NECA Toys is now offering their Aliens Series 13 line-up, which is a highly anticipated release that is inspired and updated from the classic Kenner line that was released in 1992. This wave includes Space Marine Sgt. Apone, Snake Alien and Scorpion Alien. Each of the figures come packaged on a classic Kenner style blister card, with a mini comic included with each. This is one of the very best looking Kenner inspired line-ups that NECA has ever offered, and as you can see with the upgraded figure sculpts from the classic Kenner days, this wave has been one of the most fan-favorite line-ups in the Alien collection this year.
Thank you to NECA Toys for providing their Aliens Series 13 figures for review.
Availability: February 2019
The packaging for the figures features a homage to the classic Kenner figures of the early 1990’s, and each figure comes in a classic style blister card packaging. The artwork is nicely done and the back is updated with other Alien figures by NECA, as back in the day Kenner had offered this style with their own figures. All three figures include a character specific mini comic from Dark Horse comics.
Space Marine Sgt. Apone is the only human character in this wave, and the update to the vintage Kenner figure is nicely done and he fits in well with other Space Marine figures. Apone is sculpted and painted in his yellow tee shirt with torn off sleeves, green pants, a red cap, light grey boots and knee pads that are dirty, and nicely detailed. The shirt has the No Bugs words on it that is painted in green, and he has a harness with a mechanical arm down his right arm. The mechanical arm can articulate by sliding down his forearm, and you can still use the shoulder and elbow articulation on his arm. The mechanical parts are nicely done with some of great sculpted detail, and this is painted in grey with a silver wash over it. Apone includes heavy grenades and a rifle, which he can hold into both hands. On his back, there are two holes to mount the heavy grenades, and you can separate the explosive tops to attach bendable tubes to recreate the classic “mace” style grenades. You may have to play around with fitting these, but it does work out well and the tubes hold up the grenades.
Apone is also fully articulated, including a ball jointed head, ball hinged shoulders, swivel-hinged elbows, ball jointed wrists, ball jointed chest (this doesn’t really move as the harness blocks this articulation), ball jointed hips, double-hinged knees, and ball jointed ankles.
The Snake Alien features one of the most impressive Alien sculpts ever to be offered by NECA, which says a lot right there as every figure they make always looks great. The Snake Alien has the appearance of a Cobra Snake, with articulated spiked appendages along the edges of the body, and these have ball joints allowing them to be positioned in a number of different ways. While the upper body has the shape of a Cobra, the tail is thick, heavy, and bendable allowing you to position this part of the body anyway you like, and this part is the most important as it holds up the upper portion of the body. The amount of detailed sculpted on this figure is just mind boggling, with exoskeleton details throughout the body and tail. The head sculpt features an opening mouth and includes an extended jaw with two fanged mandibles that can be adjusted in a number of different ways. The inner jaw is double extended, and the spikes sticking that are connected to the extended piece can rotate. The paint applications on this figure are solid, with metallic green and copper deco that are a wash over the black, and the spikes are metallic purple.
The only key point of articulation here is the swivel hips, along with the ball jointed spiked appendages as mentioned above. The head sculpt doesn’t really move too much, but can swivel a little to each side.
The Scorpion Alien looks more of a standard Xenomorph, with a stinger on his tail and spikes on the top of his head, as well as on his elbows, arms, back and knees. On his back there are extended spikes sticking up over the back of his head. The figure features a nicely done sculpt, which is black with a metallic brown deco that really makes this figure shine. There is also some blue deco on the chest. His head sculpt includes an opening jaw with an extended mouth. The articulation is standard for a Xenomorph figure, and he is given a bendable tail that helps him stand, and he includes a ball jointed waist, double jointed knees and elbows, hinged fingers and toes.
Overall, Alien Series 13 is a solid wave with a great update to the Classic Kenner line-up of figures. The Kenner inspired figures are a personal favorite of ours and these always pay great homages while giving the characters modern toy sculpts. Fans of NECA’s Alien series will surely want to grab themselves a set, which goes great with the collection.
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