the popular market. In the 1970s, Aurora's figure molds had been sold to Monogram and by the mid-to late 1970s, the models had been discontinued and were difficult to find in hobby stores. In the mid-1980s some who were kids in the 1950s and 60s resumed their interest in the old Aurora monster models. An underground market developed through which enthusiasts could acquire the original plastic model kits. While the prices in the 50s and 60s had been only a few dollars, now the kits were selling for as much as $125 for some of the rarer monster models. In the early to mid-1980s, hobbyists began creating their own garage kits of movie monsters, often without permission from copyright holders. They were usually produced in limited numbers and sold primarily by mail order and at toy and hobby conventions. In the mid- to late 1980s, two model kit companies moved the monster model kit hobby toward the mainstream. Horizon Models in California and Screamin' Models in New York began licensing vinyl model kits of movie monsters. Horizon focused primarily on classic horror film characters (like Bride of Frankenstein, Invisible Man, The Phantom of the Opera) and comic book characters (like Captain America and Iron Man). Screamin' focused primarily on characters from more contemporary slasher movies like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser and franchises like Star Wars and Mars Attacks. Hobby stores began to carry these products in limited supply. By the 1990s model kits were produced in the US, UK as well as Japan and distributed through hobby and comic stores. Large hobby companies like AMT-Ertl and Revell/Monogram (the same Monogram that bought the Aurora monster molds) began marketing vinyl model kits of movie monsters, the classic Star Trek characters, and characters from one of the Batman films. There was an unprecedented variety of licensed models figure kits. In the late 1990s model kit sales went down. Hobby and comic stores and their distributors began carrying fewer garage kits or closed down. Producers like Horizon and Screamin' shut their doors. As of 2009, there are two American garage kit magazines, Kitbuilders Magazine and Amazing Figure Modeler, and there are garage kit conventions held each year, like WonderFest USA in Louisville, Kentucky. Model figure collecting Model figure collectors, like most hobby collectors, usually have a specific criterion for what they collect, such as Civil-War soldiers, or Warhammer gaming figures. Specifically