Back in 2016, we got our hands on a series of Aliens 3.75″ Scale Figures by Hiya Toys. While they looked awesome, they had some quality control issues. When they announced their next license, the iconic Predator franchise, it piqued the interest of a lot of fans, looking to add high quality figures of The Predator franchise in this scale. The first assortment of Predator figures are now hitting stores and fans are beginning to dig into the releases. The first three figures in the line are the City Hunter Predator, the Guardian Predator and the Shadow Predator, all from Predator 2. These figure stand 4.5″ tall and come packed with numerous accessories, including interchangeable hands, skulls, spears and figure stands.
Hiya Toys was kind enough to send the figures along. Read on to see our photo gallery and my review of the figures.
Predator 2 – Exquisite Mini 3.75″ Scale Action Figures by Hiya Toys
Pros
- Excellent sculpted details
- Very nice paint work
- Good articulation
- Lots of accessories included
- Quality control is much improved over Aliens
Cons
- Still some paint locked joints
- Some plastics used are a bit too soft
Overall
Each of the new Predator 2 figures comes packaged in a collector friendly window box. The packaging for each includes multiple photos of the included figure, as well as artwork from Predator 2. Each figure is packed in a plastic clamshell tray. There are multiple hands included for each figure, as well as both collapsed and extended spears. Skulls are included with each figure (type varies by figure) as are figure stands, which can connect together using the “H” brackets included with each figure. The amount of accessories included is impressive on all the figures, which helps to make the $20-ish price point palatable.
Immediately after opening the figures, I was impressed with what I was seeing. While the Aliens Xenomorphs they released before looked perfectly fine for the scale, these are far more detailed. I was impressed with the sharply sculpted details on the helmets, the sculpted in netting and the intricate details on the armor pieces. The paint work really keeps up with the sculpts, with some nice transitional paint work on the bodies, and a great use of paint washing to highlight the textures in the sculpts. The unmasked head on the Shadow Predator is pretty impressive when you look at it up close. Paint lines aren’t always perfect, mainly in the dreads, but the detail work in the face is handled well. The eye paint turned out especially nice, considering how small that opening is. From a pure aesthetic standpoint, I was really happy with these guys.
Each of the Predator figure features about 25 to 27 points of articulation, depending on the figure. There are ball jointed shoulders, a split torso that moves at the chest and the hips, bicep swivels, forearms swivels, double jointed knees, rotating and pivoting ankles and more. There’s a great range of motion to the articulation as well, with the ability to pull off just about any pose I wanted to do. There are some issues that pop up on these spots though. Paint locking on the Guardian Predator was pretty prevalent. Both his forearms, biceps and shoulders were all locked in place out of the box. An extended use of a hair dryer eventually freed these joints, thankfully with no breakages. The Shadow Predator was completely free of paint locking, and the City Hunter had some minor locking in his bicep swivels. Again, hit the figure with a hair dryer to loosen those spots up, and you should be fine.
Quality wise, the base plastic used here was a bit stronger than that found in the Xenos and Marines from the Aliens line. Hiya does use soft plastic in a few areas though. Those include the armor, the wrist gauntlets, blades and some of the accessories. I get why they used it, as this softer plastic will bend without breaking. But it can lead to some bent looking blades.
When all is said and done, I can definitely recommend picking these up if you’re looking for Predators in this scale. The quality control here is an improvement over their earlier releases, but keep warm water or a hair dryer handy to free up any paint locked areas. With strong sculpts, nice paint work and lots of accessories, it’s hard not to like what you see here. Check out some highlight photos below and the full gallery after that.
Backdrops featured in some shots courtesy of Extreme Sets. Use code TOYARK at checkout for 15% off your order!
CompaniesHiya Toys
CharactersCity Hunter PredatorGuardian PredatorShadow Predator
Scale3.75 Inch