Alien Day 2023

 Kenner's first figure (1979)

Let's take a moment to acknowledge the figure that started it all. The 1979 Alien figure. I could try to tell you the whole story, but that's better told over at Hideous Plastic by Philip Wlodarczyk, an expert on this figure.

Laying the groundwork for future action figures based on horrific creatures.

Happy Alien Day to all!

Aliens Toy Commercials (Dioramas Pt.3)

 They're Unstoppable!

So continuing on the topic of dioramas and backdrops for the Aliens line, today we're examining the television commercials.

The backgrounds/sets were awesome to say the least. It's one thing to see the background featured on the back of the packaging. But now we're seeing it live! Moving! In action!

Again, these were wonderful sets, kudos to these creatives. You know they had fun building & lighting these ads (I'm sure there was one person on the team who couldn't care less, it was a job like any other). Man, I would've loved that job. I was born 15 years too late.

An interesting fact is that Kenner originally planned to do the ads with animation. The character sheets & studies that exist on the internet are from this abandoned concept. These animations were NOT from a cancelled animated cartoon. Never happened. Fox shot the idea down from the very beginning.

As Kenner explored integrating live action footage of the figures with animated segments, they ultimately decided to go 100% live action. 

There were these initial 5 ads. The later 2 did not feature cool space colony backgrounds but rather nature/jungle settings, fitting for the newly introduced Predator figures at that time.

The commercial featuring series 2 figures is the craziest; a live-action Apone confronts a "full size" flying queen! Who made that puppet? Where is it now? That would be an awesome piece to own.

It's a great special effect too. Very high production value for a toy ad. 

My favorite ad when I was younger was the one that featured the Queen Hive playset. I remember the day, where I was. I remember seeing it and just being floored. At 10, at that very moment, I knew that my purpose on this Earth was to obtain that toy. I had to have it (and I did that following February!) That figure was spot-on in movie likeness. My absolute favorite figure of all time.

Thank you for reading. Here's the link to all the videos, check them out!

All Kenner Aliens commercials

"Yo Hicks!"

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!