NECA Alien 3 Ripley Review

NECA Aliens Series 8 Ripley (Alien 3) Review

I believe Alien 3 gets a bad rap.  It isn’t the greatest movie in the Alien franchise (also far from the worst!), and  it certainly has its share of problems like the unbelievably bad CGI.  However, if Alien 3 is on I will never turn it off.  I consider fan reception to the film very similar to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.  To this day people still hold the opening reveals against them.  Which is a shame because both the movie and video game (the game is basically a movie too) are excellent stories that start out going completely against the fans’ expectations.

Ripley is the headliner of the eighth NECA Aliens wave.  Her wave-mates include the Weyland-Yutani Commando, a reissue of the Dog Alien, and a silver repaint of the Dog Alien.  For the most part I’ve been avoiding the creature releases and sticking to the humans.  The Dog was one of the few I actually held on to, so I felt no need to grab another from this wave.

The figure comes packed with a healthy helping of accessories including two alternate arms, a flashlight, and a flare.  The alternate arms make for two very different looks, either jacketed long sleeves or sleeveless tank top.  They peg in at the shoulder and I’ve had no issue with them being too loose or tight.  The only issue I do have with them is that both of the arm options have gloved hands.  It would have been great if the sleeved arms had the gloved hands and the sleeveless arms included bare hands.  And to take it a step further the hands being swappable would have been a sweet bonus.

NECA Alien 3 Ripley Review

Her right hand is the only one capable of holding her accessories.

The articulation scheme is pretty much the same as past Ripley figures in the NECA Aliens line.  The jacketed arms probably have a little less range at the elbows, but both arms can achieve about a 90 degree angle.  Her hips have a great range of motion.  The only issue with that is at some angles the overlay used to cover the hip joints can look a bit thick and almost like a diaper.  That effect is kind of movie accurate because she is wearing prison-issued sweatpants, and they don’t really look flattering on anybody. I take that back, anything is flattering on Charles Dance!

Ripley’s likeness is pretty good.  We’ve had four versions of the character so far spanning the first three Alien films (and a Kenner tribute variant which technically makes it five).  The likeness on the Alien 3 Ripley is leagues better than the jumpsuit Alien version.  However, it isn’t quite as good as the series five Aliens release.  So as far as movie accuracy goes I’d rate my Ripley figures from best to worst: Aliens, Alien 3, and then Alien.  Which is weird because that’s the exact opposite order of my favorite Alien movies.

All in all I think NECA did a terrific job with this version of Ripley.  There was the opportunity to squeeze this out into two releases, but they opted not to by including the optional arms.  My only real complaint would be more hand options.  Preferably, a set of hands sans gloves and maybe a gripping left hand.  As far as I’m concerned, Ripley is a “must buy.”  Just like Dutch was a “must purchase” for the Predator line; I’m a huge fan of those iconic lead characters.  At the $20 price point this is a very easy and satisfying impulse buy.

NECA Alien 3 Ripley Review

Ripley is currently hitting online stores like Amazon and Entertainment Earth.

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4 thoughts on “NECA Aliens Series 8 Ripley (Alien 3) Review”

  1. Great-looking figure. I might finally pick one of these up — it’s not my favourite movie in the series but it was a great look for the character.

  2. …nice review and pics. This figure looks amazing and can’t wait to get it in my hands (hopefully will arrive on time for my birthday!)

    I’d like to point out however that the movie does not use CGI for the Alien effects except for the cracking effect on the dome just before it explodes. What you see is just bad composing of the rod puppet onto the scenes.

    1. Oh wow, I was not aware of that! I’d always assumed when the dog was running around it was just bad CGI, thank you for clearing that up!

  3. Alien 3 only has 1 CG shot, the superheated some cracking under the sprinklers. The rest is a badly composited rod puppet mixed in with a decent animatronic full size costume.

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