tissue that one could acquire .Plastics didn't enter till we lost the farm to fire and had to move into " The City "

 Hobby Shop ? What the heck kinda store is that .Well , walking into that store changed my life .Who'da thiunk that years later I would be a retired engineer with a degree in Nuclear Power Technology in Maritime applications and building models for pay too ?

 Monster models were not on my most popular model list .Now the U.S.S. Buckley by Revell .You Bet .I had just seen " The Enemy Below "  with Robert Mitchum and Kurt Jurgens as the two adversial Captains , had to have that ship ! Yup! Got it .All two Dollars worth ! had to wash Grandpa's old 48 Buick one extra time that week .( he hated dirty cars ). Tanks and firecrackers , Don't get me started .Had to go away from the block to do it .Our family's women were refugees and it reminded the older ladies ( Grandmas ) of that. .

     Ah , Life was Grand and then the worst thing happened . We had to grow up and be them adults ourselves ! Thank Goodness modeling keeps me young !

DRUMS01.... the Farrah Fawcett poster brought back memories. I, too, had the Farrah Fawcett poster in my room. I think every teen had her poster in their bedrooms - or even the Charlie’s Angels poster. Those were fun times and yes, it is a wonder how we all survived.

But let’s not forget the black velvet with neon color posters and the black light light bulbs we used to buy at Spencer’s Gifts. Those were cool to see under black light bulbs.  

Don, I love the photo and nice build of Godzilla.

Ben

Don Stauffer

With the scifi monster talk, I just had to post a picture I made using my Godzilla model, a photo of downtown minneapolis and my photo editor.  I titled the picture Godzilla vs Minneapolis.

Hey Don, that is awesome. Laughing. Minneapolis will never be the same.

With the scifi monster talk, I just had to post a picture I made using my Godzilla model, a photo of downtown minneapolis and my photo editor.  I titled the picture Godzilla vs Minneapolis.

More great stories from you guys. Thanks for sharing them! Keep them coming...

I forgot to mention what model kit I had purchased from my newfound hobby store. Hundreds of models to choose from, and what do I walk out with? Just what we are talking about... a nostalgic piece. I thought it might be a fun build. I think that this was first sold by Aurora and now a company called Atlantis Model Company is making them. I am surprised at how nice the plastic looks. It has a solid feel and the pieces have good detail. The cashier told me that it’s popular, that they sell a fair amount of them.

So... it’s a project for another day.

I have really enjoyed these stories and have many similar ones, thanks to everyone for sharing them. One that stands out was watching my older brother build what was in my mind museum quality marvels. I was so excited to watch him that when it was my turn I wanted to get cracking on them myself. In the late 60's and early 70's I would go with my mom to help her get groceries knowing that my treat from her was going to the drug store which had $3.00 to $5.00 MPC, Revell, AMT, Monogram, and other 1/24 or 25 scale car kits. On the 1/2 hour ride home I was so excited I had to open it in the back seat of the car. 

Whe I got home I would run up to my bedroom with the kit only to be reminded that I had to help bring in the groceries first. When it was time to get started I would make it to the bedroom with my red, white and blue shag carpet, and the Farah Fawcett poster. I had a small area on my dresser that was dedicated for building (you could tell by the paint and glue marks all over it) ....Mom was not happy but tolerated it. As a youngster I would most always add to much paint or glue when called out; after all some was good, more was better,... right?. Then there was the time I decided to step-up to spray paint (the rattle can). Using it in my bedroom caused overspray on the furniture and walls. Oh! and the smell of the paint throughout the hose had Mom and Dad furious. So perhaps they had a little too much of my personal marks on them, or maybe they sat a little crooked, so what... they were something I completed and that was both fun and satisfying... even though they were built like CRAP. 

Some of my old kits I remember and would like to do again include some of the old Hubley classic car kits; the Circus (Dragon) Wagon (circus style caged area behind the driver with a plastic dragon); Tom Daniels kits of Quick Silver (Chevy Sedan Delivery) and his personal corvette; the Red Baron model T (if I remember it was by Monogram and came with a small airplane); Rommels Rod (a fancyful hod rod half track mercedes with skeleton figures of Rommel and his driver, on and on...

When I graduated to my first "super detailed" kit, it was the 1/16 Revell Tony Nancy "The Loner" rail dragster kit. YES, I boogered it up too as I had yet not learned the rules of practice, preparation, patience, etc. Years later I purchased it again for another try and I still have it. 

Once I branched out from cars, I was in awe of the John Glenn launch complex with the Friendship 7 rocket. I still miss that one and will some day get it again on the secondary market. I also fondly remember the old sky crane helicopter and an old 1/35 scale M48 tank (I believe from Monogram). 

Between the glue and paint, I do not know how any of us made it out of the 60-70's alive; but boy was it fun.....

Ben

Nostalgia got me back into modeling a few years ago, when I was far away from friends and home and had little to do.  Lucky for me, I still had some of my old models hanging around in boxes, and it was the urge to finally rebuild these that prompted me to sign-up here at FSM and begin trying to put them back together.

As Bakster knows, I've got some that are awaiting reconstruction as I posted in the "Race Into Space GB".

Perhaps a tenth of what I used to have, including aircraft models.

Gary

WillysMB

College intervened, but I picked the bug up again during graduate school...

College is what expanded my modeling. I was in a new, unfamiliar area, had no car and the college on Long Island became a virtual ghost town on long weekends. One of my new friends took me to a local hobby shop, the first true model only shop I'd even been to.

I grabbed some basic building stuff and a few Fujimi 1/76 and Esci 1/72 scale armor kits and started building.

What a great thread! Really fun to see how people start a hobby.

I started with stick and tissue, mostly Guillows and the occasional Comet in the early 60s. Progressed on to large towline gliders which I would chase all over my Denver neighborhood on my bike. Sometime in the late 60s I was visiting a friend who was into control line stuff and went to his local hobby shop where they had a large cabinet of built plastics on display and a fair number of kits. I picked up a Revell Fokker Eindecker and never looked back. I discovered Airfix, Heller, Frog, Airlines, Monogram as well as Revell and amassed a sizable collection of dubious quality. But I was happy and proud as was my dad, a Thunderbolt pilot during the war.

College intervened, but I picked the bug up again during graduate school. I haven't done much lately since my dad passed away and my workbench got hemmed in by a load of furniture from his house. Hoping to remedy that this summer.

Speaking of monster models, I was once in the neighborhood hobby shop. There was a guillotine model up on the counter which I was drawn to every time I went in. One time, I asked Mom or Dad or whomever I was with to hold me up so I could see in the basket.

Of course,there was a bloody head. Scared me silly. I had no interest ever in monster models since then, and and depiction of decapitation completely freaked me out. I'm only over the decapition thing a little bit, seeing it graphically on TV still makes me look away.

Even odder, I just remembered I later made a model guillotine from scratch for a school project. It had an exacto blade for the blade, and the blade dropped. Imagine taking that to school these days, I'd probably end up in juvie. And I just this second remembered it did have a little person, it's head held on by a dot of clay so the thing actually worked.

Hearing myself tell this story, it all makes no sense even to me.

Nice looking Creature!  I'm tempted to get another one now!  Oh and hogfanfs, the catalogs really take me back.  I once had all of them also.  I'm getting very nostalgic now.  I just finished an old Forrestal carrier that I last built in 1960 or so. I was 9 years old.  The new build is just OTB, painted up, using a airbrush this time.  Maybe I'll do a kit of a Esex class after I finish a Tacom MK IV male.  Or now look for a Creature From the Black Lagoon!

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Heh... the Creature from the Black Lagoon was my holy grail during the 70's. I did finally get one. I remember you had a choice to use glow in the dark parts. I had most of the monsters kits except a few. Fun times they were.

I built many of the glow in the dark monsters, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Creature, Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Jekell/Mr. Hyde, Wolfman, Mummy.

I bought many of the repops. My son (now 22) has a poorly painted Wolfman displayed in his room. His main character he plays in World of Warcraft is a Worgen (werewolf). I still have a repop Creature, King Kong, Godzilla and Bride of Frankenstein.

This thread got me thinking to when I was a kid. I had an Aurora Model catalog, that was my bible. I used to love looking through that catalog to see the model kits I wanted. I had found a website that had all the Aurora Model catalogs online to view, and for the life of me, I can't seem to find it again. But, I did find this one: Box Art Den

I hope you enjoy!

crown r n7

Im getting flash backs from my youth every now and then I work on my monster stash too this one has been on my back burner for awhile.

 

I recall trying my hand at this one too. Like all the models I built back then, they looked terrible when I was done with them. I needed a mentor to show me how it's done. I was on my own with this.

I was big on the space program. I built the Saturn V three times and I have another one in my stash that is near 30 years old. Also popular was the Starship Enterprise, I built that twice. I built the Gemini Capsule, Lunar landers, CMs, some planes, cars, boats, even 1 or 2 of the Planet of the Apes figures. Which by the way, that hobby shop I mentioned has a few of them. So if anyone is looking.

When I think about all the models I built, I wonder where the heck I got the money to buy them! We were not wealthy, not by any stretch. Not even middle class. My Mom likes to tell me that my Dad had only pocket change to get through the week. How they did it, I don't know. I guess this speaks to the cost of models back then. They were dang cheap. As I got a little older--and my parents financials improved some-- I had a $5 a week allowance. That helped, and I had a jar that I'd throw pennies into. Over time--it added up.

Hey Nick, great paint job on that Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Timmy, that police car looks like great fun.

tankboy51

What happened to all those models we built as kiddos?   We all blew them up or shot them up.  I used a BB or air powered pellit gun.  Sometimes a group of us would have a great time doing it.  One year we collected a whole $9.00 and built a bunch of old Aurora battleships and aircraft to destroy.  We even blew up some Renwal tanks with Silver Salutes   We even blew up a few, what would be, collectors item.  I rember a nuclear civil airliner we destoyed.  Good times.  When I moved away from home to my first apartment in 1973, I just gave away all the built kits to little kids in the neighborhood.

 

Yep, quite a few of my models got shot down with firecrackers!  These were primarily the flying models- ones that didn't fly very well.

Even back then i was obsessed by the fact they were not in scale,why was the creature and Godzilla the same size,didnt make sense to me. 

Heh... the Creature from the Black Lagoon was my holy grail during the 70's. I did finally get one. I remember you had a choice to use glow in the dark parts. I had most of the monsters kits except a few. Fun times they were.