Aliens Variants Pt.4 - Mantis

 One includes reading material, One don't...

Welcome to another installment concerning variants within the initial Kenner Aliens line. Today we explore the immensely popular lime green hunk of plastic - the Mantis Alien.

Part of Series 2, and released in late 1993 (see promo below), the Mantis was a clever recycle of the original Gorilla Alien (see the arm crushing cousins here). A few limb tweaks, cast it in translucent green and bam: an all new figure. If you notice, all Series 2 Aliens are cast in translucent plastic. I'll admit it was a neat gimmick for an already well designed line of action figures.

Let's dive right into it: there are 2 distinct versions of the Mantis figure, and it only concerns the packaging. The figure itself is identical and unchanged until it's KB repaint 3 years later. 

In the first wave of Series 2, the Mantis is packed with a mini comic (#10, " Swarm"), and is a ".00". And its pretty easy to identify by the bright red " Comic Book" banner. All Series 2 figures come with mini comics. This is in keeping with Series 1.

Mantis - with comic

Then, in a subsequent wave, only the Mantis figure was packaged WITHOUT the mini comic. Naturally, the red  "Comic..." banner was removed. It's really obvious, as there's a gap where the red banner was originally placed. They just removed it, and printed the card as-is. It is marked ".01". 

Mantis - no comic

I remember noticing this very early in collecting. I thought it curious, and then thought nothing of it for years. Then a few years ago I thought more about it. For whatever reason, only known to Kenner at the time, the Mantis was a turning point for Series 2 and the line as a whole. That turn? Away from a pack-in mini comic. Interestingly, the Mantis comic isn't the "last" comic (that belongs to the 1993 Alien vs Predator 2-Pack comic #13 "The Ultimate Battle").

It has been my opinion (speculation?) that this is about the same period as the intended release of the Vasquez Trio. I believe they were originally intended to be part of Series 2, but were delayed for various reasons (and ultimately only released outside the US). But here's why I think they were intended to come out as part of Series 2: 

If you really look, the Trio card art is unlike any of the others in the entire line. Their card art is not like any of Series 2 or 3, but more like Series 1. Look at the smoke color & style, description placements, and the Alien head/mouth and logo placement. Additionally, no mini comic, just like all later Series 3 figures. But their cross sell on the back is only Series 1 & 2 figures. And they're dated "1992". To add to the pile: all three of the Trio are mentioned in Series 2 mini comics along with the Panther, Crab, and Rhino. So at the very least, Kenner thought of them being released as part of Series 2. Odd indeed (read more about it here).

So it's with this theory that I posit that the Mantis was the transition figure, ending the first wave of Series 2 and ultimately ending the mini comics. The next wave of Series 2 figures were the Mantis, Panther & Crab, and are all without comics. And then all of Series 3 are without comics as well. 

I'd like to point out that other than the 2-pack, all the Predator figures (late 1993) are without comics. This lines up with the late Aliens Series 2 (1993/1994) and eventual Aliens Series 3 figures (1994) not including mini comics (See the Vasquez Trio featured with Panther & Crab aliens?)

On the cross-sells there's no evidence of the comic or non-comic version. Just look and you'll see the second wave/no comic version is the same as the mini comic version (see below).

Thank you for joining me. How'd I do?

-Me

Aliens - Series 1 "Warning" Variants

 It came without warning!

No Warning 

Sticker

Printed Sticker 

Printed Warning 

At this point, you've been a visitor to my blog and are aware of the different card backs for this line. Different series, different waves, specific figure packaging variations. If you haven't, peruse the blog and you'll see some interesting stuff.

I've already touched upon Series 1 and the differences between the 1st and 2nd wave card backs (don't know what I'm talking about? Jump HERE for more). But it was just a few months ago that I noticed a pattern with series 1 as a whole; the warning labels on the card backs. 

I've known for a long time that these warnings can vary. Some would be printed, some would be stickers. And sometimes the warning would be absent entirely. To note, the stickers are always slapped right in the middle of the card art, front and center. 

And sometimes I would see the odd "printed sticker" (see below). It looks like they simply copied the sticker exactly as it was and printed it onto the card, poor placement and all. 

I always just assumed it was random - early waves would lack any warning, and some would have a warning sticker. And logically second wave figures had the proper printed warning on the bottom corner. I assumed the "printed sticker" was a one-off; a kind of bandaid for a few figures in between "no warning" and a "printed warning".

But a very quick search revealed that ALL the figures from series 1 had four different versions concerning the "Warning" label. Four! The "Warning"  breakdown is as such;

-No Warning (wave 1, .00)

-Warning sticker (wave 1, .00)

-Printed sticker (wave 1, .00)

-Printed Warning (wave 2, .01)

The first 3 are associated with wave 1, while the printed warnings are the "corrected" or "updated" wave 2 card back. To reiterate, wave 1 is the card back with the diorama featuring the figures while wave 2 has the more common & plain "assortment lineup" photo. Again, see examples HERE.

These warning variants apply to Ripley, Hicks, Drake, Apone, Bishop, and the Scorpion, Bull, and Gorilla aliens.

 

What's more, while the Gorilla alien follows this warning label pattern, the "Dark Horse Comic Book" banner is the same on all of them. The same. On all 4. That's a variant within a variant. All other wave 2 figures changed their banner to " 16 page..." and shifted it higher up the side, making it easy to discern between waves. Not the Gorilla though. Nope, he's special. 

Conversally, Bishop has the updated "16 page..." banner on all versions. 

The sticker warning is pretty hard to see sometimes, as it's a transparent sticker with semi translucent white text. The "printed sticker" is much brighter and easier to see. 

Sticker vs Printed Sticker 

And of course, some figures have their own specific variants, like Ripley's "Real Turbo Torch" text. I don't think this text variant is independent of the warning variants. They naturally correspond to the different waves. (See below)

There are a few other figures in the entire line that have warning label variations, including the Wild Boar, the Crab alien, and even Hudson. Otherwise, as of this writing , all other figure card backs in the line have some sort of warning ( until I come across yet another variant). 

So go forth now, and complete your collections with 4X series 1 figures. 4 Ripleys, 4 Apones, 4 Scorpions, and so on.

"What about the Queen alien?", I hear you asking. Ah, yes. She doesn't have any warning variants like the rest of the Series 1 figures, but she does have her own variations. Check back soon!

-Me

Swarm Alien - Packaging Outlier

 He's the only square of the bunch!

Welcome back! It's been a while. This will be a short article, but stay tuned and check back soon as I have a lot of new topics to hit upon.

The Swarm Alien. Hate him, love him...er, them (since there's two). It's definitely the oddest of the figures to emerge late in the Kenner line. Released at the very tippy end in 1994-95, it was a last ditch effort to goose sales for Aliens figures. (More on the swarm Alien can be read here)

In this article I'd like to point out something that I only just recently noticed: of all the Aliens figures, the Swarm is the only alien NOT encased in an oval bubble. They're sealed in a rectangular bubble, like all the Marines! See below for the classic Alien creature bubble, compared to the Marines' square bubble.

(I don't include the AvP 2 pack because it's a 2-pack, not just a single figure, so therefore it's a different class).

I'm not sure why the difference in bubble style. Was it weight? Size? That doesn't make much sense when the hefty king was in an oval, and the Queen and Flying Queen were as well. Big deluxe Aliens. Ovals. 

Maybe they figured it'd be easier and cheaper to do a rectangular bubble rather then a rounded oval bubble. Could it have been aesthetics?

We'll never know in 2025, and that particular Kenner designer will take it to their grave.

Thanks for reading. Check back soon!

Red Gorilla - Aliens Day Exclusive

 Red Gorilla!

Happy Aliens Day (or LV-426 Day). 

To celebrate and commemorate, I'd like to share with you the rare and elusive Red Gorilla Alien!

This is the only one of its kind! 

No, it's not a variant or an error or a Kenner Mail Away exclusive. It's a custom job. I thought it would be an interesting take on the legendary "Red Gorilla" myth (more on that here).  My approach was simply " what kind of red would he have been?" I choose to use the color palette of the Bull Alien. And I'll tell ya, he looks great! 

Naturally, I then thought " what about the Bull? Or the Scorpion?"

Behold! The first three Kenner Aliens in swapped colors!

I was worried the Bull would be the least interesting color swap, but he actually looks amazing. I was surprised. 

The scorpion just demonstrates how great the sculpt is, and that he can be any color and still look good. 

I'll tell you right now; the Bull was the hardest, with his veins and tubes and etc. on his head. Lots of passes and touch ups on that one. Easiest was Scorpion. One pass, and done!

This was a really fun project, and I'm very pleased with the outcome. Maybe I'll explore more color swaps in the future. 

Thanks for stopping by!