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Here's HOT TOYS' newest addition to their AVP line -- the ALIEN WARRIOR 16" (really 14.5") articulated model kit I just picked up from TOY HUNTER in Hong Kong.
PRICE AS TEST: HK$880 (roughly US$113),
WEIGHT: The box weighs a ton
DESCRIPTION: Requires some assembly
So, the packaging is way over-done just like HOT TOYS' entire MOVIE MASTERPIECE line. For those who got box sets from SFM -- you know that having the original box shipped versus repacking HOT TOYS model kits in more sensible packaging saves more than half of the heft. By now, everyone is familiar with the cold black/blue hologram design implemented by HOT TOYS. There is an outter slip over the box, which has a swing-open design with velcro enclosure, of which when pulled opened reveals the xenomorph from the left side.
PACKAGING: 10/10 unless you care to save shipping cost.
Once you remove the content enclosed within the vac. formed clear plastic liner, you can see the attached assembly instruction. Upon closer examination -- I simply winged the assembly without looking at the instructions. When compared with HOT TOYS' USCM models or the Predator models -- it's quite straight forward to assemble the ALIEN WARRIOR. Taking the xeno out for the first time reveals a soft (very soft) silicone skin over the torso, and to the touch one can feel the very solid polymer internal frame underneath with articulated ball joints, which allows for a relatively limited range of bending motion, especially when compared to the human models.
HOT TOYS chosed to leave the RHS of limbs off of their "model kit" (done for licensing stipluations) for your assembly, which requires you to also attach the left hand & foot, as well as 5 x spikes in the back. The flexible tales is also removable, but comes already attached to the xeno body.
Now, a good tip I can give you is to take the loose parts and dip them for a couple of minutes in boiling water. This allows the ball joints to snap in place much easier. Getting the spikes in their right holes took a little bit of guess work, but easily figured out w/o referencing the said instructions (but I recommend that you do read through them).
Here is the big guy fully assembled & ready for action! It's interesting to remark that both my wife & child hated this figure. My wife's comments were that how could money be spent on such ugly things.
Here he is extending the inner jaw for a first yawn ..
Ever since HOT TOYS announced this model set, the big question regarding this particular model has been .. how the heck does the inner work. Well, wait no further to have the big secret revealed. There is a push button on the back of the skull where a thumb can push the sprin-loaded inner jaw to full extension and it will click in place fully extended. And yes .. the lower outter jaw is hinged and automatically drops down and out of the way of the inner jaw when the button is push up & forward to extend the inner jaw.
Testing the posability of the xenomorph reveals that with the huge tail and narrow hips, the figure is top heavy and prone to fall over to either side. But I managed to get the xeno to hold the ELVIS STAGE BOW POSE in balance without having to lean the figure against something.
And even though the bendy hands only have 4 digits, here ALIEN WARRIOR demonstrates that he can wrap those super long fingers around a object as small as tghe diameter on a 1/6 scale shopping cart handle.
Further testing reveals that with some difficulty, the xeno can be made to hold even a knife (so he can definitely perform the Bishop knife trick as well ).
And just to show the full range of articulation, I got the xeno to sit in a 1/6 chair designed for human models (on loan courtesy of my 9 year old daughter), although the pesky tail had to be removed. Lastly by the judge of his dietary preferences .. we now know that xenomorphs also don't like corn bread. In fact -- they prefer healthy though relatively bland Japanese breakfast foods.
BODY: 8/10 (Very nice mix of silicone & polymer materials. Articulated motion severely lacking. Found the left arm ball joint to be very loose fitting after the brief articulation test. This will have to be looked into and I smell a modification just to tighten those joints up).
VALUE: 7/10 (Always a pricey proposition to acquire HOT TOYS products regardless of genre. Good to finally see an "action figure" though one with very limited articulation for my taste in 1/6 scale).
OVERALL: 9/10 (Excellent (over-)packaging as always. Unique design with mix of soft & hard plastics. Lack of articulation given the nature of the beast, and faulty loose ball joints are of some concern).
PRICE AS TEST: HK$880 (roughly US$113),
WEIGHT: The box weighs a ton
DESCRIPTION: Requires some assembly
So, the packaging is way over-done just like HOT TOYS' entire MOVIE MASTERPIECE line. For those who got box sets from SFM -- you know that having the original box shipped versus repacking HOT TOYS model kits in more sensible packaging saves more than half of the heft. By now, everyone is familiar with the cold black/blue hologram design implemented by HOT TOYS. There is an outter slip over the box, which has a swing-open design with velcro enclosure, of which when pulled opened reveals the xenomorph from the left side.
PACKAGING: 10/10 unless you care to save shipping cost.
Once you remove the content enclosed within the vac. formed clear plastic liner, you can see the attached assembly instruction. Upon closer examination -- I simply winged the assembly without looking at the instructions. When compared with HOT TOYS' USCM models or the Predator models -- it's quite straight forward to assemble the ALIEN WARRIOR. Taking the xeno out for the first time reveals a soft (very soft) silicone skin over the torso, and to the touch one can feel the very solid polymer internal frame underneath with articulated ball joints, which allows for a relatively limited range of bending motion, especially when compared to the human models.
HOT TOYS chosed to leave the RHS of limbs off of their "model kit" (done for licensing stipluations) for your assembly, which requires you to also attach the left hand & foot, as well as 5 x spikes in the back. The flexible tales is also removable, but comes already attached to the xeno body.
Now, a good tip I can give you is to take the loose parts and dip them for a couple of minutes in boiling water. This allows the ball joints to snap in place much easier. Getting the spikes in their right holes took a little bit of guess work, but easily figured out w/o referencing the said instructions (but I recommend that you do read through them).
Here is the big guy fully assembled & ready for action! It's interesting to remark that both my wife & child hated this figure. My wife's comments were that how could money be spent on such ugly things.
Here he is extending the inner jaw for a first yawn ..
Ever since HOT TOYS announced this model set, the big question regarding this particular model has been .. how the heck does the inner work. Well, wait no further to have the big secret revealed. There is a push button on the back of the skull where a thumb can push the sprin-loaded inner jaw to full extension and it will click in place fully extended. And yes .. the lower outter jaw is hinged and automatically drops down and out of the way of the inner jaw when the button is push up & forward to extend the inner jaw.
Testing the posability of the xenomorph reveals that with the huge tail and narrow hips, the figure is top heavy and prone to fall over to either side. But I managed to get the xeno to hold the ELVIS STAGE BOW POSE in balance without having to lean the figure against something.
And even though the bendy hands only have 4 digits, here ALIEN WARRIOR demonstrates that he can wrap those super long fingers around a object as small as tghe diameter on a 1/6 scale shopping cart handle.
Further testing reveals that with some difficulty, the xeno can be made to hold even a knife (so he can definitely perform the Bishop knife trick as well ).
And just to show the full range of articulation, I got the xeno to sit in a 1/6 chair designed for human models (on loan courtesy of my 9 year old daughter), although the pesky tail had to be removed. Lastly by the judge of his dietary preferences .. we now know that xenomorphs also don't like corn bread. In fact -- they prefer healthy though relatively bland Japanese breakfast foods.
BODY: 8/10 (Very nice mix of silicone & polymer materials. Articulated motion severely lacking. Found the left arm ball joint to be very loose fitting after the brief articulation test. This will have to be looked into and I smell a modification just to tighten those joints up).
VALUE: 7/10 (Always a pricey proposition to acquire HOT TOYS products regardless of genre. Good to finally see an "action figure" though one with very limited articulation for my taste in 1/6 scale).
OVERALL: 9/10 (Excellent (over-)packaging as always. Unique design with mix of soft & hard plastics. Lack of articulation given the nature of the beast, and faulty loose ball joints are of some concern).
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