NECA Portal 2 Atlas and P-Body Review

It's somehow fitting that it took so long for this review to come out, just like these figures.

A while back NECA revealed prototypes for the duo of portal gun wielding robots that would follow after their great Chell figure. It took a couple years, but eventually they released them as part of a limited shipment. Were they worth the wait? Read on and find out!

The packaging for both these figures is long gone. They come in standard NECA clamshells with the Portal 2 logo. Boring. To the figures!

Atlas

Atlas was the one I bought first, as he is the one I like playing as. The sculpt on this figure is simply fantastic. There are black pistons throughout the figure that actually work (as in, go in and out), and the paint brings out the details in the sculpt. While there is no shading, Atlas doesn't need it for the clean, white look of the Portal bots. Everything looks just as it did in the game, and NECA even said that they used 3D renders from Valve for both these figures.

Pretty lights

Atlas also features two LEDs: one in his body and one in the Portal gun. The only complaint I can find about them is that the LEDs probably hiked up the price a little ($24.99 each at TRU for these guys), which was the reason for my disappointment when I discovered:

THE ARTICULATION. Or lack thereof. Maybe it's just the design of these guys but Atlas is severely lacking in the articulation department. His shoulders seem like they are on a balljoint, but the central piston is actually glued in place, resulting in mine snapping off when I tried to move it. The legs, like the shoulders, are also on a series of pistons that renders the hips useless.  He has a hinge at the elbows and knees, and his head rotates 360 degrees. Atlas's wrists and thumbs are on balljoints, however, meaning he can hold his Portal gun relatively well (it is a little tough to get under the fingers though). 

Need a hand? 

All in all, Atlas is a pretty good display piece, but the horrid articulation won't satisfy anyone looking for an "action" figure.

"So why can't you move again?"

So after buying the rather disappointing Atlas, why did I buy P-Body, especially at that premium? Well, I had to complete the duo, and Atlas looked nice on the shelf...

P-Body

Sculpt and paintwise, P-Body is just as good as Atlas. Mine as a couple scratches from the factory, but that's a QC issue. He looks like he just jumped out of Portal 2, and that's not a bad thing. At all.

He also has nice LEDs in the Portal gun and his eye. Props to NECA for actually getting the colors of the lights right!

"But how's the articulation?" you ask, "Is P-Body a shiny, nonarticulated turd like Atlas?" Well, P-Body's anthropomorphic design lends itself better to articulation than Atlas, resulting in a slightly better figure. P-Body has swivels at the shoulders, hinged knees, elbows, ankles, and torso and balljoints in the wrists and thumbs. This results in more posing options, but the lack of hips still seriously limits these figures. It might be the design of the character, but I'd forgive some inaccuracies if they were able to work more articulation in somewhere.

I can pose!

Side note, the molds for the three Portal guns (Atlas's, P-Body's, and Chell's) are the same, and the only differences between the three are the paint and the LEDs. Nevertheless, the ASHPD still looks great.

So, Atlas and P-Body are both rather mediocre figures. Great sculpt, paint, and light-up feature, but sorely lacking articulation. They look very good together on the shelf as display pieces though, so if you're a hardcore Portal fan, I'd say go for it. Sadly, if you've been spoiled by NECA's recent offerings or superarticulated Japanese figures, you're in for a disappointment.

The Portal guns are still fun to mess with, though. 

NECA 1979 Alien "Big Chap" Review

NECA has been one of the best toy companies as of late, with its interaction with the fans, great figures, and even some cool licenses. I haven't picked up many of their figures, but when I saw the classic 1979 Alien I just had to pick it up.

I don't have a picture of the packaging, but it's just a standard NECA clamshell with a new "Alien" logo. But enough about that, on to the figure!

While NECA has released an Alien Warrior in Series 1, this figure is an all-new sculpt and apparently shares no parts with the Aliens version (I don't actually own the figure, so take NECA's word for it). The sculpt is fantastic, with great little details all throughout the body and especially the head, which has some great detail in the neck area. Moreover, the hands have six fingers (unlike the Aliens versions, which have talonlike fingers) and the feet are more humanlike as well. 

The paint work is simple, but it works very well. The fingertips and toes are painted silver, but there is a little bleeding on my sample. Throughout the figure there is a light grey/brown shading that brings out all the sculpted detail nicely. 

One thing of note is the dome. I've seen various samples ranging from a clear dome to a completely opaque dome for the head. I prefer it a little translucent so you can see the creepy skull underneath, but I'm sure you can find a head based on your preferred look. While we're talking about the head, you can also pull out the inner mouth, which has some sculpted detail and is painted in a cream color. Mine was stuck out of the packaging, but it's just a QC issue and it eventually worked with enough pulling. 

The articulation is good, but there are a couple flaws. First, the joints: there is a balljoint in the head, balljoints and swivels in the shoulders, hinges at the elbows, and a wrist swivel/hinge. The Alien has a great diaphragm joint with a good range of motion, balljointed and swivel thighs, double jointed knees, toe hinges, ankle swivels, and a bendy tail. Yes, ankle swivels, not rockers. This makes the figure harder to pose in wide stances and also creates balancing issues. Additionally, I wish there had been double jointed elbows. The Alien Warrior has double jointed elbows, but sadly this classic one does not. Another minor gripe is that the left knee on my sample has gotten more and more loose, but again, QC issue. You can also remove one of the back spines so that head can move farther back, but this creates a gaping hole in his upper back and you can usually just move the head around it anyway.

NECA's figures are in a 7 inch scale, so the Alien will look good next to NECA's other figures (such as the Predator), but it won't work as well with Marvel Legends. It's also worth noting that when straightened out, the Alien stands around 9 inches tall.

A classic battle with classic figures

All in all, this is a good figure. The sculpt and paint are all top notch and accurate, but the few articulation and QC issues bring down what could have otherwise been a perfect Alien figure. As is though, it is definitely worth buying at the $17-20 pricepoint, and shouldn't be that hard to find.