WONDERFEST 2026 WRAPUP

Danger Island Models was in attendance at Wonderfest USA in Louisville, KY the last weekend of May, 2026 and it was our best show ever, except for the noticeable absence of our dear friend and cheerleader, Jim Kessler, who had to skip this year to deal with some family medical issues. He has assured us he will be back next year barring any emergencies. 

Jeff and Steve were there along with our resident sculptor and friend, the amazingly talented Mike Cusanelli, and our Den Mother and bringer of snacks, Mike's wife, Lisa. Mike signed his kits all weekend, including his new MIKE'S MINIS line of 1:16 scale figures. 

We had our full line of kits on display and for sale, and Mike brought along the final sculpture of Linda Harrison as Nova from the subway tunnel scene in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES. The kit will be releasing in the fall, followed by the companion Brent kit around the holidays. We premiered our rerelease of the long-sought after GERTIE THE DINOSAUR kit, newly remolded with an updated base by the original sculptor, ILM's Carol Bauman. We soft-launched our MONSTER SCENES and PREHISTORIC SCENES Add-On kits, licensed and authorized by DenComm Products, owner of the two trademarks. And we had some special guests show up, including Mark Kreiss, owner of Prehistorix, a resin kit company active throughout the 2000s and 2010s. Mark is working with us to reissue some of his most sought-after Prehistoric Scenes Add-Ons, as well as a few other surprises. Prehistoric Scenes Add-On sculptor, Jeff Brown, also stopped by and got to see our reissue of his Dire Wolf kit. Trevor Ylisaari, the curator of the very best Prehistoric Scenes reference website, came by the booth several times, but also brought us some rare specimens we have needed to complete some of the AROARA Prehistoric Scenes Add-Ons. Make sure you check out Trevor's website at:

https://www.tylisaari.com/prehistoricscenes/main.html

We also got to spend some quality time with our friends, Todd, Barry, Dave, and Brian, the hosts of The Regular Joes Podcast. Danger Island Models is now one of the sponsors of the weekly film, tv and collectible podcast and videocast. Check them out on Youtube, and on Spotify or wherever else you listen to podcasts. The guys also filmed an infomercial at the Danger Island booth. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRhuSiMGgNk&t=1934s

Thanks to everyone who came by to see us. 

The Danger Island team (l to r) Lisa Cusanelli, Mike Cusanelli, Jeff Wehenkel, our moldmaker and caster extraordinaire, Bradly Werley, His sister Brittany, and Steve Smith. 

The Prehistoric Scenes Add-On "SCENERs" (l to r) Sculptor Jeff Brown, Archivist Trevor Ylisaari, and Prehistorix' Mark Kreiss.