EDiT: Well, that sold quick. Gone within 2 days!
Here’s a nice little item I found for sale on Ebay. It’s an original head cover (carapace or dome – it’s known as all these things) for the 1979 Kenner ALIEN action figure.
These things crop up about once every couple of months or so on the service. While this 5 inch piece of concave translucent plastic may appear to be sold at a high price, these things usually do sell on Auction rather ‘Buy Now’ and can close anywhere between US$60 to US$110 so, yes, this item is a little on the high end of that pricing range. Nonetheless, I’ve seen them sell for comparable amounts before and I expect this one to not last very long at all. The vendor will receive the asking price as the US$100+ price tag isn’t out of the question.
This particular specimen is complete and has all the nubs on the inside edges in place. These small tabs were always inefficient at their intended purpose of holding the carapace in place; and as a result, these head pieces were frequently lost. Loose replacement parts like this one are uncommon and hard to come by. The piece for sale here has some scuffs and worry marks on it; but overall, it looks straight and clean without any warping, cracks or other deformations. It will make a fine and useful piece for someone to help make their Kenner ALIEN action figure complete in all its details.
Variations of these pieces do exist. This particular sample is from a figure that was widely distributed throughout the US. Other versions of the carapace are known to differ and are characteristically associated with figures that were sold in Canada, UK and Europe. International variants of this piece can be identified by their more honey/amber appearance. International variants are often brittle and more prone to cracks and breakages. They are also substantially more difficult to find. At a glance, here’s the difference between the US version (as for sale above) and an international variation of this same piece.
2 original Kenner ALIEN action figure ‘domes’. The US piece (Left) is a slightly darker version than international piece (Right). When present on a figure, this minor difference in hue can be one of several factors to help determine whether the figure was made in the US – or elsewhere.
-Windebieste.
