It might not exactly be Santa’s Workshop, but this was a great evening. Sitting in front of an open fire, assembling old 1979 Kenner ALIEN toys. Ah, this was a fine evening, too. Perched by an old wood heater with a soundtrack provided by Triple J, Australia’s offensive language laden national youth radio station, as supported by the Federal government, restoring ugly ass old toys and returning them at the very least to a semblance of their former splendor. Perfect.

I should do this more often. Sit in my old chair in the middle of winter with a pair of pliers on hand along with three meters of 3mm bungee cord, trimming it down to re-assemble these old toys from disassembled samples and parts. Despite the unbridled nonsense currently taking place in the world and constantly encroaching on us all – that is, war in Europe, a pandemic that refuses to go away and rising interest rates that affect us all – it’s great to just time-out and sit by the fireside and assemble some weird old children’s toys that no one wanted back in 1979.

I’ve become proficient in restoring these wonderful forty-plus years old ungainly children’s play things, too. That assembled sample you see in the image holding a pose with ease? Yeah. He’s a nice piece of work, fressh off the “production line”. The other item you see strewn upon the table, in pieces? Sure. He is now successfully rebuilt and rehabilitated, standing with ease among all the other old Kenner ALIEN toys in my collection. I’ve become efficient at putting these things back together. Fun evening, for sure. Definitely going to do this again before Winter times out.

I did write and publish a book about these old toys. Documenting a complete history of the 1979 Kenner ALIEN toy, it also includes a comprehensive section on how to rebuild one of these nefarious action figures.You can currently purchase a copy on eBay. Published in Australia in 2020. Posted globally. Au$30 (about US$20), plus postage.

-Windebieste.