Work continues on the 1979 Kenner ALIEN action figure book, HIDEOUS PLASTIC – In stores everyone can hear you scream.
It’s time to give you some idea of what its content will be comprised of. This preview of the book’s 3 Contents pages below outlines the locked down features present in the 200+ page book. I’m still filling in a few remaining gaps here and there and today, for example, I completed documenting Kenner’s 1979 ALIEN Movie Viewer, something I’ve been wanting to add to the book for a while.
As you can see by inspecting the accompanying images (See below) the book is substantial and organised into 5 major sections, each section consisting of multiple ‘Chapters’. The first section documents the Kenner figure’s history and influences. Section 2 is a detailed description of the figure and is followed by a comprehensive Spotter’s Guide of what to look for in one of these old toys if you’re planning to buy one. Next is a lengthy section on how to repair a Kenner ALIEN action figure should you own one that may be cursed with various problems be it from age or accident. The final set of entries completes the major body of the work with a full investigation into the many derivative and tribute figures inspired by the old Kenner toy. Figures released by Tsukuda Hobby, Halcyon, Gentle Giant and Super7 are detailed in this section.
A Preface and Introduction are present along with a Product Bibliography of all items discussed in the main text which concludes the book. An index will be added later, after editing is completed as a properly prepared book of this size requires one.
The manuscript is almost complete. There’s not much attention remaining in this regard. Aside from a few scattered details and entries there are a small number of images I need to add and a couple of placeholder images to be replaced. That’s the set of tasks to be completed this month as the Authoring workload is diminishing considerably. The largest task will be an additional chapter needed to document Super7’s new ALIENS action figure which was recently teased. That figure will complete the book so it will become the all encompassing volume it is intended to be.
Right now the book is steadily heading to a point where it’s almost ready for the next stage. Next on my agenda will be content accuracy and fact checking. It’s an important activity and I’ll be contacting various people to assist in this regard.
Once those actions are complete and any necessary corrections are made it’s off to the Editor, Typesetter, Interior & Cover Designers, Proofing and the closing round of Legal Appraisal. All of those activities have been organised already. Once these are complete, we’re ready for publishing and distribution! A lot of work has gone into this book and it’s coming together very well. At some point during this closing phase of development I will provide you with the opportunity to pre-order the book. Don’t worry, future updates will provide you with more insight into its contents.
There’s still ample room and time for your contributions at this stage. If you have some knowledge or photographs of Kenner’s ALIEN action figure from 1979 that you would like to see appear in the book please contact me. I’m happy to listen to anyone who has such material. Right now I’m having some problems accessing my primary @hideousplastic.com email address so if you want to contact me for any reason regarding the book, please use my windebieste@yahoo.com.au address; or pm me on Facebook.
Thank you for your attention. I’ll post another update in a month or so.
Progress so far: On Target. 🙂
-Windebieste.
