Set 200 years after the events of the third film, Alien: Resurrection sees the return of Ellen Ripley as a clone and human Xenomorph hybrid. Military scientist use old samples of Ripley’s blood, and mix in DNA from the Xenomorphs to create cloned Ripley that is impregnated with a queen. Once they are successful with Ripley 8, the Alien Queen is used to birth a series of new Xenomorphs that can be studied. With Xenomorph DNA running through her veins, Ripley 8 is stronger, faster and psychically linked to the Alien threat. At the end of the film, the Alien Queen births a completely new hybrid, now known as the Newborn Alien.
After tackling most of the other Alien creatures, and many of the non-Xenomorphs from throughout the franchise, NECA is now releasing a series of figures based on Alien: Resurrection. The assortment will include Ripley 8, the Resurrection Xenomorph, a repaint of their Alien Queen, and a Deluxe Newborn Alien. Today I have a photo gallery and review of the Newborn Alien. Our friends at NECA have supplied us with the figure. Check out the update after the jump.
Alien: Resurrection – Newborn Alien Deluxe 7″ Scale Figure
Pros
- Very detailed sculpt
- Highly articulated
- Translucent skin looks great
- Nice use of paint throughout
- Figure stand included
Cons
- Unable to stand on its own for long
Overall
The Newborn Alien comes packaged in a flapped window box, similar to NECA’s Ultimate Figures. The figure is very tall, and is curled up a bit to fit inside the box. The Newbron is held on the plastic tray with a few twist ties. The figure includes a display stand. No interchangeable parts or other accessories are included here.
The concept and design of the Newborn Alien is very divisive among fans of the franchise. There are those that love the design, and those who are not fans of either the film or the Newborn itself. For transparency, I will fully admit that I am not a fan of either the movie, or the creature. I’d probably rank Resurrection at the bottom, if I were to rank the films.
The look is wildly different compared to most traditional Xenomorphs we’ve seen in the franchise. In the film, the Newborn is much taller than, with thin elongated arms and legs. The exoskeleton looks far more like a fusing of eggshell colored skin and bone, as compared to the dark armored look of most Xenomorphs. The face has far more human characteristics than others, with a human-like skull (complete with puppy dog eyes) merged with the dome of an Alien. There are also other human-like qualities to the concept, such as a human chest and female genitalia.
NECA’s take on the Newborn is pretty much spot on to the film. The sculpt work is excellent, with grotesque details throughout. The figure is cast in a semi-translucent plastic which has a slight green-ish yellow tint to the white. There are darker brown washes over the figure, which fill in the sculpted details, and splashes of red where appropriate. The figure has roughly 30 points of articulation, and a great range of motion. The head is ball articulated where it meets the base of the “neck”, the elbows are double jointed, the torso is ball jointed, and the legs are segmented to in two spots. For what it is, the figure looks great.
An all black version of the Dynamic Action Figure Stand is included here, and you’re going to need it. The figure is very top heavy, due to the thinner leg design and the harder plastic used here. While most of the Xenomorph designs feature sleek torsos, the Newborn has a bloated mid-section that makes balancing a bit tough. While shooting the gallery, I could not keep the figure standing more than a few seconds at a time. The weight would eventually cause the thin ankles and/or knee joints to give out, and it’s not that those areas felt loose. I would not recommend trying to display the figure would the stand. You can clip the claw around the waist or slide one of the claw parts under the articulation cut in its back. Those seemed to offer the best stability.
For fans of Alien: Resurrection, I think this is a definite purchase. While it’s tough to stand, it’s a highly detailed figure, with a lot of articulation, and nice paint apps that represents the film well. Check out some select photos below and the full gallery after that.
CompaniesNECA
CharactersNewborn Alien
Scale7 Inch