“I say that we abandon this ship! We get the shuttle and just get the hell out of here! We take our chances and… just hope that somebody will pick us up.” — Joan Lambert
Today we are checking out two of the three latest Aliens figures: Lambert from the original Alien film and the Xeno from the Dark Horse comic series Aliens Defiance. The wave also consists of an homage to an old-school Kenner figure that is cast in blue plastic. It’s a nostalgia figure in every sense, but, unfortunately, I had no connection to it so I left it on the shelves — to keep all the other blue aliens company. It seems that NECA is getting every last cent out of these molds, so these shouldn’t be much of a surprise if you’re at all familiar with the line. The good news is that they’re pretty awesome molds. So let’s keep it short and sweet and see whether this line is still going strong!
Packaging
Nothing to say here! Just cut open and enjoy those fumes!
Sculpt and Paint
As mentioned, reuse of parts is pretty heavy with this wave. Lambert is in her compression suit, one that we’ve seen on Dallas, Kane, and Ripley. It’s perfectly fine as they all wore them in some of the most memorable scenes of the film. And they’re just really cool space suits. The big draw for Lambert, of course, is the amazing head sculpt (aside from just getting another member of the crew, of course). Lambert comes with two portraits: one has a calm, vanilla sculpt (perfect for customizers should we never get her in her casual jumpsuit look), and the other is her spacesuit cap, which has an amazing panicky look. Lambert is a character not exactly known for her heroism, so it fits perfectly.
The Xenomorph is from the Dark Horse comic series, and I won’t pretend to know any more than that. I can barely keep up with toy prices let alone comics these days. What I do know is that it is really cool looking and will fit well in my display. Supposedly the story takes place between the first two films, and this guy really leans towards the look of the Warrior Xeno from Aliens. There is a lot of reuse between the two figures as well, although with new arms and legs, this guy is a bit bigger. It’ll come as no surprise, but the quality of the sculpt is just outstanding.
Paint on both figures was pretty flawless. No wonky eyes. No stuck joints. No sloppy cuts. And I grabbed the first two off the pegs that I saw. Bravo, NECA.
Articulation
Lambert, like the other Compression Suit crew members, has plenty of articulation to make it a fun toy, but with reasonable amounts of limitations given the fact that it’s a huge bulky space suit. The most restrictive place in the elbows and knees. The head is a ball joint and is easily swapped out. You also get plenty of range of motion, so looking completely terrified is possible in any direction.
The Xenomorph has an identical articulation scheme with the Warrior Alien. The ball-jointed neck is a bit loose, and I would have liked a greater range of motion with it, but other than that, I have no complaints. Standing on its own can be a bit tricky thanks to the odd proportions and dainty feet, so NECA has included a stand. I’m not huge fan of stands as a general rule, but these are basic enough not to overwhelm the look of the figure.
Overall, these are just more really great toys from NECA. We’ve gotten into hardcore Alien fan territory now, so I’m curious as to what might be on the horizon. With my local price increase (these were $24 at my TRU), I’m just hoping we don’t start seeing shelf warming any time soon. Maybe I should head back and buy one of those blue aliens after all.
Thanks for reading!
