Series 18 of NECA‘s long running Predator toy line is in stores now! The newest wave features three characters inspired by Dark Horse Comics’ various Predator comics. From Predator: Life & Death you get Hornhead Predator, who pairs up perfectly with the Ultimate Ahab Predator, who was featured in the same series. Machiko Noguchi and the Broken Tusk Predator (aka Dachande) are featured in the classic Aliens vs Predator comic series, and look great with any of NECA’s Alien Xenomorph releases. We picked these figures up from sponsor Entertainment Earth. After the jump, check out over 65 high resolution images and my thoughts on the figures.
Related Entertainment Earth Links: Predator Series 18, Bad Blood vs Enforcer, All NECA Predator
Predator Series 18 Figures by NECA Toys
Pros
- Excellent sculpt work all around
- Removable masks work well on Machiko and Hornhead
- Nice paint work
- Great weapons on all three figures
- Hornhead is one of the best standard release Predators since the AvP wave
- Solid articulation
- Oft requested Machiko & Broken Tusk finally available
Cons
- Hornhead had a few paint locked joints
- Ankles on Machiko were a little loose
Overall
Predator Series 18 features classic style blister card packaging. Machiko and Broken Tusk each feature a card back with Broken Tusk’s mask in profile view, while Hornhead’s card features his mask. Artwork from the comic is used on the inserts to show each character, while the back of the card features a bio for the characters and display of all 3 figures from Series 18. Machiko includes a removable mask, a swap out hand, and a gun. Broken Tusk features a long double edged spear and a gun. Hornhead includes four removable wrist gauntlet blades, a removable mask, and a sword and sheath.
Broken Tusk Predator and Machiko Noguchi
Machiko and Dachande were probably the two most requested Predator characters prior to their reveals. For years, I would see fans requesting those two on both NECA’s Twitter and Facebook pages. With these two finally seeing a release, a lot of Dark Horse Comics fans have the two huge fan favorites available to them. While I never was into the comics, I can absolutely understand their appeal. Machiko was a long running character with a complex story arc that saw her at first fighting Aliens and Predators before joining a Yautja hunting party herself. Dachande was her predecessor, and the one who “blooded” the character, allowing her to become a hunter.
Broken Tusk has insanely detailed armor, as he wears pieces of the Xenomorphs he’s killed as protection. The Xenomorph head on his chest is both silly and fun at the same time, and NECA did a nice job blendign the Xeno biology into the technological armor pieces that he wear. Dachande is bright and colorful, and will definitely stand out in any Predator collection. Paint work is excellent here, with NECA breaking up the solid green of the armor with silver wiring and darker paint washes. His two weapons are outstanding. The spear is insanely long, with surprisingly sharp edges, but can separate in the middle if needed. The gun has a nice (plastic) shoulder strap, and the figure can easily hold it with both hands. Joints were great here, and I didn’t run into any paint lock issues.
Machiko is much smaller than most Predator releases, standing about 6.5″ tall. NECA did a nice job of Sculpting Machiko here, as she’s got a sleek design without it feeling pervy (as some companies have tended to sway with their renditions). The armor has a great battle tested look to it, and the netting is nicely painted here against a pretty natural looking skin tone. Paint lines were clean, and the armor has a dirty metallic look that work perfectly. The bio mask has two wires that can connect to the shoulder cannon, but I chose not to as I would be fiddling with the figure. The mask is removable, revealing the human female portrait underneath. The look of the face has definitely split fans. Some like the more realistic Japanese face, while other fans were hoping for a more comic accurate look. With no personal ties to the comic, I was fine with the face myself. Machiko’s articulation is fantastic, with a great range of motion. The smaller scale armor helps a lot in posing. Her ankles were a bit loose on mine, making it a little hard to keep standing for long.
Hornhead Predator
While also a Dark Horse comics character, Hornhead is from an entirely separate series of books than Broken Tusk and Machiko. In the comics, he is the leader of a Predator clan that arrives on LV-223, where the Ahab Predator had joined a group of Colonial Marines. Horhead is challenged to a duel by Ahab for control of the clan. Horhead ultimately falls in battle against the more seasoned Ahab.
This figure wound up being one of the best looking recent Predator figures. As a standard, non-Ultimate, release, Hornhead is probably the best since the AvP waves. The figure has a great, stripped down Predator look, with nicely scuffed metallic armor pieces. two massive detachable blades on each arm, and a killer looking sword. Paint work is very strong here, with just a misaligned bit of red on one of the bio masks eyes. The paint work o nthe body is really impressive. Not only do they have detailed skin work, with multiple colors fading into each other, but solid paint work o nthe netting that covers the whole figure. The unmaaked portrait is outstanding, with a very devilish look to the design and impressive detail work with the paint. Articulation is really solid here. Of the three, Hornhead did give me the most trouble with his joints. His hips and elbows both were locked tight by the clear coat and paint, and took careful work with a hair dryer to loosen them up.
Outside of a few minor issues, this is a stellar wave for the Predator line. Fans looking to expand outside of the movie figures have been getting some great releases lately, and this assortment is no different. With two fan favorite characters and a really strong third figure, this is a definite must buy wave. Check out some select photos below, and the full gallery after that.
CompaniesNECA
CharactersMachiko NoguchiBroken Tusk PredatorHornhead Predator
Scale7 Inch