Hollywood Collectibles Group Predator 2

[Zoolander]

you're right adam, I knew something was not quite right. Without the gauntlet is not accurate nor is it as visually interesting.

 

[ozzfan84]

I used to be very, very interested in their stuff. I became a little less dedicated recently when they worked to have Faken's comments about the biomask removed from another site because they didn't like his criticisms. His reviews and pictures here are always awesome and he works to write very unbiased reviews. By having his words taken down, it tells me that they didn't want him telling the public that it cannot sit on a table and that it must be wall mounted (high on a wall nonetheless), and also that IT HAS NO BACK TO IT! I was seriously considering this piece, and I would have ordered it if I didn't know these valuable facts. I wish they would have disclosed this information themselves instead of having someone else's words taken off the internet when he said it after personally viewing the artist proof.

 

[A-1188]

That's freaking gay.

 

[gofourindian]

It should be around $300 and have a regular stand like SS did with their props. It's overkill...they did the same thing with the P1 bio. Icons P1 bio display looks much better.

 

[AdamBombOi]

It should be around $300 and have a regular stand like SS did with their props. It's overkill...they did the same thing with the P1 bio. Icons P1 bio display looks much better.

I personally wouldn't take it if it was given to me.

Like I said, I'm a huge fan, but it's an arm and a hand, a glove, and a smart disc. If they want to go for accuracy, they need to slap a gauntlet on it.

 

[xr6.turbo]

I think i will pass on this.(unless it sells for about $200)

While the disc looks good i the arm stand idea could have been done better.

 

[Nacho]

Some of you guys are missing the point here
your not buying the arm your buying the disc the arm just comes with it.
Im very sure that the detail in the disc will be excellent and as for the display
stand (arm) I think is a good idea.

 

[AdamBombOi]

Oh, I get the idea perfectly fine, and some guys on the Hunter's Lair already make jaw-dropping smart disk replicas.

My point is, if someone wants me to buy that, the arm should be accurate. I mean, how many times have we seen a Predator with a bare forearm? What am I gonna do with that? use it to put my watches on (not that I own one, just hypothetically speaking) when I'm not wearing them?

 

[Nacho]

Oh, I get the idea perfectly fine, and some guys on the Hunter's Lair already make jaw-dropping smart disk replicas.

My point is, if someone wants me to buy that, the arm should be accurate. I mean, how many times have we seen a Predator with a bare forearm? What am I gonna do with that? use it to put my watches on (not that I own one, just hypothetically speaking) when I'm not wearing them?

Its just an arm dude not even 1/2 a forarm.
yeh the Lair guys make excellent discs but I would rather a SWS
one over one of their's any day.
I'm not even interested in buying this thing I just dont think
its as bad as what some people are making it out to be.
If you buy one from the Lair do you get a stand?

 

[xr6.turbo]

Oh, I get the idea perfectly fine, and some guys on the Hunter's Lair already make jaw-dropping smart disk replicas.

My point is, if someone wants me to buy that, the arm should be accurate. I mean, how many times have we seen a Predator with a bare forearm? What am I gonna do with that? use it to put my watches on (not that I own one, just hypothetically speaking) when I'm not wearing them?

Yeah what he said

 

[Trilogy]

Yeah, HCG is known for some pretty high priced bunk.

And you can add this "hand" to it.

And I really could care less for the scott's opinions or his little buddy's.
This is my opinion...and obviously, quite a few others.

So, if you two guys like it and want to stand around in a little circle and "admire" it together...more power to ya.

And, if you're going to defend is so zealously...we'd better see ya both fork out the grand to purchase it.

If you have no interest in the opinions of others, why are you posting on a public forum.

What "two guys" are you referring to? Is this directed towards me? If so, yes I will probably purchase this replica, depending on the look of the piece when released.
For now I will give it the benefit of doubt, rather than tearing into it, purely on a 'sneak peak' image the company was courteous enough to provide. We know very little in regards to this replica at present, which includes price.

 

[Devil_666]

That Pred Hand could make a nice Watch/Bracelet/Ring holder though. Or you could put a nice decorative plate in there.. the possibilites are endless. Actually no.. that's it: Watch/Bracelet/Ring/Decorative Plate holder.

 

[Trilogy]

I used to be very, very interested in their stuff. I became a little less dedicated recently when they worked to have Faken's comments about the biomask removed from another site because they didn't like his criticisms. His reviews and pictures here are always awesome and he works to write very unbiased reviews. By having his words taken down, it tells me that they didn't want him telling the public that it cannot sit on a table and that it must be wall mounted (high on a wall nonetheless), and also that IT HAS NO BACK TO IT! I was seriously considering this piece, and I would have ordered it if I didn't know these valuable facts. I wish they would have disclosed this information themselves instead of having someone else's words taken off the internet when he said it after personally viewing the artist proof.

Faken's review of the replica was helpful. It was unfortunate his comments were removed along with any relating posts. However, stating HCG worked to have them removed is purely speculation. No-one knows why the moderators decided to remove the posts. Was it due to the unfavourable nature of his comments? Very possibly. Or perhaps they simply viewed some comments to be unacceptable.

 

[P1X4R]

Yeah but if you fly with the crows you get shot with them.

LOL. great line!

 

[ozzfan84]

Faken's review of the replica was helpful. It was unfortunate his comments were removed along with any relating posts. However, stating HCG worked to have them removed is purely speculation. No-one knows why the moderators decided to remove the posts. Was it due to the unfavourable nature of his comments? Very possibly. Or perhaps they simply viewed some comments to be unacceptable.

What makes me think HCG had something to do with it being removed is that fact that their representative went on and got into tit-for-tat arguments disputing claims. Either way, they were still removed from a forum where a representative is allowed to go on and argue it out with people.

I post on a lot of guitar forums where we do a lot of buying and selling. Always, the first no-no is no dealers or manufacturer representatives. When they freely post in a forum designated for collectors and buyers/sellers, there is always a high risk of muddying the waters and censoring opinions.

Faken's opinions were censored and people are going to buy this thing and believe it will sit down like a regular bust or that it has a back to it and they will be disappointed. If HCG wanted people to know these facts, they would have posted it themselves and it wouldn't have been deleted from the internet when someone else said it.

 

[Faken]

Hey guys... yeah the HCG nonsense on SF was pretty lame. In the end I was asked not to post regarding HCG products to keep the peace and it was indicated to me that HCG reported my initial posts that ended up getting censored.

Bottom line on that piece that even Mark at HCG can not argue:

1. The piece HAS to be mounted on the wall, or you have to modify the base if you want it to free-stand on a shelf.

2. The mask details and cannon are NOT SCREEN ACCURATE no matter what they say about the molds etc. He can try to say it's "shop accurate", but it certainly doesn't match what is seen on-screen.

3. This is not a full bust... you are paying for the helmet and a cool looking wall mount to sit the helmet on.

4. The lenses are supposed to be lexan, not thin ^^^^ used for tinting windows that buckles.

Bottom line on this is that it looks cool, there's no doubt about that... it nicely painted and such, but shouldn't cost more than $500. For $1000 it should be 99% screen accurate, the dreads should be better castings (The dreads were kind of stuck together with flashing in a lot of places), the dread rings should be separate and not part of the dread castings, the bust should be WHOLE, not just a half and the lenses should be more durable and not "dented" due to the use of that cheapo plastic film stuff, and the cannon should be the full cannon, not a completely innacurate barrel, and finally, it should be able to freestand on a shelf on it's own.

By the way, I know what happened with that freestanding thing. They designed the base to freestand, which it does. That's why the base is flat. But they probably only realized once it was too late that once you pop the helmet in place, it's too heavy up front and it topples over.

HCG has been VERY quiet about the leaning thing, they definitely know that this issue is a turn-off. You'll notice at the cons they leane it back against the display case and put some bubblewrap behind it.

As for this new disc piece, I like the display concept but it totally fails due to the lack of a gauntlet on the arm. It looks REALLY weird with the naked arm.

I really don't get HCG product design... how do they not catch these glaring issues during the design stage? I mean, isn't it obvious that a $1000 collector item should be able to be placed in a display case without the collector having to go out and modify the base, or that the pred's arm should have a gaunt?

Anyhow, I appreciate you guys expressing the fact that you feel I try to give fair and balanced reviews, that means a lot to me. I know a lot of review sites that give all thumbs up reviews on high end pieces to not offend the company that made it, but I don't agree with that mentality... in my opinion, the more expensive it is, the more we should expect from the product and the more critical I should be to help folks decide if a product is worth it or not.

In the case of the helmet, I was specifically asked by HCG management not to post a review on my site.

From: HOLLYWOOD COLLECTIBLES GROUP [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:44 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: Predator Helmet?

What I suggest Dan is that if you do not get the concept behind the piece, or do not really like it, that you send it back & we will happily refund you. If you would prefer a production piece which will not have any little dings & thicker lenses then again please return this one & we will send you a production piece as soon as we get them.
If you feel unable to give the piece a good review it would be better to wait for the production version or not to review it at all. There will be other pieces to review.

So yeah, apparently I just "don't get it" LOL!

Someone on here mentioned that a disc from the Lair would not come with a base. This is very true, but I bet you can find someone that will make youa disc and a custom base for less than what this piece will cost.

Again, don't get me wrong, the HCG pieces are very nice, but I think they are too expensive, have some design flaws, and I suggest you take the accuracy stuff (they use that to justify the price) with a grain of salt.

Hopefully this doesn't start a ^^^^ storm like on the SF... I am hoping you guys are a bit more tolerant of a negative opinion, especially considering I've actually had one of these in my hands for a couple of weeks before I sold it to a private collector.

 

[Trilogy]

What makes me think HCG had something to do with it being removed is that fact that their representative went on and got into tit-for-tat arguments disputing claims. Either way, they were still removed from a forum where a representative is allowed to go on and argue it out with people.

I post on a lot of guitar forums where we do a lot of buying and selling. Always, the first no-no is no dealers or manufacturer representatives. When they freely post in a forum designated for collectors and buyers/sellers, there is always a high risk of muddying the waters and censoring opinions.

Faken's opinions were censored and people are going to buy this thing and believe it will sit down like a regular bust or that it has a back to it and they will be disappointed. If HCG wanted people to know these facts, they would have posted it themselves and it wouldn't have been deleted from the internet when someone else said it.

As I said in my previous post, it was very possible. I would be inclined to agree it was the reason behind the deletion, especially when considering all relating posts were also removed.
Reading Faken's recent post (above) would indicate HCG did request the removal of his and all relating posts.

As for the "bust" not having a back. To be honest, if anyone was seriously considering purchasing this replica, they should have been well aware of the back being flush to enable it to be wall mounted. The fact the display can only stand with support is somewhat of a disappointment, as most pieces which are wall mountable are also able to be desk mounted for display purposes. Though to be fair, this was promoted as a "trophy wall mount".

 

[danfaz]

@Faken, well said my friend!

... I am hoping you guys are a bit more tolerant of a negative opinion...

Some are, but some can be rather obtuse if you disagree with their opinions:

Your opinion sucks, at least be polite with your criticism.

Yeah but if you fly with the crows you get shot with them.

The above in reply to this post:

Well, actually it's not as simple as that. This is a discussion forum, is it not? The whole point is to allow people to voice their opinions. It's wrong to try to shut people up that don't agree.

And while I'm at it...

If you have no interest in the opinions of others, why are you posting on a public forum.

Pretty sure he [Sabres21768] meant he's not interested in incoherent and adolescent ramblings like the above quoted comments from Sonic. Level-headed, logical, adult opinions are a different story...

 

[Faken]

As I said in my previous post, it was very possible. I would be inclined to agree it was the reason behind the deletion, especially when considering all relating posts were also removed.
Reading Faken's recent post (above) would indicate HCG did request the removal of his and all relating posts.

As for the "bust" not having a back. To be honest, if anyone was seriously considering purchasing this replica, they should have been well aware of the back being flush to enable it to be wall mounted. The fact the display can only stand with support is somewhat of a disappointment, as most pieces which are wall mountable are also able to be desk mounted for display purposes. Though to be fair, this was promoted as a "trophy wall mount".

Right, I don't think they are trying to hide the fact that it has a flush back or anything, I only think they are hiding the fact that it can't be put on a shelf without falling over unless you customize with the base so that the entire thing leans back far enough not to fall forward anymore.

Pretty sure he [Sabres21768] meant he's not interested in incoherent and adolescent ramblings like the above quoted comments from Sonic. Level-headed, logical, adult opinions are a different story...

Thanks Dan

And yeah, Trilogy is good peoples

 

[ozzfan84]

As for the "bust" not having a back. To be honest, if anyone was seriously considering purchasing this replica, they should have been well aware of the back being flush to enable it to be wall mounted.

Look at these pictures on the site:

Also, if you look at pictures of it in cons, it appears to sit up by itself. Where exactly would a prospective buyer get the information that it does not do so when it appears to do it in many photos?