Reinhardt
Super Freak
great pics Dedguy, even with the high iso. 
so basicly all you did was widen the helmet a little?
so basicly all you did was widen the helmet a little?
HT original Predator- photo thread
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GDZILLA95
Super Freak
It came WITH batteries. As said before, they
are in the plastic bag with the instructions.
dedguy
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Yeah widened it a lot actually. It should be wide enough that it won't stay on without tape or something. I then lined the inside of it with carpet tape and put it on without any of the mandibles plugged in.
I think a better solution for HT may have been to not have removable mandibles but a whole removable face that can either be the snarling face or the helmeted face. That would be the only way for it to be totally spot on and not be two different heads.
On the subject of head sizes...
There's not a lot of just strait on pics of the Predator standing from the first movie but if you look at any of the shots from the end of Predator 2 (a few of the Preds using some or all of the parts of the Predator 1 suit) their heads are in fact huge. I don't think any of the HT Preds are too large headed. Most of them are too wide shouldered and have other body proportion issues though. The newer ones less so this newest one is pretty spot on. Just the thighs need to be a bit heftier I think.
GDZILLA95 I mispoke, I meant it didn't come with the batteries installed.
I think a better solution for HT may have been to not have removable mandibles but a whole removable face that can either be the snarling face or the helmeted face. That would be the only way for it to be totally spot on and not be two different heads.
On the subject of head sizes...
There's not a lot of just strait on pics of the Predator standing from the first movie but if you look at any of the shots from the end of Predator 2 (a few of the Preds using some or all of the parts of the Predator 1 suit) their heads are in fact huge. I don't think any of the HT Preds are too large headed. Most of them are too wide shouldered and have other body proportion issues though. The newer ones less so this newest one is pretty spot on. Just the thighs need to be a bit heftier I think.
GDZILLA95 I mispoke, I meant it didn't come with the batteries installed.
Magnuz
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Well, one of the problems with that particular scene was that in order to have multiple predators, they had to have other people other than hall playing them, and said guys weren't as tall, (one of them was bout the same height as danny glover) and i'm sure helmets and heads were designed for body sizes proportionate to hall's predator from 1 and 2, not for someone a foot or two shorter than him.
Biojex
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you take a great picture dedguy, also i think the grainy look makes em appear real cool, film like ya know? gives em a harder edge. thumbs up!
tylerdurden
Super Freak
hey guys, i just got my predator last night! 
just thought i'd share my opinion on it, as well as some very hastily shot pics. will do better photo setups later...
right out of the box, this fella looks great. to me he is the most well-made pred of the entire line, maybe with the exception of the elder. but as some have pointed out, his proportions are definitely more accurate. i still think his head with the bio on looks a little DISproportionate, but it's a small issue.
firstly, when u take him outta the box, there are a few things u should watch out for:
- the blades. their points snag pretty easily on anything, and the thin plastic might break. luckily they are fairly well-protected by a soft foam block. mine came slightly bent, but soon straightened out after some (very) careful futzing/bending.
- the wires lining the inside of the bio. according to my retailer dude, some customers complained that theirs snapped out of the connecting socket. thankfully, mine had no such problems.
- battery installation. be very careful here, make sure u insert the batteries in the correct polarity. cos once u've inserted them, they're a pain in the ass to take out. the guy showed me a way though: open the battery cover, turn the pred on its back, hold its body firmly and tap the chest area firmly. the batteries should loosen after a few knocks. if not, u gotta use small tweezers or a blade to prise em out (not advisable, cos u might scratch the paint).
anyway, back to the figure itself. i have to say his dreads are really well-done. they "fall" much better than previous figures, imo. and because the neck is apparently shorter on p1, the dreads end up spreading out around his shoulders and back more naturally (i think michael crawford pointed this out in his review, and yep, it's true).
as for the face sculpt, it really captures the feral, dangerous attitude of the yautja species. he looks like he means business! i prefer the "open mandibles" look more, so that's how i'll display him. however, i'm not so keen on the quills on his forehead. they're mostly just raised bumps rather than actual pointed quills. a sharper sculpt would've brought out the realism a bit more, i feel. also, while the overall paint app on the face is pretty good, i don't like the overly shiny quality. would've preferred a more matt texture, so it better resembles real organic skin texture and not toy-like plastic. it's extra noticeable if u put him directly beneath a spotlight. but with soft light on him, he looks almost like a real predator. the rest of the figure's sculpt and paint is fine, and strangely does not share the same shiny finish as the head.
in terms of poseability, i've yet to fully explore his potential. but i did find that he has slight difficulty holding deep stances (eg: a legs wide apart half-crouch). i realized this might be due to the limited articulation in his ankle joints. they don't seem to swivel as freely as i wanted. there were a few scary moments when i got him into that crouch, only for him to topple over cos his feet were not flat on the surface! luckily i managed to catch him and prevent him from doing a dive onto the hard floor. will experiment more with his articulation and poseability when i've got the time.
the other thing i don't like is the very obvious and very ugly limb joints! esp the elbow joints. this really detracts from the overall realism of the figure. but since hot toys has not (and will probably never) use rubber bodies for their predators, that's something we gotta live with. to cover up his elbow joint (it's more noticeable on the right arm), i removed the leather string from his forearm and wound it around the elbow area instead. the string is glued together so be careful when peeling it apart. will prob do more customization later to further hide the other joints.
the bio mask is really well-sculpted and painted. in fact, i'd go as far as to say the paint app is better than sideshow's most recent 1:1 bios (eg: scar and celtic). yeah yeah, apples and oranges i know. but quality is quality to me. and hot toys rarely lets its customers down. the targeting LEDs are nice n bright. i'd have preferred REAL lasers, but it's just not possible at this scale i guess. wishful thinking....
and lastly, the jungle base and skull trophy really rocks!
this is one of the best bases hot toys has ever done. the only other one i can think of that's as impressive is the vito corleone godfather base with chair. oh, and the nostromo officer kane alien egg base. but this is still my favourite base.
so on the whole, i really love this figure. it's not perfect, with a couple of things that could've been better executed. but it's still pretty damn good.
if u can only have one predator figure, then this THE one to get. well done hot toys! it's work like this that shows why they're at the forefront of the 1/6th collectibles world.
just thought i'd share my opinion on it, as well as some very hastily shot pics. will do better photo setups later...
right out of the box, this fella looks great. to me he is the most well-made pred of the entire line, maybe with the exception of the elder. but as some have pointed out, his proportions are definitely more accurate. i still think his head with the bio on looks a little DISproportionate, but it's a small issue.
firstly, when u take him outta the box, there are a few things u should watch out for:
- the blades. their points snag pretty easily on anything, and the thin plastic might break. luckily they are fairly well-protected by a soft foam block. mine came slightly bent, but soon straightened out after some (very) careful futzing/bending.
- the wires lining the inside of the bio. according to my retailer dude, some customers complained that theirs snapped out of the connecting socket. thankfully, mine had no such problems.
- battery installation. be very careful here, make sure u insert the batteries in the correct polarity. cos once u've inserted them, they're a pain in the ass to take out. the guy showed me a way though: open the battery cover, turn the pred on its back, hold its body firmly and tap the chest area firmly. the batteries should loosen after a few knocks. if not, u gotta use small tweezers or a blade to prise em out (not advisable, cos u might scratch the paint).
anyway, back to the figure itself. i have to say his dreads are really well-done. they "fall" much better than previous figures, imo. and because the neck is apparently shorter on p1, the dreads end up spreading out around his shoulders and back more naturally (i think michael crawford pointed this out in his review, and yep, it's true).
as for the face sculpt, it really captures the feral, dangerous attitude of the yautja species. he looks like he means business! i prefer the "open mandibles" look more, so that's how i'll display him. however, i'm not so keen on the quills on his forehead. they're mostly just raised bumps rather than actual pointed quills. a sharper sculpt would've brought out the realism a bit more, i feel. also, while the overall paint app on the face is pretty good, i don't like the overly shiny quality. would've preferred a more matt texture, so it better resembles real organic skin texture and not toy-like plastic. it's extra noticeable if u put him directly beneath a spotlight. but with soft light on him, he looks almost like a real predator. the rest of the figure's sculpt and paint is fine, and strangely does not share the same shiny finish as the head.
in terms of poseability, i've yet to fully explore his potential. but i did find that he has slight difficulty holding deep stances (eg: a legs wide apart half-crouch). i realized this might be due to the limited articulation in his ankle joints. they don't seem to swivel as freely as i wanted. there were a few scary moments when i got him into that crouch, only for him to topple over cos his feet were not flat on the surface! luckily i managed to catch him and prevent him from doing a dive onto the hard floor. will experiment more with his articulation and poseability when i've got the time.
the other thing i don't like is the very obvious and very ugly limb joints! esp the elbow joints. this really detracts from the overall realism of the figure. but since hot toys has not (and will probably never) use rubber bodies for their predators, that's something we gotta live with. to cover up his elbow joint (it's more noticeable on the right arm), i removed the leather string from his forearm and wound it around the elbow area instead. the string is glued together so be careful when peeling it apart. will prob do more customization later to further hide the other joints.
the bio mask is really well-sculpted and painted. in fact, i'd go as far as to say the paint app is better than sideshow's most recent 1:1 bios (eg: scar and celtic). yeah yeah, apples and oranges i know. but quality is quality to me. and hot toys rarely lets its customers down. the targeting LEDs are nice n bright. i'd have preferred REAL lasers, but it's just not possible at this scale i guess. wishful thinking....
and lastly, the jungle base and skull trophy really rocks!
this is one of the best bases hot toys has ever done. the only other one i can think of that's as impressive is the vito corleone godfather base with chair. oh, and the nostromo officer kane alien egg base. but this is still my favourite base. so on the whole, i really love this figure. it's not perfect, with a couple of things that could've been better executed. but it's still pretty damn good.
if u can only have one predator figure, then this THE one to get. well done hot toys! it's work like this that shows why they're at the forefront of the 1/6th collectibles world.
Bustajesse
Super Freak
Quick question, has Sideshow started shipping these out yet?
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Wish I knew how to do those kinds of p/s tricks. Looks ace!
Reinhardt
Super Freak
awesome Jeff!! Love the sparks in the 3rd pic too.
Nacho
By demons be driven..
Nice pic's wookster.
I'm still waiting for mine. Has anybody else ordered through
ABC-express??? Would have to be the longest wait for a pred yet..
They are usually very quick.
I'm still waiting for mine. Has anybody else ordered through
ABC-express??? Would have to be the longest wait for a pred yet..
They are usually very quick.
Yes. That's where I got mine from a couple of days ago.
Reinhardt
Super Freak
yeah i just got the exclusive through sideshow this week as well.
dedguy
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tylerdurden: I thought the same thing about the ankles at first myself. I thought "why in hell didn't they use those great double ball-in-socket joints they normally use". I found though that the joint they used (which is exactly the same, just larger, as the wrist) offers about the same level of movement as the traditional HT ankle joints. It just requires a lot more futzing to get it right. They also seem to be way more stable than the ball-in-socket joints and look better to boot. I wouldn't complain if they started to do this on more figures.
On the glossy/matte subject. This is just my personal tastes, not really commenting on your comments so much as you comments made me think on it (did that make any sense? I have a migraine at the moment). I personally really dig glossy paint when done on the right subjects. I have all the Max Factory Guyver figures and am a big Guyver fan. I heard a lot of people complaining about the Neo ZX-Tole's high gloss paint job. Saying it made it look like a cheap toy. I love it, it makes sense for the character (he's basically a giant beetle) and to me it makes it look a lot nicer (than ZX-Tole for example who doesn't have a gloss paint job). On the Pred I also really love the glossy paint. It really makes the detailed paint work shine (both literally and figuratively) and it seems accurate to the film, he usually looks pretty dang glossy in the movie.
On the subject of exposed joints vs rubber bodies. See previous comments about personal taste. On the Pred articulation is very important to me. I want to be able to pose him as crazy as possible. So I'd prefer non-rubber. I've also started to think that the articulated injection-molded bodies are a lot more expensive to produce than the rubber bodies. That's based mostly on comments by Ashley Wood on the costs of producing soft vinyl vs injection plastic. I'd also want to say the paint work would be impossible to do on rubber but Abe has those rubber arms with loads of detail paint work on them, not all that different from the Pred actually. Abe and Hellboy where my first rubber bodied figures and I gotta say even more so now I'm a fan of the not-rubber bodies. You just plain don't get a lot of movement from them.
On the glossy/matte subject. This is just my personal tastes, not really commenting on your comments so much as you comments made me think on it (did that make any sense? I have a migraine at the moment). I personally really dig glossy paint when done on the right subjects. I have all the Max Factory Guyver figures and am a big Guyver fan. I heard a lot of people complaining about the Neo ZX-Tole's high gloss paint job. Saying it made it look like a cheap toy. I love it, it makes sense for the character (he's basically a giant beetle) and to me it makes it look a lot nicer (than ZX-Tole for example who doesn't have a gloss paint job). On the Pred I also really love the glossy paint. It really makes the detailed paint work shine (both literally and figuratively) and it seems accurate to the film, he usually looks pretty dang glossy in the movie.
On the subject of exposed joints vs rubber bodies. See previous comments about personal taste. On the Pred articulation is very important to me. I want to be able to pose him as crazy as possible. So I'd prefer non-rubber. I've also started to think that the articulated injection-molded bodies are a lot more expensive to produce than the rubber bodies. That's based mostly on comments by Ashley Wood on the costs of producing soft vinyl vs injection plastic. I'd also want to say the paint work would be impossible to do on rubber but Abe has those rubber arms with loads of detail paint work on them, not all that different from the Pred actually. Abe and Hellboy where my first rubber bodied figures and I gotta say even more so now I'm a fan of the not-rubber bodies. You just plain don't get a lot of movement from them.
iron.jedi83
Super Freak
im getting mine from sideshow today:chew:chew
:chew
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