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crew_no_helmetsIt only took 36 years!

Considering its place in cinematic history as one of the most straight-up terrifying movies ever, Ridley Scott’s masterpiece Alien has had its fair share of toy tie-ins over the years.  The first of them, planned for release in 1979 when the movie first hit theaters, never actually saw the light of day.  Prototypes of the action figures were made by Kenner– the same company behind the hugely successful Star Wars toys– but somewhere along the way, someone, somewhere raised the issue that maybe they shouldn’t be manufacturing child’s playthings based on a hard R horror movie,* and so the toys never saw the light of day…

That is, until 2013.

A designer toy company called Super7 spent years tracking down the prototypes and molds that Kenner would have used for their Alien figures, and managed to finally release these toys which had been considered lost for over 30 years.  Rather than update the figures to fit with a modern, detailed and fully poseable action figure aesthetic, Super7 opted to make the figures exactly as Kenner had intended in 1979, as if they had never been canceled to begin with.

The set of five figures– Ripley, Dallas, Ash, Kane, and the Alien– was a colossal hit, selling out in record time, and the amount of buzz generated by this project lead to a partnership between Super7 and Pop! Vinyl manufacturer Funko to keep the retro style action figure line going with more properties both past and present.  The ReAction series has cranked out dozens of retro action figures in the two years since, ranging from Predator and Snake Plissken from Escape From New York, to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the crew of the Serenity from Firefly.

What’s the point of this history lesson? Super7 has just announced a new box set of Alien ReAction figures, and it’s really, really great.  The pack features all three Nostromo crewmates who made the fateful trek to the surface of LV-426 in Alien, each in their specifically colored pressure suits.  Kane and Dallas both look pretty cool, but the most exciting thing about this release is it will be the first time Lambert has ever made it to an Alien toy line!  As you might expect, all three figures share the same base body, a pretty good rendering of the iconic pressure suit from the movie, and they include removable helmets, always a fun feature to toss in.

Obviously, the retro aesthetic means these toys are nowhere near photo realistic, but there’s enough to recognize in each face, and it’s really cool to highlight Veronica Cartwright’s blue eyes on her action figure.

Here’s the catch in terms of this set– it’s going to be tough to come by.  Super7 is releasing these figures as exclusives at New York Comic Con next month.  Based on how many they sell at the show, there might be extras available on their website later on, but right now they’ve been keeping mum on any other releases for these little guys.  If you happen to be going to NYCC, be sure to say hi to me– I’ll be the super tall red haired guy at the very front of the line at Super7’s booth.  Because there’s no chance I’m not going to pick these figures up.  They’re just so cool.

alien_special_3_pack_wb Source: Super7

*Interestingly, Kenner DID make an Aliens toy line over a decade later.  It was pretty insane.  But that’s a story for another day…

                                       

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Bill Sencio

Bill has been writing about toys for more than five years, and collecting them since before he WAS five. When he's not arguing for better representation in all facets of pop culture, he serves as an Editor at KastorsKorner.com, and spends way too much time in the action figure aisles at Target and Toys R Us.