[scarrviper]

Well, my Target received 2 of these this weekend, and unfortunately both ended up having QC issues.

The first one I got had a deformed/poorly molded upper left arm, which is of course the arm you can't see in the box. The shoulder had a massive crescent shaped divot in it, and the details on the arm were very shallow and soft with almost no depth. It also had a deformed foot, and most of the joints were stuck. Extremely stiff elbows, knees and mid torso. I didn't even bother with the hair drier since I already decided pretty quickly that it had to go back. A shame really, because everything else was perfect.

So, I took it right back to the store, returned it, and got the second one. The second one wound up being worse than the first. The dome at the front (which I could not see in the box), was attached poorly and had a huge spot in the front that should not be there. The hips were also crooked for some reason and could not be adjusted. The same joints as before were also stiff. I returned it this evening. I'd rather keep my $30+ and wait for more to arrive later in the year than settle for these problems. I photograph my figures regularly and these kinds of defects are magnified in photos and would drive me nuts.

I'm pretty bummed as this was my first Neca purchase of the year and I had high hopes for this one. I've been waiting patiently for Neca to bring us an improved "big chap" 1979 Alien since I picked up series 4 in 2015. Still some of my favorite Neca figures that I own. This has been a hole in my collection for close to 5 years and I couldn't wait to finally have the original xeno to accompany my Ripleys. Unfortunately it looks like my wait will have to continue a bit longer.

Now there are positives, I don't want this to be an entirely negative post.

QC nightmares and frustration aside, I was impressed with this release. The paintjob is great, the new articulation is a huge improvement, the sculpt seems better. Details like the teeth seemed crisper and more defined. The limbs weren't warped by the packaging. The box is huge. The new egg is spectacular, I love how it includes the base with the tentacles/roots. The new facehugger and chestburster are also excellent, both look screen accurate. These accessories all seemed to have perfect QC compared to the figure itself.

I apologize for this long book of a post, I just needed to vent after having some terrible luck. Hopefully I find a good one later in the year because I refuse to give up on this.