Apparently, back in 1979, Kenner developed a line of Alien action figures but they never got past the prototype stage. We’re not quite sure why this is but we’re going to take a punt that it had something to do with Alien (1979) being an X certificate movie. The world of action figure collecting was not as fully formed as it is today and action figures were actually supposed to be played with back then. Hard to believe, we know. As anyone who was old enough to see Alien was, in theory, too old to be playing with toys, it would have probably been a marketing disaster. That’s what we think anyway.

But now, after nearly as long as Ripley spent in hibernation, they’re finally here. Yes, Super 7 have, with the agreement of 20th Century Fox, finally made the Xenomorph and the Nostromo’s crew available in all their 3¾” plastic glory. Actually not all the crew are here; there’s only Dallas, Kane, Ripley and Ash (notice how we put them in ranking order) but that’s better than nothing. You can’t even pretend you’re halfway through the movie as that selection doesn’t bear any resemblance to the order they became victims. But never mind.

Actually, this writer is rather glad they never were released in 1979. I wasn’t yet old enough to be a pioneer of “sealed packaging” nerdery; yet I was too old to be playing with toys whilst still looking cool to my contemporaries. Think I would have had to have bought them in secret. Now I’m too old to care.

They’re $19.99 from Super 7. If all that wasn’t enough, they’ve even brought out a set of four very retro-looking pint glasses with Ripley, the Alien, the chestburster and the Space Jockey (yes!) on them. As far as we’re concerned these should have been free with petrol in 1979 but now the set is $49.99 from Super 7. It is nearly Father’s Day, isn’t it?

Anyway, here’s the link: http://blog.super7store.com/

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