Friday 5 July 2013

Xenomorph Warrior: Aliens (NECA)

Xenomorph Warrior: NECA
Quite normally, it's always been those little green men that are associated with the word, "aliens" whenever people come to hear it or asked what they look like. But in my case, I grew up with Ridley Scott's and James Cameron's sci-fi movies of aliens back in the 80's, and so alien for me is always this nasty looking beast trying to slaughter each and everyone of us. This depiction of an alien- the Xenomorph got stuck inside my brain when I was a kid until I grew out of it. One thing that never faded though, is that the Xenomorph alien is still the best sci-fi horror movie character that keeps giving me the thrill.














Like the NECA Predator line, these movie-based action figures from Aliens is loaded with lots of details. From this package, you'll be amazed by how the sculpt is finely done; from its basic feature down to the deepest and smallest detail. And at the back of the package is a little background info about the Xenomorph, and portraits of other figures like Dwayne Hicks and William Hudson that comes with this series.


The Xenomorph Warrior is painted with a combination of some shades of brown and black with brown equally dominating the black colours. Using a dry brush technique, shadings are done mostly around its big long head, torso and its skinny legs with that exoskeleton mostly covered in clayish brown paint while what it seemed to be its "internal part" are all in black. In addition, the entire body has some gloss to capture that wet and slimy look from the movie. But to be quite honest though, I would probably like it if NECA put more black than brown in this figure; I think that would have been movie accurate, ...but it's still a cool looking figure (got no complains about it)!


From the head down to its toenails and tail, the sculpt on this figure is inarguably phenomenal. You can't say something is missing with the detail on this figure. In fact, I didn't even know some of these alien anatomical parts exist on a Xenomorph not until I got this figure! Parts such as these bone structures popping out from its forearms, this oversized vertebra located just below its nape, and these floating veins that runs along from its jaw to the shoulders are something I didn't catch in the movies. These four "bagpipes" (yes, I call 'em bagpipes) at the back of this figure and those floating veins I just mentioned are made of a softer plastic while the rest are just regular action figure plastic material.


Xenomorph comes with some cool features. If you open its mouth, you'll get introduced to its infamous phallic tongue, which is retractable and can be pulled in and out with your nail tips. Despite this amazing feature, I wish NECA could have sculpted the tongue with some bony alien structures like what they did on the head instead of just covering it with white paint. Its oversized vertebra can be removed if you want to get it out of the way as you move its head. And definitely not the least, its bony tail is imbedded with a bendable and malleable wire, which helps you position it in any way you desire.


Articulation wise, this action figure got a decent amount of joints with some minor discrepancies. Like I've said, you can remove the vertebra at its upper back to allow the head to move freely. However, the head itself only has limited movement, and you can't get its head to gaze high up nor turn its head all the way to the sides. It got ball-hinged shoulders and swivel to the biceps. The elbows and the wrists are all ball-hinged that lets you bend as well as rotate. It has a diaphragm swivel that is close to its waist. No thigh swivel on this Xenomorph, but it got a ball-jointed hips. The knees are double-jointed and the feet rotates and got some toe articulation!


To a NECA Predator, the Xenomorph stands taller with a height of 9 inches tall, which is the right size the fact that Xenomorphs do stand taller than the Predators. I hopefully (crossing my fingers) want to see NECA create an Alien vs. Predator line in the future. If you're starting to get into the sci-fi horror/action movie line or if you've been collecting these figures, then definitely you gotta check out the ones from this company.


6 comments:

  1. It's always good business from NECA when it comes to this stuff!

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    1. Yep, and how I wish they going to take on making some DC and Marvel action figures.

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  2. Neca has improved the sculpting on the figures recently..good buy!

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    1. Both NECA and McFarlane have great sculpting and paint job, but NECA brings more articulation to the table.

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  3. The best xenomorph figure to date! Did ya get the Marines as well?

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    1. No, I got no plans of getting the Marines yet, but I'm going to army-build some Xenomorphs first.

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