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I'd dispute that, other sources claim the top is a Drone or Worker, not infant.

Is there a convenient set of comparison pics of alien "types" anywhere? (As in, not some expensive artbook or somesuch, online and free would be key words ) A quick google search didn't get me all that far.

I'm getting curious as to what all the hooey wrt 1st movie vs 4th movie aliens is all about.

1st movie; i.e; Giger's design

4th movie/AVP (same mould's used due to the lack of money); i.e; cheap crappy looking generic monster

 Bolognesus wrote:
Is there a convenient set of comparison pics of alien "types" anywhere?

AVPGalaxy has nice movie-specific galleries:

http://www.avpgalaxy.net/gallery/index.php?cat=19

http://www.avpgalaxy.net/gallery/index.php?cat=22

James Cameron: The Alien in the first film had only been alive for 24 hours. It was still an infant, even thought it’d grown full size. (...) The Alien head in the first film was very smooth. The top of the head was very smooth. Underneath it had a skull shape and a ribbed design and originally it was designed to see that through that kind of transparent surface in the Giger design. I thought that what was underneath the surface was more interesting than the final look

...Probably just my usual lack of taste, but I really, really prefer that 4th/AvP critter. Oh well. Anyway, thanks both

There's several reasons for the ridged design and the smooth design most came about after the fact including the reason why new born Xenomorph's have smooth heads and older ones have ridges. Whilst filming Aliens they found the smooth design was to fragile and was prone to getting broken during action scenes so they came up with the ridged design which is far more robust the background was then redone to explain that older Xenomorph's (as the Hadley's hope ones are as they have been around for some time before the marines arrive) develop ridges as they age. In other versions of the back ground drones have smooth heads where as warriors have ridged heads even though they are often considered to be the same caste of Xenomorph.

Xenopedia covers the various Xenomorph classes http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Xenomorph_%28Alien%29

It's fine. I wouldn't worry about it. All the alien designs look pretty darn cool and the vast majority of even die hard fans won't confuse their dislike of an entire movie with dislike of a single design. I like the variety you'll be introducing to the aliens and look forward to hopefully some "dog" aliens as well. I don't care how "great" one design from a single movie is in a wargame as even a great design will look boring if you have to cut and paste the same exact thing (albeit with different poses) over and over again.

The second film had the 'rigged' heads due to the belief that it would be easier to film without breakage. Various sources claim that ether the rigged heads mean the aliens older or of a diffirent class. It's never going to be agreed on and can't really be properly defined.

But I hope to high heaven they do the original designs over the gakky AVP/4th film designs, which are generic stunted monster, compared to Giger's amazing creation.

 Bolognesus wrote:
...Probably just my usual lack of taste, but I really, really prefer that 4th/AvP critter. Oh well. Anyway, thanks both

Probably because it's a better lit/quality picture.

 Bolognesus wrote:
...Probably just my usual lack of taste, but I really, really prefer that 4th/AvP critter. Oh well. Anyway, thanks both

Same here! Really not seeing what all the fuss is about, personally . That said, the wide shot of the minis didn't make them look that amazing yet, but it's just a teaser.

So long as there's no "Newborn/Alien Sapian" it's all good what where they thinking when they came up with that? even the Predalien is better than that and I'm not a massive fan of that particular crossover (design wise that is).

Yeah, that might help. Still, that ridged head is more what I think of as the typical Aliens look, so it's not just that

I still say go with the old arcade game designs or the Kenner action figiure ones if you really want some caste variants.

 warboss wrote:
It's fine. I wouldn't worry about it. All the alien designs look pretty darn cool and the vast majority of even die hard fans won't confuse their dislike of an entire movie with dislike of a single design. I like the variety you'll be introducing to the aliens and look forward to hopefully some "dog" aliens as well. I don't care how "great" one design from a single movie is in a wargame as even a great design will look boring if you have to cut and paste the same exact thing (albeit with different poses) over and over again.

That's how I feel.. would be happy with a nice sculpt of either of the first two movies aliens (what we have seen so far is very promising!)

the difference is that the Alien/Aliens Giger/Cameron designs are that they are biomechanical. the later Alien Resurrection aliens are just squishy monsters.

Comparison photos:

I think I liked it better when MT11 was just nitpicking toes like a nervous first time Genestealer Patriach with his first brood. I'm sorry but I don't see any significant difference in coolness in the designs between the movies. One doesn't look any squishier or less biomechanical. Maybe my jeans aren't skinny enough but I like all the designs except for the "human" resurrection baby hybrid and, to a minor extent, the predalien in Requiem.

I want the alien horde to look cool at the tabletop level. I want to be able to presumably field different units of aliens that *LOOK* different at a glance but are still recognizable to mass market fans of the films. Prodos can't introduce variety and stay loyal to the series of films without using some of the latter designs. Don't want the supposedly inferior later movie alien designs? Don't get those models or just trade them with other players so you can have a cookie cutter alien horde of cloned identical models.

The predalien is awful.

 warboss wrote:
I want the alien horde to look cool at the tabletop level. I want to be able to presumably field different units of aliens that *LOOK* different at a glance but are still recognizable to mass market fans of the films. Prodos can't introduce variety and stay loyal to the series of films without using some of the latter designs. Don't want the supposedly inferior later movie alien designs? Don't get those models or just trade them with other players so you can have a cookie cutter alien horde of cloned identical models.

Nice red-herring/mis-representation argument.

 Manchu wrote:
The predalien is awful.

cant disagree. lets hope they stick to the books.

 Imposter101 wrote:

 warboss wrote:
I want the alien horde to look cool at the tabletop level. I want to be able to presumably field different units of aliens that *LOOK* different at a glance but are still recognizable to mass market fans of the films. Prodos can't introduce variety and stay loyal to the series of films without using some of the latter designs. Don't want the supposedly inferior later movie alien designs? Don't get those models or just trade them with other players so you can have a cookie cutter alien horde of cloned identical models.

Nice red-herring/mis-representation argument.

Not even close. I simply want variety on the tabletop that corresponds to the films.

Wasn't the alien from the 3rd movie based on a 'dog' so he had a more bestial body?

I would assume if someone was making models for a particular universe, we would see models representing the multiple movies as well as the comic universe. I don't see a problem having Alien, Aliens and Alien3 models which all are distinct and different. I mean how many super-hero models have different 'flavors' of the same hero based upon what universe he came from?

I don't see why there is a 'make a model of only the single true alien' discussion. If they make 6 different designs, then buy 20 of the design you like.

I enjoy the aliens franchise, and never once has the 'difference between how the alien looks' has it ever bothered me once, but I am a transformers fan who has his universe rebooted and redesigned every 18 months.

nkelsch wrote:
Wasn't the alien from the 3rd movie based on a 'dog' so he had a more bestial body?

In both the book and the Directors/extended cut it's an ox type creature but yeah basically an animal.

 Manchu wrote:
The predalien is awful.

Not the one I've see recently :]

 Warzone Resurrection wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
The predalien is awful.

Not the one I've see recently

You must have redesigned it.

 Manchu wrote:

 Warzone Resurrection wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
The predalien is awful.

Not the one I've see recently

You must have redesigned it.

I have to agree the Predalien is horrendous! I will still buy a few but man they are ugly!

nkelsch wrote:
I don't see why there is a 'make a model of only the single true alien' discussion. If they make 6 different designs, then buy 20 of the design you like.

Totally agreed! I'd really like variety.

the problem is that the xenomorph from Alien Resurrection looks more like Pumpkinhead than a Giger/Cameron xenomorph

the original designs use ribbed tubing. the later designs use melted candlewax.


Hi! I'm pumpkinhead!


The difference would be something like this
which is a real Robotech/Macross Valkyrie?



Well? Either are "still recognizable to mass market fans" of Macross but one is a bad redesign (for Battletech) while the other is the superior original.

But if you don't want a later Alien sculpt, you can just choose to buy the earlier ones, right? No issue then... I don't have a dog in this fight, I just want cool models, and the more options to choose from, the better.

 warboss wrote:

 Imposter101 wrote:

 warboss wrote:
I want the alien horde to look cool at the tabletop level. I want to be able to presumably field different units of aliens that *LOOK* different at a glance but are still recognizable to mass market fans of the films. Prodos can't introduce variety and stay loyal to the series of films without using some of the latter designs. Don't want the supposedly inferior later movie alien designs? Don't get those models or just trade them with other players so you can have a cookie cutter alien horde of cloned identical models.

Nice red-herring/mis-representation argument.

Not even close. I simply want variety on the tabletop that corresponds to the films.

You act like people only want one variant of the Alien in one pose and design. You can still have variety with posing, which is pretty much what the Aliens are made for, movement. Climbing down walls, pipes, out of vents, all sorts of stuff could be done with one sculpt alone.