[windebieste]

Wow... just Wow. That's some anecdote you have there. Thank you for that. Here's a cookie to help console and comfort your clearly traumatised inner 5 year old child. You have to wonder how many other children endured similar such experiences when they saw this thing. I'm very interested in hearing from others as well in this regard.

The 18 inch Alien figure wasn't unique in its day. Kenner had already previously started releasing a range of '12 inch' sized 'Star Wars' figures to complement their already released range of 3 3/4 inch action figures. Darth Vader (below) was released before the Alien in 1978. Yet even these 2 figures standing together don't scale perfectly. The Vader figure is 15 inches tall while the Alien is 18 3/4 inches tall. While Darth Vader, as he appears in 'Star Wars', is 6' 8" tall (depending on who you talk to) at this scale the Alien would be around 9 to 10 feet tall. A significantly larger size than it appears in 'ALIEN' at 7' 8" (Once again, depending on who you talk to).

Even Darth Vader appears to be expressing some uncertainty here as to whether his ugly stablemate is a good idea.

Now we are beginning to get into some of the grey areas of my knowledge regarding Ye Olde Alien figure and it would be great if anyone reading this could contribute and/or correct me if I err. I know a lot about the figure but I'm also very aware that some of those 'facts' may potentially be erroneous. This is a problem where the internet can be as big an assistance as it can be an hindrance to the spreading of knowledge. One of my goals here is to ensure my facts are 100% correct. This figure is 36 years old now and as such has been provided with ample opportunity for reality to become distorted; and for history to become myth; and for urban myth to become fact.

For example here is one 'fact' that is widely regarded as the truth that I know is definitely incorrect: "The 1979 Kenner Alien action figure is RARE." Well, that statement is blatently untrue and is easily proven to be otherwise. Kenner made thousands of these figures prior to the release of 'ALIEN' in order to avoid the supply and demand problems they experienced when they severely under estimated how popular their 'Star Wars' action figures would be. Even today many samples of the figure can easily be found. You only have to look at how many of these figures are currently available for sale on Ebay. If scarcity is the case, then how is it that there is always at least one of them available for sale on the service at any given time? Always. What's more, there is currently about a dozen of them available there in conditions that range from loose and degraded right up to boxed with AFA grades. This item is not rare. Such statements are a load of bollocks. It's just untrue. This is the kind of perpetrated myth I am attempting to correct in my own appreciation of the figure.

As such, it is any other such falsenesses that may be masquerading as 'facts' I'm interested in correcting. If the need arises during the course of my discussion here to correct me in this regard then please, please, please do so! The last thing I want to do is continue to perpetuate any untruths regarding this figure. Verification and historical acuracy is what I am seeking here.

Thank you for reading.

-Windebieste.