Sculpting - ****
Hot Toys and sculpting go together like peanut butter and jelly. There is no other company at any price point or any format that's doing a consistently better job. Or even as good, for that matter.

The head sculpt has a tremendous amount of texture detail, from the hard plated forehead to the deadly mandibles. The hair is made from a soft rubber material, which allows them to flow and hang a bit more naturally. They need a few more in back, particularly with the long neck, but that's a minor quibble. You can see in the photos that when a lighter background is behind him, the long neck is more obvious. A few more hairs in the back would have helped hide it a bit more.

The body sculpting doesn't have quite as much texture, but it's there in the critical areas, especially on the feet and hands.

The figure stands about 14" tall, which translates to about 7 feet, about right for the film character. He'll look good with other 12" figures, although a lot of the extra height is in that huge noggin' of his.

Speaking of his big head, it doesn't look as oversized on the Predator 2 figures as I felt it did on the AvP Predators.  The body also has enough heft and thickness to look appropriate. The thighs could still stand for a little more muscle, but that's nothing a stair master can't fix.

Paint - ***1/2
He has his own unique paint job on the top of the head, making him different enough from the past Predator 2 figures to look different on the shelf.

The paint work is all clean and neat, with no slop or poor quality work. Some of it seems a little too obvious, looking more like paint than natural skin coloration, but it's really only on close inspection that it is noticeable.

While most folks will be drawn to the work on the face and head, it's the armor that impresses me the most. It has just the right shading and coloration to give it a very realistic metallic appearance.

Articulation - ***1/2
These guys come on special Predator bodies, with a little less articulation than their better TrueTypes. It's not a major issue, but there's a couple spots that I missed the extra articulation.

One of those spots is the neck. It's very long, as you can see in the photos without a dark background. However, it only has the ball joint down at the torso, which doesn't allow quite as much tilt or movement.

The rest of the body has solid articulation, with ball joints at the hips, shoulders, ankles and wrists that work great, as well as double jointed knees and elbows. The waist and chest joint allow for some very natural stances, and all the joints are tight and solid.

When you snap the lower arms and legs, make sure you get them completely in place. If they seem to still fall off, or if the joint seems to have too much of a gap, that means they still aren't snapped all the way in.

Accessories - ***1/2
I'm counting his weapons and hands as accessories, while his armor is really part of his outfit.

While you only get one head, you get an extra set of mandibles. These pop in and out easily, but leave almost no obvious joint line. The set he comes wearing are tight to his face, and allow the mask to fit over his visage. The extra set are wide out, in his trademark pissed off look.

There are five hands. One pair is wide open, while there is another right hand designed to hold the thick collapsible spear, and one left hand to hold the thin ceremonial spear. Finally, there's another gripping right hand designed to hold the disc. All of them work great, and are sculpted from a slightly softer material to make using the weapons a little easier.

He comes with three weapons. There's the Frisbee of death, the ceremonial spear with the thin shaft and leathery ornaments, and the deadly thick spear that collapses.

This expanding and collapsing spear works great, and looks even better. All it needs is an actual spring action, and I'd be in heaven. The disc opens and closes at the center as well, but I couldn't figure out any way to attach it (or the spear, for that matter) to his armor.

He has a trophy too - the skull of some sort of alien victim. It's quite large, larger than his own skull would be, but not quite Alien size. It'll look great behind him as his own 'collectible'.

His final extra is his display stand. It has the upright name plate, and works fine, but you really don't need it. Displays look so much better without them.

Outfit - ***1/2
The outfit includes his netting, helmet, torso/shoulder armor, forearm armor, codpiece and 'skirt', as well as knee pads and calf armor. Oh, and I'm counting his little crotch necklace.

The helmet has that forged, hand pounded metal look, and it fits quite nicely on the face. The torso armor looks great, and I had no trouble getting it in place and snapping it closed.

The pelvic armor was much tougher. In fact, I never did manage to get the closure shut in back. It doesn't really matter, since it looks fine (and isn't going to fall off), so rather than force it, I left it be.

The skirt is made from weathered suede like material, double layered to ensure nobody has to look at Predator ass.

The knee pads are held in place with very sturdy elastic, and the calf and forearm armor fit nicely. All of it fits over the underlying netting.

The netting goes on first, of course, and you should take extra care not to snag the material. It's fairly well made, and won't rip too easily, but you still want to be careful.

The netting fits tightly - perhaps too tightly. I never managed to get it to stay up on his shoulders, and it kept slipping down into his shoulder joints, at least partially. The armor covers that up, but I suspect that with enough posing of the arms, you'll end up damaging the material.

Finally, he has his crotch necklace. It ties around his waist with a long string, which you can either cut off, or tuck in to hide.

Fun Factor - **1/2
Unlike some expensive figures that I've recently reviewed, this is not one a kid could actually play with. The various pieces are simply too easy to break. However, give it to an older geek, and he (or she) will be flying high.

Value - **1/2
Yea, he's going to cost you $150, but he's actually worth it. Oh, you won't feel like you got some sort of steal, but you'll know why you spent that much money.

Things To Watch Out For - 
The most fragile item is the suit - be very careful when putting it on. I found that putting the lower legs on first helped, but not the lower arms.

Overall - ***1/2
While I'm a big fan of the Predator license, I don't really need 20 different versions of the basic character.  But this one is different enough than the Predator 1 version - the one we've all been salivating for - to make him worth adding to the shelf.

Now, they just need to get that Predator, Dutch and Billy here!

Score Recap:
Packaging - ***1/2
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ***1/2
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - **1/2
Value - **1/2
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy -
You can order this guy from Sideshow for $160, but other online options include:

- Alter Ego Comics also has him at $144.

- Dark Shadow Collectibles has him at $144 too.

- Things From Another World has him at $144 as well.

- CornerStoreComics has him at $144 - I'm sensing a pattern.

Related Links -
Other sixth scale Predator reviews include:

- Machiko the She Predator.

- There's also the AvP Cleaner, the Wolf Predator, the very cool PredAlien, Battle Damaged Predator 2, Elder Predator, the first Predator 2, and the Scar Predator.

- there's also the McFarlane Scar Predator.

Discussion:
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