Packaging - **1/2
I didn't even shoot a picture of the box this time around. I could
claim that it was because it's not really that important, or it's nothing
surprising or different - but I'd be lying. After I got all done
shooting photos and put everything away, I realized I forgot. My bad.
But the box won't surprise you, so all is not lost. It has photos of
the bust on the exterior, with some basic text. If you've purchased
Palisades busts before, you'll have some idea what it looks like.
However, I do have one MAJOR complaint. Rather than using the hard Styrofoam
insert, they went with that damn soft stuff this time. You know what I'm
talking about, because when you pull it out of the box it breaks off little
pieces that end up everywhere. I hate the soft material, since I end up
having to vacuum after I open the damn thing up, and then never can quite get
every little piece.
Sculpting - ***1/2
The queen is captive, and she's definitely not happy about it. She'd
clearly like to make that apparent to anyone in the vicinity.
The sculpt has a tremendous amount of small detail work, and does a great
job with the multiple textures of her head, body, and spiny back. The
chains that hold her to the base are sculpted deep into her flesh, and you can
almost feel her pain, or at least imagine yours if you got too close.
The base is done in a style based on the film, with the look of an ancient
civilization. This stark contrast with her appearance works very well,
and offsets the upper half of the bust nicely. It's also very wide at
the bottom, ensuring that you won't topple her easily.
Paint - ***
The paint ops are interesting, although whether you like them or not may be up
to interpretation.
The quality is excellent, but there isn't a lot of small detail work.
The majority of the Queen is a silverish color, with a darker wash to
highlight the detail. The green blood oozing from her puncture wounds
looks great, and is my favorite part of the overall color scheme.
The work on the base gives it an ancient, worn stone appearance, and fits
in nicely with the designs of the film.
My score is a little lower than usual simply because this color and this
style is not my preference. In this very silver color, she doesn't fit
in particularly well with the previous Alien busts from Palisades, and that
throws things off slightly on the old display shelf. Also, her color and
the color of the chains is so close that it makes them appear as one, rather
than as to very different entities.
Because of the fairly consistent color, this Alien lacks the cool clear
drool, another feature that I really liked in previous busts.
Design/Quality - ***1/2
I already picked on the paint ops, but now let's talk about the design of
the bust itself.
This is a very dynamic pose, with the Queen screeching in protest and
writhing against the pull of the chains. Some of the chains aren't quite
as tight as others, but that actually helps add to the perception that she's
pulling to one side over the other.
The quality is the usual Palisades work, with a lot of polystone going into
this mini-bust. Do be extremely careful with the chains though - I have
a sneaking suspicion that there's some pewter added in there to allow the
chains to be so thin, but you can still break them if you're not
careful. And pewter does not superglue as well as polystone.
Value - **
This is a very expensive mini-bust in comparison to their past work.
The larger Queen Alien they produced last year (pictured to the left with the
new Queen) sold for less than $60. I suspect part of this new higher
price is the expense of the license for the new film. The run size on
these busts is 5000, which seems to be fairly common these days.
I do have at least one sponsor though that has this new girl available for
less than $60, and at that price you can add at least another half star to the
value rating.
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