Well, Corporal, I was thinking the way you do looking at the official pictures taken by NECA or in conventions, but when I finally decided to pick my Ripleys, I changed my mind when I had them before my eyes.
And everytime I look at them in display, I think to myself I was right to bypass what my inner voice was telling me. They're really spot on, and I'm not the only one to say that here : pictures can't capture the awesomeness of the likeness. Really. I tried to take pictures of mine, but they're not even close !
Can't really tell about Amanda since I didn't play the game and saw little about it on video, but as far as I can tell it appears to be a really decent figure IMO.