This week's
movie, Lady Frankenstein, comes on the heels of the 156th anniversary of
the passing of Mary Shelley . . . the lady who brought us the original
Frankenstein. Seems like a natural (or supernatural perhaps) to take
a look at a few Bride of Frankenstein kits this week!
The Bride of Frankenstein is a fascinating film in
many ways, especially because it puts so much emphasis on the first true female
horror icon, the Bride herself. It is an odd title, if you think about it
since the true bride of Frankenstein is Elizabeth (variously played by Mae Clark
and in the sequel Valerie Hobson). Yet, it is Elsa Lanchester whom we
think of, and there have been a number of cool Bride kits since
As you may remember from our recent article on
witch kits, the original Aurora Bride of Frankenstein kit was released in
65 with "The Witch," though there was much speculation that the target
demographic, 8-12 year old boys, would never want anything on their
desks resembling a doll! How wrong they were!
To maximize the appeal, the kit came with lots
of creepy castle accessories and was a big hit. Originally, you
could get one for about a buck, but an unopened shrink wrapped bride might
go in the hundreds now. Fortunately, Polar Lights re-released the
kit a few years ago and you can easily grab one on Ebay.
Now, what is interesting is that sometimes
the box art was more appealing than the actual model (which was admittedly
a little stiff.) Now, however, thanks to sculpto Jeff Yeager, you
can get a kit that is based on the box art! Monsters in Motion is
currently selling this cool kit. It has over forty parts and is cast
in solid resin . . . but it is also about 200 times the price of the
original Aurora kit. However, in the kit world today, that is a very
good price for the incredible kit you are getting. You can check it
out
here.
The second kit on the market to feature the
Bride was (to my knowledge) Horizon's Bride of Frankenstein, which was
part of their very early "Sci-fi Art" series. It was a step up from
Aurora's kit, but this was still early in the hobby in terms of attention
to detail. These were still ground breaking kits and you can find
them now if you look around, even 20 years or so after their first
production. You could expect to pay $40 or more for one.
Here is an old favorite too. This is
probably the first great Bride kit. It is Geometric's Bride
bust and it does a lot to capture the look of Elsa Lanchester's face--the
eyes, the lips, the unique nose. It has been a big Geometric
seller for more than a decade and is still available for a list price
of $54.99. However . . . CreatureScape retails this kit and if
you use the Paypal link below, I will cut you a deal at
$50 AND FREE SHIPPING in the USA.
Another fantastic bust came out about a
year or so ago from
Resin Realities, one of my personal
favorite companies. This kit was sculpted by Mark Van Tine, one of
the best pair of hands working anywhere. The kit is solid resin and
comes in two peices (bust and detached hand). It is really quite
commanding and it catches the bride with an interesting look on her face .
. . she is just about to understand what is going on in the lab.
You can get the kit for a very reasonable
$65, and having seen these personally, I can tell you it is a steal.
He gets that funky little nose just right and everything about the kit is
quality work.
I mentioned Jeff Yeager above,
who sculpted the box art tribute piece. Well, Tower of London models
carries another bride kit from him that is limited to just 60 castings (so
if you want it . . . get it!) It retails for around $240 and you
should be able to find one here.
I don't have much information,
but it is part of his classics series which are about 1/8th scale and very
detailed. Lots of people are becoming Yeager collectors these days
and there is good reason. And isn't it nice to see daddy spending
some quality time with his little girl this weekend?
Well, that's another roll
around the pit this week, this time with the first female monster on film,
the Bride of Frankenstein. Until next time . . .
