Welcome to Day 6 in a week’s worth of vintage print media surrounding the 1979 Kenner ALIEN toy.  Today’s post features another item from Starlog, a popular movie and television SF magazine of the time.  This excerpt from October 1979 not only promotes the vintage toy but also includes the tragic News item of the minature (sic) Space Jockey prop being destroyed in a fire when displayed in Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater. Such a waste. It was a great prop specifically built for the movie, permanently lost the day the movie opened.  Appearing next to it on page 12 is our 18 inch tall toothy pal, the Alien. Once again, we see a prototype is being used to promote the toy. Similar photos appear in many places as part of Kenner’s promotional material for the item. A modified version appears on the Kenner board game top and elsewhere.

Significantly, this News item, published in October tells the reader the toy will be “coming soon to your local toy store” and will be available for Christmas. Taking into consideration magazines would frequently appear on shelves a month prior to the issue date appearing on the cover, this information provides us with a release window of around October or November 1979 for when the Kenner ALIEN action figure was released to the public.

These large toys were being purchased by Christmas shoppers exactly 40 years ago.

-Windebieste.