Expanding into the consumer market, Aurora first produced toys before pivoting to model kits, starting with two 1⁄48th-scale fighter jets: the Grumman F9F Panther and the Lockheed F-90.

Perhaps the oldest plastic model kit in America, the Varney PT‑17 arrived ca. 1946. Now one of the rarest of all styrene models, it sells for close to $1,000. Monogram B-24 Liberator ...

It was that pink fuchsia aurora plastic that, when you see it, you know it's the real deal from 1964. For an original Aurora Godzilla kit, in today's world, it'd be $300 to $500 at auction.