NECA's Sgt. Craig Windrix - A symbolic and meaningful tribute

I have to admit that when I first saw pics of Sgt. Craig Windrix I, like many, was thinking who the heck is this guy? Well as it turns out "this guy" happens to be one hell of tribute figure made by one hell of a toy company, NECA. By now many of us know who Craig Windrix is, brother of NECA sculptor Kyle Windrix and someone that very recently lost his fight with the asshole known as cancer at far too young of an age. If by chance you don't know the story of how this figure came to be, AFI did an interview with NECA's Randy Falk. Check out their video below because if you don't know the story, you really need to hear it straight from Randy and not in my words because his mean so much more.

I have always been a fan of what NECA does in action figure form (even more as of late), but learning of this gesture how can you not be a fan of what NECA does as human beings? You know when things happen in life that are out of our control, there is very little we can really do. In NECA case, they showed what they could do and pulled it off perfectly and powerfully.

That being said, let's get into the actual figure. Sgt. Windrix is part of Series 2 of NECA's Alien line, along with Big Chap (from Alien) and a blue repaint of the Series 1 Xenomorph Warrior

If you have either Hicks or Hudson from Series 1 you pretty much know what you are getting here, but we are treated to some very cool extras in terms of accessories, paint deco and even some newly sculpted "long sleeve" arms. Also of note is the head sculpt, which looks great and comes complete with some piercing blue eyes. The picture to the right is super close up and I found that the flash found a few minor scratches and it even highlighted some paint on his cheeks that I didn't notice was there. It blends perfectly when looking at the figure in hand, and only really looks blotchy here due to the camera flash. This is a perfect example of the level of paint detail that goes into these figures. Well done NECA.



Ok now lets take a look at the goodies Windrix comes with.

Clockwise from the top, we have the Motion Tracker, the shoulder mounted camera and the Flamethrower (which is a brand new weapon accessory, and one that I hope Windrix won't mind lending to Ripley when she hopefully joins the fight). The shoulder camera is even articulated to allow some slight movement of the camera which is a nice touch.

Moving on to what I really think makes Windrix stand out, the paint job and all of the personal touches that are included on the figure itself. As Randy mentions in the video above, director James Cameron let the actors adorn their uniforms with personal touches, and that has been lovingly added to Windrix as well. Included are the heart on his chest with his girlfriends name, the right shoulder logo of Craig's face from the "5000 Miles of Craig" Facebook page that followed Craig's fight, the lower back Bowling Ball with the initials of Kyle and Craig's Father (an avid bowler), and some other personal touches that I don't know (like a penguin eating ice cream), and while the answer may be out there already I am honestly ok not knowing as I like the idea of some of these being for the family alone. Also worth noting are the Colonial Marine patch on one arm and his rank and US Flag on the other. All of these came out looking great on top of an already stellar camo paint job!

All in all this is a figure that will stand on my shelf as a constant reminder of what life is all about, with this tribute to their friend and brother, NECA has given us a figure that represents that life is short, and nothing is a guarantee but the one thing that matters above everything else is our time with our loved ones. So thank you to them and to the Windrix family for sharing with us Craig's story. They will no doubt be going through tough times but I hope they understand that in sharing Craig with us, our familes will benefit from a valuable life lesson. I know it's not much, but I hope they will find some comfort in knowing that.

Not only is the story behind the figure amazing, but it is also a fantastic addition to the Aliens line.

On to whatever is next. RIP Craig Windrix