NECA: Predator Movie Franchise Figures

[crazypredator2]

I get castings of these and the production never gets to me all that much. HT sculptors get to see most of their stuff get painted up like the proto. I'm jealous.

i wish you worked for hot toys.then we would have great 1/6 scale predators.

 

[prefused]

It's at times I like this I start feeling a bit more naive, wishing that maybe NECA would start a new line aimed squarely at collectors. Limiting 7" figure edition sizes to 5,000 or less each (so basically keeping a few from the general production and pampering those like pricier figures), improving paint apps to the point where they look 99% like the prototype, and pricing them at $30 a pop. I would buy every single one in a heartbeat and I know for a fact that many of us on here would do the same. Sadly, such a thing won't happen.

i'd be down for that, but there's no way they'd be anywhere near $30 if you want them that close to the protos. i don't even think they could get netting to look that good at that tiny scale for less than $60 a pop. then you gotta add on super high quality paint apps that would pretty much have to be entirely hand painted with brushes because you can't really airbrush something that small. if you're gonna spend that kind of cash anyway, you might as well go big with them. i'd rather pay a few $k for prototype-sized high quality figures. these blow away any HT figure or SSC statue, so the sky's the limit as far as price. the only problem with that is i really don't think NECA is set up to produce them. they'd probably need to be made by Master Replicas or somebody like that who normally produce low quantity/high quality stuff.

 

[Rotfish]

i'd be down for that, but there's no way they'd be anywhere near $30 if you want them that close to the protos. i don't even think they could get netting to look that good at that tiny scale for less than $60 a pop. then you gotta add on super high quality paint apps that would pretty much have to be entirely hand painted with brushes because you can't really airbrush something that small. if you're gonna spend that kind of cash anyway, you might as well go big with them. i'd rather pay a few $k for prototype-sized high quality figures. these blow away any HT figure or SSC statue, so the sky's the limit as far as price. the only problem with that is i really don't think NECA is set up to produce them. they'd probably need to be made by Master Replicas or somebody like that who normally produce low quantity/high quality stuff.

I think $60 might be overshooting it. Those workers aren't being paid too much to begin with, and I doubt tripling or quadrupling would push up the total retail value above $40 or $50. That is unles you were considering real netting (which I wouldn't even try on that small a piece).

As far as paying a few thousand dollars for prototype-sized figures, you're forgetting one thing. HT may produce inaccurate sculpts, but their paint apps are still great. If I could get a NECA figure with HT's paint apps, I'd be happy. And it seems something like that wouldn't cost more than $200 (keep in mind NECA's not using the same plastic, variety of materials, nor amounts of accessories and gimmicks that HT does). Hell, I bet we could get a 1/4 figure with perfect paint apps for that amount. Why? Becaue the quality-to-price ratio for HT isn't the same as it is for NECA. Look at what NECA's given us for $70-$80: a giant P1 with a great paint job. Add to that a $120-$130 price increase and I bet we could easily get a P1 with a stellar paint job and more accurate/durable netting.
Unfortunately, that's not in the cards for us, once again, due to what kind of company this is.








Kyle, these awesome new pics were the last straw. If you guys started putting out 19" Predators with kickass quality paint work and netting for $200 alongside the usual 7" line, the higher-end collectors would be psyched to pick up the slack and keep profits up for you. No problem at all. Everyone knows people will pay crazy amounts of money for a larger, well-done Predator piece.

Then and only then can you be fairly compared to HT -- and you'd win. Randy needs to know!!

 

[Elder_Predator2]

I just wish that NECA would stop with the 1/5 scale and go to 1/4

 

[crazypredator2]

I'm not a fan of the Lost Predators' open left hand. I think it should be more relaxed.

they need to include an extra hand with each predator that can hold weapons,so you can exchange weapons among each predator.

 

[greygoose]

It's at times I like this I start feeling a bit more naive, wishing that maybe NECA would start a new line aimed squarely at collectors. Limiting 7" figure edition sizes to 5,000 or less each (so basically keeping a few from the general production and pampering those like pricier figures), improving paint apps to the point where they look 99% like the prototype, and pricing them at $30 a pop. I would buy every single one in a heartbeat and I know for a fact that many of us on here would do the same. Sadly, such a thing won't happen.

They all look great but I won't be buying them at a smaller scale with bad qc paint apps.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Uhg, Blade, shorten your posts...

 

[Rotfish]

Uhg, Blade, shorten your posts...

Well... short "I want it" posts haven't done much. Not saying this will, I was only getting carried away because I felt empowered and kind of sad about NECA's figures after seeing those sweet new photos. Aaaaaand now I feel the same again. Crap.

Naivety aside, there's got to be some sort of happy ending. Seems childish and improbable -- and I know -- but collecting HT for quality and collecting NECA for accuracy just isn't cutting it. What we need is both of those things on the same figure. There's a middle ground somewhere there and with this 1/4 P1, they've managed to touch it. Scrape it, even. But if we could shift it just a little more towards the quality that NECA's unusual market needs, our money could still keep the sales and business of those particular figures afloat. What have we noticed with this giant P1? Here's what: most impulse buys were be prevented by the $70 price tag, but since the company grabbed the bull by the horns and gave us something solid and good, it sold very well in preorders from genuine collectors that are tuned in to this market and the vast amount of products within it. The small stuff can cut it for those with a lower budget and it still looks great for the price. For the higher-end collectors who feel the sculpts should get the paint apps they deserve at any cost, however, I'm pretty sure we could keep that market going ourselves.

Yep, guess I got stirred again, there. Sorry, Lar'ja. Preaching to the choir with this whole idea and it's even unlikely that P2's getting the same scaled-up treatment P1 got. Just a bummer to see brilliant sculpts like this plagued by iffy paint and stuck joints -- not to mention fragile plastic netting.

 

[Megatron]

to be honest i think the figs are meant to look better far away than in person especially with neca's paintjobs...im still torn whether or not to complete my collection with the neca preds.....i guess we'll have to see when the elder and p1 comes out with the "new factory" paint apps

 

[Darth_Fatso]

Has anyone got any notice of these shipping from TRU yet? I'm pulling out my hair waiting for my masked P1!

 

[Elder_Predator2]

Corner Store has theirs, so TRU can't be far from them.

 

[Sith_fire30]

My PO is with BBTS - hoping to see them in stock soon

 

[a-dev]

The small stuff can cut it for those with a lower budget and it still looks great for the price.

Increasingly I'm starting to doubt even this^

7" figures today have _____t!er QC and crappier paint than they did years ago and aren't we paying more for them, not the same or not less than what we were paying for them years ago? Sculpts are probably improved but in a way that just makes it all the more frustrating that they're ruined by the aforementioned problems. I find it sad that we finally get figures from the likes of the first Terminator film, or we finally get a super-accurate Predator (though the 19" compensated on this one) but unfortunately they've come in a time where the company is unable or unwilling to ensure that QC and paint is as good as it can be.

 

[csutkakoma]

New pics...

They look great I just wish the final product would look like that. Also I dont care about 7 inch figures. 18 inch or nothing. Usually the little preds will turn out terrible.

 

[Lord Freezer]

the best compromise between detail and size is the scale 12 "

 

[prefused]

I think $60 might be overshooting it. Those workers aren't being paid too much to begin with, and I doubt tripling or quadrupling would push up the total retail value above $40 or $50. That is unles you were considering real netting (which I wouldn't even try on that small a piece).

well, you said "improving paint apps to the point where they look 99% like the prototype" so i'd say you're underestimating it. significantly. and your average factory worker can't do that. they'd have to be entirely hand-painted. with paintbrushes. just ask SilentSurfer how labor intensive, and therefore expensive, that would be.

As far as paying a few thousand dollars for prototype-sized figures, you're forgetting one thing. HT may produce inaccurate sculpts, but their paint apps are still great. If I could get a NECA figure with HT's paint apps, I'd be happy. And it seems something like that wouldn't cost more than $200 (keep in mind NECA's not using the same plastic, variety of materials, nor amounts of accessories and gimmicks that HT does). Hell, I bet we could get a 1/4 figure with perfect paint apps for that amount. Why? Becaue the quality-to-price ratio for HT isn't the same as it is for NECA. Look at what NECA's given us for $70-$80: a giant P1 with a great paint job. Add to that a $120-$130 price increase and I bet we could easily get a P1 with a stellar paint job and more accurate/durable netting.
Unfortunately, that's not in the cards for us, once again, due to what kind of company this is.

again, i'm just going off what you said earlier. but if you're talking about them having the same consumer-grade mass produced quality as HT figures, you might be close. but these prototypes are orders of magnitude better than anything we'll get from HT. there's a lot of hours and painstaking detail work that goes into making them. you can tell those pics don't do them justice. they're basically miniature movie props.

oh, and i just got my shipping notice and tracking # from CSC for Series 3. joy of joys.

 

[ArmoredFoe]

damn those preds look freaking awesome. I dont care 7 inch or 18 inch...I'll get them. Im just happy to see so many preds coming out.

 

[adegregorio]

These Lost Hunters do look rather cool! Don't collect the little guys, but I may have to make an exception here for these.

 

[Rotfish]

again, i'm just going off what you said earlier. but if you're talking about them having the same consumer-grade mass produced quality as HT figures, you might be close. but these prototypes are orders of magnitude better than anything we'll get from HT. there's a lot of hours and painstaking detail work that goes into making them. you can tell those pics don't do them justice. they're basically miniature movie props.

Totally agree, but consider that HT's $200 price tag often includes so many other things that NECA doesn't do. Putting HT-esque paint apps on those already-great sculpts would technically result in a slightly lower cost, so the rest of the money up to the $200 mark is more like a quality assurance cushion -- which NECA would definitely need anyway. Scale matters too, but seeing as how HT's dramatically improving there, NECA could still make do if they released their figures in 1/4.

In the end, my point was simply that NECA could in fact survive with the higher-end collectors' money, because we know by now that good Predator merchandise sells extremely well. The only thing keeping this from happening and actually working is the kind of company that NECA is. It's too big a leap from their general stuff, so they won't try it out. The weird thing is they're putting out full-scale Gears of War weapon replicas, so at times, it's a bit hard to understand what's stopping them from doing something like this.







Hopeless wishes aside, these Lost Hunters really do look amazing. I'd have to see what they look like in stores, but my fear is I already know what to expect.

 

[KoBE]

I'm curious, did anyone else order the Gort from NECA via Amazon when it went on sale during the SDCC preview night last week? As soon as the sale went live, it seemed like the item was already "out of stock." Perhaps the fulfillment of this particular sale is contingent on NECA making more Gort figures post-SDCC?

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