NECA Alien: Ellen
Ripley Compression Suit Review

Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew, Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas, are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.Ellen Ripley, Alien (1979)

NECA has been doing amazing things right at the edge of my collector’s notice these last few years. Seriously, I wish I wasn’t so hung up on Barbarians & Superheroes because I’d like to give them more of the toy budget than I do. I do collect most of their amazing video game line, some of the more colorful Predators, etc. but I look at what they’re doing with Alien and I want to go more in than I do. I try not to because I don’t *love* the Alien franchise, I merely like it. I don’t think that I need the crew of the Nostromo in action figure form, but I swear NECA is trying to convince me otherwise.

They’ve made some fantastic new Xenos, which I’ve collected in more shades of black than I should admit to. They’ve done a few Marines. They did Bishop & Dallas. And now they’ve gone and down what was pretty unpossible. They’ve made Ripley. They’ve actually made like three Ripleys, but I’m starting here today with the one I strangely wanted most. And to be honest the fact that it is Ripley kinda hasn’t mattered a whole lot. Maybe I should save my “they made Ripley shti ” for her more unique figure’s review.

I love astronaut figures. I had a really hard time passing on Kane & Dallas. Well, Kane was easier because I would have to buy two Dallases to get an unbroken helmet and blah, blah, blah. But, I held off, because I also like things to look clean. So Ripley was always my target. A nice relatively, clean space suit. Hopes & Dreams. And here we are.

The space suit buck is every bit as fantastic as I thought it would be as I peeked inside Kane’s packaging. I haven’t grabbed movie stills, but it looks extraordinarily faithful to the film. There is a ton of little details throughout, including little straps and stitching that I surely would’ve never have missed had NECA overlooked them. And the textures are just right too, the padding, the straps, and the actual technical, fabricated bits all look spot on and make for a believable astronaut uniform.

Inside the helmet is really nice Ripley likeness. It’s frighteningly good and it looks even better with the helmet on and the light reflecting off the gloss for added realism. It’s a sharp looking little piece. I do have some trouble getting the helmet fully in the grooves, over the right clavicle in particular, but it closes up enough to not leave much of a gap and so that works.

Visually, the only sticking point is that Ripley seems a little small in there. There are definitely reference pics of her head deep and sunken back inside the helmet, but there’s also plenty of images with her head taking up most of the space and being near the glass as well. I’m guessing this is just a function of her head being comparable in size to the other Ripley figures while the body requires the reuse of the existing mold. In theory, you can overlook it for the most part, but it just throws things off every once in a while when you look at the figure from a certain angle. Continue to Page 2…

4 thoughts on “NECA Alien: Ellen
Ripley Compression Suit Review

  1. She looks decent, but I prefer the non-suited versions, if I can. At least we didn’t get another “Michael Jackson” Ripley like we did with “Resurrection” Ripley. oy.

    I can never find these bigger Neca figures. My two TRU left up here finally got in the “video game” versions of Rambo, Alien, and Predator, but never had the “regular” versions that I saw? the small 4″ versions they finally marked down, but still can’t push them.

    If you’re interested in “astronaut” figures, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to track down the 5″ scale Doctor Who astronauts? 10 in red and orange suits (minor differences, which 11 and now 12 and Clara have also worn the orange, but never received toys);
    Vashta Nerada from the “Library” 2ptr (which resembles your last review pic);
    and two versions of River Song, one sharing the leaner VN body for her “Library” look, the other in classic Apollo suit, which she also shares with child Melody. (two more Rivers feature her white jacket “Pandorica” outfits, with and without lambswool vest, one also has a “sausage curl” hair variant, in an attempt to “correct” a bad hairdo).

    To be honest, the “Impossible Astronaut” Apollo suit River will probably be the cheapest to get. VN is somewhat pricey, but you can sometimes find a good deal. Child Melody is pretty expensive for either of her figures (astronaut or dress). I used to buy the DW (and Primeval) figures in loose lots on ebay from a couple reliable sellers in UK. things seem to have cooled since they switched to 1/18 scale, tho.

      1. yup.
        I think one of the 10 suits may be in a new box set mix? BBTS had the sets listed, but I haven’t checked them in a while. (not counting the re-release f the Companions set, Sarah Jane, Rose Martha, K9, Donna. and Kylie.) I didnt even realize 10 had two suit variants until I had them in hand. “Red” is about two shades darker than the now-usual orange suit. kind of a “burnt orange than red.

  2. While I appreciate some people are gonna want this version, a friend of mine who runs his own toy site provided me with the regular, blue jumpsuit Ripley, which I feel more people will clamor for (along with the upcoming Aliens Ripley). But for the life of me, I can’t understand the case packout they gave him. As he usually sells in sets, if I get in early enough I have a good chance to grab the extras that NECA pack in. His case had an extra normal Ripley and a spacesuit Ripley, which seems strange to me. I’ll never understand case packout decisions.

    Anyways, right now torn on when to pre-order Aliens Ripley and the Power Loader. That’s gonna be a pretty penny. 😛

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