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The Forgotten Prisoner
of Castel-Mare

aurora forgotten prisoner model
The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare was one of the most intriguing kits of the Aurora line for me, simply because it didn't represent a famous monster, but more of a scene. Though it wasn't unique for the Aurora Corporation, it was unique to me. The only other scene depiction from the classic monster kit line was "The Guillotine". aurora forgotten prisoner model I remember also that I kept having lots of mishaps putting this one together; I used a white enamel for the bones, and it never seemed to dry. I ended up with parts sticking to my fingers and the newspaper on the table. Still it was altogether fascinating to me. In 1966 I hadn't a clue as to who this forgotten prisoner was, and why he ended up in such a dreadful state.

I built this kit on an old card table in my room. The movie "Mr. Sardonicus" was playing on TV that same evening. Once the family got a new color TV set, they let me take our old black and white model into the room that I shared with my brother then. That movie terrified me, and gave me the shudders like crazy. I guess it was the perfect movie to be playing in the background of building this model! It was the dead of winter when I got this kit; I picked it up at our local Fred Meyer store. It was very cold and dark outside as we made our way home from the store, and I couldn't resist peeking into the bag to stare at the box. I really liked this kit then, and still do now.