Working Toward Its Perfect Rating, The Prometheus Engineer (Chair Suit) Figure Is Incredible!

The Good: Incredible sculpt, Exceptional poseability, Great balance, Great coloring
The Bad: Initially stiff joints.
The Basics: The Engineer (Chair Suit) from Prometheus’s NECA toy line is very cool, but not quite perfect!


Whether one enjoys Prometheus or not, it is hard to deny that the premise was a ballsy one. Unlike something like Transformers where a film franchise was built around a toy franchise (though it was backed by a supporting cartoon franchise), Prometheus was a movie built entirely around a set piece from a film thirty years ago. The entire movie was constructed around a briefly-seen prop and while that let to objectively mixed results, reconstructing that prop for an action figure actually makes a lot of sense for fans of the Alien franchise. Celebrating the DVD release of Prometheus, NECA produced action figures and while the Engineer (Pressure Suit) action figure (reviewed here!) might have limited appeal for only fans of Prometheus, the new NECA Engineer (Chair Suit) action figure has broader appeal to fans of the Alien franchise and science fiction in general. NECA actually made a perfect figure with the Chair Suit version of the Engineer figure.

The Prometheus Engineer (Chair Suit) action figure is available exclusively from the NECA line and is one of two figures from their first wave (there are three more – including the Toys R’ Us exclusive two-pack - in the pike, whether they are released is likely to be dependent upon how the Pressure Suit version and this Space Jockey figures sell.

Basics

Based on the character that spawned the idea for the film, the Prometheus, Engineer (Chair Suit) is the heavily armored alien Engineer who was clad in the suit that allowed it to interface with the navigational machinery.

Standing eight and one-eighth inches tall, the Engineer (Chair Suit) is a broad-chested, helmeted alien Engineer in his armor with the tubes that allowed it to interface with the navigational chair. The color scheme for the figure is dark with incredible detailing. Most of the figure is black, gunmetal, and dark gray. This figure is perfectly colored for the character and this looks amazing on the coloring front.

The sculpt is exceptional from the boning on the breastplate and tubes that connect the shoulders to the helmet, this is incredibly detailed. This figure holds its own with any other drawing or character design from H.R. Geiger.

Accessories

Engineer (Chair Suit) comes with no accessories.

Poseability

Despite the Engineer (Chair Suit) having foot holes, the fact that there are no corresponding pegs from a playset or stand for the figure. That means posing the Engineer (Chair Suit) is based entirely on balance. This figure has great balance, and the figure only remains balanced when the figure is flatfooted. With sixteen points of articulation, Engineer (Chair Suit) has incredible poseability, the sculpt does not allow the figure to actual make use of all of the joints, though the only real “sticky wicket” is the head joint. The Engineer (Chair Suit) has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket (which were initially ridiculously stiff, but once I cracked it correctly, allowed the figure to take a true seated position!), shoulders (with limited ability to bend outward), wrists and elbows. The bust, biceps and head are on ball joints, with limited range of motion there.

Playability

All of the articulation makes Engineer (Chair Suit) a decent toy for play, but one suspects those who would recognize Engineer (Chair Suit) enough to enjoy the figure would not be the type to actually play with it and the Prometheus toy line is intended for the adult collector. There is no superlative play function for this figure; it is very much intended for display, as opposed to play.

Collectibility

NECA Toys made a perfect figure with Engineer (Chair Suit), but given how NECA has a tendency to pick the losers (past history has shown that NECA’s figures quickly sell to the fanbase, then end up severely discounted at the few retailers that carry them) and there is no reason to believe that the Prometheus figures will be any exception. Given the limited appeal of the Prometheus figures, it is hard to believe that they will be a good investment figure, though this one has broader appeal than just the Prometheus fans.

Overview

Fans of the Alien franchise, the Engineers, and Prometheus are likely to buy this figure and enjoy it for their collections; they are likely to be thrilled with it as this is a perfect action figure!

This version of Engineer (Chair Suit) appears in Prometheus, reviewed here!

For other film-related toys, please visit my reviews of:
The Dark Knight Rises Catwoman
Alias Sydney Bristow from “So It Begins” action figure
Twilight Bella Swan Tonner Doll

10/10

For other toy reviews, please visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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