Welcome to 2021! I hope you made it through 2020 safely and sanely.
Lanard Toys has been doing some interesting things over the past few years. When my kids were little, they made some generic “G.I. Joe-ish” figures that were actually pretty cool. I know we bought some of them because the price point was always fantastic. They were considerably cheaper than most other figures. While that typically means that the quality is garbage, the Lanard figures were different. The sculpts were actually creative, the plastic quality was good, and they held up to young boys playing with them.
My kids grew out of “kids” toys and now go for the same sort of collector-oriented things I buy: Marvel Legends, Star Wars Black Series, NECA, McFarlane, POP! Vinyl, etc. I still have kept an eye on Lanard though. I picked up one of the Kong: Skull Island giant-sized figures, and I noticed that they created a pretty cool dinosaur-themed line.
Last year (I think? Who knows how time works anymore) they came out with an Aliens line with a bunch of Xenomorphs, Marines, and vehicles. They piqued my interest, but not enough to pick any of them up. I already collect too much. I have to draw the line somewhere. I haven’t even picked up any of the NECA ones. This year, they have added to the line with a release of 7-inch figures based on both the Alien Xenomorphs and the Predator creatures, all based on the designs from the films.
Now let me get this all out there right away: these are Walmart exclusive $10 figures. Don’t expect the quality of NECA in the sculpts or paint application. That being said, these are actually really nice for the price. I took pictures of this toy in my living room, as I feel that’s how it is meant to be experienced. On the carpet with other action figures, next to the couch and the dog.
Packaging: It is decent. It looks like they went with bright colors to make it eye-catching for the kiddos, and it has nice comic-inspired illustrations all over it. The back shows the rest of the figures available in the Alien Xenomorph Series. It keeps the figure and accessories inside securely without falling apart on the shelf, which can be a bigger challenge than you may think. It has a cardboard insert for the plastic tray with a cool little corridor scene. There are no twist ties, but a couple of little plastic tags holding the figure in that you will need to break or cut.
Articulation: This little beastie sports an impressive amount of articulation. It has pin/disc Shoulders and Elbows. Ball Joint Mid-Torso, Hips, and Ankles. Swivel Neck and Tail, and Hinge Jaw and Knees. It can get into a variety of fun poses for display and has plenty of flexibility for play. Remember, this thing is $10.
Paint: There is little in the way of paint on this figure. Some metallic green adorns the top of the dome as well as it’s forearm “blades”, and there is some silver on the teeth. There may be a subtle black wash on the rest of the figure, but the majority of the coloring is done with a black/blue marbelized plastic, which actually looks pretty cool.
Sculpt: This isn’t as detailed as one of the $30 NECA figures. For the money and intended audience, it doesn’t have to be. I think the bio-mechanical detailing is very well done, and it all works well with the articulation. My only two gripes are that the tail can’t really assist in “balancing” the figure in more elaborate poses. It is designed to stick up: while of course that works for the character design, it can make more elaborate shelf poses more difficult. Secondly, there is no second mouth. I thought that maybe there was one hidden in the head when I was looking at the figure in the store, but it is just the hint of one when you open the jaw. It might have been nice to have one you could plug in there as an accessory.
Accessories: The Xenomorph Warrior comes equipped with its bebe form, the unnerving facehugger.
The sculpt on the facehugger is great and the coiled tail can actually wrap around the victim you place it on. The facehugger has a containment tube to store it in, so your scientists can study it before shipping it off to Weyland-Yutani.
Final Thoughts: This Aliens line would have been one of my favorite toy lines as a kid. The overall product is simply fantastic for the price. I would have been guaranteed to be able to spend whatever little money I had on these things and been happy to do so. It fits in well with whatever other toys you have around, it is durable and just damn fun.
Alternatively, If you have an Alien figure set up, you could buy a bunch of these to have in the background for a fraction of the price of getting some NECA ones.
I may have to go back to Walmart and grab one of the Predators to check those out as well.
I suppose you have a better thought on the subject?