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Predator 2 - Guardian Lost Predator
Hot Toys
"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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While we impatiently wait for
the new Predators from Hot Toys, Jeff Parker jumps in with a review to
tide us over - take it away, Jeff!
A big thank you as always to our Elder Predator, without whom the
hunting down of all those darned elusive collectibles would be a much
tougher job. Mind you, he does keep bringing things to our attention
that we didn’t know we needed, so perhaps ‘thanks’ is the wrong word!
It seems like such a very long time ago that I reviewed Scar, he was a member of
the very first set of Predators that Hot Toys released from AvP (it was
in fact only 5 years ago), but a hellovalot of Movie Masterpiece
figures have passed under the bridge since then.
That early figure now actually look a little quaint next to the newer
Predators that Hot Toys have released, the quality back then was
groundbreaking for its day, but the attention to detail and realism
that Hot Toys can achieve now is another quantum leap from those early
figures. However, they still demand amazing prices on the secondary
market, anything from $300 to $900+… I kid you
not, so you can see why those early Preds have become such a
tradable commodity. But the one thing I try to hammer home, time after
time is that these are things to buy only if you want, love and need
them. As an investment you are building your abode on shaky, sandy soil!
However, I do have to admit that the Predator figures have found an
audience far bigger than I ever imagined they would. In fact, I think
I’m right in believing it’s the figures that have helped create a large
part of that audience, and I dare say a few of the ‘younger’ collectors
were probably sucked into the ‘event horizon’ that is the whole Hot
Toys Predator phenomenon. They found them selves becoming fans of the
Predator franchise purely because of the quality of the figures. But
that’s no bad thing, if it gets people to watch the original movie, if
only to show them how bloody good it was!
But it is so easy to get swept along. You see a very cool Predator
figure previewed on a forum, then you see the prices the older Pred
figures are demanding on eBay, and before you know it you’ve
pre-ordered 3, just to be on the safe side!
Of course this is an exaggeration… or is it?
Anyway, to the job at hand! The fact of the matter is that there have
only ever been a handful of Predators ‘actually’ seen on screen, and
most of those were seen fleetingly! And those fleetingly viewed
background characters have actually led to the evolution of some of Hot
Toys coolest Predator figures released… go figure.
I will go out on a limb here and say I loved the original classic Predator figure,
who wouldn’t, I also loved both the hero Preds from Pred 2 and both the
Wolf Preds from AvP: R, but the coolest Pred to date… still by a wide
country mile is the Elder
Pred from Predator 2 which is why these ‘Lost Hunter’ Preds
are so desirable… you need them… ‘YES’ need them to back him
up.
So, whilst I have to admit there is little point in owning this as a
stand-alone character, much like there is little point in just owning
last years ‘Lost Predator’ (if they were to be the only Predators you
owned). But to those that do have the other Pred 2 characters this is
nothing short of an essential item.
The only potential problem is that this was an exclusive item at this
years various conventions, with a mere 1000 to 1500 (depending on where
you get your info from) made, to be split 3 ways between the US, HK and
Japan. Us European collectors were left wanting, but luckily it’s not
what you know ;).
I would guess that if it was just a thousand then the extra 1 figure
left over might now belong to Howard Chan, but what would I know?
So with all that rarity and the potential for the price to continue
skyrocketing is it still worth trying to track one down… well, it’s now
or never!
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Packaging - ***1/2
Predator packaging has produced some of the most varied, and quite
simply over the top boxes you could ever wish to see.
The early boxes were huge, but due to certain licensing restrictions
those early figures could only be sold as model kits, meaning quite a
bit of construction was necessary, so all those loose bits added up to
a very oversized piece of packaging. They ended up with dimensions more
like a briefcase than a 1/6th figure box.
All the early collectors out there must remember having to first
assemble and construct the actual base figure, then dressing it bit by
painful bit… it became something of a right of passage.
A 1/6th collector boy could never truly enter into the world of 1/6th
collector men without first successfully constructing his first full
Hot Toys Predator, it’s akin to a Padawan learner building their first
sabre, i.e. there will be tears and tantrums before bedtime, but
dedication is the key!
However, as the years have rolled on and the quality of Hot Toys
products has continued to improve, so has their notoriety in the world
of collectibles? And not just with the punters who buy the product, but
also in the movie industry in general. Jon Favreau is said to have a
collection of the Iron Man figures in his office and Sly
was pretty impressed by his figures when shown them at the recent
Expendables premiere in Tokyo, and he is also said to have a Rocky
figure at his home.
So with all the recognition and notoriety they have gained, so has
their ability to have a little more say in how their figures are
released, meaning the construction necessary on the Predator figures
seems to diminish slightly with each new release. Now, they are
virtually good to go straight from the box, with just a few accessories
needing to be added.
This boxes aesthetic is a return to form; in so much as even though the
contents need less construction, making the box therefore smaller, it
still has a design that sits well with all the other Predator 2
figures. A nice observation for all those MIB collectors.
So we get the oldskool pearlescent slip on outer sleeve, this has
embossed images of the figure, and has the movie logo front and back
plus a very brief bio on the back. The inner box isn’t a flap fronted 5
panel design, instead we get a large window on the front displaying the
figure, virtually fully constructed save for a few of his gizmos that
need to be attached to his back and shin. Whilst the back has a large
image of a trophy skull over which a full list of production credits is
cited.
So, a nicely designed bit of work, colourful and robust enough to
protect the figure well. However, Hot Toys, and indeed Dixon Chan and
Monster JR are their own worst enemies, having given us evermore
creative packaging in the past. As such this isn’t up there with the
very best they have produced… still a damn fine box though, and pretty
pleasing to the eye!
Sculpting - ****
A Predator will always look like a Predator, they are rather famously,
and I quote Major Alan
‘Dutch’ Schaefer - “ugly mother ****ers”, but they
all have their own individual idiosyncrasies. But after studying these
guys closely for the last few years I guess Pan Mak (the chief Predator
Sculptor at Hot Toys) knows this all too well.
He has given us some outstanding sculpts over the years and this is no
different. There is however one detail that is worth pointing out, this
is a re-use of the sculpt that he produced for the original Predator
linked to above. That doesn’t however detract from the quality of the
actual sculpt, which is one of the strongest made to date and this time
around he gets a whole new paint app. Plus for all you sticklers for
detail, it’s worth baring in mind we never actually got a clear look at
this guys face in the movie as his bio-helmet was kept on during his
few seconds of screen time. So the fact we get a full head at all is
something of a bonus. Those collectors out there who follow the new
releases will be aware that the recent unveiling of the Falconer
from Predators doesn’t come with an ‘organic’ head sculpt at all, as
his mask was never removed in the movie, and the movie licensors
obviously don’t want anyone taking artistic liberties with their
property.
So as far as a description of the sculpt goes there really is nothing
much more to add that wasn’t said in the review for the classic
Predator. All I will add is that I have taken my photos of the figures
as they come, straight out of the box. I may have futzed a little, but
no modifications have been made. I would advise though that if you want
to get the best out of the way this figure looks, then it is worth
warming the dreads and gently binding then closer to the head with a
piece of string for about 48 hours. You will find that when you remove
the bindings that the dreads fall in a much more natural way. And also,
like the original Pred he comes with extra ‘roaring’ mandibles, this
swap over easy, but take care not lose them.
So to sum up, it’s a stunning piece of work that gets a second lease of
life courtesy of an impressive new paint app, which leads us nicely to…
Paint
- ***1/2
I think I’m right in believing we never saw this guys facial markings
in the movie, and even if we had, those scenes at the end of Predator 2
were so dark and smoky it was hard to tell one from the other.
So here we have a paint app that is similar in its style to that of the
original Predator, but where as his was earthy brown tones of beige,
dark coffee and black, here the Guardian has blue/greys, browns and
blacks.
The airbrushing and hand painted paternation over his face, and indeed
his whole body are wonderfully applied, but still lack some of the über
subtleties that we get on the human figures that JC Hong gives us.
That’s not to say this application by Kermit Law is in anyway bad, but
the subject matter is ‘different’ and its complexities bring their own
peculiar and unique set of challenges. Most of the work is accurate and
tight, the eyes and mandibles are worthy of particular note here as the
detail is crisp and near perfect. The mandibles, like on the original
pred are cast in a semi-opaque material that gives the tusks just the
right feel. The interior of the mouth also has a more convincing salmon
colour as opposed to the bright red used on the original. So, my only
reason for keeping him just shy again of a full score is that some of
the spotting and painting of the facial quills isn’t as perfectly
carried out as I would have liked. But to be fair, that is looking at
it with a reviewers ‘very’ critical eye, when just viewed casually it’s
still pretty amazing and leaves the 1/6th competition standing.
And the other sad thing is, that as cool as the paint app looks mine
will be masked for 99.9% of his displayed life, but just knowing that
the paint job under the mask is this good, does give you a small fuzzy
feeling inside.
Articulation
- ***3/4
This is again a carbon copy
of the body used on the classic Predator, so the review linked to again
here
will tell you in detail all you need to know. But suffice to say it has
all the hi-end engineering you could wish for, with double knees and
elbows and a full range of motion at the shoulders, hips and neck. It
is in effect a basic True-Type
re-sculpted and modelled to have the warty, scaly texture of a
Predators body.
So the only reason he doesn’t get a full score is because of the way
the body interacts with his armour, which is far from bad, and you can
tell Hot Toys have studied long and hard to find a way of optimising
the way they perform together. But realistically there was always going
to be some restriction on his poseability, and Hot Toys have engineered
a way to keep it pretty minimal. I’m confident that most people will be
very impressed at the range of poses you can achieve with this guy.
Outfit
- ***3/4
The Guardian here is wearing the same basic body armour that the
classic Predator 2 wore here
and of course by his battle damaged alternative I reviewed here. I gave a breakdown
of the component parts in that earlier review so I’m gonna cheat and
cut ‘n’ paste it here:
‘His main wardrobe consists of his body mesh (used to cloak him when in
stealth mode) his helmet with lens effect, a tribal collar, chest and
bicep armour, gauntlets, one has extendable twin blades and the other
has an opening net gun and opening bomb control detonator. Then there’s
his groin armour, this has a wealth of trinkets and pouches and armour
hanging from it Then there are his knee guards and lastly his shin
armour. All of the above are sculpted exquisitely and the paint apps
are fantastic, with very convincing metallic and bone effects and some
nice washes to give a bit of grime and age.’
Well, that was the description for the classic Pred 2’s wardrobe, but
the guardian here has a couple of other small additions. He as leather
belt worn like a bandolier that has various animal skulls and bones
attached and also a necklace of small animal bones worn around his
neck, over the ribbed collar. The fine details on these are beautifully
carried out.
Lastly he has his unique bio-helmet; this has some cool details
sculpted into the sides and a vertical grill over the mouth area. The
lenses are inserted from behind, but strangely aren’t transparent or
even semi opaque. Instead they are made of a dense black rubber like
material.
However they do have a satin like finish that reflects light with a
nice diffused glow and works very well. You’ll also find that because
the original Predators head sculpt is re-used here the helmets are
interchangeable between the two figures, this might not be that
important to you, but hey, it’s a fact!
There are some great reference shots of Predator 2 armour in this link
here (courtesy of The
Hunters Lair) the second and third ones down show the armour
that is used here, and there are also some fan made cosplay versions
further down. By cross-referencing between the figure and those shots
you can see just how well observed this armour truly is!
And of course this time around he comes fully kitted up, so no need for
hair dryers and gently manipulating the figure into his tight outfit, a
blessing to many, but I miss the construction in a warped kind of way.
I gave the Pred 2 a full score for his outfit, and this is a re-use of
that armour as far as its sculpting and construction are concerned, but
I’m knocking a small smidgen off of the score on this one because –
A- It’s re-use And
B- The right ‘blade’ gauntlet doesn’t fit quite as well as it did on
the old base body, however my old ‘cure all’, of a small ball of
Blu-Tack soon sorted that problem!
Accessories
- ****
The Guardian comes with-
- Mask/helmet
- Net caster (leg attachment)
- Medi-kit (non opening)
- Interchangeable closed and roaring mandibles
- Two extra right hands (one spear holding grip and one for shuriken)
- Retractable spear
- Shuriken (disk)
- Newly developed breathing mask
- Alien skull trophy (but not THE Alien)
- Figure base with Guardian Predator nameplate and the movie logo
Whilst not quite up there with the battle damaged Predator 2 or the
‘cleaner kit’ Wolf Predator this guy still has a nice little haul, and
a couple of those bits are unique to him. The unique parts are the
skull trophy and the breathing mask. The skull is pretty big and hefty
and has some great texturing and paint apps, it looks like its from a
creature that could do you a lot of damage… but what would be the point
in a Predator hunting it if it couldn’t?
The breathing apparatus is totally different from the one that came
with the battle damaged Pred 2, this one carries a lot more detail,
with a ribbed steel area over the mouth, copper coloured sections at
the sides and a hose that trails round to plug into a hole in the back
of the armour. The helmet/mask is also unique of course, but I covered
that in outfit (but as it comes packed as a separate item I figured it
had a foot in two camps).
Everything else is borrowed from the Predator 2 figure, but given paint
apps to fit with this guys colour scheme. The net-caster and medi-kit
are non articulated or functioning items but simply clip onto the shin
and back respectively. The spear and shuriken are also direct copies,
so the shuriken can still come apart slightly and the spear has a
double telescopic feature at both ends, but be careful when opening it
as the tiny spear tip sections might only be plastic, but they are
seriously sharp and managed draw blood when I was opening one end that
was quite a tight fit (I should have remembered this from last time).
The mandibles are very much an accessory, but also an essential part of
the head sculpt and they swap over and fit well.
Lastly we have the old faithful figure stand, perfect if you like using
them, unnecessary if you don’t… mine stands on his own just fine though.
Value
- ***3/4
If you managed to score one of these babies for the retail price of
$185 from Sideshow then you might be feeling pretty smug and
self satisfied at the moment, because this guys secondary market price
shot up just about the quickest I have ever seen on any Hot Toys figure
to date.
Baring in mind this figure is just shipping in the US now and has only
‘officially’ been out for a couple of months you will already see
prices on eBay at around $400 a pop. At one point it was up to $600,
but luckily things calmed down after that initial frenzied bout of
activity. You will however still find some crazy eBay traders chancing
their arm for way more than
that.
However, rarity aside I have to look at this as value for money
compared to any other predator we have had in the past, and I’m pleased
to say it is far from lacking. He has an even more impressive array of
accessories than the Lost Predator and the new Pred body has a nicer
all round aesthetic. The paint apps are stunning and, perhaps more
important to some than others… YOU DON”T HAVE TO BUILD HIM!
So, viewing him as a ‘regular figure’ then I’m giving him just shy of a
full mark. But to those people out there just desperate to have him in
their collection, then the RRP might just be looking like the sale of
the century to them right now.
Fun
Factor - ****
In a nutshell there is no reason you shouldn’t have any more or less
fun with this figure over any other Predator figure. But for me it’s
obvious he will look best when flanking the Elder with the Lost Pred
standing on the other side.
I can vouch that the trio standing together does look pretty awesome,
and the fact that all three look so different helps add to the supposed
‘diversity’ within the species, an angle explored even further in the
recent Predators (from which we should be seeing the Berserker
soon).
So, a good looking figure with lots of posing potential, but due to the
fragile and quite literally sharp and pointy nature of the spear, one
would be ill advised to let a child actually play with this.
And if you ended up with an expensive pile of loose Predator parts,
you’d only have yourself to blame!
Overall-
****
Put simply this is a stunning looking figure, and I love it!
Still not good enough to topple my Predator 2 Elder from his top spot,
but still squeezing himself up there into my top 3… not bad for a
background character with a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ appearance in
the ‘arguably’ second best movie of the franchise.
Even
with the price tag of $185 this guy screams top quality, proving once
again how unstoppable Hot Toys are when they are fully in their groove.
I
can’t really fault anything. Perhaps a slight reworking of the sculpt
to make the features a little different might have been cool, but to be
fair the new paint app is so impressive and makes him look pretty
different anyway. Plus, as I said above, we never truly saw his face
clearly in the movie!
Throw in his cool accessories and the fact that YOU DON”T HAVE TO BUILD
HIM, then even considering the $185 price tag he comes out smelling
pretty rosy, so he gets a full score from me!
Where to buy
Sideshow were officially the only people selling this in North America
and poor old Europe was left out completely! I’m not 100% sure of
numbers, I’ve heard conflicting info of 1000 split between 3
conventions and also that all three received 500, making a total of
1500. But what ever the outcome it’s pretty plain to most, that supply
is never gonna meet demand. I guess you could still try the waitlist at
SS but your best bet now is to try and make friends with someone who
might sell you theirs, or hit
eBay, but be prepared to part with a substantial amount of
your pay check. Happy ‘lost’ hunting!
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This product was provided free for the review by the manufacturer.
Photos and text by Jeff Parker.
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