UPDATE: This listing has ended, presumed sold.
Posted today on eBay is this ‘feature complete’ 1979 Kenner Products ALIEN toy. He’s got it all – dome, both split tongue parts and the strange shaped shoulder crest on his back! All important parts for a vintage toy to possess. But wait, what does ‘feature complete’ actually mean – and is this sample actually worth US$500? Let’s find out.
Firstly, let’s just say that one of these toys in complete condition is highly sought after by collectors. Unfortunately, many of them are now missing critical parts. The dome on the head, the crest on the back and the split tongue halves are frequently absent from samples. About 80-90% of ALIEN figures are now missing these parts. Figures lacking these parts are astonishingly easy to come by and it is common for owners to replace lost pieces with reproduction parts.
The addition of such ‘repro’ parts to the figure don’t physically alter it; but the now ‘feature complete’ figure is less than 100% genuine – and that’s important. This toy is 40 years old. It gains much of its value from being a vintage item. Parts made in more recent years no value adding to the figure – other than to make it appear complete. There is nothing inherently wrong with this in principal and for many people it’s the only way to make an otherwise incomplete sample display worthy; but it opens up significant opportunity for abuse – especially when reselling the item.
People seeking one of these toys and not having experience might not be aware that these critical parts (The dome, crest and tongue parts) are easily replaced with more recently made facsimile pieces. Each one of these pieces on this figure for sale are repro parts. Facsimiles. Fakes. Forgeries. All these words are appropriate to some degree or another. This figure is simply populated with four parts that aren’t genuine to the article being sold.
Looking at the dome on the head, it’s way too clear and should be smoky (or honeyed/amber colored if it was from a 1979 figure made in Canada) and lacks the right surface texture. It’s definitely a fake part. The crest on the back is black rather than the gun metal grey of the rest of the figure, so it’s a ring-in as well. The difference between the reflective hues of the split tongue halves contrast with the teeth attached to the maxilla and mandible, making the tongue halves also clearly not original parts and are painted silver rather than the chrome finish they should possess. Believe me, I’ve handled enough of these things to know the difference.
This can be a real problem as the figure is 4 decades old now (In all truth, it’s actually EXACTLY 40 years since it was released, in October 1979.) and many of them have been in the possession of multiple owners during that time. There’s no telling who added these fake parts to this figure – the seller may or may not be aware they are facsimiles. Nonetheless, this figure may appear to be ‘feature complete’ – and it arguably is – but 100% genuine vintage quality? It certainly isn’t.
At US$500, this is way too much to pay for an old figure that is essentially decked out in non-genuine parts. For that kind of money, you can find one in a box, too; complete with all genuine parts present. Unfortunately, this figure is probably going to be sold to someone wanting it. They might not pay the full asking price of US$500 as the ‘Make Offer’ option is available on this listing. Still, paying US$400 is still too much for a figure that is worth around a quarter of that.
Be careful buying these Kenner things, people! Some vendors do buy up reproduction parts to populate these vintage toys to be sold at top dollar. There’s no law against doing so but it’s certainly a deceitful activity not enough people are aware of. Always ask about the history of the figure and determine whether it is 100% genuine or not to determine you’re getting what you’re paying for.
If the owner isn’t sure, then don’t buy it – they could just as easily be feigning ignorance.
-Windebieste.
