|
Packaging: ***
If you already have an Alien from the MMS line, you will already know what to
expect. We again have a reflective sleeve, which slips over a flap-fronted
box. The whole thing is covered in a wealth of photos of the product;
drawing our attention to it’s many special features.
Inside he’s laid out in exactly the same position as all the previous Aliens
and indeed the PredAlien all of which can be seen here in previous reviews-
- AvP warrior/drone
- PredAlien
- ‘Aliens’ warrior/drone
- Brown ‘Aliens’ warrior/drone comp
So yet again it is still in a semi-kit form, but compared to the other HT
Preds and Marines these are a synch to construct, you’ll have ‘em done in
under five minutes.
Sculpt: ***1/2
To my eye these look pretty spot on as far as the head and body goes, so why
not full marks. Well that’s down to the feet.
Apart from the head and hands most other elements have been re-used from
the two Aliens that went before, mostly the first AvP.
So the legs, arms and body/torso are all virtually exactly the same as
the AvP Alien apart from the omission of the top central spike on the
creatures back, but this is all fine, as the design of the creature ‘as seen
on screen’ was lifted pretty much straight from that movie, probably to save
money on R&D.
Then we get new hands, just bendy ones! No rigid sculpts this time.
They’re a nice tight job and are again movie accurate showing the longer
fingers and double opposable thumbs, but then we get the feet, these are a
straight lift from the ‘Aliens’ drone, they’re a lot closer in style than
the original AvP feet, but still not spot on.
To be fair the Aliens feet are seen only briefly in the movie, and when
glimpsed it’s in semi darkness. But the feet should be a little larger and
have double opposable big toes to mimic the hands biology, so for me, as far
as accuracy goes this is the only real falling down.
But you’ll be pleased to see the head is spot on to the movie costumes
and CG models used. I’ve made no secret of the fact I find the smooth Alien
domes far more sinister and threatening than the ridged heads, so this guy
would always be an also ran for me (can’t wait for HT to give us the Alien 3
runner, my second fave after the original, and even the Alien: Resurrection
aquatic Aliens are high on my ‘must have’ list), but even though not my
favourite in terms of design I can see HT have done a sterling job of
translating the screen seen head to this 1/6 depiction. The opening jaw and
extendable inner jaws/tongue is again present, mine was a little stiff, but
soon loosened up with a bit of work. Viewed from the front, the new head has
quite a streamlined effect but from the side actually looks a little like it
has a double chin, as the line of the other Aliens jaws have been ‘lean’
running up from the chin to the top of the neck, but this new design goes
from the back of the chin down at an angle to the bottom base of the neck. I
guess it’s nice to have another ‘version’ of Gigers nightmare creature, yet
again showing its ‘evolution’, but it’s still my least favourite in terms of
creature design, taking yet another step away from the seminal beast Giger
gave us.
Like all the HT Aliens he has the opening and extending inner jaws as
well.
Paint: ***3/4
At the risk of sounding repetitive, as I said above, this is not my
favourite design, but as far as paint apps go this is probably the best
depiction of what we see in the movie yet! Nice subtle use of lighter, but
still very dark coppery tones give this Alien the darkest, near ‘blackest’
overall look of any of the HT Aliens thus far. The teeth are again picked
out in steel and some subtle bronze dry brushing is used on the front of the
cowl to mimic its translucent quality, even hinting at the skull beneath
from some angles. So all in all a near perfect paint app, not that
complicated by the standards of some of HT recent projects, but still
impressive.
Articulation - ***1/4
The body is pretty much a straight copy of the AvP drone (review linked
above) so he ought to get the same score, but having seen the ‘Aliens’ drone
(review linked above) I feel a small tweak could have made the elbows far
more flexible, but apart from that it’s all good, even the feet (though not
100% accurate) fit a lot better with a much stiffer joint than the Aliens
version and they arrive already fixed in place.
I still love the rubber covered multi articulated torso and the range of
movement in the neck and head is till pretty astounding so though not
perfected yet, HT have still given us the best poseable Aliens on the
market, which leads me to expect great things from the up and coming
H.R.Giger original and his various brethren.
There are some more
cool shots viewable here over at SSF, courtesy of Sabres21768 (note he
added the top back spike, it doesn’t come with one).
And here is another
small youtube demo on some of the articulation (sorry about the
lighting, I had to do this one at home!).
Accessories: ***
No stand or second pair of rigid hands, but you do get a rather nifty poseable
facehugger, like the one we got with the AvP grid and brown versions. It’s
made of softish rubber with wire inside the tail, fingers and the
‘saddlebags’, as far as I remember no eggs are seen in the movie, so I guess
that’s about all you could give this guy. But I’m marking down slightly for
the lack of alternate hands.
Fun Factor: ****
For me, a self confessed Alienophile there are few things better than getting a
new Alien figure, and the fact that this is another fully poseable top job
from HT just makes me even happier. I’ve mentioned the few issues I have
with this version of the Alien, but it’s still a great figure, and if I
wasn’t already spoilt by the ones that came before, it would be way up there
as one of my faves. But this weeks announcement makes each new Alien another
step closer to the full line up, and that’s gonna be impressive!
Value: ***1/2
This is the cheapest of the three AvP: R figures, so at the Sideshow Toys
(SST), RRP of $129.99 it’s a full $20 less than Wolf and $55 cheaper than
the PredAlien. There has been a lot more re-use of sculpts than on the other
Aliens, but all for good reason (well apart from the feet), so for me I’ve
gotten pretty used to the $100+ price tags, but if this had been between
$100 to $110 it would’ve been full marks. Even at this price though, you’re
getting a fantastically put together and well engineered figure.
Overall: ***3/4
Another solid Movie Masterpiece Series figure rounding off the AvP:R holy
trinity nicely, and pathing the way for HT to give us top class renditions
of the creatures from the other movies. If I had come to this figure fresh
without owning the others it would’ve been 4 stars, but the fact that I
haven’t coupled with re-used feet ‘just’ keep it from that perfect score.
Score Recap:
Packaging: ****
Sculpting: ***1/2
Paint: ***3/4
Articulation: ***1/4
Accessories: ***
Value: ***1/2
Fun Factor: ****
Overall: ***3/4
Where to buy-
I’m sorry to say SST sold out quite a while a go, they had him for $129.99
on pre-order. But you can still find him at Michael’s sponsors’ below-
Corner Store-
In stock $116.99
Amazing Toyz-
Pre-order $116.99
Dark Shadow-
Was $129.99, but may be sold out
Forbiddenplanet.co.uk
Pre-order £89.99
- or you can try searching ebay with the sponsor
MyAuctionLinks.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS! |
