Tag Archives: Xenomorph

#0625: Dog Alien

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

DOG ALIEN

ALIEN3 THE VIDEO GAME

DogAlienVG2

If there’s a theme to any of my recent reviews, I’d say it’s “figures that are almost identical to figures I reviewed not long ago.” First Superman Red, then Ultron 2.0, and now it’s the Dog Alien. Of course, most of these figures have a pretty good reason for being so similar to each other, and as an added bonus, the reviews are also a heck of a lot easier for me to write. Yay for Ethan being selfish and lazy!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DogAlienVG4The Dog Alien is the latest release in NECA’s subset of figures based on licensed video games. The idea behind the line is applying the more limited color palettes of vintage video games to some of NECA’s more realistic sculpts, affording them a chance to get an additional use out of some of their molds. The Dog Alien is over 9 inches tall (standing straight up) and features 39 points of articulation, plus a bendable tail. The figure is based on the appearance of the titular character in 1992’s Alien3 tie-in video game. Sculpturally, the figure is identical to the Aliens Series 3’s regular Dog Alien. Though it isn’t my favorite of the Xeno designs, there’s no denying that this is some of NECA’s finest Xeno work. Seeing as there are far less chances for re-use on the Dog Alien, I’m glad to see NECA found another use for this tremendous sculpt. Obviously, the real draw of this figure is the all-new paint scheme. The game which the figure is based on was a 2D side-scroller. Depending on which direction the alien was moving, it would be either blue or brown. The figure has replicated this idea quite expertly. When viewed from the right, the figure is blue, and when viewed from the left, he’s an orange-ish brown. The paint is handled in such a way that you can get a surprising amount of range without seeing the opposite side’s color. In addition, the paint is applied in such a way to really accent the strengths of the sculpt, and highlight many of the cool details that were easily missed on the regular version. The colors are bright and vibrant, and contrast quite nicely with the underlying black. The Dog Alien is packed with the same stand included with the standard version. I don’t find I need it, but it’s nice to have in case you want to do some more extreme posing.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When this figure was first announced, I really wasn’t sold on it. I’m already pretty iffy on the Dog Alien in general, so I wasn’t sure I wanted to have yet another one. But, up to this point, I’ve picked up every figure from NECA’s Aliens line, and it would suck to just skip one. So, I had quite the dilemma on my hands. A few weeks ago, I stopped by local toystore All Time Toys, just to look around, and they had happened to get their shipment of these guys in. In hand, my opinion of the figure changed completely. This figure really pops. It could have been really gimmicky, but the paint here is top notch, and produces an incredibly unique figure. This has gone from an item I thought I might skip to the highlight of my collection.

DogAlienVG3

#0590: Pvt. Drake & Battle-Damaged Attacking Alien

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

DRAKE & ALIEN WARRIOR – BATTLE DAMAGED

ALIENS MINIMATES

Drake&Xeno1

Aliens is one of those movies where, even though some characters are much more minor than others, to the hardcore fans every character is just as important as the next. This is particularly true of the Colonial Marines, a group that just looks cooler if you have every member, even the ones with no lines or even particularly distinguishing features. However, some of the Marines are more distinct than others, such as Private Mark Drake, one of the squad’s two smartgun-wielding soldiers. Let’s have a look at him as he faces off against yet another pesky Xenomorph!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two are part of the specialty assortment of Aliens Minimates Series 1.

PVT. DRAKE

Drake&Xeno2When you get right down to it, Drake here is kind of the Boba Fett of Aliens. He’s a character with a limited amount of screen time, who is ultimately inconsequential to the overall plot of the movie. However, he’s a got a certain following, mostly due to the fact that he’s pretty cool looking. Clearly, going by my theory, there’s a whole ton of Expanded Universe stories starring Drake that are just waiting to be written! The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation. Drake includes two main sculpted add-on pieces. He’s unique in the fact that he doesn’t use the same armor pieces as the rest of the Marines (though, presumably, Vasquez will also be making use of the armor). He does still have the standard issue shoulder lamp, but it’s plugged into an all-new torso piece, which is a pretty great recreation of Drake’s armor from the film. It features two different ports to plug in the smartgun’s arm, allowing a little extra poseabilty. The other piece on this figure is his hat/headset combo, which is another new piece. It’s pretty well handled; the hat is a little on the simple side, but the headset is fantastically rendered, and even features an articulated eye-piece that can be moved away from his eye for the less battle-ready look he sports a few times in the movie. In terms of paintwork, Drake is very well-handled when viewed from a technical standpoint. Everything is nice and clean. The fact that his boots are painted on means that they go around the back of his legs, which makes the lack of camo in those areas stand out less than on the other Marines. The likeness is a pretty good match for actor Mark Rolston, however it seems a little too smiley for Drake. I mean, he did grin a few times in the movie, but a grimace of some sort feels like more his speed. He’s also missing the scar from under his left eye, which is pretty prominent in several shots of the movie. There are a few bits of graffiti missing from the armor, though they’re Drake&Xeno3pretty small and easy to miss in the film. The biggest issue is what’s under Drake’s body armor. He has the same standard fatigue shirt as Hicks and Apone. It’s well-detailed and it looks good, but in the movie, Drake is actually wearing a flak jacket under his armor (you can see it in the hive scene after he ditches the smartgun harness). It’s a minor thing, but it’s one of the character’s more distinctive uniform deviations, and it would have been nice to see it here. For accessories, the main event is, of course, Drake’s smartgun. It’s a very well sculpted piece that is accurate to the source material. It includes an arm with a ball joint at either end, allowing it to be attached to the figure’s chest piece, and once in place, he can actually hold it pretty well. Drake also includes a spare hat without the headset and a clear display stand. It might have been nice to get a hairpiece and an extra acid-burned head, but the smartgun is plenty.

BATTLE-DAMAGED ATTACKING ALIEN

Drake&Xeno4And the award for longest name for an alien variant goes to this guy! Wow, that’s a lot of lead in words. Ostensibly, this alien is more or less the same figure as the battle-damaged Alien from the single-packs, with one notable change. Like all the other Aliens in the line, the Battle-Damaged Attacking Alien has add-on pieces for the torso, head, hands, feet, and tail. This particular Alien uses the open-mouthed head, and what differentiates him from his single-packed counterpart is the presence of the second mouth/tongue piece used on the Attacking Alien. This offers a little bit of variety among the Aliens, so there’s no complaints there. The paintwork on the Battle-Damaged Attacking Alien is almost identical to that of the first battle-damaged alien, which in turn makes it pretty much the same as the regular warrior alien with the addition of the acid blood splatters. The blood splatters here are exactly the same as the ones from before, which is a little disappointing. It would have been nice for the splatters to be on the opposite limbs or something, just to mix things up. This Alien, like all the Aliens, includes only one accessory: a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked these two up as part of a full set of series one that I got from my favorite Minimate retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. Drake is the star of the set. He’s a surprisingly well done figure. Sure, there’s a couple of inaccuracies, but the figures is fun enough to distract from these issues, and he’s just incredibly well put together. He makes for a great taste of how Vasquez will turn out. Despite the relatively short review, and slightly disparaging remarks about the paint, the Alien is a very well-handled figure. It’s a little disappointing to those who already have the singles, but on its own, it’s a strong figure, and it accents Drake quite well.

#0589: Sgt. Apone & Warrior Alien

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

APONE & WARRIOR ALIEN

ALIENS MINIMATES

Apone&Xeno1

After a little bit of a wait, the first wave of Aliens Minimates has finally found its way to all the various Minimate retailers. Things started off with a bang with heavy hitters Ripley and Hicks, but the rest of Wave 1 is decidedly a bit more low-key on character selection. Today, let’s look at Apone, the most prominent of the also-rans, as he faces off against one of the movie’s titular creatures.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Apone and the Warrior Alien are part of the specialty release of Aliens Minimates Series 1. Apone seems to be remaining exclusive to this set, but the Alien is sure to turn up elsewhere (and kind of already has…)

SGT. APONE

Apone&Xeno2“Where’s Apone?” Here’s Apone. The ill-fated Marine Sergeant isn’t a stranger to toys (though he hasn’t had quite as many as other Aliens characters), but this is the first, and likely only, appearance of the character as a Minimate. He’s presented here in his standard Colonial Marine armor, which is nice for consistency’s sake, though he’s probably the one Marine in the movie who gets most of his key scenes before suiting up. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and has 12 points of articulation. Apone features sculpted add-ons for his helmet, chest armor, and boots/shin guards. These pieces are the same ones we saw on both Hicks and Weirzbowski. It’s standard issue armor, so that certainly makes sense. The pieces are still impressively sculpted and quite accurate to the source material. Like Hicks, Apone’s shoulder lamp is removable. He isn’t seen without it, but it’s nice to have the option. The issue with the hair on the back of the helmet is a little more obvious here, given how close cropped Apone’s hair is supposed to be, but it’s relatively easy to overlook. Apone’s paintwork is decent overall, but there are a few glaring issues. I’ve already addressed the shade of the armor, so I won’t get into that again. The armor does have a few other issues, though. The black areas are a little sloppy, and his name on the front of his torso is off-center and a little angled. He also has the same issue with the misaligned helmet camo that Hicks had, so it seems that wasn’t a one-off. Under the Apone&Xeno4armor, the figure is very well detailed. His uniform’s camo extends all around the torso, however, it’s still absent from the under sides of the arms and the backs of the legs. He has an assortment of insignias running down his sleeves. They’re well-defined, however, his Marine patch actually says USMC instead of the proper USCM. It’s a minor thing, especially given the size, but it’s still not right. Apone features a pretty great likeness of actor Al Matthews, and his hair is painted onto the basic headpiece, so as to replicate its close-cropped nature. This does leave him with an exposed peg hole, however, DST has provided a few solutions to that. Sgt. Apone includes a baseball cap, a standard issue pulse rifle, a facehugger, and a clear display stand. Apone sports the hat in most of his early scenes, so it’s good to see it here, and it provides a way to show him sans helmet, without showing off the peg hole on the head. We never actually see Apone with a facehugger, but it’s implied, and I certainly won’t turn down another opportunity to get a facehugger.

WARRIOR ALIEN

Apone&Xeno3It wouldn’t be much of an Aliens toyline without a few of those pesky Xenomorphs, now would it? After being the big focus of the single-packed figures, it looks like the different varieties of aliens are finding their way into the two-packs as well. The Warrior Alien is, in essence, the same figure as the single packed Alien Warrior. It stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 16 points of articulation. The Warrior Alien has sculpted add-on pieces for the torso, head, hands, tail, and feet. This is the same selection of parts from the Alien Warrior, but that’s hardly an issue. These pieces are quite well sculpted, and the aliens should look the same anyway. The closed mouth is a little more open here than it was on the previous release, which adds some variety, I guess. The paint is about the same as the last release. Lots of details that really sell that whole bio-mechanical thing. It’s worth noting that the lines are bolder on this release, making the details a little easier to see. The Warrior Alien only includes a clear display stand, however, this seems acceptable, given the quantity of sculpted parts present.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got the two of these from my favorite Minimate retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. This isn’t the most exciting set in the bunch, but it’s not bad. Apone is a decent addition to the line. He’s not quite up to the same level as Ripley or Hicks, but he’s a good accent figure. The Warrior Alien isn’t anything new if you’ve already got the single release. However, it’s still on par with the single release, which was a pretty fantastic Minimate. And it’s not like you can’t have another Xenomorph hanging around…

Apone&Xeno5

#0464: Alien Minimates

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

ALIEN, RIPLEY, KANE, & PARKER

ALIEN MINIMATES

You know how I said I hadn’t reviewed enough Minimates lately? You know what else I just haven’t reviewed enough of? Alien and Aliens stuff. Just not enough of it.

So, welcome to another Alien-themed review, which, by the way, is also yet another Christmas Review. Yeah, they seem to be the song that will not end. At this rate, I kind of expect to sporadically be reviewing last year’s Christmas gifts until this Christmas. Won’t that be fun?

When Diamond Select Toys picked up the Aliens license, there was some confusion as to whether this meant we’d also be seeing Minimates of the characters from the first movie. As it turned out, yes, though as more of their own thing, and less as a subset. So, without further ado, Alien Minimates.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These four were released as part of a boxed set celebrating the 35th anniversary of Alien. They were supposed to be out last year, you know, for the actual anniversary, but they encountered a few delays, making them a mid-January 2015 release.

ALIEN

It would be ridiculous to release a set without the titular creature, so here it is! It’s referred to simply as “Alien” on the package, but this is the design most commonly known as the Big Chap, the creature from the first movie. The figure is a little over 2 ½ inches tall and it features 16 points of articulation. The figure is built on the standard Minimate body, with a non-standard head, hands, and feet, as well as an add-on for the torso and tail. From the neck down, all of the pieces are identical to those of the three Alien Warriors included in the Aliens Minimates Army Dump set. Since the Alien designs in the two movies are similar, this is a pretty sensible re-use, and the pieces are still fantastically sculpted. My only real complaint is that the hands technically should have six fingers, instead of the three fingered Aliens design, but at this scale and style that’s minor. The head is the one new piece, and it’s very well done. It features the first movie’s signature head dome, as well as the skull detailing underneath, and it looks really good. It’s also a bit bigger than the Aliens head, which looks a bit better in retrospect. The paint is also identical to the normal Aliens Warrior from the neck down, with the exception of the upper arms, which have a slight change in detailing. There’s also some detailing under the dome, outlining the skull. All of the paintwork is clean and sharp, and the detailing is really great. The Alien’s only accessory is a clear display stand.

RIPLEY

Much as you can’t do the set without the titular character, it would also be odd to get an Alien set that didn’t feature Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of the original film and the true star of the film series. Ripley is 2 ½ inches in height and features 14 points of articulation. She’s based on Ripley’s appearance from the second half of the film, while she’s running through the Nostromo avoiding the creature. She’s built on the standard Minimate body, with a sculpted hairpiece, a watch, and rolled up sleeves. The hairpiece is a re-use from For A Few Dollars More’s El Indio, which is a perfect piece for Ripley’s look… in Aliens. Sadly, it’s totally off for her look in Alien, where her hair was a fair bit longer. Looking through their back catalog of pieces, there isn’t one that’s a natural fit for Ripley in Alien, so I suppose they were just trying to make the best of what they had. It just doesn’t really work. Ripley’s paintwork is generally pretty good, aside from one issue: the likeness on the face isn’t quite there. It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t really look like Sigourney Weaver. DST did a pretty good job capturing Weaver in the Ghostbusters line, so I’m not sure what happened here. Fortunately, there are a few alternatives, so it’s not a total loss. The rest of the paint is quite well done, with lots of really great detail work, which even continues onto her back. Ripley includes a flame thrower, Jonesy the cat, and a clear display stand.

KANE

Alien35th6In spite of John Hurt’s resistance to his likeness being used, Kane seems to turn up quite a bit in Alien product. Not a huge shock, seeing as his role as the carrier of the first Xeno is pretty pivotal. Kane is depicted here in his Nostromo uniform, which he wears early in the film, prior to setting down on LV-426. I actually don’t recall him being without his jacket for very long, so it’s omission is a little odd. Seeing as the figure includes a chestburster piece, I would think his “last supper” look might be more appropriate, but I suppose DST felt like being different. The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. Kane is built on the standard body, with a sculpted hairpiece and a watch (same as the one on Ripley). As far as I can tell, the hair is new to the figure. It seems to me that Kane probably could have made do with a re-use if it meant giving Ripley a new piece that was more appropriate, but there might be more to it than that. Regardless, the piece is well sculpted and seems like a pretty good match for his look from the movie. Kane’s paintwork is very nicely done. Everything is nice and clean, and all the colors seem just right. The likeness isn’t spot on, but I’d chalk that up to Hurt’s likeness not transferring to the style. The eyes and mouth are definitely right. Kane includes a facehugger, a chestburster, an extra head, and a clear display stand. The facehugger is a little difficult to get on at first, but it’s very well sculpted and it even features the appropriate detailing on the inside. The chestburster and extra head allow for a recreation of the memorable “birth scene.” The ‘burster is well sculpted and fits pretty well in place. It also covers enough of his torso to make this look like the appropriate uniform, so kudos to DST on that!

PARKER

Alien35th4Parker probably marks the set’s oddest inclusion, as he’s not a character who’s incredibly key to the plot. That said, he’s one of the last survivors, and my personal favorite character, so no complaints there. This figure has the notoriety of being the first Parker figure ever, so that’s cool. Parker is about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation. He’s based on Parker’s look roughly mid-movie, after he’s ditched his coat. The figure is built from the standard Minimate with a sculpted hairpiece. The piece is new to this figure and it’s a good translation of the look from the movie. Parker has a pretty decent paint job. His uniform is well detailed and everything is nice and clean. The only real issue I have is that his skin tone just seems to be too light for Yaphet Koto. This ends up throwing off the likeness, which is otherwise pretty spot-on. Parker includes a flamethrower, a flame attachment (though that could easily be paired with Ripley, too), and a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This boxed set was a Christmas gift from my parents. I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say that it’s my last gift of the Christmas 2014 season. Obviously, this set, being based on the first movie, isn’t going to ignite me with the same excitement as the Aliens Minimates, but I do think they turned out pretty nicely. The real weak link of the set is definitely Ripley, who really isn’t accurate to her appearance in the first film. But hey, put a pulse rifle in her hands and you’ve got a pretty great Aliens Ripley, so it’s not a total loss!

#0457: Dog Alien

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

DOG ALIEN

ALIENS (NECA)

So here we are with the third and final part of the Aliens Series Three reviews. It occurred to me after getting the figures that there was in fact one from each of the first three movies in this particular assortment. For whatever reason, I felt compelled to review them in the proper order (although, to be truly proper, I’d first review Kane, then Bishop, and then the Dog Alien wouldn’t exist, but that’s splitting hairs I guess).

Since I’ve made it no secret that Aliens is perhaps my favorite movie of all time, it’s probably not a surprise that I don’t really care for Alien3, a film which did just about everything it could to murder its predecessor and piss on its grave. Were it not for a little film by the name of Man of Steel, Alien3 would easily get my vote for the worst movie ever. All that said, the movie didn’t get everything wrong. The movie’s redesign of the creature managed to not suck (though it’s still not up to par with its predecessors.) Plus, it offered another possible Xenomorph for NECA to include, so that works pretty well. Let’s see how said figure turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Dog Alien (which, by the way, is the first NECA alien not to use “Xenomorph” in the title) was released in Series 3 of NECA’s Aliens line. It’s based on the creature from Alien3, which was either spawned from a dog or an ox, depending on which cut of the film you watch, and is known as the Dog Alien, the Runner, or the Dragon, depending on who you ask. Dog Alien seems to be the one that stuck. The Dog Alien is a whopping 9 inches tall when standing up straight and it has 39 points of articulation. Structurally, the Dog Alien is all-new. Previous NECA Xenos, including the Big Chap, all made use of at least some of the basic Aliens Warrior pieces, but that’s not the case here. From what I can tell, the details of the sculpt are an incredibly close approximation of the prop suit from the movie. The tail is incredibly long and very intricate, and the head dome rivals the Big Chap in terms of execution. As far as proportions go, it seems NECA has gone more for proportions based on the initial design and the rod puppet, which gives the creature a more inhuman appearance. NECA also seems to have toned down some of the more “gooey” aspects of the film’s design, which results in a creature that fits in better with the other Xenos and is overall sleeker looking (which further emphasizes the creature’s streamlined design.) In the movie, the Dog Alien is a bit more “colorful” than previous creatures. Like some of the design elements of the sculpt, NECA has toned this down a bit with the paint work, though the creature is still one of the more intricately painted Aliens NECA’s done. The Dog Alien is molded in back, with lots of brown used to bring out the details on the main body. It’s more than we’ve seen on previous Aliens (even the heavy handed Series 1 version) but not quite as brown as the actual prop Dog Alien. My favorite bit of paint is the work on the creature’s dome, which goes from opaque black at the front to almost completely clear on top with the perfect amount of gradation. The Dog Alien includes a special display stand, allowing its more “canine” poses to be carried out a bit easier.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like the other two figures in Series 3, the Dog Alien was a slightly delayed Christmas gift from my parents. On the outset, this was the figure I was the most skeptical about. I’m not a fan of the movie, and I don’t really care for how the creature looks in the film proper. In hand, this figure’s a very different story. NECA’s remained faithful to the design, while at the same time making some tweaks that result in a better overall figure. The end result is that the Dog Alien might just be the best figure in the series, which is a sentence that really surprises me.

#0449: Alien Big Chap

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

ALIEN BIG CHAP

S.H. MONSTERARTS

We’ve made it to Day Twelve of the Christmas Reviews and after today, there are just two days left. Today marks the last of the Alien-themed gifts from this year. This time around, it’s a slightly different type of Alien figure. This one comes from Bandai Japan’s S.H. MonsterArts line, which is a Monster-themed spin-off of their main FiguArts line. Usually, the line focuses on Japanese creatures, such as Godzilla, but in the last couple of years they’ve added a healthy dose of Alien and Predator figures. Today, I’ll be looking at their version of the original Alien, the Big Chap!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As noted above, the Big Chap was released as part of the S.H. MonsterArts line. Like many of Bandai’s higher-end figures, the Big Chap is not part of a larger series or assortment; he’s a single release. The figure is about 5 ½ inches tall and features an astounding 61 points of articulation (20 of that’s in his tail!). Technically, he’s based on the creature from the first Alien movie, though, like Funko’s recent Metallic Alien, he’s actually based on the initial design of the Alien, prior to filming beginning and the dome being “misted.” Prototype shots show the dome looking like it does in the movie, but it’s completely clear on the final figure. I don’t mind, but I’m curious as to why they decided to change it. The Big Chap’s sculpt is very nicely done, and all of the detail work is nice and sharp (quite literally in some cases). There’s a definite style to the figure, which makes it fit in with the other MonsterArts figures, even if it has a unique design. The design is a little lankier and more bug life than the “real-life” Alien, which is properly in line with the idea of this being a “concept” figure. The figure sports die-cast metal pieces for the elbows, knees, and the tip of the tail. In the case of the elbows and knees, it helps make the figure a little bit sturdier, and in the case of the tail, it makes it appropriately strong and sharp. Like all the best Alien figures, it also has a secondary mouth, which you must “Please pull out in a state of downward face” according to the included instructions (which are a fantastically entertaining read, by the way. Did someone on staff just say “Hey I sort of know some English” and then have nobody double-checked them?) The piece is very nicely sculpted, though it would be nice if it were a slightly tighter fit; it kind of flops about as it is. Like so many Alien figures, there’s not a whole lot to be done with the paint, but what’s there looks nice. For the most part, the figure’s molded in black plastic, with a heavy silver dry brushing applied to help bring out the details. There’s also some pretty good paintwork on the skull under the dome, as well as some nice silver detailing on the claws, toenails, and teeth. The Big Chap included a spare set of hands, in a more gesturing pose than the regular pair, and a display stand. The stand is cool enough, though I’m a little thrown off by the splattered paint design of it, which doesn’t really fit with the style of the movies at all. But I guess it looks pretty cool.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Big Chap here was a Christmas gift from my boy Tim. Tim’s well aware of my Alien obsession, and had asked me a few months back whether the Aliens I owned were all NECA, in preparation for ordering this figure. As far as Alien figures go, he chose pretty well. This is a really great version of the original Alien. Plus, there’s that fantastic reading material too!

#0447: Aliens Minimates

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

CARTER BURKE, PVT WIERZBOWSKI, PVT SPUNKMEYER, ALIEN WARRIOR(S), ATTACKING ALIEN WARRIOR(S), & BATTLE DAMAGED ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

ALIENS MINIMATES

Today’s review marks Day Ten of my Christmas Reviews. If you were thinking there hadn’t been enough Aliens stuff, you’re in luck! If you’ve grown tired of Aliens, that’s unfortunate. You may have chosen the wrong action figure review site. Sorry!

It’s my opinion that Aliens is the greatest movie ever made. If I were pressed to pick my favorite toyline, I think Minimates would be the obvious answer. So, how do you make the greatest toys of all time? Well, putting it lightly, Aliens Minimates. There, I was able to get through that all calm. I totally didn’t break into hysterics over the fact THAT THERE ARE TOTALLY ALIENS MINIMATES!!!! THAT’S A REAL THING!!!! HOLY CRAP!!! ….Sorry about that. So, um, yeah. There are Aliens Minimates, and I’ll be taking a look at those today!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These figures make up the first assortment of Aliens Minimates to be offered. Typically, I only review Minimates one set at a time. However, they all kind of make up one “set” of figures, so I’ll be keeping them together. These figures were released as the “Aliens VS Marines Army Dump.” The Army Dump is something that’s been done a few times before with Minimates. Essentially, it’s a case of 12 single-packed Minimates, where there are a few variations of an army builder packed in a few times, with a small number of unique characters, each packed one per case. In this set, there are three styles of alien warriors that take up nine of the slots collectively, and the remaining three slots are filled by Marines Wierzbowski and Spunkmeyer, and Weyland-Yutani employee Carter Burke.

CARTER BURKE

Can you get much sleazier than Carter J Burke? Not much. Dude’s just the worst. But Aliens need victims, so here he is! Burke here is easily the highest profile human character in this set, so he’s got that going for him. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. He’s based on the look Burke sports for the majority of the movie. In a world of the coolest looking set of Space Marines imaginable, Burke’s a guy in a flannel shirt a vest. Real winner this one. It’s definitely the definitive look for the character, so it’s a good choice. Burke is assembled from the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his hair, vest, sleeves, and wrist watch. The hair was previously used on the Ghostbusters Janosz, the sleeves first appeared on The Spirit, and both the vest and the watch are re-used from Knight Rider’s Michael Knight. Seems Burke raided Hasslehoff’s closet! For those of you following at home, you’ll note that Burke has no new pieces. He’s a great example of what you can do with re-used parts, because each piece looks spot on to the character. The figure’s paint fills me with great distress. The general application of the paint is fantastic. The figure’s face is a pretty decent likeness to Paul Reiser’s portrayal of the character, and the work on the flannel shirt is nothing short of astonishing. So, what’s the problem? Well, a combination of things. Seems the plastic on the hip joints is a little on the weak side. Combine that with some sticky paint, and you’ve got a Burke with two broken hip joints, which is what happened to mine. Fortunately, I was able to get a replacement set of legs (shout out to Minimate Multiverse member Bilbofett! Thanks so much!), but it’s a shame that this happened. Burke’s sole accessory (unless you count the ooze coming off his slimey personality) is a clear display stand.

PVT WIERZBOWSKI

Ah, Wierzbowski. The marine that is never actually on screen, but that everyone remembers because of his funny name being shouted several times during the big hive fight. I gotta be honest, the fact that Diamond is leading with Wierzbowski shows a commitment to this line that no other action could. Wierzbowski is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 12 points of articulation. He’s built on the standard Minimate body, with add-ons for his helmet, chest armor, and boots. The add-ons are new to this figure and they offer the first glimpse at the pieces that will be used on future Marines. Simply put, they’re fantastic. Early images had me worried the armor might be too bulky, but that’s certainly not the case in person. Each piece of armor is a fantastic miniaturization of the movie’s designs. Wierzbowski’s paint work, while very good, does have a few issues that hold it back. The detail work is all nice and sharp (though I can’t speak to the quality of the likeness, not having seen the guy’s face). The fully detailed camo uniform under the armor is definitely a nice touch. However, the camo is only present on the front of the torso, leading to a jarring change when he’s viewed from the side. Also, the green chosen for the armor seems to be a bit too bright, which looks off. Neither of these is really a figure ruining issue. It would be nice if they could fix the camo thing on future marines. I don’t see the shade of green changing, mostly for consistency’s sake. Wierzbowski includes a fantastically sculpted pulse rifle, as well as an alternate hairpiece (originally used on the first Marvel Now! Hulk) and a clear display stand.

CREW CHIEF PVT SPUNKMEYER

Spunkmeyer is probably more notable than Wierzbowski, though not much. He’s totally absent from the definitive hive battle, and he’s nowhere near as memorable as his co-pilot Ferro. Like Wiezbowski, he’s mostly remembered for his odd name. In fact, when I first saw the pictures of these figures, I kinda though he was Lt. Gorman. Spunkmeyer is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation. Structurally, Spunkmeyer uses the standard Minimate body, with a sculpted helmet piece. It’s not bad, though it seems a touch too large. We don’t see him wearing it very much, so that might be throwing me off. The rest of Spunkmeyer’s look is done via paint. The detail lines are nice and sharp and he has a passing resemblance to the actor who plays him. The base paint isn’t quite as good. There’s more than a few wavy or fuzzy lines. That said, they got the colors right on this one, which is nice. Under his helmet, Spunkmeyer has a fully detailed shaved head, stubble and all. I wish that he didn’t have a peg hole in his head, but that seems to have been a necessity of the helmet. Spunkmeyer includes a handgun and a clear display stand.

ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

As I said in the into, this set offers three different varieties of the titular creatures. The first one is the basic Alien Warrior. There are four of this particular Alien in the set. The figure is about 2 ¾ inches tall and features 16 points of articulation (the additional two points are courtesy of the tail). Obviously, the Alien Warrior is based on the appearance of the creature in the second film of the franchise. The figure uses the basic Minimate body as a starting point, with all-new sculpted pieces for the torso, head, hands, tail, and feet. All of these pieces are exquisitely sculpted, with tons of small detail work. This version of the Alien has a closed mouth, which looks almost like an evil grin here, due to the stylizing of the character. What’s truly amazing about the sculpt is how it stays true to both the original design and the Minimate aesthetic. It’s very clearly the Alien, but it’s also very definitely a Minimate. That takes effort. The figure’s paint is on par with the sculpt. Diamond could have easily just relied on their sculpt for the creature’s details and left the paint a basic black, but they didn’t. Every flat surface has a plethora of texturing and detailing that perfectly captures the design in two dimensions. The figure also features some silver detailing to bring out the claws, toenails and teeth of the creature. The Alien Warrior includes a clear display stand.

ATTACKING ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

The second variation of the Alien Warrior is the “Attacking” version. There are three Attacking Aliens in the set. Like the regular Alien Warrior, this figure is about 2 ¾ inches in height and it has 16 points of articulation. From the neck down, all of the sculpted pieces on this figure are the same as those on the regular Warrior. The key difference is the head. While the regular version had a closed mouth, the Attacking Alien has its mouth open and its inner mouth sticking out. This depicts the Alien in one of its most distinctive looks, which is definitely cool. For the most part, the paint on this figure is the same quality as the first alien. The only difference is the addition of gray for the inner mouth. It might have been nice to get something other than a flat gray, but it’s not too bad. The Attacking Alien Warrior includes a clear display stand.

BATTLE DAMAGED ALIEN WARRIOR(S)

The last version of the Alien Warrior is the Battle Damaged version. There are two Battle Damaged Aliens in the set. The Aliens have a tendency to take some damage, so it’s a reasonable variant. The figure has the same height and articulation as the previous Aliens. Sculpturally, this one’s a little different. The hands, feet, and tail are the same as the other two Aliens. The head is that of the Attacking Alien, with the inner mouth removed, and the torso is the same as the previous two aliens, but with the back tubes shortened, as if they’ve broken off. The other key difference on this figure is the paint. The starting point is pretty much the same as the other two, but they’ve added splashes of bright green all over the figure, depicting the creature’s acidic blood. It’s a cool effect on one figure, but I’m not sure it’s very practical for an army builder. The Battle Damaged Alien Warrior includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These figures were another Christmas gift from my always awesome parents. I’m over joyed to have these figures in my possession. About 5 years ago, I was really into customizing Minimates, and I made my own set of Aliens ‘mates, which I was quite proud of. I’m thrilled to say that these blow those out of the water. My personal favorite of the set is Wierzbowski, just for the preview he gives of the other marines, but the Alien Warrior is very definitely a thing of beauty. I can’t wait to get more of these!

#0442: Alien – Metallic Flesh

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

ALIEN – METALLIC FLESH

ALIEN REACTION

Today marks Day Five of my Christmas Reviews. This review also marks the second review to tie in with the “theme” of my gifts this year: Aliens. Last year, I received the first series of Funko’s Alien ReAction line, which finally brought the unreleased Kenner Alien figures to retail. Almost a year later, Funko finally added a second series, which was made of three new figures and one repaint. So, hey, how about starting with that repaint?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien is part of the second series of Alien ReAction Figures. The figure is about 4 inches in height and it has 6 points of articulation. As noted in the intro, the Alien is the one straight repaint in this series. From head to toe, this figure’s sculpt is identical to the Alien from the first series. Fortunately, the Alien featured one of the best sculpts from the first series, so it’s not a bad thing. Like I said in my review of the first release of this sculpt, it’s certainly a product of its time, but it represents the best that late 70s sculpting had to offer. Being a repaint, obviously what sets this figure apart from the previous figure is the paint. The last figure was rather basic, and presented the Alien as it would have looked if it really had been released in 1979. This figure opts for a more detailed paint job, and it’s the better for it. Rather than a flat gray, this figure’s base color is a very dark, metallic gray, which is far more in line with the creature’s film appearance. The figure’s dome has been changed from a smoky, semi-transparent piece to a completely clear piece. Underneath of the dome, the head has been given a more intensive paint job, detailing the underlying skull. While this isn’t strictly accurate to the movie, it is accurate to what the suit created for the movie looked like initially. It offers a nice contrast to the last figure, and the cool thing is that the domes can easily swap out, if one were to want a more accurate Alien. The Alien includes no accessories, but that’s no surprise; it’s a larger figure and the previous one didn’t have accessories either.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Alien was another gift from my always amazing parents. He and the other ReAction figure I got (who I’ll be reviewing tomorrow) were actually purchased as a bit of a “backup gift,” just in case the Queen wasn’t there in time. Fortunately, the Queen did arrive, but hey, extra gift! At first glance, this Alien seemed a bit boring, but having it in hand I actually really love the figure. He offers a wonderful improvement to the original figure, and that was a pretty great figure to start with.

#0438: The Alien Queen

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

ALIEN QUEEN

ALIENS (NECA)

After a bit of a pseudo start yesterday, the Christmas Reviews officially begin today! There was something of a theme to a lot of my Christmas gifts this year, and that them was Aliens. Let’s be honest, though, what better theme could there be? Aliens is, after all, the greatest movie ever made. Today, I’ll be looking at the center piece to all the wonderful Aliens stuff I got this year, the Alien Queen.

The Alien Queen is probably the most distinctive thing from Aliens. Ripley’s Power Loader-aided battle with the beast is one of the best parts of the film, and it’s the kind of thing that a toy collector like me might want to immortalize in plastic. However, the Queen hasn’t been the easiest thing to toy-ify. She’s a pretty massive creature, and she has lots of intricate little details. She’s had a few figures over the years that didn’t totally suck (I even reviewed one of them recently), but none of them quite lived up to the creature seen in the movie. Enter NECA.

NECA has already been killing it with their regular Aliens series based on the normal sized people and creatures from the movie. But if there’s one thing that NECA does well, it’s large scale figures. So, it’s not exactly a shock to see this figure pop up. Still, it took some time. You don’t just start with the Queen; you work your way there. After some waiting, the Queen is finally here! Let’s see how she turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

The Alien Queen was released as a supplement to NECA’s main Aliens line. She found herself bridging the rather lengthy gap between Series 2 and 3 of the line (Although, as chance would have it, Series 3 is right behind her). Officially, the Queen is billed as a “Deluxe Set,” which is not surprising, given the size. Speaking of size, this sucker is big. She’s roughly 12 inches tall and a whopping 27 inches long (though about 15 inches of that is tail). The figure truly towers over the rest of the line, as she well should. The Queen has the sort of design that can be difficult to articulate, but NECA’s done a pretty amazing job. The figure has 57 points of articulation, as well as a wire armature tail that can bend all along its length. There’s quite a lot of posability, though most of the joints require some very particular positioning if you want the figure to have any sort of balance. The Alien Queen has appeared in three films, all of them based on the same basic design, but this one is very definitely based on the original Aliens design. The figure features an all new sculpt to replicate the design. It’s a little hard to tell, because the creature was generally shot in the shadows, but the sculpt appears to be incredibly faithful to the movie. All of the basics are definitely there, and the figure is definitely the Queen. In addition, the sculpt is loaded with lots of fine details and texturing, all done in a way that perfectly conveys the creature’s meld of biology and mechanics. The details continue on every side of the figure. I was particularly impressed by the volume of detail on the underside of the figure’s head, an area that could have easily been overlooked. Perhaps the only downside to the sculpt (which isn’t so much an issue with the sculpt as it is an issue with implementation) is that the Queen’s back spikes are separate pieces that have to be attached when the figure is taken out of the package. It’s a bit difficult to get them in place, and they have a tendency to pop out of place while the figure is being posed. That said, they’re just as well sculpted as the rest of the figure, and the match nicely when in place. Just like it’s difficult to get a 100% accurate view of the figure’s sculpt due to the film’s lighting, it’s also hard to get an accurate comparison of the paint. At first glance it seems like the figure may be too bright, but upon reviewing the film, it seems accurate to what she looks like when we see her properly lit in the airlock. Generally speaking, the paint is very well handled. The figure was originally black, with a fair share of blue highlights added. There are also a few touches of bronze, so that this figure should match okay with both colored varieties of Xeno Warriors. Perhaps my favorite touch, coloring-wise, is the transparent teeth, which are just plain cool! The Queen is a pretty massive figure, so little to no accessories is fairly acceptable. That said, the figure includes a few items. Since the design doesn’t allow for the sliding version of the inner mouth seen on the Warriors, the Queen includes two of them, of differing lengths, which can be swapped out for the desired look. They’re both very nicely sculpted, and help spruce up the figure well. The figure also includes a much needed display stand. It’s done in three parts, and the actually support piece comes in both short and long varieties, which allows for a nice selection of poses.

   

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

The Queen was my main Christmas present from my truly amazing parents, given to me this past year. I have anxiously been waiting for this figure for quite some time. I was absolutely thrilled to open her on Christmas morning. This is a figure that could have turned out badly if it weren’t well handled, but I’m happy to say NECA truly hit it out of the park on this one. It makes for a wonderful centerpiece to my collection. Now I just need to figure out where to put it….

#0371: Hudson & Scorpion Alien

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

HUDSON & SCORPION ALIEN

ALIENS (KENNER)

The problem with doing large theme weeks and the like is that as you near the end, you really run out of interesting things to say to introduce the figures. Then you have to write these weird meta intros talking about how you have nothing to say in the intro. (BEAT)

So, how ’bout them Aliens figures? Yesterday, I looked at one key Marine missing from Kenner’s first series of Aliens; today, I’ll be looking at the other. That Marine is, of course, Private Hudson, everyone’s favorite over-confidant marine turned whimpering mess! I’ll be taking a look at his proper US release from the Aliens Vs. Marine two-packs, along with the Scorpion Alien.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

Hudson and the Scorpion Alien were released in a two-pack in the 10th Anniversary Aliens Vs. Marine line. The line was released exclusively at KB Toys, and it was made up of repaints from the previous Kenner Aliens line.

HUDSON

Hudson is easily the selling point of this set. His Series 3 figure never saw a proper US release, leaving a Paxton sized hole in many fans’ Aliens collections. Hudson is about 5 inches tall and he features 6 points of articulation. He sports a new head sculpt, which doesn’t really have much in common with Bill Paxton’s portrayal of the character, but that’s not really news with this line. Hudson has a screaming expression, which fits okay with the character and does make him stand out a bit more from the other, more passive Marines. His sculpted helmet doesn’t match the one on Hicks, which is moderately annoying, but I suppose they wanted each of the Marines to have a unique look. From the neck down, Hudson’s sculpt is the same as Series 1’s Apone figure. Aside from the somewhat odd metal arm thing, it’s a pretty good starting point for a basic Marine, so I guess it works okay. It’s too bad he couldn’t get a unique sculpt like Vasquez, but if only one could get a new sculpt, Kenner made the right choice. Hudson’s paint work is on par with the rest of the Marines; it’s all pretty cleanly applied, and his lower half is molded in the same multi-colored plastic seen on all of the Marines. Hudson has one of the more diverse paint jobs in the series, though it’s not like it’s anything super exciting. Hudson includes a rifle of some sort (not a pulse rifle), and a large backpack thingy with three missiles to launch. Unfortunately, the backpack is a bit on the heavy side, which makes Hudson impossible to stand while wearing it.

SCORPION ALIEN

Believe it or not, against all odds and in spite of the name, the Scorpion Alien is not a Kenner original. It’s actually one of the main line’s closest attempts to capture the standard Xenomorph design. It also happens to be one of the best Aliens in the line, for what it’s worth. The figure is about 5 inches tall and features 5 points of articulation. This figure makes use of the sculpt from the original Scorpion Alien, released in the first series of the original Kenner Aliens line. It’s a decent quality sculpt. There are lots of small details and texture work, and the figure really has some nice dimension. It’s perhaps a tad wider than it should be, but not excessively so. The design of the alien is definitely based on the Xeno’s appearance in Aliens, though there have been a few changes made. The design as a whole is a bit spikier, and a lot of the design has been streamlined, I’d assume to present a more easily animated look. The figure is slightly pre-posed, and it can take a little work to get the figure to stand, but it’s not too difficult to keep the figure vertical. There was definitely a consistent theme to the paint work on the figures in the Aliens Vs. Marine line, and the Scorpion Alien is no exception. He’s molded in semi-metallic black/grey plastic with some silver accents to bring out the details. The silver on this figure is easily the most subtle of this line, which really does this figure some serious favors. The Scorpion Alien included no accessories, but he did feature one of the line’s coolest action features. When the button on the figure’s lower back is pressed, the figure’s upper half pops apart, as if the Scorpion Alien has just been shot by one of the Marines. It’s a fun action feature and it really adds quite a bit of entertainment value to this figure.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Hudson and the Scorpion Alien are another piece of the large lot of Kenner Aliens figures I won recently on ebay. These are two of the figures I was most eager to get ahold of from the line, so I was definitely glad they were amongst the set. Hudson is an essential Marine and the Scorpion Alien is my personal favorite Kenner take on the standard Xeno design. All in all, I really like this set. Sure, Hudson’s slightly goofy, but he’s not a bad figure, and he’s packed with an outstanding Alien.