Andy Yanchus was an Aurora employee on the Research & Development Staff from 1965 to 1975.
Andy's career started at Aurora and he went on to become one of the most multifaceted people in the toy and comic industries.
These Aurora artifacts of bodies and T-Jet parts came from Andy's collection.
I got to know Andy when he sold some of his Aurora artifacts on eBay in 2005.
I was lucky enough to have won a few of his auctions.
Included are original bodies, parts and chrome still on their original factory sprues. Some virgin bodies that have never had parts or are partially painted.
The highlight of Andy's auction collection included 5 different colored Batmobile blanks. When I asked him how these came to be produced he sent me a detailed full color brochure explanation, see pic #1. Andy was a graphic artist and this was his area of expertese.
This first hand account of how Aurora produced T-Jet bodies is fascinating.
Andy included some of his original vintage business cards from Aurora to some of the buyers of his collection. I was lucky to get a couple.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yanchus grew up building plastic modeling kits in the early 1950s, a hobby he turned into a successful career at Aurora Plastics Company in 1965, where he was revered by enthusiasts and his colleagues for his innovative modeling kits and enthusiasm. Having been educated at the Pratt School of Industrial Design, he excelled in his production methods and three-dimensional craftsmanship, later becoming Aurora’s Project Manager for their hobby kit line.
Andy helped create and model numerous Tjets including the Green Hornet. He was instrumental in getting the car designed for the TV show and the actual slot car.
