hey guys, i just got my predator last night!
just thought i'd share my opinion on it, as well as some very hastily shot pics. will do better photo setups later...
right out of the box, this fella looks great. to me he is the most well-made pred of the entire line, maybe with the exception of the elder. but as some have pointed out, his proportions are definitely more accurate. i still think his head with the bio on looks a little DISproportionate, but it's a small issue.
firstly, when u take him outta the box, there are a few things u should watch out for:
- the blades. their points snag pretty easily on anything, and the thin plastic might break. luckily they are fairly well-protected by a soft foam block. mine came slightly bent, but soon straightened out after some (very) careful futzing/bending.
- the wires lining the inside of the bio. according to my retailer dude, some customers complained that theirs snapped out of the connecting socket. thankfully, mine had no such problems.
- battery installation. be very careful here, make sure u insert the batteries in the correct polarity. cos once u've inserted them, they're a pain in the ass to take out. the guy showed me a way though: open the battery cover, turn the pred on its back, hold its body firmly and tap the chest area firmly. the batteries should loosen after a few knocks. if not, u gotta use small tweezers or a blade to prise em out (not advisable, cos u might scratch the paint).
anyway, back to the figure itself. i have to say his dreads are really well-done. they "fall" much better than previous figures, imo. and because the neck is apparently shorter on p1, the dreads end up spreading out around his shoulders and back more naturally (i think michael crawford pointed this out in his review, and yep, it's true).
as for the face sculpt, it really captures the feral, dangerous attitude of the yautja species. he looks like he means business! i prefer the "open mandibles" look more, so that's how i'll display him. however, i'm not so keen on the quills on his forehead. they're mostly just raised bumps rather than actual pointed quills. a sharper sculpt would've brought out the realism a bit more, i feel. also, while the overall paint app on the face is pretty good, i don't like the overly shiny quality. would've preferred a more matt texture, so it better resembles real organic skin texture and not toy-like plastic. it's extra noticeable if u put him directly beneath a spotlight. but with soft light on him, he looks almost like a real predator. the rest of the figure's sculpt and paint is fine, and strangely does not share the same shiny finish as the head.
in terms of poseability, i've yet to fully explore his potential. but i did find that he has slight difficulty holding deep stances (eg: a legs wide apart half-crouch). i realized this might be due to the limited articulation in his ankle joints. they don't seem to swivel as freely as i wanted. there were a few scary moments when i got him into that crouch, only for him to topple over cos his feet were not flat on the surface! luckily i managed to catch him and prevent him from doing a dive onto the hard floor. will experiment more with his articulation and poseability when i've got the time.
the other thing i don't like is the very obvious and very ugly limb joints! esp the elbow joints. this really detracts from the overall realism of the figure. but since hot toys has not (and will probably never) use rubber bodies for their predators, that's something we gotta live with. to cover up his elbow joint (it's more noticeable on the right arm), i removed the leather string from his forearm and wound it around the elbow area instead. the string is glued together so be careful when peeling it apart. will prob do more customization later to further hide the other joints.
the bio mask is really well-sculpted and painted. in fact, i'd go as far as to say the paint app is better than sideshow's most recent 1:1 bios (eg: scar and celtic). yeah yeah, apples and oranges i know. but quality is quality to me. and hot toys rarely lets its customers down. the targeting LEDs are nice n bright. i'd have preferred REAL lasers, but it's just not possible at this scale i guess. wishful thinking....
and lastly, the jungle base and skull trophy really rocks!
this is one of the best bases hot toys has ever done. the only other one i can think of that's as impressive is the vito corleone godfather base with chair. oh, and the nostromo officer kane alien egg base. but this is still my favourite base.
so on the whole, i really love this figure. it's not perfect, with a couple of things that could've been better executed. but it's still pretty damn good.
if u can only have one predator figure, then this THE one to get. well done hot toys! it's work like this that shows why they're at the forefront of the 1/6th collectibles world.
Re: HT original Predator- photo thread
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