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I think it says something about a movie when, despite it being pretty awful, you can't stop talking about it for a long while after you see it. Such is the case with Prometheus. It may say something even more powerful that despite my negative view of the film, I actually own every action figure NECA has released from it so far.* That may change with future installments, but the second series features some of the most desirable characters from the film: the weirdly dickish android David 8, and the closest thing to a traditional "xenomorph" the film has to offer, the Deacon.
Weyland Industries' David 8, the company's most advanced
cybernetic individual yet, joins Project Prometheus to guarantee the smooth operation of the mission. his linguistic, emotional and cognitive abilities are highly advanced, and he is committed to achieving any directive he is given, no matter the obstacle.
Despite the fact that Ridley Scott doesn't think Prometheus is an Alien film, it features one of the trademarks of pretty much every film in that franchise: the android with ambiguous intentions. David, as played by Michael Fassbender, was clearly the standout character from the film, even though nothing he did seemed to make a whole lot of sense (behold, one of the best gifs ever). The only reason David's dickishness works in the film is because so many of the other characters (looking at you Vickers, Holloway, Fifield) are also dickish for no real reason. But Fassbender brought a level of roguish charm to the role that made it resonate despite being in such a chore of a film.
And now we've got a David toy!
Awesome. David's sculpt is absolutely beautiful. He's wearing his pressurized suit (which, as Holloway points out, he technically has no need for), likely because a guy in a plain gray suit would be pretty boring (although Mattel never seems to think so). This is NECA we're talking about, so of course all the details are accurate.
The likeness of the main head sculpt is a dead ringer for Fassbender, right up there with NECA's T-1000 in terms of likeness capturing. Some of the prototype pictures seemed a bit too hard-edged, making him appear too old, but the production figure actually fixes that, and softens him up a bit so he looks like he should.
The paint is also great. The suit's main colors are a dull metallic gray and a muted blue, and the material almost looks real.
There are tiny little details everywhere, including quite a few little very clean, very intricate Weyland Corporation tampos. The one on his chest is particularly eye-catching.
The skintone used for his face is very well done, and his hair is a nice blonde with a brown paint wash. If we have one complaint, it's that his extra head accessory almost seems to have a paler flesh tone, but since you won't be using them both at the same time it's not too big of a deal.
Articulation is quite good, but in some spots
a tad strange. He features a balljointed neck, peg and hinge shoulders, peg and hinge elbows (with the peg below the elbow hinge for some reason), peg forearm, balljointed wrists, balljointed chest joint, balljointed waist, peg and hinge hips, peg thighs, double hinged knees, and balljointed ankles. Quite a lot, right?
But did you catch all that arm articulation? A peg joint below the elbow hinge, another peg joint at the forearm, and then a balljointed wrist. That's basically three peg joints in the forearm, and yet he lacks any type of bicep joint. It's hard to complain about such a well-articulated figure, but his abundance of balljoints and peg and hinge joints just makes the lack of biceps all the more apparent.
To accessorize your miniature David 8 android, you get a handheld flashlight, an extra head with proper headgear and a "David" name tag emblazoned on it, and a big ol' fishbowl helmet. If you're buying in store, pay extra attention to the helmet, as I've seen examples with some prominent splotching and hazing on the clear plastic. You'll also want to be careful when you put the helmet on his head. It's meant to line up with the big funky collar on the figure, but if you force it you'll scrape the white paint of the collar off.
There's also a little shoulder mounted camera
that's removable, but connected to the suit via a thin rubber hose that attaches at the back of the waist. It has a little hinge so you can adjust its pose as you wish. Interestingly, David was packaged with the hose looping over the shoulder and then around the front of the waist, but this doesn't seem to be accurate in terms of the film. Thankfully, as I said the camera can be removed and the hose and be repositioned.
David is a mystery. In the film, he provides help and harm to both protagonist and antagonist. He's an insensitive jerk, and he's directly or indirectly responsible for a lot of the bad things that happen to the crew of the Prometheus. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, he is by far the most remembered and beloved character from the film, and it's great to see that NECA has done him justice with this figure.
Since I now have two Engineers, David, and the Deacon, it seems I'm pretty much done collecting the Prometheus line. But it just so happens there's more David goodness on the way: an upcoming figure will feature ****SPOILER ALERT**** David's severed head as an accessory. So even though I really, really had a lot of problems with this film, it looks like I'll still be talking about it for some time yet.
*Not counting certain phallus-mouthed exclusives.
-- 03/24/13
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