Aliens Dioramas Pt.2

 Euro Style!

Following up on my last post about the awesome cross sell diorama on the back of Kenner Aliens figures, here's some more juicy deep-space scenery. Take a look below!

For whatever reason, it's only in the European sales catalogs that there are additional photos of figures in space scenery.

It could be related to the fact that it's also only the European release of the line that each figure came with a trading card. In each of those photos, the figures are set against some dark wires, grating and pipes, & with dynamic lighting. A bit less atmospheric, a little more staged, a bit more "studio lighting" style. Still, they look great.

It must only be the Kenner European office that set up these photo shoots, as these specific images don't appear in any US/English promotional material. The cross sells on the back are the normal layout, however. None of the Euro version card backs feature the same diorama as the ones from my earlier post.

I would have loved to have worked at that photo studio or advertising agency. Dang.

Thank you for reading about action figure photography & packaging design.

Youpi les extraterrestres de Kenner ! De nouveau!

Aliens Series 1 cardback

 Can we talk about that awesome Aliens diorama?

In the fall of 1992, Kenner released their Aliens line of action figures. In addition to the amazing detailing and awesome packaging design, the first wave of Series 1 figures featured an epic diorama on the back of the packaging.

It's seriously awesome. From the actual detail to the lighting, this was the perfect way to present these incredible action figures. I was always jealous of that setup. Years later NECA did a faithfull recreation of that diorama for their Kenner Tribute figures! 

I started thinking about that diorama. For a cross-sell on the back of packaging, this was above & beyond what was normally done at the time. Even big action figure lines of that era didn't have big detailed backgrounds on their cross-sells ( it's true some did have elaborate photos in catalogs and such, but not on packaging).

Kenner really went all out. First they pushed their sculpting & detailing, and then their card art was perhaps the sharpest at the time, then Kenner added clever action features (especially with the creatures), THEN they had great accessories, AND THEN they came with mini comic books. Sold yet? Wait! They then put their figures in a super detailed & atmospheric space station setting, with grates and pipes and airlocks. WOW.

They did it again with their Hive Wars line in 1998. This diorama is obviously a bit rushed & sloppy, but it's still a diorama!

Look at some of the other figure lines from the same era. And these are way bigger properties, comparatively. Jurassic Park, Batman, Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men/Marvel characters. They all have roughly the same style of cross-sells on the card backs. 

I only found 2 exceptions; 

Playmates' Skeleton Warriors line, c.1993. On their figure cross-sell, the figures are in some desert/mountain setting, with an ominous sky and smoke. Very stylish. But even with Playmates extensive TMNT & Star Trek lines, they only did a visual diorama once on a cross-sell. Interesting.

And Toy Biz's Batman line from 1990. Just a simple nighttime rooftop with skyscrapers in the background. Very cool, and very fitting for the 1990 companion film.      

All things considered, Kenner really wanted this line to grab people's attention. Suffice it to say "mission accomplished ". The line was successful by any metric. Short lived but a success. 

It's only those early Series 1 card backs that feature this diorama. All subsequent waves and series figures had the simpler and more traditional cross sell layout.

(*All of the Predator figures from Kenner feature the standard layout as well. No cool Predator diorama. Can you imagine?*)

Thanks for reading! Go Kenner Aliens!

Check out Part 2 of Aliens Dioramas!

Aliens Mini Dropship

 Not quite the Dropship from Aliens

So one of the most iconic vehicles from Aliens was the Dropship. It's introduction was fantastic; dropping from the Sulaco into orbit of LV-426, deploying it's missile pods and circling the complex, dropping the APC, and even it's fantastic escape from the atmospheric processor explosion. A fantastic vehicle design. 

Kenner came close to giving us that vehicle as a toy, but it was ultimately cancelled (more on that topic another time). It looked amazing. Dang!

(Kenner 1993 NY Toy Fair From YouTube)

But Kenner did give us something like it...sort of...kinda: the Mini Dropship, with drop-and-lock wings! It's a mini version of the Dropship (not really). Slated for 1993, it was seen in cross sells on many late Series 2 Aliens & early Predator figures. 

Kenner never released this vehicle for the Aliens line. It made it as far as box samples (more than 1 is a guess), with stickers and packaging and all. It was nixed. The toy itself was eventually released under Kenner's VR Troopers toy line in 1994/95. Despite rumors, it was never released at retail under the Aliens line. A boxed specimen DID pop on eBay around 2005. I remember that auction. I did not win. Not even close...

Many people customize the VR Troopers version to make their own Aliens Mini DropShip. The VR Troopers version isn't particularly expensive or hard to come by. 

This would've been a neat little vehicle. And since it was small, it would've had a low price-point at retail. But by '93 Kenner shifted focus on just the creatures so any humans & vehicles were ditched for more monsters. Oh well.

Thank you for reading.

**Check out another write up on the topic from collector Phil Wlodarczyk;

 https://www.hideousplastic.com/?page_id=10941