Review of Predator
One:12 Collective action figure

Introduction

I hate to admit it, but I've fallen terribly behind on my One:12 reviews. As the supply chain and production issues ease, the flood gates of backed up pre-orders have opened, and I'm sitting here looking at Alien, and Sodcutter, and the Crow, and Constantine, and the Necroverse Atticus Doom...and I know I'll never get to them all in any sort of timely manner.

But there's one I really wanted to be sure I covered, because he's gotten a lot of undeserved negativity. Their recently released Predator deserves a look, even if I'm late with it. This guy was originally $100 at their site, but is wait listed at this point.

Packaging - ***
This is what I consider the standard or basic One:12 packaging. It's attractive, the cardboard is heavy and sturdy, and the interior plastic trays hold everything safely. It's all collector friendly as well, but it's not one of their tin containers, or one of the fancier boxes.

Sculpting - ***1/2
This figure is in a 1/12 scale, or at least the 1/12 scale that One:12 figures have, where the average figure is about 6 1/2" tall. The Predator comes in at about 7", giving him a bit of height over the rest of the line, as you'd expect.

There are really three looks to the head sculpt. You can remove the jaws, and insert either the closed mouth or the wide open mouth. Or you can swap heads entirely and use the helmeted/masked face. The sculpting on this metal covered visage is excellent, with a hammered look to the material, and by using a separate head they got the proper scale to the covered skull.

While the helmeted look is classic and great, it's the uncovered face that will appeal to most of us. The two sets of jaws are great sculpts, and they fit within the face fairly well. There is a slight - very slight - gap that is noticeable, but is a very minor nit. The skin texture, the wrinkles, the detailed interior of the mouth, the big fangs and tiny teeth, the soft dreadlocks - both the jaws and the base head are fantastic sculpts.

The body sports that same level of detail. There's skin texture everywhere, and the various armor pieces have that same hammered, rough look. The hands are done in a variety of useful poses, and he stands great on his own.

Paint - ***1/2
I've seen some talented customizers add some paint, and while it looks nice, I think the original production paint work is great just the way it is. There's a realism to it that gets lost if there's too much wash, or if there's too much contrast between the skin colors.

The wash they have used brings out the details, especially in the skin and armor. I do think they could have used a little more on a couple of the bone accessories, which are a little too clean, but overall the paint work is solid across the board.

Articulation - ***
The articulation is decent, but there are a few joints that could use a little more range of movement.

The ball jointed neck works good, and even with the shoulder cannon in place, you can get some good tilt and lean. The cannon is also articulated, but I had a tough time getting it to hold poses, and had some concern that the wire for the light might become detached.

The shoulders, elbows, and wrists do allow for reasonable arm poses, but the single rotating hinge elbows don't allow for deep bends. The hands swapped pretty easily, and stayed in place while I was posing.

The rolling chest joint and rotating hinge hips, knees, and ankles allow for decent stances, and you can break up any unnatural straight lines in the pose. The ankles aren't as mobile as some they've produced, thanks to the sculpted footwear, but you can still get good medium depth fighting stances and keep the feet flat.

It's worth noting that the fabric netting over the body moves nicely with the articulation, and I didn't have any trouble with it coming loose or getting saggy.

Accessories - ***1/2
As Predator's go, this guy is relatively well outfitted.

He has that second, helmet covered head I mentioned, and he also has several additional hands in various poses. These swap easily, and the scale is good. There's two different mouth pieces as well, open and closed.

He also has two sets of blades for the weapon on his right forearm. One set is shorter, giving it the look of having them retracted, while the second is longer and extended. These also swap pretty easily, but use a bit of patience.

He has the large shoulder cannon, or you can use the backpack with the medical kit inside instead. Take some care with the cannon, as the exposed wiring for the light up effect seems a bit fragile.

To go with that cannon is a blue blast effect. It can be inserted in the barrel, and lights up quite nicely when the effect is used. More on that in the next section.

There are three costume accessories as well - the necklace, and two 'belts' to hang across the chest. These are adorned with various bones. While the larger belts look good, the sculpting on the bone items on the necklace is a bit soft, with some mold edges that haven't been completely trimmed. And no matter which way I put it on, there were some bones in the necklace that stuck out at odd angles.

My favorite Predator accessory is always the skull and backbone, stripped from the most recent victim. This version is bloody and gross, just as it should be, and looks great held above his head in victory.

Finally, there's the usual base, with either the foot peg or the large, clear plastic support system.

Light Feature - ***
There's actually two light features with this figure, which is what drives the slightly higher price point.

One is the laser sighting device on the helmet. These three, tiny red lights are illuminated with a switch under the armored forehead piece, which is also where the battery compartment is. While putting in the batteries was pretty easy - and of course they are included - getting to the switch is somewhat annoying.

It's worse with the second light up feature, situated in the cannon. Getting to the switch is pretty hard, comparatively speaking, and it's not something you'll do very often.

However, both lights are bright, and the blue cannon light is particularly good. It easily lights up the blast effect as well.

Outfit - ****
The outfit is somewhat limited compared to the usual One:12 figure, but they crushed it with the soft goods they did includ.

The netting on the body fits tightly and looks great, and I didn't find any problem with it coming loose or getting saggy while I was posing him. It really makes this figure when you have it in hand.

The leather loincloth is nice as well, and while I don't love the wash - or lack thereof - on all the bones of the belts and necklace, they do look good when in place around the body.

Fun Factor - ***1/2
There's enough articulation and plenty of accessories to give you lots of posing potential on the shelf, and this is a figure you'll happily revisit over and over again.  I really hope we see Mezco add to this license, and the style of the One:12 series would really work well with Dutch.

Value - **1/2
The $100 price tag is in line with the rest of the One:12 series, because the figure includes multiple light features. Without them, this guy would have been closer to $80, but the light features always increase the price point. I'm good with that, and that's why they get an average score here which won't affect the Overall in either direction.

Things to Watch Out For -
I'd take some care with the wiring on the cannon, especially when attaching it or adjusting it. I didn't break mine, but I do think it's somewhat fragile.

Overall - ***1/2
With this figure and the classic Alien, we are getting some terrific modern monster designs in the One:12 line. If they do expand on the Predator license, I'm hoping we see a Dutch before we see any more Predators themselves. He is a perfect character for the style of the series, and unlike the Predator, a character who has been woefully under represented over the years.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***
Accessories - ***1/2
Light Feature - ***
Outfit - ****
Fun Factor - ***1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
He was originally available at the Mezco Store for $100, but is now on a wait list. Online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth has hi at $100, but use my link and get an additional 10% off, plus free shipping!

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
There's been lots of great Predators, including versions from Hot Toys, NECA, and Hiya Toys.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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