Tag Archives: ReAction

#0084: Dallas

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CAPTAIN DALLAS

ALIEN REACTION

Day 6 of my post-Christmas Review!  Continuing the theme from yesterday, it’s the next figure from the first wave of Funko’s Alien ReAction line.  For the full story on how the line came to be, check out my review of Ripley.

Today’s figure is the Nostromo’s  ill-fated captain, Dallas.  Let’s see what that’s about!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Dallas was released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  He’s depicted in his jacketed look he sports for a fair bit of the film.  He stands 3 ¾ inches tall and has 5 points of articulation.  Like with Ripley, he doesn’t have a super detailed sculpt, but since it’s a sculpt from 1979, that’s okay.  Of all the sculpts in the line, I feel that Dallas’s is the most dated looking.  The details are all very smooth, and the likeness really isn’t there.  Out of context, people would probably have a difficult time saying who he was.  That’s not to say the sculpt doesn’t have its merits.  The texturing on his jacket looks really good, and is more intricate than I would have expected from a figure of the time.  The paint is once again on the simplistic side, but it’s not badly done.  He has lettering on the back of his coat, which reads “NOSTROMO.”  It’s a really nice touch, and could have been overlooked, so I really appreciate it.  Lastly, Dallas includes the same flamethrower that came with Ripley.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like with Ripley and the rest of the wave, Dallas was a gift from my incredibly awesome parents.  He’s probably my least favorite in the set, but that’s not a bad thing.  I just like him less than some of the cooler figures.  Still, he looks great with the rest of the set, and he’s a cool figure if you’re a fan of the movie or of figures in this style.

#0083: Ripley

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

RIPLEY

ALIEN REACTION

It’s Day 5 of the post-Christmas Review, where I cover the figures I received during the past holiday season.  I’ve looked at one figure from the world of ALIEN before, but for Christmas I received a full set of Funko’s new Alien ReAction line.

The story behind this line is that back in 1979, when ALIEN was released, Kenner acquired the license to produce a line of figures similar to their Star Wars line.  They only released two items, a board game and a large scale version of the Alien from the film.  The Alien was pulled from shelves when it began scaring children, and when that happened, Kenner thought better of their plan to make toys from an R-rated horror film and scrapped their planned 3 ¾ inch line.  The prototypes had been shown and were well known in the toy community as one of the holy grails of unproduced figures.

Flash forward 35 years.  A small company by the name of Super 7 acquired the original prototypes and the license to make them and began taking orders for a fairly small run of the figures.  A few months later, there was a significant amount of buzz surrounding them, and it looked like they might become a very difficult to get item.  But all was well!  Longtime toymaker Funko swooped in to save the day, and partnered with Super 7 to get the figures a wide release!

So, after 35 years of waiting, the first wave of ALIEN Figures has been released.  Today, I’ll be looking at the film’s heroine, Ripley.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

So, Ripley was obviously released as part of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line.  Ripley had a few looks in the movie, but she’s shown here in her jumpsuit that she wears for the majority of the film.  She stands about 3 ¾ inches even and she has 5 points of articulation.  The sculpt isn’t super detailed, but given that it was actually sculpted in ’79, I’m gonna cut it some serious slack.  It’s not bad for the time period, though it’s difficult to see much of Sigourney Weaver in the face.  The jumpsuit looks about right for what she wore, although it doesn’t have some of the finer details that the one in the movie did.  The paint is also on the simple side, but it’s to be expected.  All of the lines are clean, and there’s no real slop to speak of, so it’s well applied.  Quite frankly, anything more detailed would look strange on this sculpt.  Ripley also includes the flamethrower she carries at the end of the film.  It’s a little bit undersized, but that once again fits the aesthetic that the figure is attempting to capture.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Ripley, along with the rest of the first wave of the Alien ReAction line, was a gift from my awesome parents.  They missed being here in time for Christmas, but they arrived shortly after, and they were certainly worth the wait.

This isn’t a figure that’s going to appeal to everyone.  You’ve definitely got to have a love of the style of figure that this represents.  But, it’s a perfect style for figures from this movie, in my opinion.  It captures the feel of the time period perfectly.  Ripley may not be a perfect representation of Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal, but it’s definitely a fun little figure!