UPDATE: Sold for US$150 (4 Bids).
On eBay right now is a “rare” Kenner ALIEN toy. He’s missing the usual parts, making him an average condition piece. The seller’s bidding starts at US$99.99. A very acceptable price for a figure missing multiple parts and displaying other clear imperfections. Let’s take a closer look at this less-than-perfect-but-not-too-ruined sample.
Let’s get one thing straight, right off the bat. These things are not rare. Kenner made a ridiculous number of these things in 1979. Their aim was to equal sales of their previous big seller, Star Wars action figures. It is estimated Kenner sold forty million 3.75 inch tall Star Wars figures in 1978. FORTY MILLION! Now, that’s a lot of Star Wars toys sold in less than one year. Kenner may not have made forty million ALIEN toys – but then again, they made one Hell of a lot of them. While no one appears to have any exact details of how many were made, the proof is on eBay itself. As you can see, it’s been forty years since these things were released and there is always an abundance of them on the service. This toy is not rare as some people would have you believe. It’s actually unexpectedly common despite being four decades old.
OK, so it’s safe to say it’s not rare, let’s take a look at why this particular item earns its status of being ‘average’. Importantly, most of the common pieces missing are absent. Gone are the translucent smoky head covering, both pieces of the vac metal tongue and the crest on its back. These items are frequently missing to varying degrees and their absence will drive the value of the figure down somewhat. It also has a number of other issues as well. Let’s look at those.
Importantly, the right hip is damaged and some separation of the leg away from the torso is evident. It’s difficult to determine how much damage is present but the width of the gap is enough to demonstrate such damage is present. It’s not too much of a problem as repairs to the figure are possible. Here’s an example of a severely damaged hip joint that was successfully repaired in my workshop. So, a damaged hip isn’t a killer problem. Fixing this hip will actually tighten the joint, a highly desirable result as these old toys frequently have loose legs. It’s definitely something I look for in a figure these days.
Aside from the missing parts and damaged hip joint, this sample of the toy also displays various scuffs and other marks. These imperfections are common features on samples such as this item. It’s this lack of parts and generally used condition that make this toy an average condition item. They frequently appear on eBay in this state. The most interesting facet of such average condition ALIEN toys is their popularity and items like this one sell very quickly – and for a reasonable price, too.
So what is a reasonable price for an ALIEN toy in this average condition? It’s always a guessing game but figures in this state will generally sell for somewhere between US$120 and US$150. That’s the general range you can expect. Sometimes more… sometimes less. There’s no ‘recommended retail price’ on these things now so it’s pot luck as to who is prepared to put up that kind of money for a broken down, beat up ugly old toy with a significant number (four) pieces missing from it. Still worth it, I say.
-Windebieste.
