Well, aside from being iconic, Ripley was also played by an attractive woman. I would wager the majority of people on this board are men (myself included despite the screen name). And, and I'm speaking for myself here, but I'm sure I'm not alone, some of us have had a crush on Sigourney Weaver for twenty or more years due to movies like the Alien series and Ghostbusters being a big part of our childhoods.
All that said, I'm not a huge fan of Scarlett Johansson (though I can see why people find her attractive), but imagine if the Black Widow figures didn't do her justice (Again, I'm out of the loop, and maybe some people DO feel that way about the BW figures).
That's how I feel about this figure. It's close, but to say it's a good likeness is disingenuous. It's one of those sculpts that need to be lit correctly and viewed at certain angles to be a "dead on likeness" and that's not what I think Hot Toys should consider a successful sculpt.
Add all of that to the fact that this
is an iconic character, and arguably the first real badass, strong female lead character in cinema, and that HT announced her two or three years ago (I forget), they've had more than enough time to work on her that it should be nothing less of phenomenal. Granted, they have been trying to improve her, but it feels like they're giving this iconic character less attention than deserved than some of the newer, less historically important characters. Just look at some of the stuff they've got going on now from movie franchises. That Harley Quinn/Margot Robbie looks damn near perfect in comparison, and I'm sure they would've had FAR less work time on her.
On the other had, like P. said, like with the Predators and Terminator, HT seems to care less about accuracy and just care about hitting a general aesthetic goal. Less people will be able to pick out the intricacies of a Predator's face sculpt, so they just make something that passes as a Predator and lets it ride. And with Arnie, he seems to be one of those people that has a distinct face that never seems to get pinned down perfectly by any sculpt, but due to his stature and how deeply ingrained in pop culture his characters are, HT kind of gets a pass on a "close enough" sculpt, because the costumes are so recognizable. It's also completely possible that Sigourney could be in the same category as Arnie where it's extremely hard to get her likeness dead on, because she has one of those very unique faces.
In a nutshell, HT seems to be taking a less than enthusiastic approach on a figure that should be getting premium treatment due to icon status in pop culture, but are fine with "It's passable as Ripley in her Alien jumpsuit" even though they've had years to work on her, but seem to knock out top tier figures of less important characters in far less time.
You can't keep dangling a carrot in front of hardcore fans for years on end and then drop a subpar product when we know it can be better. Especially when it costs $230. And let's not forget, HT is not NECA. They're not making figures that casual collector's are going to buy. They're supposed to be making top tier figures for a niche market. HT seems to know that certain people that have been patiently waiting will buy it anyway, because it's obviously something we really want, and what other options do we have? I think that's why the hate is flowing pretty hard in this thread, specifically.
And, just so this long post isn't just all words, here's a gif:
