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In order to review NECA's Series 2 Sergeant Windrix it is important to understand how and why the figure was developed and released. Kyle Windrix is a figure sculptor who works at NECA on a number of ranges. His brother, Craig, was diagnosed with a stage 4 stomach cancer and as a tribute to him and his bravery they immortalised him in plastic as a Colonial Marine from one of his favourite films, Aliens. The figure hit stores in January 2014, and sadly just a few weeks later on the 6th of February 2014 Craig passed away. A proportion of sales from the figure were donated to the Windrix family, and Sergeant Windrix became a permanent fixture in many Alien collections the world over. Windrix is packed in the same clam shell packaging as the other Aliens figures. Being part of series 2, the rear of the packaging showed the other figures in the wave - the 1979 Big Chap and the 1986 blue Aliens Warrior. I have only seen a few pictures of Craig Windrix, but NECA certainly hit the sweet spot with the likeness. The rest of the figure is a re-use of the Hicks/Hudson body albeit with different arms which are sculpted in full sleeves. The same modular armour is installed over the base body but is essentially the same combination as used on Hudson, even down to the iron wings on the front strapping. Painting is crisp as usual. The skin tone is a lot cleaner than the series 1 marines, but captures the detail in the face sculpt. NECA gave Windrix his own armour graffiti with a bowling bowl, penguin and head on his rear armour. And the words DAO in a heart on the chest. The arms also contain a lot of decal detail with sergeant stripes and the USA flag on one side and a blue and yellow logo on the other. Unlike the series 1 marines, Windrix does really well on articulation. The head rotates and looks up and down to give a good range of head positions. The shoulders are on ball joints, but the elbow freeze that stopped Hicks & Hudson bending their arms has been fixed and Windrix can achieve those elusive 2-handed weapon poses. The legs feel a little stronger across the ball jointed hips, knee and ankle joints and Windrix therefore doesn't suffer from floppy legs and can stand reasonably well although I have still stuck him on a Kaiser stand to get a better action pose. Like Hudson, Windrix comes with a shoulder camera and motion tracker. His weapon however is a flame unit which adds another point of difference. It also gives NECA more Colonial Marine parts should they choose to treat us with more Marines in the future (likeness rights permitting). Sergeant Windrix is a great figure, with a sad but poignant back story. The articulation has been improved since series 1 and the tweaks to the sleeves and weapon do ensure he doesn't look like a Hudson figure head swap. Considering all this I give Windrix a strong 4 out of 5 rating. I would however finish this review a little differently and consider the tragedy of this story that brought us such a great figure. Cancer is a despicable thing that no person should suffer and we should all contribute any way we can in funding research into beating all types of Cancer. Craig's family make donations to the American Cancer Society in his name, and I would ask any one moved by this story to do the same via the link below - or a UK equivalent, Cancer Research.

Keeping Hicks company in the dropship is Private William Hudson, as played by Bill Paxton - the man who (like Lance Hendrickson) has the honour of being killed on screen by an Alien, Terminator and Predator. Like Hicks, Hudson was released singularly and then as part of a 2-pack with the Brown Alien Warrior. The Hudson head in this 2-pack was a re-sculpt and included the USMC helmet. We are reviewing the single carded version here. Hudson is another superb sculpt by NECA. In fact it probably exceeds the sculpt on Hudson, purely for the fact of the emotion they captured on Hudson's face - you can almost hear the words "game over man" coming out of his mouth. The Armour is again the modular armour over a basic body and is distinctly different to Hicks with some variety on the strapping and pouches. It is really worth looking closely at the amour to appreciate the detail - look for the eagle wing badge. If you compare Hicks and Hudson side by side the noticable different is a bandage sculpted onto Hudson's left arm. Other than that they share the same body sculpt with those variations built into the armour. Paint is really well applied once again with the exception of a chip on Hudson's cheek on the version I received - one of the risks you take with any action figure bought remotely. There is a grime wash built into the skin tones, but the armour is a lot brighter - possibly intentionally assuming Hicks is longer served than Hudson. Hudson's armour contains loads of little decals. There is a skull and cross bones on the chest, along with the name "Louise". And on the rear are a pair of cartoon eyes on the right shoulder and then the text "Contents under Pressure, Dispose of Properly" - all of which is screen accurate. Hudson comes with the standard issue Pulse Rifle, and the larger tracker that he uses in the film in his role as a Tech. He also comes with a shoulder light & camera that slots into a hole on his rear left side, with a wire then coming out and down into his belt. Articulation is disappointing. The head rotates and can look up and down. The arms can move out to the side by almost 90 degrees on a ball joint. The elbows however are stiff and are sculpted in such a way that they impeded their own movement - and like Hicks, two handed weapon poses are impossible. The leg joints are promising with ball jointed hips, jointed knees and rocker ankle joints - but are too weak on the hips and ankles which means Hudson continually slips into the splits, or falls forward. I had to install Hudson onto a Kaiser figure stand to support him from the waist., Five stars for sculpt, five stars for paint, but only 2 stars for articulation - the more frustrating issue being the lack of stability. Looks great in an Aliens display with the other Marines. 3 out of 5.

After a number of years under the McFarlane umbrella, NECA took the Alien franchise to new heights in 2013 when it released Series 1 of the 7" figure series. Along side the Brown Warrior Xenomorph from Aliens the biggest draw in the series was the inclusion of two of the key Colonial Marines from the 1986 Aliens sequel. We will go in rank order and start with Corporal Dwayne Hicks, as played by Michael Biehn. Hicks has been released in figure form prior to NECA obtaining the licence, landing in 2004 from McFarlane as part of their Movie Maniacs wave. Although the McFarlane release had plenty of positives, the NECA version is a significant improvement. As well as the original carded single release, NECA re-used the Hicks figure with second release as part of a 2-pack alongside the Blue Aliens Warrior. This release had a different head sculpt including the marines helmet. In this review I am working with the un-helmeted single release from 2013 and the gallery is for the same figure. Let's start with the sculpt, and this is NECA so it is absolute top quality. The head is a great likeness for Biehn, much more than his previous sculpt from their Terminator range. The NECA team then sculpted a standardised Marine body and have added modular armour onto this. First off this cleverly allows for mix and match of parts to produce different Marines. It also adds some reality to the figure as the armour isn't fixed by a sculpt, instead it moves with the articulation of the figure. Have a look at the gallery for all the detail the NECA have squeezed onto this figures - you will see clasps, trackers, straps and pouches. Hicks also sports a bullet hole in his shoulder armour. The arms are sculpted as bare arms from the shoulder downwards, with the forearms having some texture in terms of arm hair. The legs are a bit plainer and depict basic cargo type trousers finishing at knee and shin guards and a standard army boot. Paint on this model is immense also. First off is the face and skin details which are nicely done but also seem to capture the grime and dirt that Hicks would have picked up during the film. There is also a detailed tattoo on his left arm. The armour is the real beauty of this model. Firstly it is camouflaged in at least 5 or 6 different paint colours. On top of this is the same grime wash which adds a level of realism. Hicks has a red heart and medal on his chest, accurate to the film, and just above this is a bar code type set of numbers which would identify this as Hicks armour. Spin him round and their is a faint but intricate Chinese symbol on the rear armour and LIFER printed at the base of the armour. Trousers, boots, straps and accessories are all finished very well and there is hardly any paint bleed. Hicks comes prepared for war and included in the blister are the signature USMC Pulse Rifle which can be held or slung. There is a tracker which again can be held or clipped to Hick's belt. "For close encounters" Hicks is also packed with his shotgun. Again the shotgun can be held, or slots nicely into a leather style holster that fits on Hicks' back. So far so good, but when we start to look at articulation the figure unfortunately begins to drop points. The head is on a ball joint and can rotate the full 360 degrees whilst also looking up and down. Ball jointed shoulders allow the arms to reach just under 90 degrees out from the body. There is then a bicep swivel, elbow joint and wrist swivel. All of this should allow Hicks to get into plenty of poses with either of his weapons - but in reality the elbow joints are almost for show and you can barely move the elbow or twist the arms to achieve a two handed weapon pose. That leaves your options limited to the one hand poses as seen in my gallery. Interestingly if you look at any production shots, or promo shots the figure is shown in two handed weapon poses - but that doesn't translate onto the figure I received, even with heat to ease the joint. The waist is articulated so Hicks can spin to either side to a decent range of movement. There is then ball jointed hips, knee joint and a some ankle rockers. The whole issue with the legs is they lack any strength and figure has a real struggle standing naturally - so much so that I had to put mine into a Kaiser figure stand to hold him in the poses I want him to stay into. Hicks is beautifully sculpted, beautifully painted but loses a mark for articulation issues on the arm, and another for leg strength. There is no doubting this figure is a looker and is a crucial figure to have in any 1986 Aliens display - particularly more so with the recent releases of the Queen and Bishop and the upcoming 1986 Ripley and Power Loader. 3 out of 5.

We've reached wave 8 in Hasbro's 6" Black Series range, and our first wave 8 review is none other than Sheev Palpatine himself, Sith Lord and Galactic Emperor CLICK THROUGH for the review And follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER for more news, reviews, store reports and price alerts

As we begin the reviews of the brand new Series 4 of NECA's Alien figures, I am also commencing another retrospective journey to look back at Series 1-3 and associated lines. To that end I am really please to open our Prometheus Gallery in the Archives, and our first retrospective review for David 8 CLICK THROUGH for the review And please follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER for more reviews, news, price alerts and store reports.

NECA's series 4 of their Alien series is finally here, and as well as being themed around the 35th anniversary of Alien it is also the first appearance of Ellen Ripley CLICK THROUGH for my review and gallery Follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER as we have more Series 4 Alien reviews coming in the next week, as well as kicking off a big retrospective look at all the Series 1-3 figures from NECA

After over a year of waiting we have new Marvel Select Movie figures on the shelf. CLICK THROUGH for my review of the Age of Ultron Hulk And don't forget to follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER for more news, reviews, store reports and price alerts

Wednesday can mean only one thing... all the action figure news that caught my eye this week CLICK THROUGH to read the full article Please consider following us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER for more of the same - news, reviews, store reports and price alerts

Saved what I consider "The Best" until last. Here is my review of the 2013 Wolverine figure from Diamond Select CLICK THROUGH for the review And please follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER for more of the same - with new Marvel Select figure reviews starting soon for the 2015 releases

A small number of announced SDCC exclusives have come on for pre-order in the UK via Zavvi This appears to be as part of their links to Entertainment Earth So far you can order DC Direct Blueline Batman at £39.99 (at time of posting you can save another 10% using code BAT) Diamond MiniMates Ant-Man 4-pack at £13.99 Diamond MiniMates Turtle 4-pack at £13.99

It's Wednesday and it's the News that caught my eye over the past 7-days CLICK THROUGH to go to our News page And please follow us on FACEBOOK and TWITTER for more of the same

Save 15% off everything at the BBC shop by using code 15OFFBBC + get free delivery Valid until 5pm on Friday 19th June. CLICK THROUGH to go to their merchandise page, where you can find a number of action figure bargains such as Dr Who Classic Seeds of Doom Set, £22.09 after discount Dr Who Classic Fendahl set, £16.99 after discount Dr Who Funko Pops (pre-order) £9.34 each after discount Sherlock Holmes / Dr Watson 1/6 figure, £157.24 after discount