Aliens Variants: Pt.3 - Ripley

 Turbo Torch with Real Flames !

As we've been exploring the Kenner Aliens toyline, there are quite a few instances of both figure and packaging variants. Today we look at Lt. Ripley.

*(I will not be diving into the full card back changes that correspond to series or wave changes, though I might refer to them. Nor will I be discussing any repaints/re-releases , like the KB repaints or the Euro carded versions, etc. Those are simply a separate series in their own right)*

Space Marine Lt. Ripley

Version .00 (front)

Version .01 (front)

Lt. Ripley was part of Series 1, part of the original 9 figures. She featured a mini comic and a pretty nifty flamethrower weapon. They were first brought to market in select parts of the US in the fall of '92. In various toy publications, this toyline was greatly anticipated and very well received. Everyone swooped them up, kids and collectors alike. Many places sold out quickly , and the aliens themselves were eventually outselling the Marines.

The Ripley figure itself remained unchanged throughout it's run, with no known figure variations. The card-back is where the variants happen.

There are 2 wave changes with Ripley's card back (.00 & .01, respectively). Wave 1 was the earlier release, from late '92 and into early 1993. The card back features all the figures in that awesome space base diorama (a whole article here on Kenner's dioramas). This is marked with " .00" under the UPC code on the bottom right corner.

Version .00 back

Version .01 back

On the front are the actual "variations". One involves the message on the right side announcing the inclusion of a mini comic. The early version states "Dark Horse Comic Book..." compared to the later release with " 16 Page Dark Horse comic book..." The placement of the comic book message is also different between the two versions. You can see the earlier version has it position closer to the bottom right, where the latter version has the message higher on the right.

.00 Version 

.01 Version 

Also of note is the description of the flamethrower. On the early version it's described as "With Real ' Turbo Torch' Action! " 

.00 Version 

The later version changes to "Turbo Torch with ' REAL' Flame Action". 

.01 Version 

Another variation can be seen on the front concerning a warning label. Naturally, the earlier version lacks any warning at all.  This was common with a lot of the first wave figures There are examples of no warning label, a warning sticker, and a printed warning. These variations track with what wave a figure was a part of.

Version .01 (printed warning)

Version .00 (no warning)

These differences correlate with the UPC numbers, .00, .01, etc. respectively.

These are all the variations with Ripley. I have not seen any other card variants or differences other than the two discussed here. I've only seen .00 and .01, no .02. Furthermore I have not seen any variation in the card-back instructional photos. This sometimes happens with subsequent waves of the same figure, such as the Scorpion Alien (article to come).

Thank you for reading. If any new info comes in with regard to Ripley, I'll be sure to update this post.

It's important to remember that this line had a lot of elements that needed to happen within 2 years, with staff & personnel at Kenner l also working on other lines. So errors like these are likely to happen.