"Aliens" Seiko collection - all four in one place.
Jun 15, 2013 12:32:36 GMT -8
Groundhog66, jair1970, and 4 more like this
Post by seikoholic on Jun 15, 2013 12:32:36 GMT -8
Thanks to luck, perseverance, tips from other members, generous members who gave up duplicates, and a good amount of cash, I've assembled all four "Aliens" watches.
The first two are well-known - the Ripley 7A28-7000 in silver (AFAIK the black was not in the movie), and the Bishop 7A28-6000.
My Ripley was a lucky purchase made right before Christmas '12 - it had been sitting on eBay with a too-high Buy It Now price for a couple of auction cycles. I kept eyeing it, and eventually wrote the seller. I guess things were a little more flexible as we got closer to the holiday because we were able to come to an agreement that was good for both of us I'd say. The one issue is that I didn't have black buttons - these are yellow ones that I've painted black. Not ideal, but it's all I've got.
The Bishop was a total work in progress. I bought at the height of the value curve on these - they've since dropped it seems and better examples have come up more often. When I bought they were hard to find and in ratty shape. Mine is actually a composite of two watches. I kept the best, and sold the rest. The one I sold ended up (apparently) on a screen-used Bishop costume on display on the West Coast. Or so I'm told.
The Burke was a real piece of luck and research. Jair1970 is the guy who was able to answer a question I put up at TOF. I found a screenshot of Burke talking to Ripley that showed the watch he was wearing. Clearly an Ani-Digi Seiko, but what? Jair pegged it - was able to name the model. A side-by-side comparison of the shot with a photo of Jair's watch (a Seiko H556-5050) that was rotated to match the angle of the screenshot showed they were the same. Thankfully, he was willing to part with one of his since he had two, and the third piece was found. Between us we were the first people to announce this find. When we found this out, "Burkes" were selling for $50 or $60. After we'd announced this, they shot up to $200. They might be worth more now. Sorry about that to those of you who are looking to build a collection.
The last piece of the puzzle was by far the hardest one to find - the Colonial Marines wore a Seiko Pulsemeter. There was significant disagreement about which watch model was worn - the screen configuration meant that two could have been used. Some people claimed that the correct one had the yellow buttons that were painted black because the all-black -501A model wasn't available or something. I ran this theory by Gabe and he said he thought that was pretty silly since Seiko was a sponsor of the movie - they could get as many of whatever watch model they wanted. This made sense to me as well. The correct model then was the S234-501A. Finding this one was simply a matter of hoping that one appeared and that I had the cash to go nuclear on it. After a number of leads given by our own Bob / 69Chevelle who kept searching for me, one appeared far more quickly than I thought possible, and thankfully I was able to get it together to put a big bid on it, enough to get it.
So, some pictures:
The first two are well-known - the Ripley 7A28-7000 in silver (AFAIK the black was not in the movie), and the Bishop 7A28-6000.
My Ripley was a lucky purchase made right before Christmas '12 - it had been sitting on eBay with a too-high Buy It Now price for a couple of auction cycles. I kept eyeing it, and eventually wrote the seller. I guess things were a little more flexible as we got closer to the holiday because we were able to come to an agreement that was good for both of us I'd say. The one issue is that I didn't have black buttons - these are yellow ones that I've painted black. Not ideal, but it's all I've got.
The Bishop was a total work in progress. I bought at the height of the value curve on these - they've since dropped it seems and better examples have come up more often. When I bought they were hard to find and in ratty shape. Mine is actually a composite of two watches. I kept the best, and sold the rest. The one I sold ended up (apparently) on a screen-used Bishop costume on display on the West Coast. Or so I'm told.
The Burke was a real piece of luck and research. Jair1970 is the guy who was able to answer a question I put up at TOF. I found a screenshot of Burke talking to Ripley that showed the watch he was wearing. Clearly an Ani-Digi Seiko, but what? Jair pegged it - was able to name the model. A side-by-side comparison of the shot with a photo of Jair's watch (a Seiko H556-5050) that was rotated to match the angle of the screenshot showed they were the same. Thankfully, he was willing to part with one of his since he had two, and the third piece was found. Between us we were the first people to announce this find. When we found this out, "Burkes" were selling for $50 or $60. After we'd announced this, they shot up to $200. They might be worth more now. Sorry about that to those of you who are looking to build a collection.
The last piece of the puzzle was by far the hardest one to find - the Colonial Marines wore a Seiko Pulsemeter. There was significant disagreement about which watch model was worn - the screen configuration meant that two could have been used. Some people claimed that the correct one had the yellow buttons that were painted black because the all-black -501A model wasn't available or something. I ran this theory by Gabe and he said he thought that was pretty silly since Seiko was a sponsor of the movie - they could get as many of whatever watch model they wanted. This made sense to me as well. The correct model then was the S234-501A. Finding this one was simply a matter of hoping that one appeared and that I had the cash to go nuclear on it. After a number of leads given by our own Bob / 69Chevelle who kept searching for me, one appeared far more quickly than I thought possible, and thankfully I was able to get it together to put a big bid on it, enough to get it.
So, some pictures:
