UPDATE: Sold for US$52 (3 bidders)

Here’s a nice pick up for someone. An original 1979 vintage Kenner ALIEN toy head is being auctioned on eBay. These loose heads are listed often on the service, appearing about once per month or two. This one is cheap with bids starting at only US$20, which is good news. The bad news is the head is damaged, broken at the neck and incomplete in other ways. Let’s take a closer look at what’s on offer here.Of most importance, this piece is damaged. The shaft that fits into the figure’s torso is broken away from the base of the neck and the severed stump is not included in this sale. This is important because if you want to affix this item to a torso, it will be difficult to do so. If the severed stump was included in the listing, you could screw the matching pair of pieces together and make the head whole again. This is quite easy to do. Unfortunately this loose piece is not included in the listing so you’ll need to use some other less reliable method to re-attach this noggin to a headless body. Aside from this notable major issue, it’s a decent sample only missing a couple of other frequently absent pieces and suffering from one other common cosmetic complaint. 

Missing from this sale is the dome that covers the upper half of the head.  These pieces are frequently missing from these old toys regardless of their condition. One missing here is to be expected. Also missing from this head is the upper piece of the pair of tongue pieces and that’s no surprise either. What is welcome is the presence of the lower tongue half. That is definitely a bonus. These chromed pieces are definitely valuable and can be hard to find so even having just half the set present is going to make someone happy.

While we are on the subject of the tongue, it’s appropriate to note the system that operates its forward motion and accompanying jaw opening action feature is fully functional. The trigger that activates this system works fine and images on the listing demonstrate this clearly. These can often be broken or jammed so having this signature feature in working condition is very attractive. That alone will make someone positively consider purchasing this item.

Imperfect condition is to to be expected for a forty year old severed head and cosmetically, this item is a little rough around the edges. Such light damage is limited to the front and notably, the glow in the dark paint work on the face is where it suffers themost. Scratched and bruised it features some scarring and this isn’t unusual on a sample of this quality. The remainder of the head is in generally good shape without scratches, scrapes, melts or other disfigurations. That certainly makes it attractive to a buyer, too. It is coated in dust but that’s easily washed off in the kitchen sink with some mild detergent and then set up to drain and dry.

It’s broken, missing a few parts and the glow in the dark paint is scuffed and scratched but still a great pick up if you need an ALIEN head for whatever reason. Fitted back onto a torso is where it would look best but the lack of the internal post that would normally perform that task will make it difficult to re-affix without some form of improvisation.

-Windebieste.