Contrary to popular belief, the original 1979 Kenner ALIEN toy isn’t rare. Kenner made so many of these old toys, you can always readily find anywhere upwards of a dozen of them available on eBay at any time. What’s genuinely rare, however, is any print material Kenner produced to promote the toy. Listed on eBay today is one such item. Promotional brochures like these were provided to prospective retailers seeking information on (what was at the time Kenner’s unrevealed) eighteen inch tall movie inspired ALIEN toy. These brochures promoted and provided basic information to stores to aid in its wholesale interest for the toy to be stocked on store shelves in late 1979.
It’s a great item, too. Full colour on both sides and folded down the middle to become a large four page leaflet. One of the interesting features of this vintage document is it lacks any image of what retailers were being asked and expected to stock on their shelves in large numbers in 1979. There are no images of the ALIEN toy present on the brochure. At this stage of the movie’s pre-release life when this item was published and distributed, 20th Century Fox made no reveal of the creature at all, cannily and consciously concealing it’s identity from audiences until the release of the movie. This was done to achieve maximum shock value when the movie was released. This practice also extended to all commercial licence holders wanting to take advantage of the movie’s release. Curiously, within the interior of its folded page, this alert appears “CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS PREVENT US FROM REVEALING THE AWESOME SECRET OF THE ALIEN OR ITS FULL CONFIGURATION AT THIS TIME” making it a promotional brochure distributed without any images of the toy it was intended to promote. It’s difficult to imagine how retailers were inspired to stock these toys in any number under these conditions. They were just expected to do so following the runaway success of Kenner Star Wars merchandise that had previously wildly outsold all expectations.
A truly curious marketing relic. Bidding starts at US$9.99. CHEAP! …but not for long.
-windebieste.
Oh, this one dirty piece of vintage popular culture prestige right here and it looks like he’s spent 40 years under the house or inside a dog kennel. He is coated in dust and grime and thorough clean will be required. This sample is also incomplete, with the head dome missing. Nothing unusual about that. Around 90% of all Kenner ALIEN toys today are missing this piece. Significantly, the dorsal crest that sits between the shoulders of the toy is present. That’s extremely welcome! The upper left quad appendage is rotated out of alignment which means it is internally broken from the mounting plate inside the figure. At least it’s still mounted in place. The other parts in question that may (or may not) be present are both halves of the tongue. At least one is present, probably the lower half. That’s a good thing. There are no images showing the mouth open so it’s hard to determine what’s present but at least one piece is visible in the mouth. Other than these issues, this piece will polish up nice and spruce. All of the limbs are attached, there’s no breakage on the arms, legs or tail and he appears to stand independently. A nice item for someone looking to do some minor restoration work to bring it up to display worthy condition. A fantastic project item!
None of the more highly sought after pieces have been listed. There’s no head dome, both parts of the vac plated tongue are absent and the ever elusive dorsal crest are not listed. Not a problem. There’s still some pieces here someone will want. Let’s take a closer look.
It is rare by any definition of the word you may choose to use. And it’s in surprisingly good condition, too! The seller claims this is an uncirculated sample and never been offered to the public before. How much does he want for it? You can safely bet this item’s final sale value will be impressive. The item has been
All pieces appear to be clean and complete with some wear from normal use. Here’s a few links if you are interested in purchasing either or all of these parts.
The older Kenner toy is lacking the commonly missing parts, head dome, dorsal crest and the lower part of the tongue. Nothing new there. He’s a little dusty but his jaw activation still works. Arms are loose but still attached. The arms float a little outside the shoulder sockets; but just having the arms attached either by original rubber anchors or via third party repair method doesn’t detract from them being present and seated in place and not missing altogether. A generally nice figure that could benefit from a good clean with soapy water and a toothbrush. The 1999 AMT ERTL ALIEN kit also included in this offerieng is new and still wrapped in original shrink wrap. It is a re-release of the original 1979 MPC ALIEN kit and is a relatively common and easy to find item. Nonetheless, an unopened sample is a worthy addition to any ALIEN collection. Well, both of these figures would be welcome. A great pair of items and priced to sell quick.
The head and dorsal crest previously listed by the seller have already been sold. These quick sales can be attributed to the parts not being priced overly high. Today’s listing of a pair of legs and a left arm is no different. Here’s the links to all available parts as of this writing:
Here’s some comments posted by Matt in regards to the construction of this item, “To create Newt, I took a Mego 3 3/4” Uncle Jesse figure from the Dukes of Hazzard line. The smaller size and somewhat rounder physique actually works perfectly for the character. In the interest of keeping things simple, I opted to use an Ellie Sattler head from the Jurassic Park line. A hollowed-out Cpl. Hicks head makes for a perfect helmet.Newt now can fight Xenomorphs side by side with Ripley!” Fascinating and wonderful.
The figure is in a terrific state and it’s all there. An original dome rests on the head, all mouth parts are mounted in place and the all too often missing dorsal crest is also sitting confidently in place on its back. It’s a great figure. As for the box that is included in this listing? Well, that’s a different story altogether and it can barely be called a box. Crushed, crumpled and torn in major ways, all the box’ parts are present, it’s just in various pieces. The lid is torn off from the main case and the windows are a single separate piece. All of these pieces are included in the sale. The poster is also included and while it remains in a single sheet, it still shows signs of heavy wear. The red insert card that would normally be found inside the box to which the toy was originally attached is completely absent. At a starting price of US$9.99, you can easily spend a couple hundred dollars on just the figure alone and consider this box and poster as a “bonus situation”. It’s a piece of packaging worth having despite being in a ruined state but certainly isn’t the main attraction here. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this auction finally pans out. The box is junk and still worth …something. It’s a nice extra item but the figure is where the real value lies.
The first issue of note is the dome seated on the head of the figure. This body part is a reproduction piece being included in this listing. So while the figure is “feature complete”, it’s not 100% original. The figure also had work performed on its arms. The aging rubber anchors holding the limbs in place on these old toys have weakened during the past four and a half decades, leaving arms frequently hanging limp by its sides. To be able to hold its arms forward in a grasping pose this item is capable, these anchors need to be replaced. The old rubber anchors just won’t support the weight of the limbs extended like this.
Clean and in great shape, this figure has all parts present. Maybe a little worse for wear being a forty four year old toy not intended for this kind of longevity. These old toys were originally sold prior to Christmas in 1979, landing on store shelves sometime in October of that year. This sample lacks a box and poster but the commonly missing parts are all present and are 100% original. You’ll find no facsimiles or reproduction parts on this item. While US$750 appears to be a lot of money for one of these forty year old toys, the high asking price isn’t an anomaly. Even in this complete condition, Kenner ALIEN toys are not rare. They’re just so damned cool and carry such a freight of reputation the demand for them is only growing. It’s amazing then that any time, you can find at least a dozen of them on eBay at any time. This not only true, but has also always been the case for as long as I can remember. At least a dozen. 
This one is missing the head dome; and the dorsal crest mounted between its shoulders is also absent. Other than that, it’s relatively complete. Oh, yeah. The left arm is severed – but that’s an easy repair, if you’re prepared to disassemble the figure. Not a difficult proposition and I’ve repaired dozens of these old toys over the years. The mouth parts, including both halves of the tongue are all present and the figure looks to be complete without any other breakages. I’m sure this average condition figure will sell.
He’s mostly all there, too. Mostly. The head dome and dual tongue parts are missing but all the other body features are present and intact. He’s clean and looks well presented. There’s a strong likelihood the shoulders are loose and he won’t hold a pose. It’s also possible the hips will also be considerably loose. These are common flaws these four decades old figures often possess. The much sought after dorsal crest mounted between the shoulders is also present. There’s no damage to the tail and no cracks or other major faults that I can detect. He’ll definitely make some lucky owner very happy. It’s just a matter of how much attention he garners while up for sale and what the final bids are when they inevitably mount up. A great pick up for some lucky buyer. As to what he ultimately sells for? That’s worth watching just to find out.
The article also delves into a similar treatment of Kenner’s Mantis Alien and its release in Japan. It’s a brief albeit fascinating exploration of vintage toys from last century. Thank you Eric for the write up and giving us an insight into some of Kenner’s more obscure international product line distributions.
This figure has been painted over to give the appearance of the creature more closely resembling how it appears in the movie. Gone is the near black presentation of the original toy to be replaced with shades of brown and dark grey. It’s a full body paint over that lends itself well to the toy, highlighting much of the figure’s superb details. He’s all there, too. No pieces are missing.
There’s more than just a figure available in this listing, too. Also included is the original box, which is in a somewhat shabby condition and a little worse for wear; along with the B&W poster. Again, the poster is in a less than perfect state but its presence makes this listing a complete package.
This one is in generally good shape but missing the usual parts. Absent are the head dome, shoulder crest and both halves of the tongue. Despite these commonly missing pieces, the rest of the figure looks intact. Significantly, the slot in the figure’s back where the crest is absent is undamaged and will accept a replacement part that will remain in situ without falling out. This slot is frequently damaged on figures of this condition and aids in raising its quality. While some parts are missing, almost everything else is in largely excellent shape. This figure is clean, the tail tip is unbroken, all fingers are present, the elbows are undamaged, there are no cracks in the feet and the glow in the dark skull details are largely in great condition. The arms have been restrung so it can hold a pose but this is a solid, average quality vintage toy being sold here. A starting bid of US$9.99 makes it a good metric of what one of these base figures is worth sans frequently missing parts.
These are all generally good clean pieces with some marks and defects. These items all have separate listings. Bidding has already commenced on all of these parts and it will be fun to watch them climb to their final closing sales prices. Here are all three listings:
All parts appear to be clean and in reasonably good condition. Not all parts are available as individual listings and not all parts included are displayed in the image above. These parts all come from a US version of the figure. Here’s the complete list:
