eBay – Complete Kenner ALIEN for Sale.

UPDATE. Wow. This one went quick. I just barely finished this post and it’s already sold.

Here’s an interesting item for your consideration. It’s a complete 1979 Kenner ALIEN. He’s not in perfect condition – as is noted by the vendor on eBay for US$324.99- but he does appear to be complete. And that is a good thing. But is it in as good a condition as you want it to be? Let’s see if we can find out.The problem with this listing isn’t just the figure – there may be no issues with it at all. It’s difficult to be conclusive due to images being adjusted, all the contrast has been ramped up and any issues that may be present are concealed. As to whether this is deliberate attempt by the vendor to hide undocumented issues is beyond my goal. I’m just going to call attention to what is actually visible in the software adjusted images. The figure itself is complete – or near complete. All the parts are present and the jaw mechanism works just fine. The only damage appears to be on the dome. The vendor does state two of the nubs on the inside edge to hold it in place (Hah!) are missing. It’s nothing that will visibly diminish the visual quality of the old toy as a display piece. In these regards, it looks good.

On the other hand, closer inspection of the images in the listing indicate this figure may have been provided with custom paint work, how extensive is unknown as the high contrast images make this difficult to determine. Looking at the fingers and toes we can see indications that the nails have been painted. On the head, the ribbed hosing in various locations also displays what suspiciously looks like highlights painted onto these surfaces. The high contrast adjustment goes a long way to conceal these small modifications but it does raise an important issue: If such changes have been made, then how much of the rest of the toy has been customised and being hidden by the adjusted images?

This is very important as you may not want a figure that has been customised in this way. Images can tell you a lot but in this sample you must also take this into consideration. Why has the contrast here been adjusted? The images do show the figure in its entirety but under these circumstances you definitely will want to contact the vendor to find out if customisations have been made to this item prior to putting your money down on it.

Take a closer look at the fingers, toes and the head.