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.