I haven’t had much to post of late and this will probably be the last item for 2023. Gotta say, it’s a good one, though! It looks like Penguin Random House is publishing an ALIEN ABC Little Golden Book for children, ages 2-5 years old. Yes. An official licenced release for children who can learn the alphabet from a story based on an old R-rated 1979 space monster horror movie. While not an ALIEN action figure or a toy, this item definitely sits well within the “Weird ALIEN stuff made for Kids” category. And I’m good with that. 
When I first read about this item, I was sure it was a gag; but no. Here’s the description direct from the publisher, “Follow Ripley and the rest of the Nostromo crew on a space adventure that introduces the alphabet from A to Z. With fun illustrations, this light-hearted re-imagining of the iconic movie ALIEN will delight fans young and old, as well as Little Golden Book collectors through(ou)t the universe.” I know people who are already speculating how this is going to work. They are wanting “C is for Chestburster”, “F is for Facehugger” and “H is for Headbite that leaves large chunks of your brains hanging out of your skull”. It’s a safe bet the usually difficult letter to assign, “X is for Xenomorph”, will be present.
More information about this book to be released in July, 2024 can be found on the publisher’s product page where pre-orders are available. I guess this item is also available for pre-order wherever children’s books are sold. Now, go show your four year old child some ALIEN movies so they can be properly prepared for this release.
-windebieste.
So I placed my order with AliExpress, expecting an incredible piece of junk to be delivered and hoo-boy! I was not disappointed. Mind you, I would have had a completely different response had I not known the level of junk I was about to receive. It only matches the advertised sample by a significant stretch of the imagination. I sure would have been sorely disappointed had I not known exactly what was heading my way. This tragic “bait and switch” item now has a new home, it has been added to HIDEOUS PLASTIC’s lengthy examination of 
This past year has been a little scant on the ALIEN merchandise front. I’m guessing official licence holders are currently tooling up, preparing to be dedicated and committed to manufacturing tie-in goodies for that aforementioned new ALIEN movie when it is finally released. Those companies won’t be ready to make any announcements until sometime next year. Making tie-in merchandise is a lot of work but I’m guessing next year’s ALIEN Day (April 26) will be an opportunity to showcase and reveal content for us to eagerly gobble up. Such major announcements have been lacking in recent years on ALIEN Day but I’ll be covering as much as I can here on HIDEOUS PLASTIC when it happens. Good times ahead, for sure! Get Excited!
If they’re not rare, as clearly and obviously indicated here, then what is the driving factor for the high price on these old toys? A lot of it does come to to “cool” factor, for sure but there’s more than that at play here. Importantly, it’s the toy’s reputation that drives these high prices. These toys were intended for children “AGES 5 AND UP” and failed miserably at retail due to the movie ALIEN being released with an R rating in the US. The Kenner ALIEN was the first mass market toy released to retail with an adult movie rating and it happened accidentally. It also caused conservative parents to respond to its release in an extremely unfavorable way. Some claiming it was “demonic”, “offensive” or just downright inappropriate for children.