Chris Roberts (left), Me (center) and Adam Depweg (right) - Photo by Waring Abbott
This section comes with a story...In the Spring of 1976, I started making KISS miniatures out of model kit soldiers. There was one set in ALIVE! costumes, one set in the DESTROYER costumes with an extra of Gene and Paul. My Dad thought they were good enough that the band should see them. Long (trust me!) story short, I got invited out to their motel the day after the concert. Gene was very impressed and had the tour photographer, Waring Abbott, take dozens of photos. Anyway, since I was only in 9th grade at the time, my parents drove. They got the interview of a lifetime from Paul while we were busy taking pictures. In all the excitement, I wound up leaving the miniatures in Gene's room.
The next year I was ready! I had another dozen figures and met with Gene again. This time he bought the whole bunch from me. I saw him at the 2001 San Diego Comic-Con and he said he still has them.
I just wish I had ALL of the photos I had taken. The few you see here are all that I still have plus a few from Waring Abbott.
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Here are some more of Waring Abbott's photos from August 12, 1976.
The first shot is Gene Teasing my hair. The next two are Gene arranging the figures on my arm with gaff tape. Then you’ve got Ace and Paul taking Polaroids. A lovely staged shot of me being ‘amazed’. Then there’s the full stage with lights and flame jets. The rest are close-ups of some of the figures.
I went through the photos (and my memory) to come up with a more accurate list of what I had made.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the Alive! costumed figures. They were, more or less, the same as the album cover. The only other figures I have no photos of are of Paul smashing a guitar and jumping in the air (supported by the guitar chord). There was also a set of Gene, Ace and Paul in the same pose doing their matched choreography for Cold Gin.
