Even if you don’t follow ufology and alien coverups, you’ve no doubt heard about the Roswell incident, one of the most famous conspiracy theories of all time. It has been referenced countless times in media, including in The X-files, Independence Day, Star Trek, and The Simpsons, and it has made the city of Roswell, New Mexico a holy land of sorts for ufologists, to the point that Roswell now supports a robust tourism industry based on ufology. For the uninitiated, however, here’s what you need to know. In 1947 an alleged UFO crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. Debris recovered by the Roswell Army Air Field were originally reported to have been from a crashed “flying disk”. Although the story was retracted the next day, with the government announcing the debris was from a weather balloon, the damage was done. The story of the crashed UFO had already made international headlines and history was made. Any attempts to backtrack the story were met with skepticism.
In 1948 another alleged saucer crashed in Aztec, New Mexico. Also known as “the other Roswell,” this incident included the recovery of alien bodies but was ultimately confirmed to have been a hoax. No matter, this incident would forever incorporate alien bodies into the Roswell mythos when there hadn’t been any before. A 1980 book titled The Roswell Incident would include second-hand accounts of recovered bodies at the Roswell crash site, but it also mixes the Roswell and Aztec incidents together. That’s how these conspiracy theories work, like a game of telephone: information gets twisted, details get lost or added, and stories are embellished for attention. Eventually it gets to the point where you can’t tell fact from fiction and confirmation biases are easy to find.
The reason I bring up bodies should be obvious; we’re reviewing a Roswell alien today. Since bodies were not originally associated with the incident then what is this toy based on? In appearance it looks very much like the alien from the1995 pseudo-documentary Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction. That’s right, pseudo-documentaries are not a recent phenomenon. The show included footage from a purported alien autopsy conducted shortly after the Roswell incident. Although the footage was presented as authentic it was entirely fabricated. I remember seeing it as a kid and believing it was real.
This figure of the Roswell alien is stamped 1996 on the back, which means Shadowbox Collectibles wasted little time in getting a figure of the Roswell alien out on the market. The company also produced other alien races, including a Grey, Reptilian, Chupacabra, and one of the Men in Black (not from the film). I got a figure of the Roswell alien in the late 90’s from my father, who was heavily into conspiracy theories and ufology and a believer in much of it as well. He passed that interest on to me but although it was fun as a kid I’ve grown into a staunch skeptic in adulthood, in case that wasn’t apparent in my framing of the Roswell incident. I eventually got rid of my alien figurine but recently re-acquired a copy for the nostalgia it provides and to share with the Monster Toy Blog.
The Shadowbox aliens come nicely packaged in a plastic case that works well for display and includes a collector card that lists some identifiable features of the alien. The card that comes with the Roswell alien states “child-like appearance, hairless head and body, deep set and slanted eyes, four-fingered hands with two extremely long fingers, and 3.5-4.5’ in height” and labels the Roswell alien as the most controversial alien species. The toy itself stands just under 4” tall which puts it at 1/10-1/12 in scale.
The figure exhibits the features described by the card. The head is bulbous and rounded and the eyes are large and almond shaped. The alien also has a nose, ears, and a small slit for a mouth. Overall, very humanoid in appearance. It’s a somewhat boring design for a visitor from another planet but one we’re all familiar with.
The alien is wearing a silver skin-tight collared space suit. Its exposed skin is pinkish with the cranium being paler than the face and hands. The eyes are brown with black pupils and little dots of white eyeshine. There’s a bit of pale green eyeshadow too. It’s a simple paint job but well applied. I particularly like the eye shine and indifferent expression.
The Shadowbox Roswell alien is a neat little figure for anyone with an interest in extraterrestrial happenings and I really like the concept of having different reported alien races that can be displayed together. I got this one mostly for nostalgia and with no real interest in collecting the others but don’t be surprised if another one or two eventually show up on here. The Shadowbox Roswell alien can be found on eBay for about $15.
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