Packaging: *** 1/2
As I’ve gone over in the previous bust reviews, these aren’t the most
inspired boxes that HT have given us, as they are primarily designed to
protect the contents in transit whilst giving a glimpse of the face
through a window on the front, but that said this is my joint favourite
bust box so far along with the Jokers.
They’ve kept it simple, utilising elements of the original movie
poster, but it works very well.
So, we have a large image of the
’light-burst’ egg beneath the ALIEN logo, the other three main panels
all carry images of the bust from different angles. Inside he is
sandwiched laying on his side between two Styrofoam moulded trays. It
means you get a great view of the side-on head when still housed in the
box, and the thick corrugated card protects the whole thing handsomely.
Sculpt: *** 3/4
OK, OK I know I can go on a bit about just how cool I think Giger’s
original designs were, but hey, they just were, and at the risk of
sounding ‘repetitive’ or ‘boring’ anything depicting the original
Xenomorph is gonna pique my interest, so when the end result is as cool
as this I’m a happy bunny.
They’ve taken the head and
shoulders and pretty faithfully sculpted all the details you remember,
but as the original
suit was basically moulded bits of rubber, pipes, hoses and
anything else they had laying around in the kitchen that day held
together with glue, electrical tape and rubber bands, then sometimes it
is possible to improve on perfection! What we actually saw on screen
and what we think we saw are quite often two different things.
I genuinely think there is room for two 1/6 versions of this figure
when they get round to it. One would be 100% faithful to the screen
worn outfit, warts (sticking tape) and all, while a second would show
how the beast (if I may be so bold), ‘should’ have looked if the
creature effects department had a bottomless budget and no deadline.
Now to some purists this could be construed as ‘fightin’ talk…
sorry!
But I love all the
interpretations HT have given us of the ALIENS so far (admittedly the
ALIENS warrior could do with a re-visit so it had stiffer joints) but
for a guy who had all but given up on ever having quality poseable 1/6
figures of these beasts, HT have answered a lot of my prayers.
So if I can drag myself back on
topic, what I’m saying is this is a damn fine ‘interpretation’ of how
the ALIEN looked. They have taken some ‘invented’ elements to add a
very elegant sweeping stand, this could have come straight from Giger’s Necronomicon
the nightmarish book of visions that first captured Scott’s eye when he
was searching for the look of his ‘alien’. But ultimately 90% of the
bust is based very closely on the source material and many of the fine
details on the rib-cage, tubes on the head and neck and even on the
partially obscured skull under the smooth ‘banana’ dome are expertly
carried out, you can even see the inner ‘extendable’ jaw is fully
realised, even though it doesn’t actually extend. That sweeping
base/stand I mentioned morphs into a plaque at the bottom bearing the
ALIEN logo again, this appears to be screen printed directly onto the
base rather than a transfer or sticker. So all in all a great job that
has me eager to see how the 1/6 version is going to turn out.
Paint: ***1/2
This bust has hardly any paint,
and whilst not strictly ‘costume’ correct, if you checked this link you
would have seen plenty of details painted on the original suit to add
accents to various details, helping these areas show up when filmed on
the very dark and moody set. So again what we have here is the ‘dark’
creature as we kind of remember it. I shall take some photos of the
special edition Palisades bust alongside it to give you an idea of how
the ‘actual’ suit looked, and whilst I love this Palisades paint job,
it doesn’t reflect what we saw on screen. Hence my earlier statement
that I’d like to see two versions.
The base plastic used to cast
the bust though primarily black seems to have a metallic ‘pewtery’ tone
to it, meaning many of the raised areas look burnished and slightly
lighter but this might be a trick of the light. The teeth certainly
look ‘steelier’ and the bone skull, even though only viewed through the
smoked translucent cowl still appears to carry a lot of details giving
it the look of antique ivory. So, a simple paint-job, but one that sets
just the right tone for this piece.
Articualtion - N/A
Some of the other busts have had limited articulation in the neck, but
this is a solid piece with no moving parts.
Fun factor:
** 1/2
Well, you can’t really play with these, but teamed with the earlier
Predator they make for impressive bookends on your Predator and ALIEN
books, comics and DVD’s. But lets face it, even if you’re a fan of
these beasties, hey, just how much fun can you ‘actually’ have with a
figural bust?
Value: ***
These things aren’t cheap, but at $74.99 it’s reasonable’ish’ price for
a bust that stands a full twelve inches tall, and even though sold out
at this price at Sideshow you can still find it for over $7 less listed
below.
I’ve been over the polystone vs plastic debate before, obviously it
doesn’t have the hefty weight, which can give a false feeling of
quality and value, but it will drive the shipping cost up as well.
For some people it’s a big sticking point, but not for me. Molded
plastic can take finer details and is far more robust, so at the end of
the day it’s up to you the buyer, I did some Internet research to find
out the cost of polystone and plastic as a raw commodity, but pretty
much drew a blank so I can’t tell you what kind of savings a
manufacturer would make in their decision to go poly or plastic, other
than trying to keep the greater part of the demographic that buys their
goods happy in both terms of cost and quality.
Overall: ****
As a fully paid up card carrying Xenophile I love this bust, so what
did you expect. I have it displayed next to the Palisades bust, they’re
the same beast but like chalk and cheese and that’s partly what I like
so much about this creature in its many guises. It’s been the
inspirational starting point for so many sculptures, from the movie
accurate through to the artistically interpreted
the old Takeya
one being a big favourite of mine. There is a little bit of me that
would have liked an extendable inner jaw, but I’m gonna hold out for
the 1/6 delivering on that score.
SCORE RECAP:
Packaging: ***1/2
Sculpt: ***3/4
Paint: ***1/2
Articulation: N/A
Fun factor: **1/2
Value: ***
Overall: ****
Where to Buy -
Sideshow have sold out, it was up for $74.99.
I’ve seen it on eBay for anywhere between $70 to $90, or you can use
Michaels sponsor www.MyAuctionLinks.com
to find a good deal as well.
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