Neca Predators Series 1: Falconer, Berserker, Classic

Background:

Predator is a fictional alien species that specialize in the trophy hunting of dangerous species for training and sports, this includes humans as well as Aliens from the Alien franchise. Predators are characterized by their huge gaping mandibles and dreadlock like features on the head, they are highly technologically advanced and are armed to the teeth with various lasers, blasters and assortment of retractable blades – in short they are deadly as hell.

Released in 2010, “Predators” is the fifth feature film in the Predator franchise. Not to be confused with the original “Predator” film released in 1987 which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. This series of toys by Neca is based on Predators from the 2010 movie.

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Name: Falconer Predator / Berserker Predator / Classic Predator
Manufacturer: Neca
Line: Predators Series 1
Sculptor: Jason Frailey, Adrienne Smith / Jason Frailey, Adrienne Smith / Kyle Windrix
Designer: Stan Winston
Scale: Non-scale
Material: PVC, POM
Release: July 2010
Original Price: $30AUD / $16USD
Height: 200mm / 7.87inches

Packaging:

The Neca Predators series come in what looks to be very standard blister packaging, until you take a closer look and realize that all the backing cards are different. Each individually printed to reflect the Predator they are carrying which I found to be quite thoughtful. Other than that there is only one twisty wire that holds the figure in place, which is great because I HATE twisty wires.

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Accessories:

Accessories are very sparse in this line, the Falconer and Berserker Predator each gets a wrist blade whilst the Berserker also gets a shoulder mounted plasma cannon. I don’t consider these to be true accessories as they came pre-attached to the figure. At least the Classic Predator’s backpack with shoulder mounted plasma cannon came packed separately.

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Form/Sculpt:

It doesn’t get any better than this, who ever produced these beautiful toys deserve a big pat on the back. There is so much detail to be seen here, from the realistic looking skin and muscles to the detailed dreadlock features on the head.

Unfortunately the helmets are not removable but they do look freaking awesome. The armour parts are made from a softer PVC material that allows it to bend and flex as you pose the toy, at the same time it retains all the sharp armour plating details.

A very clever thing they’ve done with this line is to conceal certain joints within the sculpt, the waist for example turns around the top of the “pants”, while the hip joints cut along the “V” of the “pants”. This really helps to keep the toy looking clean and “whole”. Speaking of whole, my Classic predator was missing his left knee pad, something to watch out for when you pick up this toy.

Articulation/Action:

Even though some joints have been nicely designed into the toy to be concealed, it doesn’t mean they all work terribly well. The ankle joints for both the Falconer and Berserker Predators are concealed in a shoe type moulding which really restricts all movement apart from swivelling action. Each Predator comes with over 20 points of articulation (as advertised) but the range of movement is not all that great, to be honest it is still fairly rigid for an “action” figure.

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Paint/Print:

Almost all of the surface area of these figures are covered in paint. A variety of matt and gloss finishes, ink washes and dry brushing are used to give as much realism to these guys as possible. The skin of the Falconer and Berserker Predators are matt in finish to replicate a leathery surface, it sort of resembles the skin of an elephant or rhino.

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All the armour parts have been covered in a luscious coat of bronze paint, and highlighted with some silver dry brushing to give a metallic effect. There are some specks and spots painted onto their skin which from a distance doesn’t look too bad, but on closer inspection they can feel kind of fake and cheap.

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The Classic Predator on the other hand, has a slightly glossy finish to the skin, making it look a bit slimy (or sweaty from all the fights). The face and mouth has been beautifully painted, and the eyes look very predatory indeed. The paint on the body mesh however doesn’t quite match the sculpt, but this is only noticeable when you look up close. I did find evident of what looks like printing on some of the armour parts of the Classic Predator, they appear to be bullet holes, but quite frankly I think they look crap.

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Detail/Features:

Not many gimmicks to be found in this line. The Classic Predator features retracting twin wrist blades and articulated shoulder mounted plasma cannon. The blades are pretty short so they aren’t that impressive. Oh and here’s a closer look at the missing knee pad, doh!

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The Falconer and Berserker Predator does not have retracting blades, they actually just pop on and off, and quite easily at that. The good thing about this is you can actually switch the blades around. The bad thing is you might actually loose them in the process.

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Here are all three Predators from series 1 together, they’re all about the same height. And another shot comparing the Neca Classic Predator to the McFarlane Elder Predator, as you can see here, the Neca version is slightly smaller (but I think it looks better!), and doesn’t smell quite as bad:P.

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Overall:

Final verdict, this series of predator action figures features really great sculpturing, decent paint job but some what falls short in the articulation and accessories department. Having said that, they do look excellent on display even with the limited range of poses you can place them in. Well priced, I think they are a great purchase and will look great in any display shelf.

Check out the Series 2 Neca Predator review here!

Thanks again for reading my toy review, be sure to pass them to your friends!

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Filed under: Featured, Reviews, Movie, NECA, Predator, Sci-Fi, US