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Topless Toy Chest: Aliens‘ Bishop (Queen Attack) by NECA


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I think it was the double-whammy of The Horror Show and Pumpkinhead that made me a Lance Henriksen fan, and in the years before the Internet, he was that one guy whom it seemed that only I knew about. Ironically, I had completely forgotten his most famous role as a point of reference – when I saw Aliens I wasn’t yet at the stage of remembering actor names, and Bishop was a character to me. It blew my mind to go back, re-view it, and realize it was him. And then to revisit The Terminator and see him in that too.

When he got Millennium in the ’90s, I spent most of the first few episodes not even registering the plot; I was too busy going “HOLY SHIT SHIT SHIT THEY GAVE LANCE HENRIKSEN HIS OWN SHOW.” And so, to finally get a proper Lance Henriksen action figure is a life achievement unlocked. But can it possibly measure up after all these years?

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Okay, first off, how dumb am I never to have noticed the obvious “Queen takes Bishop” chess joke? About as dumb as when I’d tell people “You wouldn’t have seen Lance Henriksen in anything” while forgetting his insanely popular science fiction movie. I guess I’m just stupid for Lance.

This is the second Bishop figure from NECA, and surprisingly it doesn’t reuse much. The head and body and hands are different, with only the arms looking the same. I figured they’d just melt a Bishop figure in half, spray strands of glue on him and call it a day. Nope. This also has the better headsculpt of the two – the regular Bishop looks smooth and made up, like a young Henriksen on set, while this one has a more noticeable leathery texture that more people would associate with the grim-faced thespian.

Now, when you’re a kid and you see the Alien movies, the androids bleed white and you think, “Oh, it looks like milk.”

As an adult, I cannot escape the fact that it looks like something quite different.

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Right. Just had to get the obvious out of the way.

Because Bishop is only half a figure, the package is filled out with a bonus xenomorph egg and facehugger. Like Bishop, who is smoothly flat on his back, the egg is flat-bottomed for ease of display. The facehugger has a bendy tail, and I think the legs can bend a tad too. Not that facehuggers ever go for robots, but if you want Bishop to get a different kind of facial than the one demonstrated above, this critter can give it.

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Of course, if you want an Easter surprise, James Cameron style, that can be done too.

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The Bishop figure has ball-joints everywhere that matters, and there’s even a torso joint under his shirt, though you can’t do much with it – the rubbery shirt has some give but not enough to hold a pose against it unaided.

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Bishop is available on Amazon for around twenty bucks. Store prices will probably be around the same. If you’re planning on making a Queen vs. Power Loader diorama, he is the missing piece you always needed.

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