hey guys, I got the new NECA 1979 Original Alien figure! its absolutely awesome! as always NECA's sculpt is amazing. the details are crisp, clear, and accurate! the articulation is fantastic and a great step up from the original Cult Classics series one Alien line. with a few issues I've run into and I shall get to that as we go.
Sculpt: As I stated the of the figure is simply amazing! you can make out every single tube, rib, tooth, spine, and claw of the alien. the tail is as long and detailed as it's meant to be! most important is the head. it is not the same sculpt as the Cult Classics series 1 Alien, its got a lot of different details making it feel like a new figure. and of course we have the cranium under the dome! NECA has stepped up on the detail! as many of us sadly remember the prototype of the Cult Classics NECA Alien was not going to have the sculpted skull detail and instead was supposed to be painted. however instead they were drawn in..... by a sharpy...... I don't know why they did that. I feel it was more on the part of the Factory's laziness of the time (since then they changed factories), and not NECA's but I dunno.
anyways, the sculpted skull to me just feels right. the detail is amazing and it just looks awesome in the right lighting. the black void eye sockets down to the sculpted ribs down the length of the skull. just fantastic!
Paint: while the figure is all black they did add a dark-medium grey to the figure. this allows the details to be distinguished from the rest of the figure, and Man does it help. its not as heavy/sloppy as the brown alien warrior (I'll be getting the blue one next as well as the alien launching facehuggie and egg) although it could be I got a decently painted one. the claws/finger nails and teeth all look great. the left hand is a tad sloppy but that's all okay. easy fix for me, or not that noticeable.
Articulation: this is the area this figure wins over the first Original Alien NECA did. this alien figure retains the articulation of the Aliens Warrior Xenomorph from the first wave and reflects it here. this allows the alien to be posed in almost every pose from the movie and Production shots, including the crab walk, curled up sit, the crucifix (although that's basic), the bending over (mid stand up from sitting position?) stance, and any other crazy shit you can think up. you got double hinged knees, ball jointed ankles, pin and socket hips and shoulders, swivel upper thighs (well covered with the alien's exoskeleton), hinged Elbows, not double jointed but that's okay, hinged toes, hinged and swivel wrists, ball jointed neck with a sliding mechanism for head positioning, ball jointed waist, swivel biceps, and bendy tail. all that good stuff. we ofcourse have the opening mouth and extending inner jaw.
Durability: unlike the series 1 cult classics Alien figure, this figure uses a softer material plastic as opposed from the hard plastic from other figures. it uses the harder plastic for it's skeletal frame. the softer plastic has its pros and cons.
Pros: the softness of the plastic allows it to take the shock of any tumbles off the shelf. especially the smaller parts that would be prone to breaking in the harder plastic from the original series one. the soft plastic also helps with articulation, especially in the legs. series one cult classics Alien had horrendously weak knees and ankle hinges and tend to break way too easily because of being so brittle, another good thing is that unlike the Cult Classics figure, when removed from its package the soft plastic of this figure allows you to free up the joints of the figure. when in the past the joints would just break to pieces, leading to anger, tears, and a broken alien figure. here the joints are easier to free up. with these new figures the hinges are thick and the plastic soft enough to prevent breakage. lastly the soft plastic can help the figure aesthetically, while the plastic made the figure look dry, this figure looks glossy.
Cons: the soft plastic does have one con that I can think of, and that is when the figure is in package or is stored it will become easily bend and warp. however the remedy to this is time and or a hair drier.
QC Issues: I seemed to have lucked out in getting a good decent figure in terms of sculpt. I am quite pleased of how it came in. all the parts are as they should. no backwards joints, misconstruction, the dome is attached as it should be, and there is no missing or broken parts. However, I am having issues with loose joints, namely two of the right and left knee joints, the left hip hinge joint, and the neck sliding mechanism. if anyone have some ideas on how to fix it please tell me. but it's not as bad as it could be.
Final Thoughts: despite the weak joints, this is the first Giger alien I have no need to attempt to repaint or make better as I was often forced to do with the cult classics version (yes I know I harped on that figure a lot, but with good reason). due to the randomness of the QC issues I have to stress to either contact your online seller before buying, or if your buying it at a store or shop, inspect the figure, ask the staff to take the figure out and allow you to inspect it. and its the QC issues that prevents me from making it a sure buy. I say buy it if you want something cool to display, maybe customize. it can be posed much more then the Cult Classics figure, so it won't break by a mere tough. I say if you love the original alien design, and have the money to spend, get it. if not and prefer higher quality. get the smaller Revoltech alien figure. its smaller but just as cool.
