If you’re not saving for a house deposit, new kitchen, rumpus room extension, bathroom upgrade, new car or some other necessity, another Kenner ALIEN has appeared on eBay Australia. This is the third one in about two weeks, which is remarkable enough. This item however appears to be an unopened sample. Loose Kenner ALIEN toys usually appear on the Aussie service about once every three months. Boxed items, significantly less so. Pristine boxes like this one? It’s about an annual occurrence at best and when they do appear, they demand high prices. This one is being listed for Au$10,000. The seller will accept a Best Offer. I guess that’s nice of them. 
This is a standard US version of the figure. It is unopened, without any significant marks or creasings on the box. The windows on the front and top appear to be secure and the bright blue package looks rich and free of any UV damage making it look fresh and clean. Items of this quality are uncommon in the US; but they do appear with a fair degree of frequency. This box item is extremely well preserved and will command attention when displayed.
I personally don’t like to refer to such samples as ‘mint’ simply because at least some material degradation during the past four decades is unavoidable. This item isn’t going to be in the same condition it was when it first departed the factory way back in late 1979. None now are. All the contents of this package have aged forty years and there’s no pretending the packaging and contents have slightly altered. The fact remains unchanged these toys weren’t made to last and closer inspection reveals it is possible the right arm may have separated from the figure at the shoulder. A quick email to the seller might be in order prior to purchasing this item to verify this potential issue. This is unfortunate but nonetheless, this excellent package example is going to be the closest you will see one of these unopened Kenner ALIEN toys being in original condition for some time.
Au$10,000 is a high price to pay; but this is a highly sought for collectible in optimum desirable condition. Is it a record breaking asking price for a sealed, extremely well preserved sample being sold in Australia? Nope.
-windebieste.
This item is in a considerably more degraded condition compared to the previous item listed not so long ago. That item was a full, complete figure with all parts present and a rare Canadian sample. It sold for Au$900. This item is being listed by the same seller but the condition is significantly less feature packed. A lot of parts (5) are missing and you’ll be hard pressed to find any replacements in this country. Nonetheless, it’s still a 1979 Kenner ALIEN and the price is justifiable, even for a figure missing many of its smaller pieces. Someone will be lucky to land this item in Australia and it will be thoroughly worth what they pay for it.
There’s a few notes to be made here. All pieces being offered do show some wear and obvious use but the news does get better from here. The torso halves appear to be complete in all important regards. The rectangular socket between the shoulders where the elusive crest (not included in this sale) usually sits is intact. These rectangular sockets are frequently damaged. This one appears to be in good condition, without any obvious breaks or stress damage. There should be four pins inside the shoulders, too. Some are visible in the images provided by the seller and each one I can see is also intact. This is good news as it means attaching the arms to the shoulders for them to be properly supported will be successful.
These difficult to find vintage toys are sought after by keen collectors in this country and this particular sample isn’t the regular version frequently available on eBay in the US, either. Most samples available on eBay in that country were made in the US while the sample being offered here was made in Canada. It’s considered to be the rare sibling of the US made figure with minor differences throughout. The Irwin Toys action figure is slightly lighter in colour. Other notable differences also exist. The aging of the plastic head dome has caused it to yellow towards a more orange hue rather than the characteristic smoky grey seen on the US counterparts and this is typical of these samples. The finger operated lever on the back of the head lacks the product information details the more common US samples possess. So this item is 100% a Canadian sample as claimed by the seller.
This is the uncensored version as it appears on the back of the 2-4 player product item. Kenner never used this unmodified version on any of their own ALIEN product line in the US and it solely exists on the back of the TOLTOYS licenced version published only in Australia. Smaller colour versions of the same uncensored logo also exist on the sides of the box but they don’t scan too well due to their diminutive size.
The expanded article dedicated to exploring international variants and design anomalies of the vintage children’s ALIEN board game 
Back in the 1990s, this would have been a great companion piece of military hardware for Space Marine Ripley and her fellow troops to combat those pesky xenomorphs, had it gone into production. Thank you Eric Fischer for the insight into this item, which was cancelled prior to full production but ultimately be resurrected as part of a completely different product line at a later date. Great stuff!
Kenner produced an estimated 150,000 18 inch ALIEN toys in 1979, expecting to match the dizzying sales of their previous 3.75 inch Star Wars range of action figures, two years earlier. A target that fell well short of any sales targets and killed off any future for the ALIEN production line, including a proposed production of run of 3.75 inch ALIEN action figures. Most of the surviving 18 inch tall ALIEN toys have since lost these domes with around 90% of them lacking this distinct feature.
Starting with the figure, because it’s 100% the real deal without any reproduction parts present, it does display a variety of flaws but the welcome presence of critical features such as the dome and the dorsal crest add significant value to the figure regardless of any problems it may have. But these flaws are definitely present and it’s worth being mindful of them. 
Briefly, Chewbacca’s arms are both severed and he’s missing other accessories. At least the left arm is included in this sale. You could probably hunt down a right arm and re-attach them both with little effort. The Alien is likewise features severed arms but again they are easy to return to the figure; which is also missing the ever elusive translucent dome and shoulder crest parts. It’s still an easy repair that will make a display worthy figure despite various other minor flaws including the missing left elbow spur. Darth is simply missing his light saber but includes his black cape, which is often missing from the figure. A great trio for someone to land. Maybe you would choose to be bold and attach the Alien arms to Chewie instead of the bio-mechanical torso they hail from? After all, the longer Alien arms would look quite menacing on the brown furred figure and can be fixed in place with as much effort. Xenowookiee, anybody? I’d love to see a Kenner Wookiee Alien, 2022 edition. Like their 1993 Gorilla Alien, only 16 inches tall.
These cards would often feature art images only barely passing for any resemblance to the character/toy they were documenting. For example, both the Bull and Scorpion Alien cards feature the Dog Alien from ALIEN 3, with the Bull Alien version being notable as it has its horns clearly airbrushed on (images above). Many of the cards, particularly those appearing in Series One, display other anomalous features worthy of mention… Bishop with air brushed helmet and visor… That weird Lt. Ripley.
It has all the common pieces missing that help to define this sample as “average”. Gone are the dome, both tongue halves and the crest between the shoulders. Unfortunately, it’s deficiencies don’t end there. This item has been removed from its original condition in a variety of other ways. Let’s check the list. 
What exactly is included in this listing? Starting with the figure, it’s in a rough and incomplete state. It’s missing the usual pieces, the dome, dorsal crest and both tongue parts. The upper teeth have collapsed inwards but are likely to be recoverable. As to whether the jaw mechanism still works, it’s impossible to say. Remove and refit those teeth and it may still function. The left arm is loose and appears to be have been re-attached. The tail and legs look to be in decent condition. A little work is needed here, but the figure can certainly be made to become more presentable, albeit incomplete. 
This is a fabulous item wearing its curious four decades old Kenner ALIEN toys history prominently on the upper right corner of the box. The discount price sticker displayed on this sample attests to how these children’s toys were originally intended to be sold for US$14.97 only to be later marked down and sold for the discount price of US$4.97 each. The substantial ten dollar clearance sale reduced the original sale figure of the toy down to under five US dollars. This would have occurred sometime during late 1979 (or early 1980s) and is documented on the label. Such discounts were common for these grotesque Kenner toys when they failed to live up to the sales figures of their exceptionally more popular Star Wars brethren. Tens of thousands of these ALIEN toys were sold in this manner mark down sales to clear dead stock forty years ago. My, has their valued climbed once again to lofty heights! 
Personally, I find this expectation on part of the seller very amusing. While this item is for sale in the US, let’s see how much it translates into currency where I live, in Australia. hmmm… The international currency exchange rate is in an outstandingly bad situation right now, so let’s have a good laugh here…
