- Manufacturer: Kaiyodo.
- Release: 2010
Along with some blind box merchandise and other items, this Revoltech item is probably best known of Kaiyodo’s range of ALIEN figures. Released in 2010, this item measures around 6 inches in height and possesses an average range of articulation.
This figure along with an abundance of accessories is packaged inside a sturdy box littered with Japanese and features a gate fold flap fastened to it. The gatefold covering the front of the box is used to great affect and increases the presentation of the packaging dramatically. Opening the gatefold reveals the contents of the box neatly tucked away behind a clear window.
Out of the box, this is a well detailed figure but at the same time it’s rather basic. It can do a couple of things other ALIEN figures can’t do like hunch over into an arching posture but at the same it’s a small item and lacks weight, substance and confidence needed to give it the poise it should perform with ease. The joints are all there at critical points you would anticipate them to be and they do work well but the ball and hinge joints are also painfully obvious and spoil the presentation.
And this is representational of all this figures merits and issues. It would appear for every virtue this item has – it also has a detraction.
You’ll find the merits found on this figure are counteracted upon almost every turn. There’s a neat little display stand – but is has no pegs to hold the figure in place – just one for the neat little piece of signage you can affix to the stand. There’s a lot to like here but at the same time it’s all offset by issues like this.
Like many ALIEN figures, this one has a hinged jaw and the tongue can be migrated forward with a little manipulation. A fine addition is the small tab under the head that can be used to move the tongue forward. Unfortunately, in order to use it you have to open the mouth and by doing so restricts access to the tongue’s tab making it difficult to use. A frustrating outcome. You can see the tab in the photo below, just in front of the throat. Open those jaws and that tab becomes difficult to use.
Such a cool sculpt of the figure and yet it’s difficult to genuinely like it. It’s got some neat ratcheted ball joints throughout the hips, legs and ankles but I found it was difficult to set a pose for this figure so that it didn’t fall over. This Revoltech figure is constantly toppling if you don’t use the tail to provide a third point of contact on the ground or carefully balance it as there is no provision on the display stand to anchor the feet in place to prevent it from falling over. The constantly falling also meant the loose carapace kept detaching from the head and potentially becoming lost.
The tail looks great and has a wire core but it’s not capable of bending much outside of the default position. It’s very annoying. I want to like this figure, but each time I pick it up and manipulate it, I just can’t find it as satisfying as it should be.
This is a lanky, lean interpretation of the Alien. At 6 foot 10 inches tall, the actor, Bolaji Badejo was a tall, thin man and this aspect of the Alien is well represented here. This is especially apparent at the abdomen where the figure looks unduly narrow. That’s about as accurate as you’ll see one of these figures get in this regard but the presentation is spoiled by the bulbous attachment of the legs at the hips. The wrists and elbows have similar ugly joints that detract from an otherwise well detailed form.
Paintwork on the figure is at the minimum you can expect it to be. The head is painted under the smoky carapace in the usual bony hue. The teeth, tongue, finger nails and toe nails are all painted silver. There are other highlights present throughout the figure but it ends about there.
It’s one great thing about the Alien character. It really doesn’t need much in the way of paint. It’s dark and highly detailed. Just light playing across its surface is enough to make it impressive. Paint? Pah! Who needs paint when the surface detailing is so amazing, anyway. In this regard, this figure is no different.
The figure comes with a great range of accessories. A neat little facehugger fits into an open egg in its attack position. There’s no articulation on the 8 fingered ambulatory penis but it is well detailed. As is the egg from which it has abruptly emerged. There’s the aforementioned display stand and a couple of other items I guess are of significance to collectors of Kaiyodo products, a plastic coin and a small box.
I have no idea what the box is for – I am guessing it’s used to keep your collection of 10 point Revoltech plastic coins safe and secure. I’m out for the count as far as speculating on that one goes.
Over all, it’s an average figure. It’s not bad – but it’s certainly not great. It falls over a lot and the conspicuous joints throughout the body spoil an otherwise excellent presentation.
This is a reasonably common and still easy to find figure. Kaiyodo also released a clear version of this item. The entire figure and both pieces of the facehugger and egg accessories were all cast in clear plastic and the treatment is a great variant on this figure.
SCORE: 6/10
An abundance of accessories is welcome but their presence doesn’t change the fact this is an average figure with little of outstanding merit to recommend it. The gate folded box completely adorned in Japanese is super cool, though.
Read more HIDEOUS PLASTIC reviews.
