NECA: Predator Movie Franchise Figures

[MaulFan]

Interesting that sports gets McF's best, I'm sure there's good money but they seem like they'd be more interested in the other worldly stuff like movies and comics than real world people. Hopefully NECA never loses it's "fan" style of business, it really favors the products.

 

[MaulFan]

I think we got all that stuff but I'm not sure. I want an 18inch P1 so bad. Maybe we'll do it 14 but we'll just have to wait and see. In any case it was great to finally get to sculpt a P1. I can't wait to see the new Predators all painted up. I think you can never really do enough Predator figures. They're just so cool. I got the CM, HT and still bring on more. I do have the 14 inch McFarlane and it's a sad site really. If we can't do a better job on the paint we shouldn't even do this thing at all. Funny how the head looks so small now after the B guys bulked it up.

I'll take any scale on the P1, but 18" is preferable as I have HT already covering the 12" and the pose you went with should look real nice at 18" size. The original Predator is one of my favorite creature designs in film, and you're right, can't get enough of these guys, though for me it's about faithful film representations. I've seen some interpretive representations of them before and they're cool, but I'm a slave to the screen representations, for most things.

 

[crazypredator2]

You're so dead on on this one. McFarlane had the 7 and 12 inch scale at the time.

does neca still have rights to robocop?

 

[tankman]

I'll take any scale on the P1, but 18" is preferable as I have HT already covering the 12" and the pose you went with should look real nice at 18" size. The original Predator is one of my favorite creature designs in film, and you're right, can't get enough of these guys, though for me it's about faithful film representations. I've seen some interpretive representations of them before and they're cool, but I'm a slave to the screen representations, for most things.

That's how we feel about things. If you love a movie then why not get something close as posible to what you saw. I remember seeing Predator the first time and thinking oh man how I'd love to have a figure of this thing. It's only taken 23 years to finally get a film accurate Predator. I know the HT figure is cool but it's not film accurate. I bought it still and it's very cool but how much more cool would it be if it was dead on film accurate? I have the CM predator and it's so cool but still it does bug me it's not dead on film accurate. Anyone that would tell me it's an improvement is just kidding themselves.

 

[tankman]

Interesting that sports gets McF's best, I'm sure there's good money but they seem like they'd be more interested in the other worldly stuff like movies and comics than real world people. Hopefully NECA never loses it's "fan" style of business, it really favors the products.

Todd is a sports geek and he wishes he were a ball player more than the artist he is. Kind of sad really because how many artist out there ever got as far as he did. I would think Alien and Predator would do better than sports because after all you can sell that stuff over the whole world. Good for us he put must of his focus on sports. For sport fans Todd does give them great looking figures. I think that stuff looks great. I think about Aliens fans though. HICKS?

 

[tankman]

does neca still have rights to robocop?

I don't know about that one.

 

[a-dev]

You're so dead on on this one. McFarlane had the 7 and 12 inch scale at the time.

Oh I see. And boy did they waste the license. Decent figures even with the proportional mistakes but I'd love to have known their thinking behind not doing ED-209, Cain and battledamaged Robocop.

Anyway just to let you guys know that the time is always right to revisit Robocop as far as I'm concerned. I've got the Hot Toys ones but I'd love to have them in the smaller scale too. They'd be great next to the Terminator figures.

 

[tankman]

Oh I see. And boy did they waste the license. Decent figures even with the proportional mistakes but I'd love to have known their thinking behind not doing ED-209, Cain and battledamaged Robocop.

Anyway just to let you guys know that the time is always right to revisit Robocop as far as I'm concerned. I've got the Hot Toys ones but I'd love to have them in the smaller scale too. They'd be great next to the Terminator figures.

I do know they made a great looking ED at McFarlane but Todd thought the cost were too much and they canned it. Everyone in the NJ office really were let down because I was told it looked so cool.

 

[Johnny Utah]

Hey Kyle get on to Randy and the boss to do the Marines!

 

[MaulFan]

I know the HT figure is cool but it's not film accurate. I bought it still and it's very cool but how much more cool would it be if it was dead on film accurate? I have the CM predator and it's so cool but still it does bug me it's not dead on film accurate. Anyone that would tell me it's an improvement is just kidding themselves.

I think the Predators are a tough design to make as articulated as Hot Toys' figures are, and also be accurrate. Like the lat muscles on HT's Wolf aren't as big or flow into his arms like the movie, but to do that would probably have decreased posability. That's why I don't just collect any one brand or scale. NECA and statue makers can be more accurrate because the focus is on the design and not posability, which is great for Predators especially. Figures that are clothed can still be made pretty accurrate looking even with articulation, but unclothed ones like a Predator lose their visual accurracy beacuse of the articulation build.

For sport fans Todd does give them great looking figures. I think that stuff looks great.

Agreed, I'm glad they do so much with sports too as I'm able to have a figure of my favorite baseball player with a very good likeness to him. I grew up on the old Kenner Starting Lineup sports figures so the McFarlane sports stuff has been a real treat.

Long shot question, do you think, or has NECA ever even discussed, the possibility of Rambo figures?

 

[Sabres21768]

Hey Kyle get on to Randy and the boss to do the Marines!

Too expensive, I'm sure, considering how many likeness rights they'd have to try and get.

Then, if they didn't get the likenesses and released some generic Marines, people would complain and probably not buy them because they wouldn't be accurate.

Look what happened with McFarlane's very first Terminator figure.
The proto sculpt, with Arnie's likeness was a huge hit.

Then, when the figure actually showed up and it looked nothing like Arnie...man was there alot of knashing of teeth and pulling out of hair going on with collectors.
Many a McFarlane employee knew what it was like to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you.

People are accepting of things, like the Ripley likeness issue with the Sideshow Powerloader dio, because the Powerloader overwhelms the non-Ripley sculpt.
Not so if they try to do that with the Colonial Marines.

No Michael Biehn or Bill Paxton or Jeanette Goldstein likeness...instant peg warmers.

People expect ALOT more as far as likenesses go these days, thanks to the super accurate sculpts that NECA and Hot Toys are putting out.
You just can't cut corners with that and expect them to sell.

 

[MaulFan]

Even if not demand for super likenesses, there is an intolerance for no likeness, and I think that's rightly so.

Even for a $15 NECA figure, I wouldn't buy a Hicks that just has some generic dude's face, Hicks is Michael Biehn

That's why I'm not amped up about a T1 line from NECA, they might get rights for Arnie like Conan, but likely all you'd get out of that is T-800 and I want a Reese to go with him.

At least Aliens and Predators are such interesting designs that they can stand alone without the humans from the films and be enjoyable.

 

[crazypredator2]

kyle, who sculpted the mcfarlane avp battle alien?
it looks pretty much movie accurate.

 

[prefused]

Even if not demand for super likenesses, there is an intolerance for no likeness, and I think that's rightly so.

Even for a $15 NECA figure, I wouldn't buy a Hicks that just has some generic dude's face, Hicks is Michael Biehn

doesn't stop every jackass on ebay from paying $400+ for the HT figure that doesn't look like him either.

anyway, i'd agree with a 0 tolerance policy for non-likeness licensed figures. i still remember the dark days of Kenner toys.

 

[a-dev]

I'd buy the marines with generic faces as long as everything else was accurate. Obviously it would be far preferable to have the proper likenesses but when the alternative is no marines at all.....

 

[CelticPredator]

You guys should just make an AvP game line. Release it with your Player Selects, and bam. Instant Marines.

 

[tankman]

kyle, who sculpted the mcfarlane avp battle alien?
it looks pretty much movie accurate.

To be fair about this I've said B team. Really that's not really fair. The guys that worked on these were told just to kind of make it look good but speed was the most important part. I know who did work on those and it was two guys. I'll leave them out of it and they themselves would say it was all kind of rushed and BS really. Jean St. Jean art directed the whole thing and he told me he wasn't giving much time at all to make sure it was all done when they wanted it. He told me after he quit that it was a shame Todd and the NJ bosses didn't really care. Maybe they were right after all because the stuff sold great. I know it can drive my boss crazy at the time it takes to do these figures. I do know Jean was gone to HR Giger's place when Hicks was started and if he were around the figure never would've gotten so messed up.

 

[CelticPredator]

Ah yes. Steroid Hicks. Helmatless, with Motion Tracker, or without....lol.

But I do think the AvP line was McF's best line ever. Top notch sculpts. They're inaccuracy helped a ton. I got my name from The Celtic Predator. And he is still the only one left from my original buy. I never replaced him. I hope I can keep him, the HT one, and the helmet forever.

 

[ozzfan84]

Thanks for this cool info, tankman! Did you have a lot of direct contact with McF? What was it like to work for him?

 

[a-dev]

What was it like to work for him?

Not the best it seems