NECA Aliens series 1: Corporal Dwayne Hicks action figure review

When Aliens threaten to overrun the galaxy who's there to stop them? The Colonial Marines, that's who! Straight from the movie Aliens comes Corporal Dwayne Hicks (played by Michael Biehn) and NECA has given both him and Hudson (Bill Paxton) the action figure treatment. Here we'll be taking a look at Hicks today and how he matches up against the Alien Xenomorph Warrior we reviewed a few posts back.

Sculpting for Hicks is spot on. From the gear, armor, pant pleats, right down to his boots. The headsculpt is a younger Michael Biehn and way more recognizable than the Kyle Reese sculpt that came out in NECA's Terminator line. There's all sorts of sculpted texture on his pants and his arms even have hair on them! Hicks' armor is multi-piece and while glued together looks great without hindering his articulation. His kneepads are even separate being strapped on from the back.

Hick's articulation is AMAZING. If you thought Dutch from the Predator series was articulated for a military-style figure wait till you get a load of Hicks. Right away you'll notice he has double jointed knees that allows him to kneel down for a defensive position. everything is ball jointed, everything has extremly good range of motion, and most of the joints are very effectively hidden from view. Hicks can aim his pulse rifle or shotgun any way he chooses and look great doing so. His toes and wrists are also hinged.

Paint ops are top notch here and coming from NECA that's no surprise. Hicks' camouflage patter in remarkably well done with proper overlapping shades instead of the usual mess when camo is applied to a figure's sculpt. His skin has a grimy look to it and his armor/uniform has a dirty look as if he's been crawling around an Alien hive all day. Hicks' bicep sports his tattoo which is readable as is the wording all over his armor taken straight from the movie. That's some pretty nifty detail right there.

Hicks sports some impressive accessories as well. He comes with the all important, iconic M14A Pulse Rifle with it's rubbery strap perfect for draping over his shoulder. Should that fail he has his 'close encounters' shotgun which comes in its very own back sheath. Wait, a door needs to be welded shut! There's also a tiny welding torch that can be detached from Hicks' belt! All the accessories look great and the Pulse Rifle even has realistic weathering and silver scuffing.

So what's the verdict here? Hicks is an outstanding representation of a Colonial Marine and you'll need him on your team as NECA is collecting licenses for other cast members along with a few surprise Marines. All those accessories, awesome articulation, and spot on paint apps for UNDER $20 makes NECA's offerings like this one a beacon of hope in an a market of ever increasing prices and decreasing quality. You can snag Hicks, Hudson, and the Alien Warrior at out Sponsor Big Bad Toy Store or on Amazon usually with free shipping.

NECA Aliens series 1 Alien Warrior 2013 action figure review

Aliens, it's the movie redefined sci-fi horror for a lot of us back in the 80's when it was released. That terrifying Alien from the first movie was now multiplied by the hundreds! NECA has tackled the license before with great results and here we have Aliens series 1 with the Alien Warrior, Hicks, and Hudson. I'm still waiting for the two Colonial Marines but let's take a look at the 'army builder' of this wave, the Xenomorph Alien Warrior.

Right off the get-go you know you're in for a treat because if it's one thing NECA is known for it's sculpting monsters/aliens/creatures of all sorts. The Alien Warrior's sculpting is top notch. Every ridge, boney protrusion, and claw is rendered in amazing detail. The headsculpt is the best I've seen for a Warrior and I have to say it it rivals the Hot Toys and Revoltech by being more movie accurate with the larger cheek bones and incisors/molars that lock together when you close its mouth. The tail is bendy and sculpted wonderfully as are all the tubular and pipe designs. The feet seem to be a new design, less actor-boot like and more bestial with splayed toes.

Articulation is AMAZING. Double jointed elbows/knees allow the Alien Warrior to crouch, stretch, hunch, and even crawl. The hips are socketed so that they remain covered but can get more than a 90 deg angle upwards. Ball jointed wrists and side-step ankles are even better. But what about the crawl? Unplug the center spike from his back (it's not glued, just a pop-in type) slide the head back on the slider under the skull, and tilt it back. His head can lay nearly straight back and looks great for that ceiling-crawl-scene towards the end of the movie. Its mouth also opens and inner jaw slides out when it's feeding time!

Paint work on the Warrior is straight up movie-accurate, the brownish black ones we see for the first time that start coming out of the walls. The base black plastic has nice dark gray shading and light brown highlights that translate into a smooth transition instead of a muddled mess like some Aliens in the past. A shiny wet gloss was applied with nice silver teeth and a grey-white inner mouth. There's no slop but then again we're getting highlights on raised surfaces so it would be hard to tell if anything did stray from the design.

 I'm inclined to say there are no true 'action features' about the Alien Warrior because opening mouths are usually tied to articulation. However inside the mouth is his little inner mouth! It's not spring loaded and it's kind of difficult to tug it down and outwards but it looks good once its down and tucks neatly up inside when the mouth is closed. The tail is also bendy and can be wrapped around other figures or used to help balance the Warrior. Scale is large or this guy, he's taller than a Predator who in turn is taller than a human like Dutch or Hicks, so the Alien really has some presence at over 8" tall. Fortunately all his joints allow you to get him down into hunches so he doesn't look like a giant.

So what's the verdict here? I've owned every domestically released Alien/Aliens figure made aside from the giant Kenner original one and have held/posed the import ones including the snap-kits, Hot Toys, Revoltech, Aioshima, Halcyon, etc. This is my favorite Aliens Warrior BY FAR because the sculpt, articulation, paint, sturdiness, and 'army builder' feel of it all works together. And by army-building I mean to say NECA has a black/red Genocide 2-pack being offered and the battle-damaged ones/different colors we'll be seeing in wave 2 and hopefully 3,4,infinity that this line deserves. Head over to Amazon and pick up the Alien and the Colonial Marines with free shipping or our sponsor Big Bad Toy Store to snag sets and singles as long as they have them in stock. And now it's time for more pictures!

NECA Prometheus Engineer (Chair Suit & Pressure Suit) action figure review

The Aliens movie franchise has seen its ups and downs before but so far NECA's offerings have been nothing short of spectacular for the series. Here we take a look at the Prometheus Engineer action figures both in Pressure Suit and in Chair Suit (Space Jockey) forms. The packaging is classic NECA with a quick move bio on the back and some cool 'Weyland Corp' logos on it for homage to the company in the movies that sponsors everything.Out of the package the figure stand over eight inches tall!

Sculpting is fantastic for both figures. The lighter colored Pressure Suit Engineer is done in classic Geiger style, bio-mechanical-exo-skelenton-ish. There's amazing detail in the texture, ribbing, and ports all over the body. The headsculpt is quite accurate to the movie which is basically a bald Roman-esq nosed human. The lower waist is a softer pvc and hides the hip joints while not restricting the articulation.

Sculpt for the Chair Suit Engineer is super detailed with even more texture done in a raw earthen metal style. There's all sorts of segmented bones, scaling, and the headsculpt looks downright frightening. Both the upper and lower torso are covered in a flexible plastic. The snout of the layered snout of the helmet looks really nice and there's hoses running from the back, torso, and legs. The shoulder joints are so well hidden you can't even tell they are there.

Articulation is excellent and -every- joint is either a universal joint or ball joint, no v-cut hips or swivel joints here. You can get 90 deg of motion or better from the elbows/knees of the Pressure Suit and almost that of the Chair Suit. Both have great ball-jointed necks, waists, and ankles. Both figures can be put in a decent sitting position making me hope for a Space Jockey chair at some point, tho it would have to be pretty huge.

Paint work is exemplary for the figures. Pressure Suit has a great murky wash over the entire body that fades out near the hands and head. The eyes and face have painted detail that really makes the ivory plastic look great, almost like real bone. The eyes are especially life-like with a creepy stare. Chair Suit is primarily a black plastic with gunmetal and silver highlights. It's really well done and brings out the rough texture perfectly. NECA really hit the mark dead-on with these paint apps.

Unfortunately there are no accessories this time around. I would have liked to see a worm-snake-arm-hugger or maybe a canister of the ooze but we got two great looking figures and no problems with them. Their joints are very sturdy and most are very well hidden with the sculpt. Scale seems to be in 6" as the Engineers were quite a bit taller than the humans in the movie so these should work well with your current figure collection.

So what's the verdict on these figures? They're solid awesome toys and if you're a fan of the Aliens, Ridley Scott, or Geiger's designs, get them. For around $15 these are much larger, detailed, and exceptionally painted than the regular fare on the shelves. Our Sponsors Big Bad Toy Store and Past Generation Toys has them and on the pegs at Toys R Us.