The other day, a perfectly preserved near “mint” 1979 Kenner ALIEN sold on eBay for a staggering US$9,100. Considerably outside most people’s budget for this kind of thing. Today, a lesser quality item has become listed on eBay. It’s broken, missing a couple of valuable parts and certainly doesn’t include a box or poster. Yet, this is an ideal sample for restoration if you are motivated to perform such activities. Bidding starts at US$137 for this forty year old derelict ALIEN toy. Cheap! This isn’t a straight up build and it won’t deliver a complete figure, either. It will, however, result in a very nice, display worthy figure with some TLC. Missing is the dome that covers the head and the crest on its back. These are commonly missing pieces and sought after by collectors. They are not necessary to achieve the desired result of getting this toy back together again.

The arm and leg will need to be attached. Restoring them to their original seating on the figure isn’t hard, but some creativity will be needed. Importantly, the toes on the severed leg are damaged, There’s a slight upward pointing of the toes indicating a fracture across the top of the foot. It’s damage that will occur if the toy has been dropped and will need to be addressed. It’s a tricky repair.

Attaching the arm will require an improvised anchor if you want it to have complete mobility of the limb while the shattered hip joint, possibly also a result of a fall, needs to be completely rebuilt. It’s not hard, but a bit tricky and will require the remaining flange to be removed and reconstructed. You won’t need a hip replacement surgery to fix it but the process is similar. Fabricated parts will need to be mounted inside the leg and then fitted inside the torso. Parts 6&7 of Mr. Tendril’s BIG Make Over will show you exactly how I resolve his problem

The torso itself will need to be disassembled to perform these tasks. It’s easy to do. Remove the four screws concealed in the toy’s back and pry both halves apart. Once apart, the head, remaining arm and leg will simply fall away from the figure. Once all work is completed, it’s a simple task to reassemble with all parts in situ.

This figure is a great project item for someone. It deserves to be put together once again. It will still be incomplete, lacking the shoulder crest and head dome, but this toy is an ideal candidate for full restoration as those items can always be added later without the need to disassemble it again.

-Windebieste.