UPDATE: Sold for US$300 (2 bids)

Let’s take a look at another Kenner ALIEN toy for sale on eBay.  This one is nearly complete and is just missing its dome.  Aside from this issue of incompleteness, it’s a decent looking figure.  Bidding starts at US$300.  Or you can Buy now for US$390.

There’s nothing particularly outstanding about this US edition of the toy.  All the parts are present minus the dome.  The right arm can hold an elevated pose – that’s a good thing and uncommon on these old toys.  It may even be considered suspicious.  The left arm appears to be very loose as we can see a gap between the ball and socket joint making the black cavity of the interior of the figure beyond visible.  It’s either a symptom of a loose neoprene anchor or a repair that hasn’t been 100% successful.  Either way, it can be fixed. Continue reading →

UPDATE:  Sold for US$500.

The Kenner ALIEN toy I posted yesterday sold within 24 hours for the listed price of US$399.99.  That was quick.  Let’s see how long this one takes to sell, then.  There’s always more of these things where they come from, somehow.  This 40 year old toy is listed for US$500.00 on eBay and is complete; but it does come with some caveats.

This figure appears to be in good shape but is it worth US$500?  The presence of the dome on the head makes it complete but no indication exists whether or not the dome is missing any of the 5 nubs on its lower edges. This critical value adding detail is not revealed in the images or the brief description provided by the vendor, “1979 18 in vintage Alien Action figure by Kenner. Condition is Used. does not have a box. All parts are attached nothing broken off. Shipped with USPS Priority Mail.”

The figure appears to have other issues, too.  Leaning as it does, propped up against the wall would indicate the figure has extremely loose hip joints and may be prone to toppling over.  What’s just as concerning is the orientation of the dorsal crest on the figure’s back (circled) as it is placed upside down.  These features are often missing from the figure and their absence can indicate damage to the slot it is mounted in.  One returned to the figure like this in an inverted state might indicate such damage may be present on the mounting slot, thus removing the figure even further from perfect condition.  Documentation of any possible damage is lacking in the listing. Continue reading →

UPDATE: Both sold.  (Left): US$232.50. (Right): US$100.

Available right now on eBay is a pair of Kenner ALIEN toys, listed a minute apart from each other and closing in just under 7 days.  Neither of them are in particularly good shape but the damaged and missing parts from one figure could easily be used to fix the other.

Cannibalising both figures to create a single Kenner ALIEN toy is a viable way to add a decent one to your collection.  They are relatively easy to dismantle and there’s enough good parts between these 2 samples to do so.  The only catch is both items are being sold by different vendors.

The item on the Left possesses the dome and both legs but the head and torso halves are damaged.  The item on the Right has a decent head (It’s hard to tell exactly, as only a single photo accompanies the listing.) but the torso looks good plus the tail remains attached. Continue reading →

UPDATE: Sold for US$310.48 (Allowing for currency conversion and sold in UK.)

This item has been listed for sale on eBay for a few months now.  It’s an average condition Kenner ALIEN action figure.  It’s a little knocked around, the left arm has broken off, the dorsal crest is missing, the dome is cracked and warped; and all four dorsal spines are internally damaged, twisted out of their correction orientation.  So the big question here, what makes it so special?  And is it really worth the asking price of over US$300?

There are always about a dozen Kenner ALIEN toys for sale on eBay. It’s testimony to the large number of these things Kenner made back in 1979.  An item like this should be rare after 40 years yet it is not.  eBay is constantly stocked with them.  Most of them are the same common version that endlessly populate the service but this one is different.  Why is this item so different from the other ‘common’ versions?  The fact it is for sale in the UK goes some way to explaining why this is the case.

Continue reading →