Alien ReAction SDCC Exclusive

When Super7 announced that they were doing a line of retro-style Alien action figures, my mind was blown. With their San Diego Comic Con exclusives, the deal keeps getting cooler and cooler.

The idea with this two pack has an intricate “what-if?” scenario.

Consider a past where the Alien action figures by Kenner made it past prototype stage, and the folks at Kenner made a bunch of unpainted sales samples to show at Toy Fair in 1979. But as the line gets cancelled, Kenner now has boxes of figures that will never be distributed to salespeople to give to prospective buyers. They get stamped as “Cancelled” and are thrown into a warehouse, never to be seen again.. Until Super7 unearths them, 34 years later, and offers them as SDCC Exclusives.

Of course this is not entirely the truth. The sales samples were never produced, but as a neat way to excite the fans for the upcoming release of their Aliens ReAction line, Super7 has produced a bunch of unpainted fake samples to be sold at the con. It’s a very cool idea, with lots of nods to classic Kenner products of the day.

First off is the plain white box, with typography evocative of the mail-away figures that Kenner offered from Star Wars back in the day. The front is brightly stamped “CANCELLED” while the back has some more information. Inside are two figures sealed in plastic bags, similar to how Kenner bagged their mail away figures. As a kid I cut many a proof of purchase from Star Wars figures to get mail away figures, so this packaging was all too familiar.

Also available at SDCC is a vintage-style ReAction catalog, which of course resembles the old original Kenner Star Wars catalogs, and display stands. I don’t remember any vintage counterpart to the stands, but they FEEL vintage, and have the appropriate aesthetics for the rest of the line. Both the catalog and the stands will be available separately at SDCC.

Lets get down to the figures.

The Alien figure is just a bit taller than your standard 3 ¾ scale figure, which makes sense due to the size of the creature compared to the human. Molded in a light blue color you can see the clarity of detail in the sculpt. It’s an odd feeling – the toy feels like a vintage figure, but with a higher level of detail than was available at the time. Hopefully the detail will be retained when paint is applied.

There is the standard 5 points of articulation here, 6 if you count the tail. Each joint is tight enough to hold a pose well.

The head features a sliding secondary mouth action that is activated by a slider under the clear dome. Slide it forward freely to extend the mouth (which looks more like a tongue, actually), and then click it forward to stay in position. The clear dome attaches via friction only and can be bumped off during posing. If this was intended for a kid I would have a huge issue with this, but as a collectors item it’s acceptable.

The Kane in Nostromo Spacesuit is nice and bulky but still retains the feel of the larger Kenner figures of the time. Kane is the unfortunate crewmember who goes to the derelict space ship and gets attacked by a face-hugger. The figure depicts him in pre-attack state, and does a great job replicating the intricate detail of the suit.

This figure too has 5 points of articulation, but the limbs are a bit looser on this one, likely due to the added weight of the legs. Still, there is no issue posing or standing.

Kane comes with a removable clear helmet which fits snugly over the head. There’s nice molded detail on the back and top, and you can still see Kane’s face clearly throght the dome.

In another nice nod to the classic figures, the right hand is molded into a weapon-holding pose, and I can attest that the original Star Wars accessories can fit into the grip. Very cool.

Finally, Super7 replicated the hexagonal holes in the bottom of the feet to fit the ReAction stands, but they are also compatible with vintage Kenner accessories as well.

This set is one of four exclusives being offered at San Diego Comic Con in 2013 by Super7 for their ReAction line. In addition to the set of two figures ($40) they are also offering:

• Early Bird Kit – Pre-order the set of 5 figures ($100) and get an early bird kit similar to the ones offered with the original Star Wars figures. This cardboard kit can unfold to be a diorama for the figures once they arrive, and the best part is that there is nothing to mail in to receive the figures!
• Vintage Style Catalog – Free to attendees – a vintage Kenner-style catalog of the items in the Alien ReAction line. Limited quantities available.
• ReAction Stand – specially designed to go with the Alien Figures, these plastic bases, feature the Alien logo and a peg compatible with any ReAction figure. Free when you sign up for the Super7 mailing list.

I was excited when I first heard about this line and now that I have held them in person, I’m sold. While the line would have been terrifying for children in 1979, as an adult collector, these make perfect sense to me. I would love to see other classic Sci-Fi licenses done in this scale, and I hope the line does well enough for it to grow into other areas.

Remember to visit Super7 at San Diego Comic Con, July 18-21, 2013 at booth #5245 to get your own Alien ReAction figures!