This is the fourth in a series of special re-posts for the holidays, remembering the coolest sci-fi toys of the Space: 1970 era. Hope you enjoy these "reruns" and have a great holiday season.
In my opinion, the legendary 18"
Alien action figure from Kenner is a close second for the coolest toy of the
Space: 1970 era - though I'm sure that many other Star Kids would rank it at #1.
And
I might too, if I'd actually owned one. I do remember seeing one in
the store in '79 and being both fascinated and frightened by it. I
hadn't seen the movie - only coverage of it in
Starlog and
Fantastic Films
- but I did ask my folks to buy it for me. Unfortunately once my mom
glimmed the price tag and got a good look at the sheer grotesqueness of
the figure, there was no way she was going to pick it up for me.
Instead, I'm pretty sure I got a
Moonraker space shuttle model kit... and, you know, I was pretty happy with that.
Still,
over the years, I've kept my eye out for one of these treasures, but
alas, I've never found one I could afford. I have, on occasion, had an
opportunity to inspect other people's Aliens, though, and I'm rather
astounded by the level of detail that Kenner managed; I'm sure that's
part of the reason for the larger-than-usual scale. I'm also amazed that
Kenner got away with marketing a toy like this to kids, not only
because it's so scary, but because it was derived from an R-rated horror
film.
Ahhh... the Seventies.
I heard Kenner originally thought the film would be PG rated when they developed this toy, thinking it would appeal to kids who love monsters. When the movie was given an R rating, Kenner execs tried unsuccessfully to get Fox to soften it in order to get the rating changed to PG. And the rest, of course, is toy history.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing this on toy shelves and I was fascinated by it because I too was half way scared of it. But a trip to the toy isle in that era was incredible. So many awesome toys to play with and the box cover art was always amazing as well. Now it seems the only toys are Legos or whichever superhero is at the box office and the pink isle for girls. Really sucks.
ReplyDeleteI only convinced my parents to buy this guy for me because the toy had been deeply discounted. I guess it hadn't been selling, probably due to that R-rating--and yes, that it was a terrifying toy in and of itself. Still have him, but missing the dome and his arms fell off because the rubber rings holding them on pretty much decayed after 30 years. Those jaws still work, though...
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