POP! Movies – Masked Predator (Specialty Series)

Predator is one of my favourite movie monsters, up there with the Creature from the Black Lagoon. He’s a monster who crosses age and fandom barriers, proving a compelling presence even when the movie itself is less than stellar.

Funko have actually pumped out quite a few Predator products since 2013 – many more than I realised. I bought the unmasked version a while ago (maybe a couple of years?) and I assumed that I had written a review of it. But it turns out I haven’t, so I can’t just pillage from it the way I sometimes do when I’m reviewing two very similar figures.

As might be expected, the body is the same, though he gets an entirely new head. The body sculpt is a little softer and less-detailed than we would probably get from Funko these days, but I quite like it; to be honest, I think Funko over-details many of its newer figures, detracting from the relatively simplistic style that made them so appealing in the first place. The mask is a little tighter, but this still works as it’s fairly simple in its style.  

As might be expected, the paint is adequate. Better than the original, but still lots of room for work. It doesn’t do much to enhance the sculpt. The most egregious error is on the back of the head, around the dreadlocks – it’s been left plain black where it should be the predator’s beige-y skin colour.  

This POP is a good one, and it’s a long-overdue addition to the Predator line. To be honest, I’m surprised it was released as a Specialty Series figure. The unmasked and “cloaked” versions were released back in 2013, but they don’t seem to have been discontinued – certainly they’re easy enough to track down in Australia.

This new release also seems to have been selling quite well, so perhaps we may even see more Predators? Personally, I’d love to see a Predator 2 version. It wouldn’t need to be radically overhauled; a different mask and a new paint job, and there you have it. But in the meantime, this one will sit nicely on the shelf alongside his unmasked companions. 

Predators Series 16: Ghost Predator

Company: NECA

Year: 2016

NB: This review was written BEFORE the Spiked Tail Predator that was published in December

Well, it’s been quite a while since I reviewed any NECA Predators here at the LBC. The last one I bought was the Elder Predator v2, which was released back as part of series 12. Cool as he was, I don’t think I ever got to reviewing him on here – which means the last one I looked at was the ¼-scale City Hunter, all the way back in early 2015!

Series 13-15 weren’t bad, by any means, but I didn’t buy any of them. Series 13 continued the Kenner-style Predators, while 14 and 15 focused on the first Aliens vs Predator film. The toys looked good (if a little too similar to one another) but my aversion to the movie itself really kind of put me off. I’m hanging out for an updated Wolf Predator from AvP: Requiem; nothing has been confirmed, but I think it’s a reasonably safe bet to show up sometime next year.  

So today we look at the Ghost Predator, who seems to be based on the Renegade Predator from the old Kenner series. Back then, he was probably the truest to the “real” look of the Predator from the movies in comparison to his gaudier companions. NECA has retained this comparative realism, which I enjoy, but they’ve really played up his pale look, giving him a nice semi-albino look.

Now, NECA’s Predator line has been built on the back of reuse. While that’s brought us some very creative action figures, it has also been a source of frustration for some – in series 16, Ghost Predator is clearly the one who’s had the least spent on him in terms of new tooling. But with the AvP Predators came newly sculpted base bodies for NECA to use, as well as increased articulation. Ghost Predator benefits from this immensely, with swivel biceps and double elbows now being incorporated into the design, as well as a balljointish thing in the chest – a proper ab-crunch would be good, but it would probably also ruin the aesthetics of the figure.

My main criticism of the design is that Ghost is a victim NECA’s current trick of simply not painting the netting to indicate that a character is not wearing netting – the sculpting is still present, but the paint is not. I feel somewhat churlish complaining about it, given the other positive features of the toy, but I think it should be noted nonetheless. The only bare body NECA seems to have for Predators is the old Super Predator body, which was pretty mediocre; perhaps we’ll see one eventually though.

Still, enough about the bad and onto the good. Netting aside, the paintwork is excellent. Check your sample in-store, but they look to have had a good run on this figure. The tiger-stripe lines and cheetah spots contrast nicely with the pale skin – they seem to have shifted back to a moulding process similar to the one they used to give Dutch his distinctive skin tones. This is very welcome, as it gives a more naturalistic look to the figure, in contrast to the heavily painted AvP figures which looked much more overtly toyish.  

Unlike his original figure, Ghost doesn’t get a gun. But he’s got some very cool accessories; a smart disc, a machete, a spear and a removeable mask. All accessories we’ve seen before, but rarely together. The spear won’t quite fit into the left, gripping hand, but it can be balanced in the more open right hand if you’re careful. 

The mask is very well sculpted, and could easily pass for something out of the films. It’s slightly too big in proportion to the head; for a long time NECA shied away from making removable masks for their Predator figures, and this is exactly why. But he still looks fantastic with the mask on or off anyway; it does tie in with the reality that a Predator is a mask in a mask, and there heads have always looked slightly large on-screen.  

Series 16 was heavily delayed. It was originally meant to come out around July, but it hit stores shelves in Sydney in December 2016 – a few weeks behind the US. Nonetheless, it looks to have been worth the wait. Ghost Predator is an excellent design, Spiked Tail Predator was flawed but still looks great….and the glow-in-the-dark Stalker Predator has now arrived too. So overall, I'd say it's been a very successful series.

Predators Series 16 – Spiked Tail Predator

Company: NECA

Year: 2016

In the 1990s, Kenner was a ubiquitous brand in the world of action figures. Though they’re probably best remembered for their Star Wars and Super Powers toys, they also produced figures based on delightfully child-friendly movies such as Aliens, RoboCop and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

I had quite a few Kenner figures as a youth in the 1990s (mostly Star Wars: The Power of the Force), and though many were pretty ordinary but today’s standards, they were fantastic at the time. Sadly, Kenner is no more – bought out by Hasbro some years ago, the brand has long since been absorbed into its parent company, the licenses it once held divvied up among other companies. But its legacy still lives on today, in some small part, every time an adult movie like The Dark Knight Rises or Van Helsing gets a toyline intended for children. But it’s rarely as off the wall as it was back then…I don’t think so many people see ultra-violent movies as potential kid’s cartoons, and that’s probably for the best.

So, why mention Kenner in a NECA review? Well, series 16 of NECA’s Predator line is yet another tribute to those often wild and wacky days of toy manufacturing – specifically, a modern update of some more of Kenner’s Predator range. So today we look at the Spiked Tail Predator; we’ll be looking at his two series-mates very soon.

I guess if you had to sum up Spiked Tail’s aesthetic very briefly, you’d say “Steampunk Predator”. Fortunately this is not as terrible as it sounds. The original Kenner toy was very heavily armoured and cyborg-esque, but also kind of plain, with the unusual helmet/facemask combo and odd colour the main selling points. In a line that seemed to have two ugly toys for every good one, Spiked Tail stands out as being almost aggressively unmemorable.

But NECA have outdone themselves with this update. It’s clear that the bulk of this series’ tooling budget went on this guy; though not all of his accoutrements are new tooling, most of them are. As a result, he has a nice, chunky feel to him – though I’m definitely putting him on a stand, as that gigantic dreadlock ponytail thing does leave him a little unbalanced.

Once the mask is on and the gun is mounted (either on his back or on his left arm) he looks fantastic, a wonderfully futuristic take on the hunter. In spite of him shifting well away from the more traditional Predator look, he still manages to feel somewhat plausible once the mask goes on. Maybe not so much as his seriesmate Ghost, but you could see a more muted version of this design making it into a future Predator movie.  

Now lest you fear that I gush too much, there are some problems:

• The armour really hinders the articulation all over the body – given some time you can work with it, but straight out of the box you’re probably going to keep him in fairly vanilla poses.
• The gun falls off the backmount quite easily
• The mask doesn’t quite stay on his face as it should
• His left forearm popped off when I tried to plug the gun in (though could be popped back on)
• Paint is a little thick on his armour and bionic hand
• The “pistons” on his left leg weren’t glued on properly when he came out of the box, and thus don’t sit quite correctly.

None of these are dealbreakers in and of themselves…but when you consider that these figures are now selling for $49.95AUD a pop it does leave a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth.

  

Interestingly, the copy on the back also gives us a bit of a taste of some potential future Preds, with mention of the Lasershot and R’Zor Predators. Lasershot was a previously released Kenner design that looked a bit like a modified Scarab/Nightstorm Predator. It sounds okay…but the mention of R’Zor is particularly intriguing. Information online is scarce, but it seems that he was a cancelled figure that was actually a human marine disguised as a Predator. Some sample figures did make it out into the wild, but they’re definitely few and far between. NECA already has a lot of tooling from the Marines in the Aliens range, so I’m hoping we do eventually get this figure in some kind of official form.  

When I reviewed Nightstorm Predator almost three years ago, I noted that I probably would have hated it back as a kid, and noted that the Kenner Aliens and Predator lines typified some of the worst trends in 1990s action figures – namely, a thin basis in source material, garish colours, little to no resemblance to the “real” character/s and ultimately quite gimmicky. But now, as then, sometimes something will grab me. I was going to pass on this guy when I first saw the promo images, but in person he really popped off the shelf. And so I decided I had to own the whole series, instead of just going for the glow-in-the-dark Stalker Predator.  

So overall? Cool update of a pretty bland design, but it’s somewhat flawed in execution. I’m still glad I made the purchase, but if this was my first experience of the line I’d be less than impressed.

NECA Battle Armor Lost Predator

Company: NECA

Line: Predators

Series: 11

Year: 2014

RRP: $34.95AUD

THE BACKGROUND

Predator 2 is a movie that’s often unfairly maligned. Yes, it was always going to be hard to live up to the original, and the sequel makes quite a few questionable choices, but I still have soft spot for it, possibly because I saw it before I saw the original.

Anyway, you’ll no doubt remember the sequence near the end where Danny Glover’s character finds himself aboard the Predator’s ship, and suddenly surrounded by a whole group of Predators, who are presumably the City Hunter’s buddies – popularly known as the “Lost Predators” or "Lost Tribe". You only get a very short glimpse of each of them before they go back to being invisible, but they still made quite an impression on fans.

Among them was the “Borg Predator”– his chest armour is kind of futuristic and cyberpunk-looking, in comparison to the more primitive/tribal stylings that we typically expect from Predators. Also, his skin was green-tinged. But if you don’t remember him specifically from his 5 seconds of film time, the picture on the left is a behind-the-scenes shot, courtesy of www.avp.wikia.com

NECA released this guy back in 2012 as part of series 6, somewhat confusingly labelling him as the “Lost Predator”, which I assume is to do with Star Trek-related copyright issues. Almost two years later, they’re revisiting him with a somewhat different version – the Battle Armor Lost Predator.  

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

Any of us who played with toys as a kid, or have collected them as adults are familiar with bizarre action figure..."variations". A toy company takes a character that we’re familiar with, but releases them dressed in costumes or packaged with accessories that have no connection with the source material. Batman and Spider-Man are two of the most serious offenders, but very few toylines are immune. As another example, in early 1990s there were approximately 392730397509 different versions of the four Ninja Turtles.

Most of these figures are terrible. But every now and then, one of these variants ends up being really cool. And the Battle Armor Lost Predator is definitely cool.  

So, let’s get down to brass tacks. In the film, Lost/Borg Predator is apparently rocking his casual gear, but here, he means business. His helmet is unlike any other Predator we’ve seen thus far – it’s quite detailed, looking like some kind of robot Predator skull. The eyeslit is painted red, giving a laser-esque/Cyclops look.

There are a number of pieces that are definitely new. The first is obviously the head. The helmet looks to be a separate piece that’s glued down onto a hollowed-out Predator head, but I’m not sure whether it’s based on the original version of this guy, or simply one they’ve come up with for the occasion.

His belt is also new, incorporating a sheath for the sword, which extends up the Predator’s back. The sheath is cast in a thin but hard plastic, which I think looks and works better than soft plastic would have in this case.

Unusually, he has no wrist-mounted claws, and his plasma-caster is on his right shoulder. The plasma-caster isn’t a removable piece – it’s attached to the chest plate. It follows a similar aesthetic to the helmet, and it has three wires hanging on the side, complementing the wires on his chest plater.

Both his hands are sculpted closed, so his sword and smart-disc can be held in either hand. 


Close-up of the backpack and open plasma-caster.

Articulation is what we’ve come to expect from NECA’s Predators:

*ball-jointed neck

*swivel-hinged shoulders

*swivel-hinged elbows

*ball-jointed wrists

*ball-jointed waist

*ball-jointed hips

*double-hinged knees

*ball-jointed ankles

Additionally, the plasma-caster’s arm is ball-jointed in two spots – where it joins to the backpack and where it joins to the gun itself. The plasma-caster backpack restricts the right shoulder to a small degree, but the main issue is the elbows. The bracers have wires sculpted onto them around the elbow area, and the bend is quite restricted as a result.

It’s certainly not screen accurate, but it looks like it could be – the overall effect is great. He moves well, and looks good. I really like the Kenner-style Predators of series 10, but this guy is much more “realistic”, which makes him much easier to imagine in the world of the movies. The Kenner Preds are a little more Dark Horse comic-looking, if you know what I mean (and if you like that look, you'll probably enjoy the upcoming series 12 and 13).

ACCESSORIES

This guy comes with two accessories. The first is a massive sword, which more than makes up for the lack of wrist blades. It’s about 5” long, which is far too long to be practical – but totally awesome. The blade is primarily black, with a light silver drybrush and red edging.

The other accessory is an AvP-style smartdisc, with extended blades. If you look closely, you’ll also notice there’s also a closed one sculpted onto the front of his belt. It’s a nice little touch. The main body is painted in a metallic blue to match the rest of his armour. It fits in either hand, but it’s a little prone to popping out.

PAINT

His primary skin colour is the usual Predator beige-y, with the secondary skin colour being a dark green. Interspersed among it are a number of small red and black dots. It’s unusual colouring, but it looks great!

 

There are a few issues with slop around various points. Some silver on the backpack, some black on the toe claws – and as we’ve come to expect, the netting. But it’s not worth getting upset about. I’d just suggest that you take a close look at the figure in the store before you go through with the purchase. Poe Ghostal mentioned that the chest armour doesn’t seem to be as well-painted as the original release of this guy, but wasn’t sure if it was a deliberate choice on NECA’s part or a QC issue. I didn’t look too closely at the others on the shelf when I bought mine, so I can’t really comment myself.       

OVERALL

Some will definitely question the necessity of this figure – the original was great, and this look for the character doesn’t really have a canon precedent. But my verdict? It may not be essential, but the Battle Armor Lost Predator is a fantastic figure. He’s distinct enough to serve as a separate character, and just plain looks cool. I’ve bought four NECA Predators since August last year, and they just keep getting better and better. 2013 was a great year for the Predators line, and if this guy is any indication, 2014 will be too!
 

Lava Planet Predator

Company: NECA

Series: Predators Series 10

Scale: 7”

RRP: $29.95-34.95

THE BACKGROUND

Sometimes, toy manufacturers often think it’s a great idea to make kid’s toys from properties that were originally intended for adults. Films like Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy and last year’s Man of Steel are recent examples, but in the 1980s and 1990s, it was much more pronounced. Admittedly some were based on more child-friendly cartoon versions (RoboCop, Rambo, Toxic Crusaders), but on viewing the original source material, you do have to wonder who was making some of these decisions…

Predator was one of these adult properties which scored itself a kid’s toyline in the mid-90s, alongside Aliens. I first became familiar with the Lava Planet Predator (and the Kenner line in general) only recently, via Dinosaur Dracula’sarticle on this unusual beast. So when I found out NECA was doing a series based on the Kenner Predators, I went into “must-have” mode, making very specific arrangements with my sisters to receive one of these bad boys for Christmas, some months in advance. Was he worth the wait? Read on to find out.

THE PACKAGING

As mentioned in my previous review of the Nightstorm Predator, the box art on these guys is a tribute to the Kenner line – nice painted artwork, in a very 1990s style.

The bio is good fun too, suggesting that this Predator is one of a rare tribe who live in Yautja Prime’s volcanic area. So even as Predators go, this dude is pretty hardcore.  

(As a side note: As a kid who was into Star Wars, I used to ponder about canon and continuity, but these days I’m much more relaxed. Was it in the movie? Then it’s “real”. If it’s from something like a comic or novelisation, feel free to enjoy it, but don’t put a lot of stock in it – odds are high that it will be ignored or contradicted in future films. Your own thoughts on this are welcome in the comments below.)

 

 

 

 

 

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

Lava Planet Predator looks to be primarily based on the Jungle Hunter from series 8, with bits like the hands and feet presumably taken from various other Preds in the NECA line. Series 11 is about to drop, so they’ve got plenty of resources to draw from at this point. This isn’t a bad thing, as the fact that it’s moulded in translucent red plastic is enough to distinguish it from all of its forebears. Rarely has a Predator shone so brightly, as seen in this photo below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Articulation-wise, this is what he’s got:

*ball-jointed neck

*peg and hinge shoulders

*peg and hinge elbows

*swivel waist

*ball-jointed hips

*double-hinged knees

*ball-jointed ankles

And you know what? All of it works! I had some concerns about this new Predator, as the other two NECA Preds I’ve bought have been awesome to look at, but definitely had their issues when it came to poseability. Still, so far the only issue is that his hips don’t move quite as well as I’d like, largely due to his loincloth getting in the way. I’d also watch how long you have him standing for, as NECA Preds are well-known for not being great at standing upright for extended periods.

As a side note, I don’t think his feet quite match. His right one looks a bit wider than the other, though it doesn’t seem to have caused him any standing difficulties.  

ACCESSORIES

Lava Planet Predator comes with one detachable accessory – his machete. It’s a little tricky to get it in and out of his clenched hand, but it will stay put once it’s there.

Attached, he’s got two others – his extendable blade, and his shoulder cannon. The cannon is mounted on a balljoint and can be easily popped on and off. Unlike many of his Predator forebears, this one isn’t actually attached to a backpack. You’ll notice in some of these pictures that’s it’s not actually attached – it had popped off and I didn’t even notice until later, so be careful with it.

As for the claw, it’s very reminiscent of the original toy, which is quite different to the “standard” Predator dual blade. It’s more crescent-shaped, and can be slightly extended. However, the extended area isn’t painted, so it looks a little strange – this bad boy is going to stay shut for most of the time.  
Though it appears to be a separate piece of plastic, the mask is (unfortunately) not actually removable. The upside is that his eyes will glimmer if you shine a torch or other light source behind his head! Clever photographers will be able to milk this figure for a lot of cool effects.

PAINT

There’s not a whole lot of paint to talk about here – there’s a camo/heat haze effect painted in a few spots on his body, and his weapons and mask are picked out in a reddish/pink metallic colour. Pretty much everything else is cast in translucent red plastic, which means it somewhat resembles a giant red lolly.

Fortunately, the stuff that is there is nicely detailed. Not a lot of slop, which is nice on a figure that probably could have got away with it pretty easily. The main issue (if it is one) is that the paint on the front half of the figure abruptly stops halfway around the shoulderpads, gauntlets etc (see photo below). Whether or not this is intentional is open to debate, but it does seem a little strange. One other review I read speculated that this may be representative of a camo effect, which is possible – but as that review also mentioned, it would have looked better if just fully painted. Fortunately, the helmet doesn’t seem to be affected by this issue – I suppose it was probably painted as a separate piece. 

OVERALL
I’ve been really happy with  the Kenner Predators, and I particularly like the Lava Planet Predator. He’s a well-crafted tribute to the original figure, while not looking like a terrible embarrassment to more modern sensibilities.

But I still haven’t picked up the Hive Wars Predator, and don’t plan to. I’m just not quite sold on him, possibly because he’s the least outlandish of the three that were released.  However, I could definitely see myself picking up some future Kenner-themed releases, if they arrive – as I mentioned in my Nightstorm Predator review, I’m still hanging for a glow in the dark Predator, who could duke it out with Nightfighter RoboCop. In the meantime, enjoy some 90s-style crossover madness with this shot of Lava Planet Predator duking it out with Batman, in the sewers below Gotham.

Nightstorm Predator Review

Company: NECA

Series: Predators  – Series 10

RRP: approx. $34.95 AUD

Scale: 7”

The Background

In the 1990s, Kenner was a ubiquitous brand in the world of action figures. Though they’re probably best remembered for their Star Wars toys, they also produced figures based on child-friendly movies (or their cartoon spin-offs) such as Aliens, Predator, RoboCop and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

I had quite a few Kenner figures as a youth in the 1990s (mostly Star Wars: The Power of the Force), and though many were pretty ordinary but today’s standards, they were fantastic at the time. Sadly, Kenner is no more – bought out by Hasbro some years ago, the brand has long since been absorbed into its parent company, the licenses it once held divvied up among other companies. But its legacy still lives on today, in some small part, every time an adult movie like The Dark Knight Rises or Van Helsing gets a toyline intended for children. But it’s rarely as off the wall as it was back then…I don’t think so many people see ultra-violent movies as potential kid’s cartoons, and that’s probably for the best.

So, why mention Kenner in a NECA review detail? Well, series 10 of NECA’s Predator line is a tribute to those often wild and wacky days of toy manufacturing – specifically, a modern update of some of Kenner’s Predator range.  This is territory we’ve seen NECA dip their toes into before, with Nightfighter RoboCop – how does it carry over to the Predators?  Read on and find out.

The Packaging

I’m a child of the 1980s and 1990s. Toy packaging in this era tended to be either RIDICULOUSLY BRIGHT AND GARISH (Ninja Turtles and GI Joe) or DARK AND EDGY (particularly after the rise of McFarlane Toys). All of it was intended to grab your attention, each package competing with many others on the crowded shelf. The artwork on this box is quite a deliberate throwback to that era, and one that I very much enjoy. The focal point is the illustration of the masked Predator face, which has been coloured in a style that definitely uses what professionals call “artistic license”. It’s very similar to the original Kenner cardback, though different enough to look quite cool on its own merits.

MOCers should be pleased, but they’ll want to be careful – with the card backing, it’s obviously more prone to damage than a NECA clamshell. The other downside is that the helmet is concealed behind the bottom paper strip, so you won’t be able to see that properly.    

SCULPT AND ARTICULATION

The first thing you’ll probably notice is that this guy is big. He towers over my Jungle Hunter, and is massive next to Dutch. Apparently he uses the old “Super Predator” body – which to the layman, basically means that it’s taller and its legs aren’t as articulated as more recent Predator series have been (V-cut hips instead of balljoints). So you’ll have a little more trouble getting it to stand, but once it does you shouldn’t have many issues with it falling over, as the V-cuts tend to be stronger than balljoints.

In practice, it was quite tricky to get him to stand, as his leg armour, points of articulation and a seemingly sensible way for him to stand didn’t all line up very well. I would still advise that you don’t stand him anywhere he can fall too far. The trade-off is that his legs do actually seem far more poseable than my Jungle Hunter, which in spite of having “superior” articulation, is fairly immobile around the hips.    

In terms of the rest of the articulation, let’s see:

*ball-jointed head (more on that under “ISSUES”)

*swivel hinge shoulders

*swivel hinge elbows

*ball-jointed left wrist (right wrist seems to be intentionally immobile, beneath the gauntlet)

*cut waist  

*cut thighs

*swivel hinge knees

All of it works well enough, and it’s nicely placed on the sculpt – none of the joints distract from the overall look of the figure.  

Once the mask is on, the effect of the figure is not dissimilar to an animal-headed Egyptian idol.- specifically Khepri. I was (and am) a big fan of ancient Egypt, so the overall aesthetic is one I find quite pleasing. Stargate fans could perhaps even pretend that he’s some kind of villainous species within that universe, and despite the more realistic sculpt, I still think he’s cartoony enough to make a good enemy for the new range of TMNT figures.

As for the claws, they’re ridiculously huge and actually extend out a little further. I’m torn as to whether I like how big they are, or whether it would have been good to scale them back a little. As a tribute to 90s action figure style, it’s spot-on though.

PAINT

NECA know how to do a great paint job, and this one is particularly good. The Predator’s base colour is a midnight blue, highlighted with a lighter blue. Lots of little details (is it meant to be chest hair, or just spots? I’m never sure) are picked out across the body, and he’s sans-netting, so no issues with paint slop there.

The face is of particular note, with the purply-pink colour on the mandibles complimenting the dark blue hues quite well.  Gold is the other dominant colour, and the work here is also quite good. A grey wash has been applied over the gold to give it more depth and (I assume) a somewhat aged appearance. Pretty good in theory, but in practice the wash is a bit uneven and will probably vary quite a bit from figure to figure. I didn’t have any major issues with mine – but it’s something to watch out for.

As a minus, taking the mask on and off will slightly wear the paint down around the mouth -- just something to be mindful of. You'll probably want to stick with a mask on or mask off look, for the most part.

ACCESSORIES

Nightstorm Predator comes with three accessories – a mask, a staff and a shoulder cannon.

This is the apparently the first Predator to have a removable mask in the whole NECA range. I think the removable mask is a good thing, and I might even say it’s long overdue. Getting the various masked and unmasked versions of the same Predators across multiple series might not bother some people, but I tend to think that it would be better to just include some removable masks and/or interchangeable heads. Hopefully we see a lot more of this in future.  

The mask is concealed behind the paper insert in the box, so it will be a little bit of a gamble as to the paint job on it – mine was fine, though. The sculpting is intentionally reminiscent of a scarab beetle’s pincers, which further ties in with the pseudo-Egyptian theme. Scarabs were quite important to the ancient Egyptians, so it’s not too much of a stretch.    

The inside of the mask is also filled with sculpted detail – this is a great touch, when you consider that they could have easily left it blank, and no one would have complained. Overall, I think it looks great. The only real downside is that the mask does seem to cause a bit of paint wear around different parts of the face. I keep mine more or less permanently masked, but your mileage may vary.

The staff is similarly cool – incorporating a skull and what one other reviewer described as a Xenomorph tail, it fits the pseudo-Egyptian vibe quite well. It’s moulded in a sturdy plastic, and didn’t seem to have any issues with warping. His grip is a little tight, but once it’s in it should hold nice and steady.

The shoulder cannon is on a simple balljoint post that clicks into the armour – it’s not a full backpack like some other figures. The supporting post does pop out of its socket a little more easily than I’d like, but on the upside, the barrel actually rotates, which is nifty.

ISSUES

I don’t know if it’s something I did wrong, it’s unique to my figure or if it’s a problem across the range, but as soon as I took Mr Nightstorm out of the package, his head fell off.

No biggie – it’s a balljoint, it should pop back in pretty easily, shouldn’t it? Not so simple. From what I can tell, the shoulder armour flares up in an area very close to the neck – and when the dreadlocks come into contact with it, it doesn’t quite come together as it should.

With this said, I can turn him upside down and his head won’t fall off – I just need to be careful with how it’s posed.  I’ve read a couple of other reviews and they haven’t mentioned this issue, so it may just be mine. As it’s theoretically repairable, it’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s highly irritating nonetheless.

OVERALL

To be quite honest, I probably would have hated this figure when I was actually a child. Though I thought some of the many variations of Batman that did the rounds were quite cool, the Kenner Aliens and Predator lines typified some of the worst trends in 1990s action figures – namely, a thin basis in source material, little to no resemblance to the character/s and ultimately quite gimmicky.
I generally tend to prefer figures that look more or less as they do in the source material – extra accessories are nice, but they should be removable. Kenner’s Combat Belt Batman from 1993 is a great example of this kind of figure, as are the basic TMNT figures currently doing the rounds. 

But every now and then I’ll see something a little more unusual that just grabs me, and this was one of those figures. The reception of the Kenner-style figures seems to have been quite good, so it’s likely that there will be more – I’m hoping for a glow in the dark one, to be best buds with Night Fighter RoboCop.

Jungle Hunter Predator Review

Jungle Hunter Predator

Company: NECA

Series: Predators - series 8

RRP: approx. $29.95 AUD

The Background

I’ve started buying action figures again after several years out of the game. My last big purchases were from the ’03 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, so I’m pretty out of date with what has been coming out over the last…well, decade, really.

I’m a huge fan of action figures, but I’m quite fussy when it comes to actually plonking down money for them. They take up quite a lot of room, and they’re not easy to store, unlike books, games, DVDs or CDs. Even Lego can be dissembled and stored in a box or bag.

 

But I recently purchased an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie boxset, watched Predator for the first time in a number of years, and decided it might be nice to have a Predator sitting on my shelves – specifically, the Jungle Hunter Predator. Credit must go to www.ItsAllTrue.net for making me aware of the range to begin with. So, armed with my credit card and searching online, I placed my order. I ordered Dutch too, as I mentioned here. But as much as I like Dutch and Arnie, the Predator is the true star of the show. The movie is named after him, after all.

"Do you even knife, bro?"

 

The Figure Itself

 

Online sources tell me that this is a new Predator sculpt, apparently replacing an older model which has been used for most of the prior series. It doesn’t look drastically different to me, but granted I haven’t owned any of the previous versions.

I’m particularly impressed with the skin. The paint job has done a good job of making him look clammy and slimy (though it hasn't shown up in the photos as well as I would like), as well as giving his skin a mottled look. There are no paint issues worth getting upset about, and his bone necklace and adornments are impressively sculpted and painted too. Similarly, the armour and mask have been nicely done. Most areas have a subtle brown wash over them, giving them a worn-in look.

In a nice touch, the gauntlet blades are extendable. Be gentle, though. I could see these breaking very easily in careless hands…

There are some minuses. The plasma-caster backpack is a little bit iffy – the piece clicks into place, but his dreadlocks (predlocks?) get in the way a little bit. Tilting his head works around this a little, but I have concerns about maintaining this pose long-term. The dreadlocks are made from soft rubber and I can see them getting warped in time – not to mention that it means he can really only have his head at one angle while the accessory is attached.

                                         

          Two deadly predators. It's nice to see them together in an Instagram besties shot.

 

However, the plasma-caster gun itself is also adjustable. You’ll need to jiggle it a bit to get it to stay in a certain position (it’s very easily bumped out of place), but it definitely looks cool once you’ve got it there.

More irritatingly, he doesn’t seem to be going so well with the standing business. He’ll stay upright for a certain period of time, but the hip-joints don’t seem to be tight enough, and so he’ll eventually totter over. He hasn’t really suffered any damage as a result of this, but he’s staying lying down for the time being, until required for photos. I can deal with this, but those looking for something that’s capable of permanent display may want to consider carefully. It may just be an issue with my particular figure.

As a more minor point, it’s a shame that the mask isn’t removable. I can see how it might be a casting issue – but later this year a 2-pack is being released with versions of Dutch and Predator from the film’s final fight, which does have a removable mask. There have already been a few Classic Predator variations in this NECA line, so I have to question whether an entirely new figure is necessary for this feature.

 

For the most part, I’m pretty happy with the Predator. He towers over Dutch, as he should. I was a little concerned that they’d both be the same height. He’s not quite as easily posed, due to the armour plating, tubes and whatnot that adorn him, but it’s still not hard to get him into some good positions for photos.

All three of my NECA figures put together for scale. Pretty good for the most part, but I can't help but think that Dutch should be more noticeably shorter than Robocop, though....

 

Overall

From what I’ve been reading online, people seem to be more excited about the Dutch figures in series 8 and 9 than the Predator. This may be because there have been an awful lot of Predator figures from different companies over the years, and so it’s harder for a new one to stand out from the many that came before. In contrast, there’s been very little of Dutch.  Being a relative newcomer to the series, I think they’ve done an exceptional job of sculpting Arnie’s likeness – and I’m hoping for another Conan line – but the Predator himself is the one I was most excited for.

And for the most part, he delivered.  Looking back over this review, I seem to have spent more time talking about the negatives than the positives. But you shouldn’t get the impression that I’m unhappy with the purchase. The figure is apparently quite screen-accurate, takes good photos and makes a worthy adversary for Dutch...

"Let's see you make fun of my knife now!"

 

…and Robocop....

                                                 

The box for Nightfighter Robocop mentions that his new armour makes him invisible to criminals...I wonder if the Predator sees the irony in being stalked by an invisible foe?

                                                   

"Dead or alive, you're coming with me, creep."

Of course, if Robocop did kill the Predator, presumably another gang of Predators would turn up and give him some kind of obscure gift as they carried off the body.

…and Raphael!

 

 

 

So overall, the Jungle Hunter Predator gets a rating of “very pleased.”

 

 

"South America was a long time ago, Dutch. The Predator's dead. He can't hurt you now."

"DON'T TELL ME HOW TO FEEL MY FEELINGS, ALEX!!"

 

 

NB: Keep in mind that the price indicated is retail only. This figure is already tricky to get hold of – mine came from www.Popcultcha.com.au – but on eBay, I’ve already seen him selling for upwards of $40 (Australian).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 

Action Figure Review - Jungle Encounter Dutch (NECA)

Figure: Jungle Encounter Dutch
Company: NECA
License: Predator (Series 9)

RRP: $24.95 -$29.95 AUD

 

The Background

Predator is a classic of the 1980s. Watching it more than a quarter-century after its release it’s easy to see that it’s not a perfect film, but it’s far more than the sum of its parts. It’s ridiculously silly, yet never falls into parody. And the Predator itself is a very frightening, yet very cool-looking Stan Winston creation.

But today, we’ll be looking at the other star of the film – Dutch, as portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Specifically, the Jungle Encounter Dutch action figure.

I’ve been spending a lot of time spent over at www.ItsAllTrue.Net, and I can’t deny that I’ve been heavily inspired by them to do this action figure review – and, I must admit, they were the inspiration for my more regular Lego reviews too. It was actually through them that I discovered NECA was releasing these 25^th anniversary Predator action figures. The guys over have got their reviews down to a fine art, and if you’re remotely interested in action figures it’s well worth your time to check them out.

The NECA Predator series has been running since 2010, apparently  in tandem with the release of the film Predators (which I still haven't seen), There’s been a mix of original film, Predator 2, Predators and even a few “fanon” action figures released over this time, and the range is quite impressive for its attention to detail.

Series 8 and 9 are the most recent releases - though at least up until series 11 is planned - and they're both based on the original movie, to coincide with the film’s 25^th anniversary. It's a nice touch, and it would be nice to see the second (admittedly inferior) film get some similar action figure love in the next couple of years.

 

The Packaging

The box (not pictured) is nice enough – it’s roughly in the shape of a Predator in profile. The copy on the back of the box does a good job of conveying the backstory , and all the photography for the figures themselves is excellent. However, I do tend to prefer NECA’s clamshell cases. This does become something of a moot point, as I’ve never been one to keep action figures in their packaging – I guess I just prefer them.  

 

The Figure Itself

The figure's front and back views  

 

I am yet to see a NECA figure that didn’t deliver the goods in terms of attention to detail, even if I didn’t particularly like the property it was based on, and this figure is no exception.

Across series 8-9 there are four different variations of Dutch, all of them good in their own way. But I chose this particular variant of him as it also looks quite a bit like Arnie’s character from Commando – Colonel John Matrix. I doubt we’ll see a Commando line anytime soon – but the idea of a matching Bennett figurine is certainly an entertaining one.

The likeness on the face sculpt is quite good overall. The original review I read over at ItsAllTrue.net noted the impressive detail on the stubble, and I’m inclined to agree. This is a level of detail that’s I’ve rarely seen on toys in this price range, and I’m also particularly impressed with the fact that they’ve managed to make him look sweaty, as though he’s actually been spending time in the jungle.

The only real problem with the likeness stems from a small paint issue on the lips. I ordered my figure online, so I wasn’t able to check the paint job before purchase. Not anything worth getting too upset about, but if you get yours in-store I’d suggest checking a couple of different figures first.

Dutch comes with three accessories – a rifle with grenade launcher attachment, a pistol and a knife. Nothing too complex, but I’ve never been a fan of toylines that give movie or TV-based characters a zillion different accessories that are never seen or mentioned in the original property.

The articulation is good, as well. You can get Dutch into a lot of different poses, and combined with the great sculpt, it’s pretty easy to get some good photos. I want to take him out to some bushland and do some location photos with him and the Predator, though that may have to wait for another day.

However, the figure isn’t perfect. The knife can’t really be held by either of its hands, so stick it in the holster if you don’t want to lose it. The pistol can also be a bit tricky to get into the right hand as well, as it’s made from somewhat harder plastic than you might normally expect. Additionally, the pistol holster does not seem to want to close properly – you can see it dangling in the photos.  

Still, these are relatively minor issues, and don’t spoil my enjoyment of the figure at all. I ordered the series 8 Jungle Hunter Predator too, and they work quite well together...but more on him in a future review, hopefully.

 

Overall

I am very, very pleased with this figure of Dutch. Though he’s quite basic, it works to his benefit, not his detriment. The great likeness of Arnie really elevates it above your average “adult collector” movie tie-in.

With that said, I’m not super-keen on the other figures in series 9. Though I might be sold on the Water Emergence Predator if he glowed in the dark (and the same goes for the upcoming Heat Vision Dutch from series 10), I don’t think there’s enough reason to purchase it if you’ve already got the Jungle Hunter Predator (i.e. the standard or “Classic Predator” from series 8).

Jungle Disguise Dutch looks kind of cool – and it’s a very cool part of the movie – but he does also look a bit like he’s a regular Dutch action figure who’s fallen into the toilet. So I’ll probably pass on that one too...

What I would have liked to have seen – and I know I’m not alone in this – is the other squad members from the film. I have read elsewhere that NECA have said that they will not be doing this, and I suppose I can understand why. I would imagine getting all of the likeness rights would be expensive, and I daresay that none of them would sell as well as Dutch. Nonetheless, the thought of a screaming one-armed Carl Weathers variant action figure is an intriguing one.

Still, the fact that NECA now have such a good sculpt of Arnie makes me hopeful that we’ll also see some other Arnie properties released by NECA. Conan the Barbarian had a small series few years ago – which is now reselling for a pretty penny on eBay – but they were more akin to statues than action figures. Time for a new one? Hopefully!

 

And of course, having Dutch means that you can have awesome  1980s team-ups which never happened, but would have been great. Here we see Nightfighter Robocop and Dutch teaming up to take on crime!