UPDATE: This item has been sold.

Here’s something you don’t see every day, it’s a “Vintage New in Box Rare 1979 Kenner 18″ Alien Action Figure” for sale. Well, maybe not every day. Maybe every second day. At least once a week for sure. Anyway, the buyer is asking US$749.00 (or best offer) for this dilapidated box and figure, both missing parts.

There’s a lot to said about these old action figures. My favourite statement regarding them is “There is nothing normal about this toy”; and this is a perfect example. While the box is clearly beat up and missing its window panes and the smoky translucent dome piece for the head is absent, this less than desirable sample does highlight one of the great facts regarding these grotesque vintage toys. Let’s take a closer look.

Prominently featured on the front of the box is the original price sticker from Two Guys. While the box is severely worn and crushed, displaying tears and other damage, this price sticker is in immaculate shape. After four decades the price has no fading, blurring or other damage. It is is easily readable and at US$14.97, this was a moderately priced toy back in 1979. Significantly, the mark down SPECIAL PRICE of US$4.97 also appears on the sticker. Mark downs of up to US$10 like this reducing the price to less than half its original retail were common in 1980 after the ALIEN toy failed miserably at retail. These toys were frequently marked down to less than US$5. Such low prices commonly appeared on these these toys in chain store clearing sales and bargain bins across the US. Thousands of them were marked down in this way. Less than US$5. Think about that.

Since then, the reputation and demand for 1979 Kenner ALIEN toys has grown to mythical proportions. These old toys have fought back to demand attention during the passing decades to escalate wildly in value and now do genuinely command high prices. The days of purchasing a perfectly presented 1979 Kenner ALIEN toy in box for under US$5 are long, long gone.

The poster appears to be present (its edge is visible through the round die cut hole behind the head) and the figure may even still be attached to the red insert card with original black ties. Nonetheless, you might think asking for US$750 for an incomplete figure in a mutilated box is somewhat much, to ask. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’d be right. US$750 is a price you can expect to pay for one of these samples with all features intact and all content present and complete. This sample is simply over-priced for the condition it is in and a discount is strongly recommended.

A mark down to ONLY US$350 for this item would be appropriate and guarantee its sale, of that I am 100% certain. That would sell the item at less than half the asking price and you still get a genuine Kenner ALIEN toy in its original box – just like the mark down sticker prominently displays on the front of the box.

What was it I said about these old action figures? Oh yeah…

There’s nothing normal about this toy.

Even if the seller ultimately sells this beat up old toy to the Best Offer made, it will still certainly sell for hundreds of US dollars. Hundreds. You might like to think about that, too.

-Windebieste.