NECA's 40th Anniversary figures for Alien were originally planned for 3 waves across 2020, but with the global pandemic, the 3rd wave was pushed back to early 2021. This wave featured a brand new figure of Ash, another Big Chap Xenomorph, and the figure we are looking at here - Kane, as played by John Hurt.
The 40th Anniversary figures move away from the blister packs and move to a window box design, inspired by the Kenner figure packaging from the original movie in 1979. This presents as a bright blue base colour with black trim and bright red backing behind the figure. The logo's on the front of the box are also changed to the Kenner Alien logo, not the movie one, and this kind of disappoints me a little when we are celebrating the film here rather than the early toys?
The back of the box features an image of Kane opening the Alien egg on LV-426, and beneath this is a short piece of text that covers the synopsis of the movie and is the same across all of the releases and is not character-specific. Under this sits a checklist of the other 8 figures in the line.
"IN SPACE, NO-ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM"
"IN A REMOTE REGION OF THE GALAXY, THE UNITED STATES SPACE TUG, NOSTROMO, CARRYING A CARGO OF MINERAL ORE, MAKES ITS RETURN JOURNEY TO EARTH. THE SHIP'S CREW - FIVE MEN, TWO WOMEN AND A CAT - ARE AWAKENED FROM THEIR HYPERSLEEP CHAMBERS WHEN MOTHER, THE ON BOARD COMPUTER, MONITORS A STRANGE TRANSMISSION. ACCORDING TO COMPANY LAW, THE CREW MUST INVESTIGATE ANY SIGNAL INDICATING POSSIBLE INTELLIGENT LIFE. WHAT STARTS AS A ROUTINE SEARCH MISSION QUICKLY ESCALATES INTO A NIGHTMARE OF UNIMAGINABLE TERROR WHEN THE CREW DISCOVERS AND BRINGS ABOARD AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFEFORM."
Kane was originally released in 2014 during the 3rd Series of Alien figures from NECA. Back then an issue with the likeness rights for actor John Hurt prevented them from releasing the figure with the actor's face, they bypassed this by sculpting a facehugger over the face and presented him post Alien attack on LV-426.
This time round the likeness issue has been resolved and the figure is presented with a full Kane head, albeit in the flight hood of the pressure suit. The likeness to Hurt is impressive and the paint is also well applied, although it still very much looks hand-painted as the eyes are not as realistic as we may see from a face printed figure?
The Pressure Suit has been well used in the Alien line, and since it first released with Kane it has gone on for releases with Ripley, Lambert, and Dallas. For the Kane figure pressure suit, a yellow base colour is used, with copper paint on the chest and shoulder sections. These copper pieces are then touched in with a blue/green colour to recreate them annodizing. As per usual with NECA, the details are impeccable from the Kane nameplate on the front of the suit to the individual painted controls on either arm control box or the decals on his backpack and on the rear of the figure.
Thankfully, this time round there are no issues with sticky paint as happened on the first figure (mine is still tacky some 5 years later). There are minor variances on the paint from the 2015 version, the usual stuff you'd expect from two differing factory runs so many years apart. The copper sections are the most notable as per the comparison below (new on left, old on right) with more blue/green on the new release.
Kane comes with the same two accessories as the 2015 release. A simple triangular flashlight is cast in black plastic with a white lens and this fits only in the right hand - the fit here is tight. The gun won't even fit into the hand at all - same as the 2015 release - and while it looks brilliant, it can only really be slung by way of a loop on Kane's belt.
My opinion of these has not changed since the 2015 release, in that both feel redundant and I'd have preferred a 1979 Alien Egg as an accessory.
Kane's suit, as with all the Pressure Suits released, has a two-part helmet to fit over the top. The collar piece is not wide enough to go over the head without doing some damage, so you will need to pop the head off first, then seat the collar lining up the rim with the grooves in the suit. You can then reattach the head. Once the head is in place the upper part of the helmet lines up with the grooves on the collar and slots into place. You then need to present the rubber pipes from the backpack up to the back of the helmet. Here we have a small hole underneath the central block for the small pipe while the larger pipe slots into a larger socket further up on the upper half of the helmet.
The clear glass dome is scaled well to the figure so as not to be too thick or too opaque as to obscure the sculpted head beneath. It is, however, a very brittle plastic that will be easy to scratch, or crack if you drop it.
It is worth noting here that if you want to remove the helmet, the reverse operation to get the head off is much more difficult with the neck collar in place.
The new release does not scrimp on additional parts and despite the brand new John Hurt head, you do get the original facehugger wrapped version. I didn't twig the first time round that this head is actually incorrect in the context of the Pressure Suit as Kane would have been wearing his hood piece when he was attacked. This sculpted head is more aligned to when Kane is back on the ship and in the medical bay? It is unusual for NECA to miss this sort of detail.
The sculpt on the head is very good with the various appendages of the facehugger defined and sculpted as though wrapped around Kane's head and down to his neck. It is painted really well with a gloss to the alien skin to give it a sheen.
You can add the helmet again with this head, and the second upper helmet piece with the caved-in glass visor is also included
NECA figures are always very much aesthetics over articulation, and with the sheer bulk of the spacesuit, the figure is very limited in overall movement. We have 14 points of articulation in total with the most extensive being the head and body joints. As with most NECA figures, I'd recommend a hot water bath to ease the articulation into gear and avoid the risk of snapping anything.
The arms have a shoulder joint that will extend fully outward while the rubbery shoulder panel moves with them, but after that, the elbows are virtually useless and the hands simply pivot in the sleeve. The legs are more restricted, having limited movement at the hips and virtually no bend in the knees of any value. The ankle rockers do work well to keep the figure level and standing, but feel a little too loose and maybe a longer-term issue.
For Alien fans, the release of Kane with a full likeness to John Hurt ticks the box, alongside the recent releases of Ash, Parker and Brett, now gives us the full crew of the Nostromo in NECA 7-inch figure form. The real desire is however to have a full crew lineup in ship uniform which means we are still hanging on for Dallas, Lambert, and Kane to be updated into their ship gear.
For circa £25 here in the UK, the Kane figure is a strong update to the original and gives you the option to have both the John Hurt head or the facehugger head, with corresponding helmets. The other accessories are a bit of a non-event, particularly a gun the figure cant hold, and don't expect much from the articulation.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
action figures, reviews, review, articulation, NECA, Aliens, Alien, 40th Anniversary, Kane, Facehugger, Chestburster