I promised I’d be back this week with more NECA Alien love and so here I am with a look at the second version of Ripley in NECA’s tribute to the original film. And yes, it’s that version of Ripley from that unforgettable scene at the end of the flick that simply had to get a figure. You know the one I’m talking about…

No, dammit not that one you freaks. It’s right after that one. But, hey… NECA, if you want to do a variant, I’d be down with that.

Ah, that’s the one. This is Ripley in the escape shuttle when she finds that she’s got an unwelcome hitchhiker and slowly retreats to the storage closet to slip on a Compression Suit and shoot out the window and blow that Xeno’sum’bitch into space. The packaging is the same as what we saw last time, so you know the drill. Impenetrable clam shell. Razor Blade. Intoxicating plastic fumes high. In other words: Pure NECA Bliss.

Just look at this suit! I briefly mentioned last time how much I dig the designs in this film, whether it be the sets or the costumes. This is a movie that not only gets the whole “used future” thing down perfectly, but every element of the designs feel like it has a purpose. NECA brought out all the great details in this suit that make it look both futuristic and strangely ancient at the same time. All that padding and stitching and cross-lacing in the sculpt take a figure that by design has very few paint apps and could have been horribly boring, and makes it something remarkable. The subtle variants in the white also help to pick out the details. The insignia on her butt cheek, and the teeny tiny markings on the gloves’ fingers are wonderful little touches.

The backpack features some subtle texturing and silver paint apps along with the red knobs that look like something off the furnace in my old house. It all adds to the charm of these suit designs. They almost have a DIY nature about them.

The portrait is good, although I don’t think it’s quite as strong as the one on Jumpsuit Ripley. The hair has been tweaked a bit to work with the costume. I still think she looks great with the helmet off. The detail in the shoulder pads is exquisite and those are positioned on flaps so that they don’t hinder the arm articulation hardly at all.

The helmet is a clever design in that it splits apart at the middle. To put it on you pop the head, seat the helmet into the track running around the neck, pop the head back on, and now you can position the head the way you want it before putting the top of the helmet on. There are two hoses running off the backpack. One plugs into the lower half of the helmet and the other to the upper half. The whole ensemble is a thoughtful design that works quite well. The extra windows on the top back of the helmet do a nice job letting light in and granting a nice view of the head sculpt inside.

The articulation on the figure is very serviceable. The arms have rotating hinges in the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and also include swivel cuts in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips and feature rotating hinges in the knees and ankles. There’s a ball joint in the waist and another in the neck. Obviously the suit would restrict the wearer’s movement and I think the figure reflects that pretty well. If anything, you probably get more movement in the hips than the suit probably allowed.

Accessories include another version of Jonesy the Cat! This one has him all wigged out with his back arched. Little extra like this is how we know NECA loves their fans.

Ripley also comes with the harpoon gun and two harpoons, one with the prongs closed and one with them open. Her right hand is sculpted to hold the gun. The harpoons socket right into the barrel of the gun.

The Compression Suit Ripley is another fantastic release in this line and it’s a tasty preview of the next two figures in the series that I’ll be opening. Yes, the wave also includes Dallas and Kane in their Compression Suits. And while it was a clever way for NECA to reuse the body and get their money’s worth out of the mold, I think the results are fantastic. But I’m getting ahead of myself, and I’ll save the rest of that talk for next week!