Moebius re-issues "Voyager" model kit from "Fantastic Voyage"

Now this is nice...Moebius has done a fantastic job of re-issuing what is considered one of the rarest and desirable Aurora model kit outside of the "Monster Scene's" series...the Voyager from the 1968 Filmation cartoon series "Fantastic Voyage."

This ship has always been a personal favorite of mine, along with the cartoon series it was featured in. I like the Proteus from the movie version, but it just wasn't as cool as the Voyager.

One thing I was not prepared for is how detailed the cockpit is...not unlike the Flying Sub from "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" model kit or the Spindrift from "Land of the Giants." The cockpit in the Voyager kit is fairly detailed. But if you glued the top and bottom halves together, you would never see it!

I purchased mine at a local hobby shop, and according to Moebius' website, they are available everywhere. Next up from Moebius...a 39" Seaview model kit, with Flying Sub, Diving Bell, detailed interior AND the four window configuration on the front of the sub...should be cool!

Imai Monstrous Animal Series

The Imai Monstrous Animal Series was a collection of four monster kits released during any one of the early kaiju booms in Japan.

Each kit features some vivid artwork of the monster, though it did not present a good representation of the actual kit. The models were very much in that "mascot" mode of design...not super deformed, but their dimensions were exaggerated enough to be more toy than anything.

Interesting that Imai obviously planned that these would be sold overseas as well. The prominent English all over the box makes me think that this series probably did make it to our shores at hobby shops in larger cities in the US.

Does Anyone Want A Bandai Real Hobby Series Kit? Anybody?

Over the month of January, I am going to explore in detail Bandai's "Real Hobby" series from the early 80's. This will be a total de-construction of the entire series, that will hopefully elicit input from you, my fellow collectors, to determine why these kits, for all of their quality and innovation, are such underperformers in terms of resale value.

I have tracked sales of the entire series through 2007, and I think you will be suprised at some of the results. For instance, the collectors who currently prize these kits the most aren't even kaiju or model collectors....Do you know who they are? You won't believe it when I share that along with other tidbits in the next post.