Review of Noland - Predators sixth scale figure

Introduction

As much as I love Predators AND Aliens, I didn't love any of the movies starring both. They are two of the greatest creature creations in the history of film, but they just don't marry up all that well.

Thankfully, the Predator got his own treatment for the first time in years in the film Predators. It's not the greatest Predator film ever made, but it was a damn sight better than Predator 2. No offense Danny Glover.

Hot Toys has been doing a nice job with the various monsters from this film, but has only given us the main human, Royce, so far. That is until now - Noland, the human who has somehow found a way to stay alive on the 'game preserve' planet, has just been released. Played by Laurence Fishburne, he defined 'survivor',

Unlike the recent DX Batman releases, Noland is more in line, price-wise, with the average Hot Toys figure, coming in around $160 to $170 depending on he retailer.

Packaging - ***
They've stuck with the usual Predators packaging, with clear red die cut slip cover showing the underlying Noland disguised as a Predator graphic.

Overall, it's the usual excellent work, although the wrap around cover is held in place with Velcro instead of magnets.

I did have one issue though. The jacket is held on the inner cardboard slip with a couple pieces of tape, and these have to be cut from the back. You can't peel them off the cardboard without damaging it, and you can't cut it from the front - be forewarned.

Sculpting - ***1/2
Realistic? Check. Skin textures? Check. Spooky real eyes? Check. Perfect hair? Check. Likeness? Almost check.

We already know that Hot Toys always does a lifelike sculpt, better than almost every other company out there. And I have to say that in the photos, even those I took for this review, the likeness to Fishburne as Noland is pretty damn good.

But in person, particularly when I first pulled him out of the package, something seemed off. He was a bit more...uh...puffy in this movie than we're used to, but this sculpt seems to have too much width at the very top of the jawline. He is fuller in the face around the lower part of the jaw, and that works for me - it looks like he did on screen. But the wide skull around the ears is just too much in person.

It's still a pretty damn minor nit though, and not enough of a problem to really pull the score down very far.

All the sculpted hands look great, and they work well with the accessories. They are also in scale, a big plus.

Paint - ****
Another amazing paint job - it's as if they've been graced with some sort of paint work numen, a divine power when it comes to production applications.

The eyes are looking slightly upward, giving him a rough, mean expression. The skin tone is perfect, clean and consistent, and the hair and hair line look great. It's another realistic, life-like paint job - nothing too surprising there.

Articulation - ***1/2
This is the large, muscled TrueType, with thick thighs and larger chest. It also is less articulated than the smaller bodies, especially in the elbows and shoulders. While I was able to get plenty of decent poses, it was still more restricted than usual. Even the neck seemed a bit tighter, making it less posable than I expected.

Accessories - ***1/2
Noland comes with three serious weapons - the huge laser gun, the jawbone ax, and the extendable spear.

All three look terrific, but that extendable spear takes the prize. On both ends there are two extending sections, and the sculpt and paint are excellent.

The gun is pretty sweet as well, with a leather wrapped grip and rough leather strap. The paint work is fantastic, and the sculpt includes many small details.

There are six more hands to go with the two he comes wearing. One pair of fists are gloveless, while the rest are covered. There's various grips for various accessories and poses, and the scale is great. Swapping them was a bit of a trick, because the posts fit within the hands much tighter than usual. There's a couple extra wrist pegs as well.

I'm going to include the ammo belt as an accessory as well, and it fits easily once you pop the head off. The Accessories are a little light this time around however, even with the belt in this category. If you count the various pieces of armor as accessories rather than Outfit, then this score would be higher.

Outfit - ****
Here is where this figure really shines. There's a ton of goodies with the outfit, including a bunch of Predator armor for his disguise.

The base outfit includes his tan t-shirt, camo pants, and sculpted boots. They look fantastic, and the cloth pieces are perfectly tailored. On the right leg is a knee pad as well.

Over the shirt is his chest and back armor, including some shoulder pieces attached with real metal chains. This armor is NOT removable, so don't even try.

There's a blue-gray shirt that is also included and can be worn over the armor. I didn't use it, but it's a good look for him if you aren't going with the Predator armor in your display.

Personally, I think the Predator look is what makes him so damn cool. There is thigh armor, shin armor, shoulder armor for the right side, a belt and cod piece type arrangement for his waist, the touch pad control box for his left arm, and the bladed gauntlet for his right.

All the leg armor is held in place with straps and buckles. I got lucky and didn't have to adjust any of the straps - the length was perfect right out of the box. All the snaps worked great as well.

The one piece of shoulder armor uses just an elastic band to hold it in place. The sculpting on the gauntlets looks great, and the overall detail is just amazing.

To finish off the Predator look he has his cobbled together mask and helmet combo. It fits nicely over his head, and looks properly in scale. 

There are also two rubber hoses that run from the sides of the mask to the touch pad controller. They fit over the posts on the gauntlet just fine, but I had some trouble getting them in place on the helmet. On the right side, there is a small hole but it was largely blocked by the small wrap on that edge. I couldn't even find the hole on the other side. I was able to get them in a rough approximation of right for the one photo, and then removed them. They were simply more trouble than they were worth.

Fun Factor - ***
This is a sturdy figure, at least in terms of Hot Toys designs. It's unlikely to break under normal posing and handling, and is a better 'toy' than some of their more delicate figures. Still, you'd be insane to give him to a six year old. He's perfect for your average adult that never grew up, however, and fans of the film will appreciate getting another human for the Predator shelf.

Value - **1/2
At around $160 - $170, he's a slightly more manageable price than some of their more expensive recent releases, and the complex outfit makes the price sting a bit less.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a lot. Like usual, you'll want to handle the straps and clips carefully, but everything here was fairly sturdy.

Overall - ***1/2
I have a hunch that this figure is going to be under appreciated, at least at first.  But when you see it in hand, you can appreciate how cool he really is. It's like you're getting a human character and a Predator all rolled into one, and he makes for a great addition to the display no matter which way you outfit him.

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

Where to Buy 
Online options include these site sponsors:

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Other Hot Toys Predators reviews include the Classic Predator, Royce, Falconer Predator, and Berserker Predator.

Hot Toys has done several figures from the original Predator flick as well, including the big guy himself, Billy and Dutch.

Then there's the Hot Toys Lost Predator, and the Machiko She Predator.

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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