Although Star Wars (1977) was heavily merchandised by Kenner, the other science fiction blockbuster of the year -- Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind -- did not produce many toys.
In fact, just about the only toy I can remember from the film is this once-ubiquitous "bendable" alien figure, released by Imperial Toy Corp.
This small rubber figure was very much "alone" -- contra the film's ad-line -- and was sold with no accessories, no clothing, no ship, and very little by way of facial detail. And yet, despite these facts, the figure pretty clearly mirrors the appearance of the aliens in the film.
Since there was no line of action figures to go with it, this bendable figure -- which I remember seeing everywhere (and especially at flea-markets in the years after its release) -- was kind of a bizarre one-off.
I remember that, at the time, I had about zero interest in this bendable figure, but kept re-"encountering" it during every visit to the toy store. Today, it doesn't tend to fetch a whole lot of money, even on the secondary market, though I have seen the Imperial bendable figure from CE3K listed for as much as forty-five dollars.
I have vague memories of this figure and encountering it in "odd" places that often didn't sell toys. The same thing happened with ET and, of all things, Annie, both of which had merchandise for sale in a local Belk's Department Store. I can remember displays on the top of the "merry-go-rounds" for clothes. I never understood that, but I did enjoy looking at those toys in otherwise boring shopping excursions for clothing.
ReplyDelete--Hugh
My sister still has hers. They didn't come with accessories, but you could buy them with either brown/hazel, green, or blue eyes. It's still in good condition...well, except for the the fingers that were gnawed on. I guess she was still teething at the time. ;-)
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