Review – Aliens Xenomorph Warrior

Standing 9-inches tall, the NECA Aliens Xenomorph Warrior action figure (Amazon.com search*) suitably towers over 7-inch scale action figures, with a creepy sculpt and enough articulation to menace basically any action figure in your collection. It’s a near-perfect toy that’s a blast to play with and should never be alone on your shelf.

Articulation

Lots, but not so much that the toy is tough to pose or a loose mess of joints, the best thing I can do now for the Aliens Xenomorph Warrior action figure (Amazon.com search*) is run through the list of joints by location. Strap in, there’s a lot to go over:

• Head – Ball-jointed neck with a slight forward/backward slide, hinged jaw, extending inner jaw.
  
• Torso – Ball-jointed mid-torso joint. Not quite as good as an ab crunch + waist swivel, but certainly more visually attractive and works well.
  
• Arms – Ball-jointed shoulders and wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel bicep.
  
• Legs – Ball-jointed hips with swivels, ball-jointed ankles with very limited movement, hinged toes, and double-hinged knees.
  
• Tail – Bendy. No true “joints,” but it has enough flex that it serves well as a “third leg” for stability.

As I said, that’s a lot of articulation. What I truly appreciate is that all of the joints are just right when it comes to tightness, which means I can pose the toy without fearing of breakage and nothing is loose and floppy. In his review, Poe Ghostal identifies a couple of minor trouble spots with the articulation:

The joints are often resistant and the ratcheting joints can be tricky, especially if you’re trying to get it into a pose with both feet lying flat on the ground. The rubber pelvis will fight you a bit when you’re trying to get the thighs in a raised position, which limits the usefulness of the double-jointed knees somewhat.

My own experience is that the joints didn’t cause too much resistance for my taste, but then I never tried to force the figure into super-deep knee bends . . . because of that resistance Poe mentions where the legs jam into the torso. So maybe things could be better and I didn’t notice because I was afraid of snapping a joint. But even without the ability to crouch the figure low I’m happy with the articulation NECA chose.

Sculpt

Wow. You don’t believe me, just look at the photos. The NECA Aliens Xenomorph Warrior action figure (Amazon.com search*) has one hell of a beautifully-detailed sculpt with lots of details and a look that’s as perfect as I could hope for in an Aliens action figure. Ridges, spiny columns of exoskeletal terror, and twisted claws and snapping teeth all come together to make this clearly — and perfectly! — the monster of the Alien franchise.

In his review at It’s All True, Noisy chimes in on the fantastic sculpt stating:

I wasn’t able to get a great picture of it, but if you have this figure and really want to appreciate the sculpt, turn out the lights. Well, most of ‘em. The figure looks fantastic in low-light. This is partially due to the brown highlights and high gloss paint, but the sculpt comes alive when it reflects what little light there is in a room. It sounds odd, but it’s how we’re used to seeing these guys, right?

Agreed, and the next time I review one of the Aliens Xenomorph Warrior action figures (Amazon.com search*) I’ll have to take a stab at low-light (UPDATE: Done! See below.) by using the tripod for the camera. But regardless of when that happens I believe the pics here really show the love NECA sunk into the toy’s sculpt.

UPDATE: I snapped a quick shot of the blue version of the Aliens Xenomorph Warrior action figure (Amazon.com search*) because it felt wrong to leave a visual hole in the review. You can expect more pics of the blue-highlighted figure in the future.

Paint

Again, fantastic work. NECA’s Aliens Xenomorph Warrior action figure (Amazon.com search*) is cast in a dark plastic and painted with browns and covered in gloss highlights that make the toy glisten and gleam in light. Poe Ghostal, in his review of the toy, wasn’t a fan of the brown, but I personally like it since it brings out just enough details while leaving the toy dark and creepy. But color is a personal preference thing, so I suggest checking Poe’s review for an alternate opinion from my own.

Closing Thoughts

It’s a bit late to be talking about “best figure of the year,” but if I were to finally sit down and craft my own list of 2013 awards the Aliens Xenomorph Warrior action figure (Amazon.com search*) would easily be a contender for the top slot. The articulation works well, sculpt is fabulous, and the paint details masterfully-applied and gorgeous.

The toy is so fun, in fact, that I think I’m going to photograph and review one of the repaints very, very soon. Awesome work, NECA. Now bring us more!