These are items I would have loved to have included in my collection — original dinosaur models used in the 1933 classic movie King Kong. The models, sculpted by Marcel Delgado and animated by Willis O’Brien, were in the collection of Forrest J Ackerman, editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, when this photo was taken in the 1970s.
Such models don’t usually survive for very long. The rubber used in their hides is not meant to last and their metal armatures are often salvaged for parts and recycled. Sometimes, however, “clone” models — cast from the original molds and made of more durable materials — do survive for posterity.
