Aliens vs Corp Hicks – Random Toys
Tomorrow is “Alien Day” so to continue with our week long lead up to the celebrations, I present to you, the KB exclusive 12 inch two pack of Aliens vs Corp Hicks!
In 1997, Kenner (Who were the boys toys division of Hasbro at this time) released the Aliens vs Corp Hicks two pack as a Kay Bee exclusive. The year previously they had a Toys R Us exclusive Aliens vs Predator set so it only made since to drop a Colonial Marine into the mix.
The Alien figure reuses the body from the Aliens vs Predator two pack. This time the body utilizes a new head. The articulation is your basic 5 points of articulation with swivel joints at the neck, shoulders & hips. It’s a shame they used this cheap method as I’d love to be able to pose this guy in a more menacing battle stance or crawling up a wall or something. The tail is soft rubber with a bendable wire inside so you can get it to pose well.
The head sculpt is more like the classic head sculpt from the movies, unlike the previous 12 inch figure Kenner/Hasbro released. It’s been painted almost entirely in silver. I think a light spray of silver would have worked better as this paint job almost screams Knock Off toy. The head is soft rubber and can be squeezed pretty easily
There’s a lot of sculpted detail all over the figure, but it’s missing key details like the back hoses. I assume this was a cost cutting measure. It’s cool to have a large figure of the Xenomorph like this, but the preposed body and missed details turn this into a background toy and not a spotlight one.
The Aliens’ foe in this two pack is Corp Hicks. He’s twelve inches of kick ass Space Marine and he’s ready to squash some bugs! Hicks comes with some movie specific 12 inch gear like his Pulse Rifle, Armor, Helmet, Motion Tracker & Welding Torch (Unfortunately I don’t have the torch or motion tracker) He also reuses GI Joe parts like the canteen on his belt. The Pulse Rifle is a great piece, highly detailed and a good fit for 12 inch figures.
The Hicks headsculpt looks a bit like Michael Biehn (Especially for toys from the 90’s) The armor is made of a soft rubber which makes it pretty easy to strap on. It’s well detailed and painted. The T-Shirt underneath features two nicely detailed Colonial Marines insignia patches.
I hate that Hasbro used the GI Joe Hall of Fame 12 inch body for Hicks. This body is one of the most hated by fans due to the limited articulation (There are knee and elbow joints, they are beneath the rubber like skin but have limited movement) I imagine Hasbro thought it was a fine body to use seeing as how the Star Wars figures were using the same body and that was a popular line well loved by the fans.
While these are not the best 12 inch figures made for these characters, they were fun for the 90’s Honestly, the real selling point for this set is Corporal Hicks’ uniform and gear. You can slap that on a better, more articulated figure and make yourself a great 12 inch Colonial Marine.