UPDATE: This item has been sold.
If you live in Canada and would like to own a 1979 Kenner ALIEN toy, right now there is one up for auction on eBay. Bidding starts at Ca$500 (US$382) for this “authentic” and “rare” toy. However, it does come with some caveats. Let’s check him out.
Let’s get the notion this toy is rare out of the way, first. It’s not. Yesterday’s news article on this blog provided some ballpark figures as to how many were actually produced. Now that financial sales figures of the toy have been unearthed, it is possible to speculate somewhere between 110,000 and 150,000 of these toys were made by Kenner in the US and to this day, they still appear frequently on secondary markets. They appear on eBay regularly; at an almost daily rate. The high frequency of their appearance on the service means claims they are rare are false; but it makes a great selling point, right? Nonetheless, it’s not a credible claim.
Secondly, there’s a completeness issue regarding this item. The seller claims it’s “authentic” and while this is true it is recommended you read the description details to find out that the dome on the head is a reproduction piece. So, while the figure is a Kenner ALIEN toy from 1979 and it is “feature complete”, it is not exactly 100% genuine. This is important because the introduction of reproduction parts like this dome do devalue the figure. It’s better off being sold as an incomplete but 100% genuine ALIEN toy; rather than a “feature complete” figure populated with fake parts. The confusing claim it is “authentic with reproduction parts” does nothing to help the sale. From my experience when seeking out these old toys, people have a preference for genuine items over counterfeit articles regardless of completeness.
There are a couple of other quality issues that a buyer will want to be aware of. The chrome on the teeth appear to be chipped and a little perished but the good news is worthy of note. All of the mouth parts including both halves of the extendable tongue are present and are – unlike the dome – all genuine. Another issue of concern are the appendages present on the toy’s back. They’re all there, including the all too frequently absent uppermost crest between the shoulders; and that’s a good thing. While that item is welcome, the real issue on this toy is the upper left quad dorsal appendage. This item is loose and hanging free. It should be mounted parallel with the other three mounted appendages on the figure’s back. Nonetheless, it is clearly listing. This condition is symptomatic of internal damage to the toy where this appendage has broken free of the mounting plate within the torso and it is now floating free and loose; detached from its internal anchor, it now hangs to one side.
Finally, there’s one other item regarding this old toy that requires at least some clarification. This item is being sold in Canada, which could potentially be significant and add much needed value to this sample. Canada’s Irwin Toy Company was under licence from Kenner in 1979 to manufacture these ALIEN toys on their side of the border. Importantly, the production run of Canadian figures was considerably less than those in the US, making them legitimately rare. Unfortunately, this item is not one of those toys made in Canada. This sample is a US made figure. These old toys have had four decades to migrate across the border into Canada and it appears the toy in this listing is one of those US samples.
Had this item been made in Canada, then it’s starting bid of Ca$500 could be acceptable. On the other hand for this high price to be truly justified, it would also have to be in excellent condition, complete with all genuine parts present and no damage whatsoever.
Sadly, this item fails to fulfill all of these requirements.
-Windebieste.
