The Soldier, also referred to as the Warrior, is the Xenomorph [1]‘s second stage of maturity after progressing through the chestburster stage. They serve as the hive’s primary attack force with the primary function of protecting the Queen [2] and the Eggs [3]. They are fast, reasonably tough, and savage combatants. Even in death the Soldier is dangerous, bursting apart when killed and drenching nearby enemies in acid. Hiya toys has brought us a very detailed 1:18 scale version of the Aliens line. 
Aliens: Colonial Marines is a first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sega. The game is set in the Alien universe and takes place after the events of the third film in the franchise, Alien 3 (1992). The game is the third Aliens title that Sega has produced: the first was Aliens vs. Predator in 2010, and the second was Aliens Infestation in 2011. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles and for Microsoft Windows on February 12, 2013.
After progressing through the first Xenomorph phase, the Soldier stands at around eight feet in height and about 14-16 feet in length, tail included. It is black in color, with a long, segmented tail and a secondary set of jaws inside its mouth, which it can use to maim or kill prey. They are shown to possess incredible strength- enough to break down metal pressure doors and easily punch through Armored Quartz, which withstands above 160,000 pounds per square inch compressive force. Warriors can blend into the surrounding spaces in their hives as well other terrain, making them difficult to detect until they attack, although all Xenomorphs can do this as well.
The most visible difference in Soldiers from other Xenomorphs is the ridged head. The head carapace is also harder than that of Drones, allowing them to ram into targets.
When a Xenomorph Soldier is killed by weapons that cause massive physical trauma, its pressurized bloodstream causes the creature to explode, showering the surrounding area with very deadly concentrated molecular acid. Napalm weaponry or high powered energy weapons that produce high levels of heat, if used successfully, will leave a charred mass, and will cause the acid to turn into a extremely toxic vapor that is lethal if inhaled. Their acidic blood is capable of causing severe injury to humans, causing the death or injury of several colonial marines during their investigation of Hadley’s Hope when they strayed too close a dying Soldier. Remarkably, the blood is incapable of hurting other xenomorphs.
In some cases, the Soldier can evolve into a different form, which has very large blades on the top and bottom of the tail, with large blades on the elbows and calves as well. Soldiers are shown to be extremely agile, as they are capable of navigating through vents, crawly up walls, and swiftly navigating large areas. They can also leap a very large distance, allowing them to pounce on unsuspecting enemies.
The sculpt on the Soldier is finely detailed from head to toe. There was not much that Hiya missed when making this figure and the fact that they were able to cram so much into such a small figure is impressive. The arms and legs are much thinner than most of the lines out in this scale yet they were able to get the body structure nailed down. It does not stop there either. Accuracy seems to be something that was a priority with the Aliens line and Hiya did their homework and put out an amazing figure.
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You would figure with such small limbs that articulation would get sacrificed. Not necessarily. The Aliens line has the movement that you can get with most action figure lines. The upper torso moves at the waist and has arms that swivel fully around. The elbows are jointed as well as the knees. Soldiers can look in many different positions with all the angles you can swivel the head at. Ankles have a decent amount of pivot to put in a few more positions and although the hands do not have joints there are a few sets to make different poses such as grabbing a victim or clawing. The hips have some restriction with the type of ball they used mixed with the added detail on the leg but nothing that is a major issue to me. My only complaint would be that a crawling position was a bit difficult to make happen. With the smaller limbs you do want to be a bit more careful when moving the joints. Some of the ones I had were stiff but I ran hot water over them and it cured any issue that I had.
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Paint is another area where Hiya has done a good job. Although the Aliens do not have much in regards to color the paint on the samples that I have show excellent detail on all the small areas. There is little to no bleed over on any of the joints. The egg is where you really get to appreciate the work they did. Unlike the Lurker, this one is open and paint was applied well on it to give a movie-esque feel. The face hugger does not have much paint but a little bit of a wash to show off the detail more.
(See Sculpt for pictures)
Accessories are what make the Aliens line unique in my opinion. With the two that I have looked at so far they both have similar accessories except for the eggs. This is something that adds a little more value to the line I feel as they could have easily just put the same egg in the entire line yet switched it up a bit. The added hands are nice to switch for whatever set up you may have and the fact that there is a face hugger in 1:18 scale is something that I can appreciate. There is also a stand that is similar to a metal grate seen in most of the movies.
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The packaging is nice as it shows you exactly what you are getting. There is a large window on the front to see everything that has been described so far. On the back is a description of the figure that is inside. When you take the figure out there is a protective plastic over the figure which makes it difficult to lose parts right away and also holds everything in place inside the box. Once the figure is taken out there is a Colonial Marines logo behind it.
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| Sculpt | Articulation | Paint | Accessories | Package | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | B | A | A- | B+ | B+ |
Overall is not an average.
I give this a solid B+. It would have gotten a bit higher from me but the not being able to do a good crawl with the Alien knocked it down a few notches for me. The articulation otherwise is good to do plenty of poses for display. This line is a good breath of fresh air for a scale that is really in need of a boost. Hiya is doing their part to add some diversity to the scale.