Predators Series 15 – AvP Predators – Toyark Photo Shoot

The latest wave of Predator figures by NECA is in stores now! The new assortment is their second wave of AvP Predators, all using the newly developed body style. In Series 14, we saw the release of the Chopper Predator, Unmasked Scar Predator and the Celtic Predator. With Predator Series 15, fans can now get their hands on a Masked Scar Predator, the Ancient Warrior Predator and the Temple guard Predator. Each of these figures is packed with weapons and accessories. Even better, you can swap hands, shoulder cannons and weapons between all three. Toyark sponsor Big Bad Toy Store sent along the figures, and we have a full gallery and review.

Related Big Bad Toy Store Links: Predator Series 15, Predator Series 14, All NECA Predators

NECA Predator Series 15 – Alien vs Predator Figures

Pros

• Excellent sculpting
• Ton of accessories for each figure
• Plenty of articulation
• Great paint work
• Swap parts and pieces between the 3
• Looks perfect with Series 14 and AvP Aliens

Cons

• Those little skulls don’t stay on belt

Overall
The Alien vs Predator film, what seemed a surefire hit, landed mostly with a thud. An odd location, poor script, strange designs and a propensity to break the rules set up by previous films in each franchise let to most fans wondering why they even bothered. There’s no doubt that the film has a fan base, but it never resonated with fans or propelled the franchises to new heights. A second (much worse film) film, AvP: Requiem, nearly buried both franchises for good. With all that, fans still wanted NECA to take a crack at these guys. The movie designs do lend themselves to potentially cool looking action figures. With the last Predator wave, NECA took it a step further. Not only did they adapt the designs, but refined them to bring the size of the characters (who were very bulky in the film) to align with look and size of most other Predator characters. Series 15 continues that trend.

The AvP designs, like I said, were pretty bulky. While the Jungle and City Hunters featured very light armor, the AvP Preds wore huge armor pieces, covering much of their bodies. By slimming these designs down, NECA paved the way for some of the best Predator figures they ever produced. Since the Series 15 figures share much of the same parts with Series 14, you get three extremely detailed sculpts with over 30 points of articulation. Double jointed knees and elbows, two spots for waist movement, fully articulated shoulders and ankles…It’s all there. NECA also did a good job on weight distribution, which means you don’t need to use any stands to have them hold dynamic poses. The weapons load out for the figures is similar to the Series 14 figures. Each of the figures includes a Shuriken Blade, forearm blades, a shoulder cannon, staffs, double bladed knives, and other weapons and accessories. With these, some parts are meant to be swapped between characters. Hands can be taken off and used on one of the other AvP Predators. The shoulder cannons can be used on any of the figures and the numerous forearm blades can be attached however you like. When you mix in the previous wave, you have some wonderful combination possibilities.

These new body types features some of the best sculpting and detail of any NECA Predator series. Fine texture details on the masks and armor give off a very metallic and realistic appearance. Small details like connector lines between the masks and shoulder cannons, sheaths for the included blades and wrist gauntlets that have panels that open to reveal the wrist computers. Painting is treated just as carefully. These figures have paint from head to toe, and it’s rare to just see a base mold color, which gives these figures a high end look. Paint lines are very clean, and there are numerous color washes throughout each figure to highlight the small sculpted details. The only oddity on these seems to be the small included skulls, meant to attach to the belts of the Ancient Warrior and Temple Guard Predators. They’re cast in a very soft material, and I had no luck keeping them in place when posing the figures, so I didn’t even try. They’re pretty minor in the grand scheme, especially if you’re going to just attach those pieces, pose them, put them on the shelf and leave them untouched.

If you already have Series 14, then you know what to expect here. These are fantastic additions, with a ton of display option. They are excellent companions to the rest of the Alien vs Predator line up. Check out a few highlight photos below, and 90 high resolution images in the full gallery after that.