When Hot Toys announced that they would be adding the Alien and Predator licenses to their 12″ Movie Masterpiece Series, you could practically hear the giggles of glee across the collecting world. Being an Alien fan since the tender age of six, I was among those that nearly dropped a pound of pudding in my pants when I heard the news. Of course my first question – and the question of others in my shoes – was…“When are we going to see the original Alien in this format? Three years and over a dozen figures later, Hot Toys has made it a reality. And my friends…it was worth the wait.

Packaging – 10/10

The beauty of Hot Toys figures – you’re never going to get the same package twice. The package that the Xenomorph is contained in isn’t exactly small, but we’re not looking at a small figure here either. It’s a good 19″ x 9″ x 7″, which is big enough to give the Alien some padding but not so big that is creates a lot of extra space, great for collectors that feel the need to keep an item like this in the box (crazy weirdos that they might be). When I first took the box out of its shipping carton, I was kind of surprised to see that the box didn’t jump out and wow me. But after taking a minute to truly appreciate the relatively low-key design, it grew on me quite a bit. The outer box is graced with some original but very Giger-esque artwork, featuring the top of the Alien skull leading up into a vertical wall or sorts. The sides of the box feature cables and hoses that you might find on the Alien’s body, and the entire outer box is encased in a thin, semi-transparent sheet. Within this outer casing is the inner box that holds the Alien itself. The inner box is nothing spectacular – a solid black box with a die-cut outline of the Alien’s silhouette – but does a good job of holding the figure securely and safely. In what’s becoming a more common and increasingly useful feature, the figure fits snugly back into the box should you decide to forgo the display and keep it in storage. No obnoxious twisty ties, rubber bands or tape – it’s a quick few seconds and you’ve got the figure out for hands-on admiration.

Sculpt – 9/10

I could spend a day and a half going over every intricate detail that Hot Toys has given this piece of work, but let me just summarize but saying that it’s f-ing sick. The layered exoskeleton, the ribbed biomechanical workings, the ridges, the boney protrusions – even a non-Alien fan can appreciate the sheer amount of detail that is crammed into a 14″ tall piece of art. If I wasn’t a hardcore Alien fan, I’d probably look at this figure and think it was absolutely perfect. Flawless. The finest sculpt to ever be lumped into the “action figure” category. But because I am a life-long fan, I’m going to touch on the couple of things that other Alien geeks might notice. The first and foremost thing for me is the upper lip. It’s similar in style to the 1/4 scale bust producted by Hot Toys last year, and for some reason I could never place what it was that wasn’t right about it. Quite simply, when you look at a movie still from the 1979 movie you’ll see that the front ridge of the dome actually meets the very top of the Alien’s mouth. On this figure, there’s a little extra real estate from the upper lip to the lower part of the dome that shouldn’t be there if we wanted to call this representation 100% accurate. Second – and again keep in mind that this is me being my most anal and speaking solely as an Alien geek – is the four protruding spikes on his back. You see these displayed in varying ways from figural translation to figural translation, but no one has got it *quite* right yet. Hot Toys comes close, but they are aimed a bit more upward and diagonal than they appear to be in the film. But let’s get past all that and not lose sight of the fact that, despite these ridiculous nitpicks, this is one of the finest scuplts you’re going to see on any figure – period.

Functionally speaking, the sculpt does suffer from a couple of setbacks. Nearly the entire body is cast in a rubbery material that allows for a high degree of articulation without the unsightly pinned and hinged joints. The stringy jaw is, of course, cast in this pliable material to allow for the use of his inner jaw feature (which I’ll touch on later). However, the rubber is cast very thinly and overuse of the jaw feature can and no doubt will cause the rubber to snap if caution is not used. This also pertains to keeping the outer jaw extended for any period of time. The way the feature works, the tendons around the mouth are stretched very taught, and extended use could cause these tendons to separate. The jaw is also constructed in such a way that displaying the figure with his mouth completely closed is out of the queston. That to me is a major drawback, because the only time you’re going to see the mouth of the Alien open is when he’s set to rip his inner teeth into his next victim. So we’re more or less stuck with the middle ground of the jaw partially open – you can’t close it due to the functionality, but keep it all the way open and damage is imminent. Another issue I’ve encountered – and I’ll start this by saying that it’s again a little more nitpicky than I need to be – is the difficulty in keeping the tail “kink-free”. The tail is constructed with a pliable, wiry inner working that allows for nearly endless pose options, but the nature of the design is prone to hard bends rather than a smoothly-flowing curved appendage. This is something that can be worked out with a little effort, so those of us that have a little patience will no doubt not view this as a flaw.

Paint – 10/10

Joseph Tsang has helped produce an intricately accurate paint scheme for this version of the Alien, probably more so than many might realize. Casual observers more than likely will not see the shades and undertones in the Alien’s skin, nor the subtle appearance of a skull beneath that domed head of his. But for those of us that have seen off-camera images of the creature and the in-progress work done by designer H.R. Giger, it becomes obvious that Joseph and the Hot Toys crew have taken the time to study the same sources as we, the fans, have. The Alien has a natural dark tone that is highlighted by very slight accents of a rusty brown color found within his ridges and sinews and a light shade of gray used to highlight some of the flatter surfaces of his body. The dome is slightly covered in a smoky black border, helping to conceal the skull beneath but giving viewers just enough of a few to know it’s there. To go back to my nitpicky mode, I do have a slight issue with the way the teeth are painted. One of the most terrifying features of the Alien to me was the shiny, abrasive looking teeth that the Alien had. To me they were like large, freshly sharpened knives that could slice open a body with one swift stroke. The teeth on this Alien are done in the same fashion of other parts of his body, done is a dull gray color with rusty brown highlights. This change, whether it’s an oversight or a creative liberty, detracts a bit from the Alien’s menacing appearance. (As a side note, I wanted to give both the sculpt and the paint a 9.5 out of 10, but since I’m limited to whole numbers I compromised by giving the sculpt a 9 and the paint a 10.)

Articulation – 8/10

This is where the Big Chap falls a little bit short compared to some other 12″ releases. The figure has all the articulation that you’d find in a comparable figure, but there are some unexpected limitations in movement. The start with the positives – the head has a full range of motion in all directions and can be positioned in pretty much any way a human head could, and the waist is ball jointed, which again gives the Alien as much posability as the average human. The elbows and knees are both double-jointed, which offers an amazing range of angular motion, and the hands and ankles both have ball pins that allow for more than adequate movement. Where the figure suffers is at the hips and shoulders. The shoulders are not hidden beneath the rubber outfit, and are attached using a ball-joint method rather than a ball-hinge. This several limits outward movement to around a 15 degree angle. The hips have a similar lack of motion, but these are limited by the rubber suit rather than the simple joint style. You could make the Alien do the splits…if you wanted to split the crotch of his suit in half. Furthermore, the arms and legs don’t offer any kind of rotation, which limits some of the posability to a vertical-only nature. I guess Aliens probably aren’t supposed to cross their arms, but the ability to do so would have been an added value.

Accessories – 8/10

The inclusion of accessories with this figure is really nothing more than a bonus. I would have been perfectly happy (and not surprised in the least) if it didn’t include anything extra. But low and behold, collectors get a couple of treats to go along with the figure. First and most importantly is a spare set of hands. The hands that come attached to the figure are very straight, unposed and, despite having bendable fingers, are actually the inferior of the two pair included. The alternate pair is cast in a more solid material but are cast in a “clawing” position. The hands were very easy to switch out, an added bonus. In addition to the hands, Big Chap comes with a solid base and a cardboard backdrop simulating a Nostromo corridor. The base is finely detailed and very sturdy but doesn’t act as a “stand” for the figure, so if you’re looking for something to support your figure you’ll be disappointed. The backdrop is a decent inclusion – the print is pretty good quality and its done in a sturdy stock of cardboard. I don’t display it with my figure, however, the personal reason being that none of my other figures have backdrops, so it really doesn’t fit in with the rest of the collection. In addition, there’s no way to attach the cardboard to the Nostromo base – the bottom inch or so folds and rests under the base, and it relies on the weight of the figure to keep it flat. This probably could have been executed a little bitter with slots in the base or some other connector.

Play/Pose – 10/10

The figure might have its limits in movement, but they are minimal and let’s be honest – wouldn’t a guy in a rubber suit have similar issues? Any hindrances aside, I have been able to emulate many of the poses that the Alien assumed in the movie with little problem, and with little fear of it falling over face first. The figure has many self-included bonuses like the inner teeth, the base and the switch-out hands, so collectors are offered many different display options.

Closing Thoughts

To put it quite simply, this figure has become my favorite action figure of all time. Hot Toys did a bang-up job in creating the best version of the Ridley Scott/H.R. Giger creation they possibly could. A few retailers still have this in the sub-$140 range, but if other Alien figures are any indication they won’t stay at that price in the future. If you’re an Alien fan or even just a fan of 1:6 scale in general, do yourself a favor and add one of these to your collection.

MY RATING:

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Where to buy:
Things From Another World – $134.99
Corner Store Comics – $134.99
Big Bad Toy Store – $139.99