NECA's Prometheus range from 2013 was short-lived due to limited interest from the buying public. I am one of those as I didn't really fancy these figures the first time round, but since picking up the excellent series 2 David-8 I decided to back track the other figures and add them to my archives.
My latest addition is the series 1 Engineer. Series 1 contained two versions of the Engineer and in this review we are looking at the Pressure Suit version.
The Engineer stands a touch under 9" tall, so he is a big figure and on par height wise with the Xenomorphs that he would have a hand in creating. The sculpt is faithful to the movie with a good level of detail that is reminiscent of the skeletal areas seen on the Xenomorphs. The head is the best part as it just captures the nonplussed expression of the Engineer from the movie. The legs look a little under detailed vs the top half of the figure, but not that it looks out of place.
Paint application are essentially a bone colour with a darker wash to bring out the detail. This is where the issues start for me. Firstly the forearms down to the hands look like they have been missed with the darker wash and look unpainted. Having looked at movie stills I can see why they did this as the actual character has a lighter colour on his forearms, but for me this hasn't worked and I would have preferred them to carry on the wash down to the hands. The head isn't so much painted as it looks to have been cast in the base colour, there is no detail in the face other than the eyes which are painted with a heavy red rim. That loses any detail in the sculpt and again is a shame.
Where as David-8 was supremely articulated, the Engineer is not. The head can look a little to each side, but not far as the neck restricts full movement. The shoulders can get about half way out from the body and that is forcing them. The elbows bend to 90 degrees and the wrists rotate. There is a torso joint that allows a touch of sideways movement but no waist movement. Into the hip joint and NECA have tried to allow some movement by sculpting the groin area in a rubber but even with this the legs can't really achieve much other than a neutral stance. The knees bend, both ways actually as you can bring them forward a little which is a bit unnatural. There is also a swivel in the knees and the feet are on rockers. Despite this the Engineer is a pig to stand up and even when standing he appears to be leaning forward and looks a little drunk.
No accessories were included with the Engineer, and he came simply packed in the NECA clamshell with actual figure images on the side and rear.
If David-8 was the pinnacle of the Prometheus line, then sadly the Engineer is the low point. There are issues with the paint and articulation and a figure that doesn't stand up is always an issue in a collection. Only the sculpt can be seen as a positive, but not enough to get up to 2 stars. I hear-by award the Engineer : Pressure Suit a lowly and disappointing 1 out of 5
Comments