Review : Xenomorph Warrior Alien (Alien vs Predator) NECA, Alien Series Wave/Series : Series 7 Released : March 2016
Price : £19.99 - £22.99
The AvP Xeno Warrior is the 3rd figure from Series 7 of the NECA Alien series, and if I am being very honest I initially passed on this figure intending only to pick up the Grid Alien as I believed both were too similar to justify both.
How wrong was I?
With the AvP Xeno being voted into the Top 10 of Alien figures in our Alien Day 2016 poll I needed to pickup the figure to include him in the countdown and felt a full review of him on Alien Day itself was a nice touch.
Like the Grid Alien, the Warrior comes in the standard clam-shell packaging with the electric blue Alien vs Predator logo on the header. The insert card is a shaped cut out of the Warrior head, again identical to the packaging used on the Grid Alien. Round the back is the standard NECA card back design with a blown up atmospheric image of the figure itself over which is some background blurb relating to the basic plot of the 2004 Alien vs Predator movie. Underneath this we find the "Also Available" checklist where all three Series 7 figures are pictured.
Out of the box and the Warrior is packed in an almost fetal position, very reminiscent of scenes in Aliens where they uncurl themselves from the Hive as they prepare to attack the Marines. A few twisty ties later and the Warrior is in hand, and is very hefty piece. He stands close to 9 inches tall when at full stance, and is close to 18 inches from tail to head.
The articulation on these new AvP Xeno's, Grid and Warrior, is a massive improvement on all the other Aliens we have seen from NECA to date. The head moves from side to side on a ball joint which sits half way down the neck rather than in the dome, opening up the head to much more movement. The jaw is articulated and drops open and the inner jaw can then be pulled outward, a feature carried forward from all the other NECA Aliens to date.
The ball jointed shoulders can move fully out to the side and above the head and are then enhanced further with double jointed elbows which allow the arm to almost bend back on itself. The wrists sit on a swivel so rotate all the way round and even the fingers are articulated with the two longest fingers on a joint so you can expand them as a raking claw or clench them against the shorter fingers.
The torso holds another joint, neatly hidden under the Alien's rib cage and like the head this opens up so many more poses allowing the top half to move independently from the legs. The legs have seen big improvements since the line starter. The hips are now ball jointed and feel more robust. The double jointed knees allow the Warrior to kneel, crawl or stand upright and stances are enhanced with the ankle rockers and the articulated toes. This whole lower section now means you can stand your Alien more naturally and in fact this is the first Alien figure I have had from NECA that has stood on its own - even without the tail supporting.
The Tail is the biggest and bulkiest to date, matching the AvP warriors look on screen, finishing in a wicked looking stinger. Like all Aliens to date the tail is a rubberised material over a metal armature which means the whole tail is fully pose-able. Although as stated the figure stands well enough alone, the tail provides a counter balance point and expands the figures ability in achieving even more poses.
Moving onto the sculpt and yes this is pretty much identical to the Grid Alien with the exception of the head dome which is now clear and you can see the skull detail underneath. The whole body is sculpted in grotesque detail with the exoskeleton, bones and tendons stretching throughout. It is the paint job that then makes the sculpt, and where as the Grid Alien was more blue, this one is a browner tone - so there is more variation on your shelf. The paint textures are built up from dark to light, with the chest and jaw area particularly well defined with an almost sandy wash. All the time the body retains a high gloss sheen representing the actual wet-look of the Alien.
There is not a bad thing to say about the AvP Warrior. The articulation is pretty much spot on, sculpt and paint are great and he poses really well. I gave the Grid Alien a 5 out of 5, and this one is arguably better. Not sure what that means for my rating system, but a 5+ wouldn't be far off for this figure - and I can now see why he beat off some other awesome figures to get into the NECA Alien Top 10.
