[windebieste]

The Alien figure strapped to the red dyed insert wasn't alone in the box when it was released. There were a couple of other inclusions as well. The Kenner customer reply card and a poster were both present in the tall blue package. The reply card was Kenner's standard inclusion for their various product lines at the time but the poster was unique to the Alien action figure only:

Upon one side of the poster is the figure's operation instructions. It's basic stuff and mildly amusing as it outlines the action figure's key features.




The reverse side of the sheet is the actual poster. It displays grey scale artwork featuring scenes from the movie.

The poster is frequently missing from opened packaged Alien action figures and its presence can add significant value to any box. You can occasionally purchase one of these 36 year old posters loose on Ebay if you are lucky enough to find one. That is, if you possess the inclination and bank account to afford one. While these are occasionally available on the service but don't expect your wallet to be treated with any kindness.

These monochrome posters, around the size of an A3 sheet, can sell for upwards of US$100. A good quality poster will have only a single crease across the middle where it was folded in half. Commonly, they have an additional perpendicular crease that divides the poster into quarters. It is not possible to find one without any creases at all due to the first hard fold being necessary to stow them in boxes. The first fold is always a hard crease while the second fold is sometimes lacking or not so severe and can sometimes almost be undetectable.

Loose and potentially over US$100 apiece, it's a good thing they're double sided coz that's what gives 'em real value for money, right? *GUFFAWS!*

If buying an opened box with one of these in it - or even just a loose poster - make sure you're paying for a legitimate item and not a copy! It's not surprising that such facsimiles exist, is it?

As for the Kenner Customer Reply Card, these are even more rare than the poster in an opened Alien box but no one genuinely appears to care about the lack of any presence of them in opened boxes. This is probably due to such cards being common inclusions inside packages across Kenner's various other toy ranges at the time. (Presumably) it's an easy task to purchase an old (cheaper) Kenner item of similar vintage and transfer the card across to the opened Big Chap box if you really want one.

-Windebieste