Rebecca "Newt" Jorden

Impossible (im·pos·si·ble) \imˈpäsəb(ə)l\ Adjective. Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin impossibilis, from in- + possibilis possible. 1) "Not able to occur, exist, or be done." 2) "Not a word NECA understands." One of the colonists on Hadley's Hope, Rebecca "Newt" Jorden was the daughter of surveyors. Her family was sent to a specific set of coordinates in the middle of nowhere by The Company with the promise that they had first claim on whatever they found out there. Which, it turns out, wasn't such a great deal, since what they found was the same derelict ship Ripley and the rest of the Nostromo had left on LV-426 six decades prior. Newt is another of those "it can't be made" toys that NECA seems to specialize in. Heck, not even a year ago, we ourselves said "there's no way NECA's getting that likeness." It wasn't an unreasonable claim: Carrie Henn has never appeared in any other movies, and has no interest in acting (or reliving the past), so getting her to sign on seemed far-fetched. And yet, for the 30th anniversary of the film, they managed to do it. NECA has said the reason they did Newt as a Comic-Con exclusive was because there wouldn't be enough support for her at retail. Now, we tend to trust NECA's knowledge on these things, but how can Newt, the second-most important character in the film, not have retail support? She's far more memorable than any of the Space Marines, but stores don't want her? That can't be right, can it? However, it makes more sense once you see her in person. Remember, Newt is a tween girl: she's tiny! She's just over 5" tall, which is miniscule in a 7"-scale line. The reason nobody would want to buy her at retail is because she doesn't look like she's worth as much as the other figures. If they had to give half-Bishop an egg and a facehugger in order to bring him up to the same value level as the rest of the line, Newt would have had to come with an egg, a sentry gun, and a facehugger in a test tube. Okay, we're exaggerating, but the idea is sound. In this case, "no retail support" has more to do with the necessary pricepoint than public demand for the character. Ths figure may be small, but her sculpt is just as good as ever. Newt wears a sweatshirt and overalls, and a tiny pair of sneakers. Adidas, probably. Her clothes have numerous holes and rips in them, likely from the month or so she spent alone (one week for the final distress call to reach Earth, a day or two to make sure that really was the final call, a couple days to get approval to take a Marine squad out there, another few days to convince Ripley to come along, and then a three week trip in the Sulaco). One side of her overalls is unbuttoned, meaning the flap falls across her chest and the strap trails down her back. It's even sculpted with a twist! The sculpt is credited to Adriennne Smith and Jason Frailey, but there's no saying who did what. We choose to believe one of them did the right side of the figure, while the other did the left. Okay, it's more likely one did the body and the other did the face. Behind the stringy, unkempt hair, the figure really does have a nice likeness. She has the perfect worried/scared look that you'll recognize from the film, with her mouth shut tight and her eyes cast upward to the adults she's come to rely upon. Nice work, someone! The articulation is as good as you'd expect. Despite her small stature, Newt moves just as well as the bigger figures, with a balljointed head, swivel/hinge shoulders and elbows, swivel wrists, two balljoints in the torso (below the PVC overalls), swivel/hinge hips, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge knees, and balljointed ankles. Can you rest her on Ripley's hip? Yes you can. Can you do other stuff with her? Sure. Put her in the Power Loader and have her kick ass on her own! She may not come with a ton of accessories, but what she has is nice. There's the disarticulated head of her doll Casey, her Second Grade Good Citizenship award (complete with real photo inside it), the same flashlight Bishop had, and the helmet Hicks let her wear. It's a new piece, molded inside to match the sculpt of her hair, and uses nothing but friction to stay on. We're not really sure whose helmet it is - it's not Hicks', because the paint is different, but there are no special identifying marks on it, either. [It was salvaged from the Cheyenne Dropship --ed.] NECA has said they're trying to work out a way to make Newt available to fans who couldn't attend SDCC, whether that means the same release by herself, or (some have speculated) in a two-pack. There's no word on that yet, but when there is, rejoice! Newt is a great addition to the Aliens lineup. -- 08/06/16

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