Of course I felt real hip and cool when I went to see Alien 3 in theaters. I had been too young to see Aliens when it was released (and I wasn't even born when Alien hatched in front of audiences), but I felt so cool walking into Alien 3 with my friend. My mom went with us because we weren't 17 at the time, which should technically be totally uncool. Nonetheless I still felt cool! I was watching Sigourney Weaver kicking total xenomorph butt and the whole time I was like, "If I were stuck in space with an Alien trying to kill me, I'd hope to do it with as much awesomeness as her." Clearly we know that wouldn't be true because I don't think I'd survive running from an Alien in skyscraper stilettos.
Then there was Alien Resurrection, which I missed in theaters on account that my friends in high school went without me. I wouldn't end up seeing AR until it was available for rent. I actually really hated the fourth Alien film, and even wrote a scathing review about it on my old blog. However in retrospect I was merely having a white girl moment for being upset that my friends originally went without me. After watching the movie a couple more times it wasn't that bad. There were parts that I really liked! Who knew a swimming Alien could be such a threat? Now if only there had been a scene of synchronized swimming Aliens...
What made the film even better was the accompanying toyline! Actually the Alien Ressurection toyline was not the first set of Alien toys. Kenner had released a really cool line of Alien figures in the early '90s that was based off of an Alien vs. Predator video game. This toyline was so cool to me. At that time, dorky folk couldn't go to the store and find toys based off of their favorite scary sci-fi films. At least to my knowledge. I realize there was an old Alien toy from the late '70s, but seriously I don't recall there being a time in the early '90s where a popular line was tackling characters from scary movies.
Needless to say having Alien toys was so cool. I think every girl grows up and dreams of owning her very own Ripley and Alien Queen. I mean how else can one reinterprate the great classic stories of the past? Actually owning the Alien toys probably helped deter me from having a love life by at least ten years or so. Anyways I will not be showing you all the Alien toys from Kenner. Those fun toys are in a big pink plastic crate in my archival room. However we will look at the line Kenner did for Alien Resurrection.
Behold, Ripley!
Here is Ripley and the box she came in. She is planning on going to the gun show.
Here is the back of the box. There were some cool offerings for this line:
Warrior Alien- Drone to the Alien queen
Call- Mechanic of the Betty Ship (a cool Winona Ryder)
Newborn Alien- Genetic human/Alien hybrid
Battle Scarred Alien- Combat ravaged warrior drone
Ripley- Warrant officer, Alien behavioral expert
Aqua Alien- Genetically enhanced aquatic Alien
Ripley facing off with a hatching face hugger! (It is common knowledge that Face Huggers like to hang out in plastic heart bangles!)
Better watch out Ripley!
Ripley came with two weapons, a face hugger hatching out of an egg and an Alien. By looking at this figure, which was made in 1997, we can really see how far action figures have come. I would love to see some updated highly articulated Alien toys from Hasbro. That would be so much fun! Wouldn't it?
Now I am sure some of you are wondering, "Miss M, why on Etheria are you so thrilled about Ripley?" Here is the thing, I really grew up looking up to Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. When watching those films, I felt that I could be a real badass too. Honestly, I was the furthest thing from a badass chick back then. I was one of those goofy awkward girls. I mean Sigourney almost made me want to shave my hair when Alien 3 came out. I realize I'll never have the chance to tell Sigourney how cool she is. Or even let her know that her role in Gorillas in the Mist was truly gut wrenching. Seriously, I can't watch that movie without breaking down. So anyways, having Ripley is like owning a piece of the excitement that is those Alien films.
That is about it for this week's Toy Chest! I hope all you folks are doing well! This week has been Stretchy Dress Week for me as I prepare to deal with Thanksgiving. Let's just hope this year won't see me with swollen knees from too much sodium intake like the Great Thanksgiving of '05. Truly a hot mess.
Miss M, again we shared a childhood love. I LOVE ALIENS! I was too little to watch the first one when it came out, and actually didn't watch it until AFTER I saw and fell in love with ALIENS. I loved the space marines. Now, I didn't have any of the original release Kenner Aliens toys, but as you know I worked at Kay-Bee...and one of the coolest things was that Kenner decided to re-paint and repackage most of their original line into a Kay-Bee exclusive line just before they were purchased by Hasbro. I had Drake, Vasquez, and O'Malley (he was made up for the toy line) which were VERY rare during the original release. I think they were released overseas and not domestically - if I recall correctly. I also had Hicks and Hudson. They didn't re-release Sgt. Apone or Ripley, so I never had them. I'd love to have the 12 inch Alien Kenner put out in the late 70's for the first movie, but that thing is EXPENSIVE. Anyways, this one never got commented on, so I thought I would! The only one from the Resurrection line I had was the main warrior Alien. I wanted my very own 'Noni (Wynona) figure since I had a major thing for her after her turn as Mina Harker, but Call was super hard to find. I'm slowly getting through all the Toy Chest Tuesdays!
ReplyDeleteWell I think I would not have been as big a fan of the Alien movies had it not been for Ripley. I just thought she was so cool and was kinda a role model, if you can count a space pilot killing Aliens as a role model. lol But I just thought she was cool and I loved the movies. I saw Aliens first, but that opened the door for me to check out Alient because I was born after that movie came out. I remember my mom took me too see Alien 3 with a friend, and I felt so cool! lol The Hasbro line was really special, I loved collecting that line and still can't get over that it was actually a line. And I never found the Resurrection figures in stores at all, I only purchased them years later on the internet. And good luck getting through all these Toy Chests! lol I commend you for wanting to read them all. : )
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