Vintage-Style ALIEN 3-3/4" Figures from Super7 Arrive!

 

Yesterday I was having my lunch when the courier truck pulled up. Out popped a mailman and handed me a package that had been a long time in coming...

Back in the Spring of 2013, it was announced that Super7 would be starting production of new 3-3/4" ALIEN action figures "based on" the old unproduced Kenner prototypes. The Internets were abuzz... reactions from ecstasy to nerd-rage with nary a moderate view to be found. Some were excited about finally seeing vintage-style toys produced for this iconic property; others were outraged that commencement of production would somehow devalue the precious remaining pre-production and prototype figures from the late-'70s. Me, I don't see how producing new toys can have a devaluing effect on pre-prods and protos for a line that was never made. If anything, I thought that commencement of new production would increase interest in the unproduced vintage line and maybe even spike values. But what do I know...

Anyway, Super7 marketed the Hell out of the property and did it in very clever ways. At the 2013 San Diego Comic Con, they sold "early-bird kits" that mimicked Kenner's originals for Star Wars. This was essentially pre-paying for the set of five figures - Dallas, Ripley, Kane in spacesuit, Ash and the Alien - for delivery later in the year.

The Early Bird Package envelope

Reverse of envelope

Contents of the Early Bird package

 Super7 also offered a very cool "salesman sample" kit with unpainted "prototypes" of Kane and the Alien. These were available at the Super7 booth at SDCC, in limited quantities. As you might have expected, these sold out quickly (to both fans and scalpers), but were available afterwards on the "secondary market"...
 

"Salesman Sample" promotional box

Reverse of box

Note included in the box - pretty funny stuff :-)

Kane "sample" - unpainted

 

Helmet is removable

The Big Chap

Clear dome is removable - inner jaws are movable

Subsequent to all of this, Super7 partnered with Funko on the project, and this development enabled the company to scale up their production numbers significantly, and even reduce the price of the set. As the Internets again exploded with nerd-rage - remember, the new price is less than people paid for their pre-orders - Super7 offered pre-orderers the chance to cancel for a refund if they wanted. For those who didn't cancel, Super7 offered a "secret bonus figure" and the chance to get the figures on blue "vintage style" cards (regular cardbacks would be produced in black). Needless to say I maintained my pre-order status...

Fast forward to yesterday, and the production figures finally arrive:

Ash. Unfortunately Ian Holm, the actor who so brilliantly portrayed the character, apparently refused to grant Super7 permission to use his likeness on the packaging. Lame.

All six figures have identical cardbacks.

Ripley. Very "vintage style" in that she looks pretty mannish. Of course anyone who's seen the last 10 minutes of the film knows that Sigourney Weaver is anything but "mannish"...

Paint app on the face makes her look a bit cross-eyed.

Captain Dallas! My favourite (obviously).
 

Kane in space suit. Paint app on this figure is very good. The unpainted "proto" really doesn't do the sculpt justice.

  

 The Alien. An excellent sculpt, very cool figure indeed.

 

The bonus "Clear Alien", derived from an original production concept for the film. Apparently technical limitations prevented the SFX department from realizing it.

A nice little note included in the shipping box (shown in the first photo of the post). Nice to know we pre-orderers are appreciated...

Well, there you have it. Wave One of the new ALIEN figures. Personally, I really have little to no interest in any action figures but vintage Star Wars, but ALIEN is one of my favourite movies ever and the vintage styling of these toys just sucked me right in... and I suspect I'm not alone. I hope this post will be helpful to those other collectors who are interested in the line, as a photo reference of the production figures as well as a brief history of how they were marketed. 

X-Wing Fighter

"Iconic"! Along with the TIE Fighter, The X-Wing has to be the most recognizable vehicle ever created for the Star Wars universe. Like many young Star Wars fans, I had one as a kid. Not surprising since the X-Wing was one of the three vehicles released in the first wave of 1978 (the others were the TIE Fighter and Landspeeder).

Although I still have my own childhood X-Wing (seen in the photos below) the Canadian Kenner box it came in is long gone (drat!), since replaced with a Kenner US box obtained from an eBay seller.

The box is rather beaten up but I still like it - the "LP" (Long-Play) logo on the box front denotes a "first-wave" (1978) release - as with other Kenner US releases, the later box versions dispensed with the logo. Of course, once the "Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot" was released in the second wave of 21 mini-action figures, the box photo was updated to show that figure in the cockpit rather than the Luke "farmboy".

Naturally, then, I've set up my photo shoot with both versions :-)

Here's my original from 1978. Yellowed canopy (this is common) and dead electronics, but otherwise in good shape and fully functioning. The wing-opening mechanism even works and holds the wings open, which is another item that's prone to fatigue and failure with age and use.

Close-up of the "controls" - from top to bottom: press on Artoo's head to open the wings; slide the switch to close the wings; press the button to activate light and sound feature.

"Kenner Products" copyright info on bottom of fuselage. The ship has been re-released in both PotF2 and  "OTC" (Original Trilogy Collection) versions, with some different paint deco and deletion of the light and sound features. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, "original is best!"

The Jabba the Hutt Dungeon Action Playset

One of the later releases from Jedi was the Jabba the Hutt Dungeon Action Playset. Clearly this was one of Kenner's final desperate efforts, as it not only included three action figures, but it also recycled most of its content from the earlier Star Wars Droid Factory playset.

I wanted to spotlight this set in particular, for a few reasons. It features some more of that classic Kenner package design that I can't get enough of, as well as the great "bonus" seal call-out on the front. In addition, this set is probably the most complete playset I have in my collection - as you will see, it includes absolutely everything that originally came in the box (bar the packing cardboard) ;-)

Great honking piece of tape sealing the box, as you often see with vintage Kenner...

"Hey kids! Here's how you can make 8D8 torture Artoo-Detoo!" Step-by-step torture instructions are always helpful.

Free figure offer is prominently displayed. The classic yellow and blue seal on the box front looks awesome as well.

Instruction sheet, reply card and used sticker sheet was also included in the box :-)

Figures in original Kenner baggies. Although the baggies were opened, it was done in such a way as to preserve the original sealed appearance. I love when the original owners do that!

Free figures roaming in their intended habitat. 8D8 is ready to pull down the torture arm, cleverly modified from the factory boom from the original "Droid Factory" playset.

Who the heck are these guys now?? Strangely enough, the Jabba Dungeon set was recycled yet AGAIN with a late release that included three free Power of the Force figures: EV-9D9, Barada, and Amanaman.  I've set them up with the Dungeon to give an idea of what the later PotF set would look like in a play scenario.

The PotF figures do look good, don't they? Even Amanaman is starting to grow on me a bit, but Barada is cool and EV-9D9 is one of my favourites with her cool moving jaw piece. "You're a feisty one..."

Kenner Alien 18" Action Figure Spotlight and Restoration

By 1978, 20th-Century Fox knew that their Star Wars property was a money-spinner like no other movie before. Science fiction was HOT and studio execs were anxious to get their hands on any kind of project they could find to leverage this trend.

So it was a natural for Fox to greenlight Alien. Directed by journeyman Ridley Scott, the film became an instant classic and a cinematic icon, spawning several spinoffs and sequels and generating millions for the studio.

But while Star Wars generated cubic money through merchandising tie-ins, Alien didn't. The film really wasn't "toyetic" in the way that Star Wars was, but nevertheless Kenner obtained a licence for the property and produced one toy - a large-size (18") action figure. While not popular in its day, the toy itself has become iconic among Alien collectors and toy fans for its audacity - a figure for kids, based on an R-rated movie that kids weren't allowed to see, in a scale that no other toy used, absolutely faithful to the hideous visions of a weird Swiss artist, of a character that exuded a sheer otherworldly horror. A natural fit for the toy aisle!

Having said this, the story that the toy was "recalled" for being inappropriate isn't true either... in fact the figure was a poor seller, and was finally blown out in remainder bins. Only later did collectors discover it, and demand has caused prices to rise to the level seen today - a nice loose example can run $200-300 with figures in boxes fetching up to $1,000.

Although I'm a relatively recent convert to Alien fandom, I've been aware of this toy as a collector for some time. As I'm a Giger fan as well, this is a must-have. The figures are available on eBay from time to time and that's where I found mine - fortunately complete with the clear cranial dome and all of his back spines intact.

The figure is remarkably faithful to Giger's vision. I'm still shocked that Kenner execs actually cleared the toy for production and thought it might sell. What parent would buy this for their 8-year old?!?!

Rear view showing the rubbery back spines and the plastic central dorsal spine - this is often broken.

The tail is a separate piece that locks into the body with a serrated washer on the inside of the figure.

Detail of head. The paint application on the head glows in the dark - as if the figure wasn't creepy enough already.

With clear dome removed.

Here's the action feature - press up on the trigger (shown in photo below) - the spring-loaded jaw opens up and the inner jaws extend.

Here's the trigger that works the action feature. Copyright info is on this piece also but is not entirely visible!

The often-missing clear dome piece. Apparently it comes in a "smoked" variation as well. As one might imagine, the piece was easily lost by kids and is comparatively rarely seen today.

Unfortunately the figure I obtained did have some (undisclosed) issues - as commonly happens with these figures, the rubber loops that hold the arms had been lost and the arms were held together inside the body with a limp bungee elastic. Not acceptable!

So I devised a repair that somewhat replicates the original fastening, while being pretty easy to install and reversible in the (admittedly unlikely) event that the original rubber fasteners are ever reproduced.

I went to a local big box store and picked up some plumbing o-rings. I had some strong plastic tubing around the house already. I cut a short length of tubing - wider than the internal arm hole but not too wide. Cut a slit lengthwise in the tubing and insert the o-ring as shown.

Insert the tubing end into the arm hole...

Work it around so that the tubing lays crosswise across the hole and is held in place by the tension of the o-ring. Place the arm inside the body of the disassembled toy and loop the o-ring around the central post as with the original. Screw the body back together and you're done.

An alternate repair method with some great photos is here.

The Alien now occupies a shelf in my office along with a copy of the awesome "Giger's Alien" book. The cabinet above will hold the new set of Alien 3 3/4" figures from Super7 when they arrive; for now I'm keeping my Super7 "Early Bird Envelope" up there.