HOT TOYS ALIENS "HICKS": What is it that makes him so POPULAR?!

[icruise]

His was not the $2300 one. He sold his for around $1100, which is still a very high price of course.

 

[nicky]

https://cgi.ebay.it/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130190712033&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003
It was an Italian sale

 

[icruise]

It wasn't an Italian sale -- you're just viewing it through the ebay Italy portal.

Here is the same auction seen through ebay UK, ebay USA, ebay Canada, and ebay France.

 

[nicky]

Ooops! I should've known better.!

 

[lethal1973]

Yes, it was a US sale...he also purchased a Ripley and a second chance offer Vasquez at the same time. Looks like he already had Drake, Apone and Hudson and wanted to complete a set. At that time, that was the only Hicks available and, apparently a second bidder also wanted it almost as badly. That's what it was worth to those buyers at that time.

 

[Mudshark]

Whatever the circumstances, they were both nuts to let it get that far out of control!

 

[galactiboy]

I think his popularity is the fact that in the film he's the main Marine and the survivor. For me, and I assume others if you are going to have only one marine, it'd be Hicks.

Also he was in the first batch of 3 that were released, and I think they must have been a lower edition size. Possible it was only 1,000 or so since the Superman Returns and Batman Begins (came out around the same time) were 1,200 a piece.

I think all of that, and of course that its the only high-end Hicks out there makes for a pricey little guy.

 

[Mudshark]

I think his popularity is the fact that in the film he's the main Marine and the survivor. For me, and I assume others if you are going to have only one marine, it'd be Hicks.

Also he was in the first batch of 3 that were released, and I think they must have been a lower edition size. Possible it was only 1,000 or so since the Superman Returns and Batman Begins (came out around the same time) were 1,200 a piece.

I think all of that, and of course that its the only high-end Hicks out there makes for a pricey little guy.

You're quite right, of course. He and Apone were the first two MMS Aliens figures of the line, followed somewhat later by Vasquez. I was fortunate enough to have got 'em when they were first released in Asia, before Sideshow had made their arrangement with Hot Toys. Then I picked up a couple more Hicks that for some reason were still available over here up until a year or so ago, for regular retail! They would've been cleaned out in a heartbeat if they'd been for sale anywhere else I imagine. They're long gone now, though!

 

[Jamal]

I think it just boils down to popularity, and thats really the only Hicks model/toy out theres thats half decent isnt it?

 

[Mudshark]

As far as I know, that was the first ever serious attempt by a major toy company to make a "movie-accurate" version of the Aliens Colonial Marines, even though the likenesses deliberately weren't accurate due to the licensing issues. The USCM's time had finally come, and they will continue to be popular for a long time to come, imho.

The same might be said for HT's Predator and Alien figures. Doing characters like that was really a groundbreaking shift for them creatively. They've received a fair amount of criticism along with a lot of praise from 1/6 collectors, but I think they're getting better at it with each new release. Their latest Biohazard (Resident Evil) and Appleseed figures are excellent examples of that.

That said, Michael Biehn made Hicks an extremely memorable character to so many fans of Aliens. Hudson arguably had the best lines in the movie, but Hicks was the frosty veteran that never, ever wimped out, no matter how the odds were stacked against him. That's why I bought HT's Hicks figure as soon as I laid eyes on him.