Quote:
Originally Posted by SDguy
Wow, only 19 posts here... this thing got no love lol. Saw an unboxing video, and it looks pretty great, if you are into Alien comic stuff and have TONS of space.
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Is there anyone here who makes custom bases for situations like this? I really like that statue, but to be honest, the footprint of the base itself is my issue. Something simple and black that lets the statue itself stand out I'd much prefer.
(Edit: I might as well make this a full review)
I had no need for the exclusive version with the dead alien in one hand. I prefer the look of the monster rogue alien without anything in its hands. I don’t buy statues as investments, so I went with the normal collector's version.
The good:
The overall sculpt! It’s amazing what can be made in 3D modeling programs these days, which is how I assume this one was made. By hand it would be nigh impossible to achieve this level of deep detail and keep it symmetrical from left to right, at least in any reasonable timeframe. This statue has the classic alien biomechanical details, a feature that is missing from a lot of modern interpretations of the xenomorph. While this is a non-canon to the movie caste, it still looks like it belongs to part of the species due to the sweet biomechanical details, just a more powerfully built and more armored variant. Also, keep in mind that there wasn’t a lot to go off of from the original comic book that it appeared in, so the artist had to make a lot of these details as they went along, and they did a fantastic job. It is hard to quantify how much I like this sculpture overall.
Small nitpick - The lower Jaw could be a bit thicker and sturdier looking to be congruent with the rest of the powerful build.
The bad:
The bright red highlights harm the paint job. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I picked up this piece, but the bright highlights make it look incongruent with the xenomorph species, which it ought to look like it is still related to. Another poster said “toy-like,” and in bright lighting, those bright highlights give it that look. The overall dark purple of the rest of the statue is great. I might have gone a tad bit darker with the metallic claws, too, but that detracts from it less than the bright red highlights. Mine is displayed in a fairly medium-lighting area and never gets full sun, so the highlights are much less visible to me.
The ugly:
The base. I know some of you out there love the whole diorama deal. I don’t. I prefer statues, but since this is the only way anyone can buy a great statue of this monster alien, then it comes with an overly busy base. Now, ‘to be fair’, the base is well-made and highly detailed. The quality and artistic effort put into it is clearly there, BUT I don’t like dioramas in general, and the sculpt of this piece is good enough that eventually, I will have myself a simple black base that lets the statue portion, the main course, simply stand on its own without the busyness of the diorama. If you like big busy bases, then it’s a bonus for you, but for me, this is a negative.
Overall verdict:
I’m glad I bought it. I can live with the red highlights because I don’t display it under particularly bright light, and eventually I will replace and store the original base. I got number 099 of 100. I can definitely understand why the production was so limited, as a lot of people don’t like being non-canon alien variants. I buy something because it looks cool, and the sculpt is what seals the deal, despite my small gripes.
I have no interest in buying the Alien Queen companion piece to go with it. In the Dark Horse comic book and novelization (which was better), this rogue towered over the queen. Now, the companion queen statue is even larger than this, which, to me, changes an important part of the story and theme. The mad scientist, Dr. Kliest, who created the rogue, assumed it was impossible for it to lose based on its size and strength. That whole concept of assuming size and strength guarantee victory being demonstrated as wrong was important to the story. My other issue with the Queen companion piece is that its blue highlights are also too bright. I understand that was to give it a look congruent with the rogue, but that also makes the Queen then have a bit of that toy like quality. I also already have a nice queen from Sideshow, the one intended for the power loader fight, which has a nice simple base.
