This is where the story of Polar Lights begins. The brand was created by Tom Lowe as the model kit-making division of the toy company Playing Mantis, which was formed in 1994. The company's very name, "Polar Lights," was a clever and deliberate homage to its predecessor. It mirrored "Aurora," the Roman goddess of dawn, with a reference to the natural wonder of the Northern and Southern polar lights. It was a promise to bring the magic of those vintage Aurora kits back into the light.
For those seeking to experience the magic of Polar Lights Casey, here are a few tips to enhance your viewing experience:
Polar Lights was established by Tom Lowe at the toy company Playing Mantis in 1996. The brand was created with a specific and heartfelt mission: to re-create long out-of-production plastic model kits that had originally been manufactured in the 1960s and 1970s by the legendary Aurora Plastics Corporation. The company's name itself was a clever homage to "Aurora" (the northern and southern polar lights).
During the Antarctic summer, Casey experiences near-continuous daylight, putting an end to stargazing. However, as the planet tilts and winter approaches between April and September, darkness slowly reclaims the continent. During mid-winter, the sun barely skims the horizon, offering only a few hours of twilight each day and plunging the station into prolonged, ink-black polar nights. Awesome Aurora - Australian Antarctic Program
: For Star Trek or sci-fi kits, the lights could pulse or change color in response to movie sound effects (like a warp drive hum or phaser fire). For monster kits, the "aurora" could shift to a ghostly pale green when it detects low-frequency ambient noise. UV Charge Assist
This article dives deep into the history, the lore, and the enduring value of the Polar Lights Casey kit.
The Polar Lights Casey phenomenon has also sparked a growing interest in tourism, with many enthusiasts and adventure seekers flocking to the area to witness the breathtaking spectacle. The remote location of Casey, however, presents a significant challenge for tourists, who must often travel to the area by boat or plane.
Casey Title: The Polar Lights Guide Setting: A small, snow-covered town called Borealis Point, just inside the Arctic Circle.
For anyone looking at a shelf of plastic sprues, the legacy of Polar Lights serves as a reminder that within each kit is the potential for a masterpiece, and that a community of artists, like Tim Casey, is always waiting to welcome new builders to the workbench. The lights of Aurora may have flickered, but in the hands of Polar Lights and the modelers who build them, they continue to burn bright.
Polar Lights' primary goal was to reissue the classic science fiction, monster, and pop-culture kits that Aurora had originally produced, carefully reproducing original packaging and instruction sheets to capture that vintage feel. Their initial release was a reproduction of the Addams Family House kit, first offered as an FAO Schwarz exclusive.
During the peak summer season, Casey is a bustling mini-town hosting around 120 people. However, summer brings nearly 24 hours of daylight, masking the polar lights from view. The real magic happens during the dark Antarctic winter, when the population scales back to a core crew of roughly 30 "winterers". Casey research station - Australian Antarctic Program
To understand the kit, you must understand the character. "Casey" is Casey at the Bat—the legendary, overconfident slugger from Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s 1888 poem, "Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic, Sung in the Year 1888."