NECA Aliens S3 Dog Alien Review

Wait, so is this review for the Dog Alien or Keaton Batman?

New Aliens are here!  In some surprising news I decided to check out the local FYE last Saturday, and I was shocked to arrive upon a set of Aliens series three sitting on the pegs.  I honestly wasn’t expecting to find them so soon.  My intention was to get a look at the Queen since I hadn’t purchased her yet (she wasn’t there).  Instead I instantly plopped down the cash to take all three members of the third series home.

Series three doesn’t have any crossover within the wave since all three figures are from different films: Bishop (Aliens), Kane in Nostromo suit (Alien), and the Dog Alien (Alien3).  I think it’s a fair mix and will bridge well into a very Alien focused next series.  Of course I need to remind myself to pick up that Alien Queen for that ultimate holiday toy overdose.

NECA Aliens Series 3 Dog Alien Review

The Dog Alien or “Runner” is probably one of the more beloved Aliens from the series despite the Alien3 movie having a very mixed response.  I’ve always loved the film and I think time has been kind to the third Alien movie.  With every sequel and spinoff it was made quite clear that things can and will get dramatically worse.  In retrospect killing Hicks and Newt wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the questionable decisions that went into Resurrection or the AvP movies.  It’s also worth mentioning that the “Assembly Cut” of Alien3 is pretty strong in its own right.

Very similar to the Xenomorph Warriors introduced in the first wave, NECA took this as an opportunity to sculpt an all new, fully articulated alien.  There are no shared parts between the two.  Everything is new.  For what it’s worth I also think that the Dog Alien has slightly more sturdy material which could be a good sign for anyone who had quality control issues with the warriors.  I ended up buying a rainbow of different colored aliens and did not run into any breakage.  However, I can’t deny that quite a few friends of mine had some broken Xenos.  The Dog Alien feels like a much more solid action figure.  The hips, especially, feel a lot stronger.  He’s not my McFarlane Dog whose hands snapped off shortly after I freed him from his package. Well, technically that was my experience with most everything “McFarlane.”

NECA Aliens Series 3 Dog Alien Review

Having a quadruped posture makes him ridiculously fun to pose.  I was surprised to find out that the Dog Alien comes with a display stand for posing.  I’m also extremely thankful because while the stand is simple it works great to allow him to hit some poses I’d never be able to achieve otherwise.  It’s a very simple, non-intrusive clear stand that clips around its lower waist.  If you absolutely do not want to use the stand the Dog’s tail is very long and made of strong bendable material so it can be used to help balance the figure as well.  However, a lot of the forward poses on all four legs will still be tough.  The arms are thin and not made with the intention to hold him up.

NECA Aliens Series 3 Dog Alien Review

I like the Dog Alien a lot.  I was impressed with the engineering of the original Xenomorph Warrior, and I feel as though they topped that effort.  He’s built better, stronger, and comes with a stand.  On top of all that he costs less than $20 to buy (I paid $18.99 each at the FYE where I found series three).  He’s by far my favorite of the wave, so I definitely wanted to get a review up prior to year-end.  Hopefully I can tackle Bishop and Kane before the “Best of the Year” lists have to be done.

NECA Aliens Series 3 Dog Alien Review

So where can you get yourself a Dog Alien?  Well as I mentioned FYE (on the east coast at least) is starting to get them, and I have also heard of west coast Toys “R” Us having stock as well.  It won’t get to you by Christmas, but Amazon also has this bugger if desperation starts to set in.

NECA Aliens Series 3 Dog Alien Review

[adsense]

 

1 thought on “NECA Aliens S3 Dog Alien Review”

  1. With every sequel and spinoff it was made quite clear that things can and will get dramatically worse.

    In terms of storytelling, yes, certainly. As for “Alien Cubed” specifically, whatever the merits of David Fincher as a director, it was in essence a needless retread of the first film brought about largely by executive meddling.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top