For the past few years, fans have been eagerly awaiting the official reveal of Hot Toys' Ellen Ripley figures. About 10 years ago, before Hot Toys was the detail-oriented company we know them as today, the company released a series of Alien and Aliens figures, but none of them had any actor likenesses. While those figures still fetch a princely sum based on the brand recognition alone, they weren't great. But then came the day when Sigourney Weaver finally signed off on her likeness being used a few Toy Fairs ago, and with it the news Hot Toys was going to revisit the Alien franchise.

Since that announcement, the Ellen Ripley figure has been one of the most anticipated Hot Toys releases, but it's been absent from the company's portfolio. Ripley had shown up at conventions overseas as an "in-progress" work, but as Alien Day came and passed, we still had no word from the Nostromo. This week, salvagers managed to find a lifeform as it passed through the outer rim. Ripley is here.

Now, this final prototype might look a bit different to those of you that have been following the progress of this figure since it was announced. Hot Toys has ditched the rooted hair in favor of a sculpted do, which I'm rather on the fence about. I think the synthetic hair looked better on display, but I also know how impossible it would be to keep it looking nice in the retail version. Hot Toys has enough trouble with its rooted hair figures that don't have complicated curls. I can only imagine the challenges of upkeep this thing would provide if this figure was released with that hair.

The rest of the figure is virtually identical to the early iteration, though it looks like Hot Toys dialed back the make-up on Ripley's face. That's probably for the best. The cheeks looked too rosy to be natural, and took a bit of her blue collar-ness away. I actually don't mind the stern expression either, as Ripley was pretty damn serious on the Nostromo, and Hot Toys has captured her "take no sh--" attitude quite well.

The jumpsuit looks great, and the small detailing in the tailoring and patches looks awesome. The team behind the accessories did a bang up job with the flamethrower and the original motion tracking device, too. Even Jonesy's carrier looks terrific. Jonesy on the other hand...

Look, Hot Toys' sculptors are clearly amazing at making humans and aliens and robots and tree people, but man can they not get cats right. The only reason I even know that's a cat is because I've seen the movie. It's not a great add-on for a $230 statue. Perhaps it will be fixed by the time it comes out at the end of 2016, but the rest of the Ripley figure has had so little changed over the past few years, it's not looking very likely that will happen. Still, take that cat away, and it's a figure more than just a mother could love.

The Alien Ellen Ripley figure is available for pre-order now for $229.99, and is expected to arrive in Q4 this year.

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