Farzad Vrahramyan Shares New Alien 5 Concept Art!

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Hybrids are ok. I think it's natural to experiment with an idea. The Kenner designers got to see how different animals would look as Aliens. Some of the hybrids work better than others. The Panther works well! The designers had a lot of restrictions, too. The figures had to be a certain size to fit in the bubble, joints were limited in number and range of motion, everything had to work for the price point, and so on. But it would have been fun to work on those.

The factors you bring up have very little to do with why the kenner designs are so awful. The fact they're awful mean most can't be redeemed or adapted into anything good.


I have a soft spot for a lot of them, and have in fact recreated several for the AvP miniatures game. But as serious Alien designs they're uniformly dire and should never get anywhere near any movies.

[XenoHunter99]

The Kenner figures were not intended to land in a movie. They were inspired by but separate from the movies. We're talking about creature designs from a line of action figures released over 25 years ago. The wonder is, we're still talking about them and we can agree there was at least one decent figure in the line. But Neca is proving that even some of the lumpy designs are interesting if treated in a more serious way. Imagine if Neca made a Flying Queen sculpted, in the same scale, and with the same care as the other Neca Queen Aliens. I think that would look great! They would make it look great. Their Kenner Predator updates look great, too. Make Aliens Great Again! 

Happy April Fools Day.

[The Old One]

The Kenner designs should be left with Kenner.

[XenoHunter99]

The Kenner line wasn't meant for curmudgeonly, perfectionist fans with stratospheric expectations of the product line, It was meant to go along with a kids' cartoon show.

[SiL]

Fun fact: It was the other way around -- Kenner pitched a show to Fox to coincide with the toyline they were doing anyway, but it never got commissioned. Operation Aliens was never a thing outside of some branding on some toy boxes.

[Predwars24]

So we're trashing the designs of a toy line that was being creative for kids? I don't get it. Personally I liked the ones I had before they got burnt. I actually liked the designs of The Flying Queen, Bull, and Snake aliens though the Snake could literally be a large Chestburster in some way. Honestly though it's hard for me to trash something that was meant for kids in the 90's an Era well known for it's crazy toy lines.

[XenoHunter99]

@Sil: I stand corrected. Would you agree the figures were more for kids than hardcore fans and collectors?

@Predwars24: The 90's did have some wild toys!

@Old One: I addressed that, but if Neca versions of those critters ended up in a movie, that might be OK. As you like to say, it depends on the execution..

[The Old One]

Well, I still don't like the idea of them on film. At least not in the blatant sense of animal has horns = Alien has horns, type of thing.

[XenoHunter99]

Makes sense. I doubt such a film would happen, anyway. As it is, I wonder if we'll get more than these shorts in the next few years.

[SiL]

@Sil: I stand corrected. Would you agree the figures were more for kids than hardcore fans and collectors?

Oh, 100%! They're the epitome of 90s kids toy design.

[SM]

The Kenner line wasn't meant for curmudgeonly, perfectionist fans with stratospheric expectations of the product line

Yep.

And to be honest I find the current re-designs of the Kenner stuff a bit naff.  The old Scorpion Alien was the closest design to the creatures form the second film - and it exploded.  The new one is kinda uninspired.

[XenoHunter99]

Sadly, after all this time, those Scorpions don't really explode any more. When they work at all, they just sort of pop into pieces right where they are. I do have one still in a blister pack with comic and facehugger, but I can't vouch for its function without opening it up. 

[SM]

I've got two that both still explode.

[Local Trouble]

Sounds like you've given Kenner quite a lot of money.

[SM]

Quite.

Had to buy enough figures to get the Nien Nunb mail away.