Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Review: S.H.Monsterarts Alien Warrior
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Bandai |
| Origin Series: | Alien vs. Predator |
| Scale: | Non-scale |
| Height: | Approximately 17cm tall |
| Original Price: | 5,775 Yen |
| Packaging: |
The Alien Warrior comes packed in a well designed box where you see details of the Alien in front while neon green "blood" splats are seen else; additionally, what's nice about the box is that at the back, there is a supporting english text to the japanese ones that basically speaks of the figure's highlights while showing the usual product shots.
| Details: |
Before I get to superbly praising this thing, I'd like to first emphasize on how well the head was made, the dome is clearly made of a very translucent black plastic which beautifully shows the details of what's inside without any problems.
Another detail that I really appreciate is the inclusion of the Alien Warrior's inner mouth, and just look at the amount of detail.
Going to the general detail, the Alien Warrior receives a high level of crafting detail all over the mold, the details are definitely crisp and would just make you "wow" when you see it first hand; clearly a sign that Bandai really went all out with this (for every Monsterarts probably). I have no complaints for the details as even the torso area's paint is shown to have some yellow-ish weathering in it. To finally seal the deal with this mold, a majority of the Alien Warrior's joints are well hidden that you won't actually notice that the joints are existing except on closer look.
Accessories
Accessory-wise, the Alien Warrior doesn't come with much; only 2 extra pairs of hands, an egg and a chestbuster (both of which are useless btw but still a welcomed addition), and finally, customized Tamashii stand.
| Articulation Points: |
The figuarts engineering has been well adapted by the Alien Warrior while also taking some liberties in making use of unique joints for the mold. Starting with the neck, it's articulation lies at the bottom part making use of a ball joint but due to the sculpting, it allows the head to be tilted all the way up so you can do the crouching poses with ease while also allowing slight sideways tilting.
The arms adapts a more similar and usual SHF style by having a hinge that can swivel at connecting points at the shoulders though bicep can move a little to none. Though only having a single hinge at the elbows, the bending capability is superb thanks to the cuts provided in the mold and to make up for the stiff biceps, you can fully swivel the forearms using the elbow joints' connectors. The wrist retains the usual SHF joint as well.
Going to the body, there are ball joints on both the torso and the waist, both of which can be turned sideways to a decent extent but the torso joint can also be bent inwards or outwards to a good degree as well. It's also nice to mention that even if you bend the torso outwards you won't see any mold cuts but instead see delicious detailing on the Warrior.
Going the legs, the hips use ball joints which allow you to fully rotate the legs (yes, a full 360 movement), though sideways split ain't that grand as well as the thigh swivel, it's pretty much ok since Alien Warriors are usually seen in really absurd splits anyway. Knee joints make use of double jointed hinges which allows a good range of bending. The Ankles make use of a detailed hinge which can also swivel at connection points; additionally, one of the most notable thing in the Warrior's joints is the fact that each of its toes are articulated as well!
Lastly, the tail is ridiculously well articulated as well as a majority of portions of the tail are jointed (though I'm not quite if they are all ball joints, definitely some of them are) though a bummer is that the tail usually cannot hold its pose due to weight so you'll just have to make use of the stand for that since the Alien Warrior can stand with ease anyway.
| Poseability: |
Because the Warrior is either seen in action poses or crawling poses, the articulation engineering that Bandai did for it clearly brings the character justice an articulated justice.
The joints definitely allows the Warrior to be posed in several dyanmic poses with ease and has definitely proven to be one of the most poseable figures in my collection.
The Alien Warrior can definitely serve as a creature of death or as a formidable adversary when interacted with other figure lines. And they can also serve as mooks if you'd like since they come in numbers anyway.
| Final Thoughts: |
The Alien Warrior is my introduction piece to the S.H.Monsterarts line (since I'm not a Godzilla fan) and it definitely left a good impression on me. With superb sculpting and top tier articulation, the Alien Warrior is definitely one of the best articulated figures I've seen in a long while. While the accessory count is low, I don't think there are any others needed since they've been generous enough to even include a stand and even included two more even if those prove quite useless. Definitely a highly recommended piece for any AVP/Alien franchise fans (and I myself am not, I just like the design haha).
And for the source of this magnificent release, I got it from CWToys yet again!
I give this Warrior a deserving 5 out of 5.
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