CORPORAL DWAYNE HICKS

ALIENS (NECA)

So, I don’t know if you, the readers, are aware, but the film Aliens is, in fact, the greatest movie ever made.  Everybody agrees.  No contest.  If you thought another movie was the greatest movie ever, you were sadly mistaken.  Because it’s Aliens.

Okay, I may have exaggerated a bit up there.  If you couldn’t tell from the hyperbole, Aliens is one of my favorite movies ever.  So naturally, as a toy collector, I should be all over the toys, right?  Except, more often than not the toys a) suck and b) only ever get the aliens themselves made.  I mean, the alien is a good design and all, but come on, the reason we love the movie isn’t the aliens, it’s the awesome characters fighting the aliens.  So, what good are the aliens if they’ve got nobody to fight?

So, I was quite excited when NECA announced that not only were they making an Aliens line, but Hicks and Hudson, two of the movies main characters where in the very first wave!  And they didn’t suck!  The first wave’s been out for a good long while now, and with the impending release of the second wave, I thought I’d give it a review.  Up first, oh so cool marine Corporal Dwayne Hicks!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Corporal Hicks was released as part of the first wave of NECA’s Aliens line.  Obviously, he’s based on Hicks’s appearance in Aliens, but more specifically, he appears to be based on Hicks’s look shortly after the initial battle in the alien hive, after he loses his helmet, and before he dons the headset he wears for the rest of the movie.  Technically it’s a bit off, because he should still have his shoulder lamp at that point (yes, I’m that much of an Aliens geek), but I think it’s close enough.  Hicks stands about 7 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation.  The sculpt is quite well done.  They’ve sculpted his fatigues onto the underlying figure, and added the armor over top as a separate piece.  The detailing on the sculpt of the uniform is superbly detailed.  The armor is scratched and dented, and the fatigues are appropriately wrinkled.  All in all, it looks like the armor of an experienced marine, which is exactly how it should look.  I’ve heard complaints that the arms are too thin, and while I can see how they might seem that way on first glance, actually comparing the figure to Michael Biehn in the movie, they look about right.  Topping it all off, the head is pretty good.  It’s not as spot on as some of NECA’s work, but it’s easily the best Michael Biehn sculpt that’s been done.  The paint work ranges from decent to pretty darn good.   The head, especially the hairline has a little bit of slop, but nothing too major.  The skin tone is a bit too orange for my tastes.  The paint on the uniform is the best work on the figure.  Lots of little details, especially on the armor that could have been left off, but I’m very happy weren’t.  Hicks is decently accessorized.  He includes the standard pulse rifle, a welder, and his shotgun he kept handy for “close encounters” with its own case.  The welder plugs into his belt, and the shotgun can be slung easily.  The guns are both well sculpted, and fit very nicely into his hands.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I preordered Hicks and the rest of series one as soon as I possibly could, because there was no way I was missing out on these guys.  I was super excited to get these guys, and Hicks was the figure I was most looking forward to.  While he’s not a perfect figure, he’s a darned good one, and I’m really glad to have him.