Review : Private Jenette Vasquez NECA, Aliens Wave/Series : Aliens Series 9 Released : October/November 2016
£19.99 - £22.99
Unlike most modern Blockbuster movies where the merchandising is tied into the film, most movies made in the 70's and 80's had no such deal - particularly where they were never really seen as a kids movie. That has left NECA, the leader in releasing figures from cult 70's-80's movies, with a real difficult job on their hands when trying to expand a range like their Aliens series. And yet the team at NECA continue to strive towards character licences, and we have seen them bring us some real key characters like Bishop, Hudson and even Ripley herself after negotiating directly with the actor and their representatives.
Series 9 is the cumulation of two further huge, and likely complex, likeness details with the NECA Marine stable expanded to include Private Frost, and the figure we are looking at here - Private Jenette Vasquez.
Vasquez is packed, like all Aliens releases, in a clam-shell with dark backing card enhanced with a blue glow that is indicative of all the Aliens releases. The Aliens logo sits top and centre, and then under this is the full window displaying the figure. The base of the blister contains the name card - detailing this as Private Jenette Vasquez, and aside this sits the circular Aliens 30th Anniversary logo that we see across the Series 9 figures - but also on the other 2016 releases including the Creature Pack.
The side panels are back on either spine of the blister, and the Series 9 theme down the right hand spine is a representation of the screens that we see in the APC scene while the Marines are searching the Alien nest. On the three screens we see atmospheric images of the Vasquez figure, overlaid with the HUD details including the mission time.
The left spine captures the figure in an action stance firing the Smart gun. This same image is replicated around the card back and over the centre of this is a short bio. This bio talks about Vasquez back-story in the Marines, taken from several expanded universe books as its never really explored in the movie. The base of the card back shows the usual "also available" slot with head shots of each of the Series 9 figures - the Albino Xenomorph and Frost sitting alongside Vasquez.
Out the box and you are presented with Vasquez front and centre. To the left as you look is her shoulder lamp, and to the right the Smart Gun itself - looking significantly more impressive than it's first appearance in the Kenner inspired Space Marine Ripley.
Taking the figure first, and Vasquez stands quite dimunatively at 6 1/4 inches high. That puts her considerably shorter than fellow Marines like Hicks and Hudson, but is accurate to Jenette Goldstein's reported height of 1.6m. The likeness of Goldstein, or at least Goldstein as Vasquez, is exceptional. It is also not sculpted as a neutral look, but rather with a pouty scowl that represents the no nonsense focused look Vasquez has in most of the movie.
Her trademark bandanna is a sculpted detail on top of slicked back gelled hair and this head scarf tapers as it gets round the back to a very neat tied knot. The paint applications really make the most of the sculpt with dark intense eyes painted over the waxy skin tone. The bandanna is also beautifully decorated with tiny designs on top of the base red. Fans have already commented on the choice of not including the teardrop tattoo that Vasquez has under her right eye. For me this would have been too difficult to scale down considering how faint it is on the movie and I am not bothered by the omission. The true beauty of the head is the equipment that NECA have intricately installed either side of her face as a headset.
Most headsets on figures end up looking too clunky or at least oversized, on Vasquez they are perfectly in scale whilst holding a lot of detail. To the left of Vasquez head is the microphone for her headset, this loops down from a connection on the head band and sits under her chin. To the other side is the eyepiece for the targeting system. As you unpack Vasquez this is positioned away from her face. I didn't expect this to be anything other than a static sculpt, but the eyepiece is actually articulated and swings in to cover Vasquez's right eye. From this eyepiece comes a trailing wire that connects to her chest unit, and this snakes down naturally and is flexible enough to move when the head does.
Vasquez is wearing the standard camo type trousers we saw on Hicks, Hudson and Windrix although perhaps a tad lighter. The camo design is neat and varied and most importantly natural looking, not a forced paint job you often see on military figures. Unlike the other marines, Vasquez carries no other leg armour on top of these trousers, so they simply tuck into combat boots at the ankle. These boots are a deep brown leather colour with sculpted laces and lace holes - both of which are painted, with silver eyelets and black laces. The sole of the boots is also a different colour transitioning to a black and there is even tread sculpted under the sole - despite this hardly ever being on show.
Skipping back up to the torso, and it is here that Vasquez carries most of her armour and bulk. Under the chest piece you can see a sculpted camo vest which carries the same design as the trousers. At first I questioned the choice of camo on this vest as I always remember Vasquez's vest being a plain olive green. Turns out I was wrong and the olive vest is worn on the Sulaco as they wake from hyper-sleep and is replaced with a camouflage version for the operation on LV-426! Call myself a fan? Well done NECA for this attention to detail. Just visible on the neck is a crucifix, this is a sculpted relief piece and could have easily been left off, again well done NECA. The arms are both bare and cast in the waxy deep skin tone which gives them a sweaty look which is perfect for the scene in the movie. There are tied wraps on the biceps painted an off white, and Vasquez then sports finger-less leather gloves.
The key part of the armour is the solid chest plate which is strapped over the shoulders and that then supports the Smart Gun. This is cast as a separate piece, indicating there is at least an option of another Vasquez in the future - perhaps the Sulaco version, or the look at the end of the film when she and Gorman try and escape in the air ducts. Despite this it cannot be removed unless you are willing to cut some pieces away. The piece starts with a padded shoulder, that is coloured a matt black. Over this are two olive green shoulder straps that connect it to the centre chest piece. Two further olive green straps stretch under the arms to connect sideways. Hanging off the chest plate is a connection for the Smart Gun - we will look at this in a moment. The front of the armour is a black paint job, but I can see some level of dry-brushing at the edges with a very subtle silver that adds some sheen and a worn look. The slogan "El Riesgo Seimpre Vive" (The Risk always Lives) is applied as a decal on the chest plate and looks brilliant.
The final part of the outfit is a combat belt, complete with ammo pouches, that wraps the waist and connects with a very detailed clasp at the rear, and this is again painted with a silver finish to replicate the metal buckle.
To the accessories now and the first is the shoulder lamp, an accessory we have seen on all the Marines to date. This should slot into a hole on Vasquez back and then sits up over her left shoulder. Anyone who has tried to fit one of these before knows it is not that simple as you need to line up the hole in the armour to the hole in the figure underneath otherwise the lamp fails to lock. The piece is cast in matt black, but the base section is then painted in an olive green and the lamp lens picked out in a flat white.
The Smart Gun is a more complex affair than the version packed with Space Marine Ripley. The core gun is identical but there is a further armature supplied which brings the whole thing to life once assembled. Anyone who followed the early announcements of Vasquez and who paid attention to the promo images would have seen the "Adios" graffiti on the side of the Smart Gun. Sadly this has not made its way to the final production piece, and the decision to omit such a key on screen element is very odd when you consider other more subtle parts that have been included.
There are no clear instructions, but referring to the packaging and a little common sense let me figure it out. If you start with Vasquez you will first find the joint at the left hand side of the armoured vest is articulated and ends in a silver clamp. The armature, the piece with the wiring and with the hinged centre, slots into this and needs to be positioned with the wiring loom at the top not the bottom. The other side of this centre arm clips into a corresponding piece on the gun, but before you do this I would recommend positioning the gun into the hands. The best way is to get the left into the top handle and then slide the back piece into the right hand. With gun in hand connect up the gun to the arm and there is a left over cable which can be slotted into a whole in the gun, or back up under the chest plate.
NECA have been including a number of firing or exploding effects in recent releases, and have done the same here. In the past I have found these firing effects to be very comical and never look realistic enough. This one however is an exception as they have taken the exact look of the Smart Gun firing and captured that in a sculpted plastic piece with a central stream of sculpted smoke, with 8 smaller plumes trailing off to either side. It isn't cast in a clear plastic either, but rather subtly painted in a smokey white with tinges of yellow at each stream end. It is optional, for those who still aren't keen, but fits into a corresponding slot in the end of the gun and holds itself in place quite well.
We've already talked about some of the intricate small scale articulation, the very delicate eye piece and the articulation on the Smart Gun support. But of course Vasquez also sports a full set of articulation that we would see in any NECA release. The head is ball jointed and can swing either side, taking the eyepiece and microphone along neatly. The arms are ball jointed and being so slim have a full range of movement. The elbows are a 90 degree joint with swivel and the wrists a jointed peg. This allows Vasquez to hold the Smart Gun as we talked about earlier, and to be fair would you want her doing anything else on your display? It is a bit odd that the right hand is sculpted with a finger ready to sit into a trigger, something I can't find a need for on the Smart Gun - perhaps another indication of a future figure?
There is no torso joint, but the waist isn't a simple swivel, you can feel a ball joint under there and this moves the torso to either side and gives some movement to lean Vasquez forward and backward. This work perfectly to balance the figure with the extent of the Smart Gun, a pose she has to achieve on the movie too when firing with just a touch of a lean back.
The legs are ball jointed hips which can swing to the side and the front. They wont go to a full sitting position, but do allow for a wider stance if your firing pose desires. The knees, beautifully hidden as always, are only a single joint but they do also rotate. Here the knee joint is more for stability and the slight bend you may need in a firing stance and not for sitting Vasquez down or kneeling. The figure is finally supported with a pair of ankle rockers, cut seamlessly into the boots, which helps the overall posing.
What NECA have produced here is a masterpiece of a figure in 7" scale with a sculpt and paint job worthy of a higher end collectable. The details are amazing with plenty of options to cut corners, like the crucifix, ignored in the pursuit of perfection. The Smart Gun, once assembled, works beautifully and even the firing effect is exceptional - but the Adios graffiti is a big loss. Fans will also argue over the lack of the tear drop tattoo - but to them I say try and spot it on the film and then tell me how it would scale down so small without looking ridiculous.
Vasquez is certainly something special and is already up there with the best of the best that NECA have produced so far in the Aliens range, if not across any of their ranges. Considering the price sits at just £20 or thereabouts then there is no question that Vasquez receives a 5 out of 5 review score.
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