The long awaited Predator – Ultimate 7″ Scale Jungle Hunter Predator is now in stores. For this release, NECA went back to their original Classic Predator sculpt and updated the figure with new articulation. They added in some skull trophies, interchangeable heads, multiple hands and more to make this the best version of the original Predator they’ve ever released. I dive into the figure with nearly 70 high resolution photos and a full review. The figure was provided by Toyark sponsor Dorkside Toys. Check out their links below and my gallery and review after the jump.
Related Dorkside Toys Links: 30th Anniversary Predator Assortment, Predator Series 16, All NECA Predator Figures
Predator – Ultimate 7″ Scale Jungle Hunter Predator
Pros
- Excellent Sculpt
- Great paint work
- Updated articulation
- Easy to swap out parts
- Multiple display options
- More skulls for the Predator trophy display
Cons
- Blast effect is too heavy for the Plamsacaster
Overall
The Jungle Hunter Predator comes in a nice flapped window box that fits in perfectly with the Ultimate line up from NECA. The front features a nice close up of the Predator mask from the film, with photos of the figure throughout the interior and back of the box. Inside, the Predator sits in a plastic tray along with the accessories. Included is the figure, a set of extra hands, an additional unmasked head, a mask, the Plasmacaster shoulder cannon, a Plamsacaster effects piece, a skull and a skull and spine. The small diorama backdrop features jungle scene from the film.
For this release, NECA revisited their original sculpt and added in new articulation points in the knees and shoulders. The classic Predator sculpt still holds up quite nicely. The figure has great details throughout that fit perfectly with the most current Predator figure releases. The paint work is superb here. There’s no noticeable paint bleed, with nice transitional colors in the skin tone, and a nice heavy paint wash on the armored pieces. The colors used are a bit more toned down than more recent releases, which gives it a more film-like look to it. The paint lines on areas like the netting is clean and crisp as well.
Collectors who have purchased a Predator figure from the AvP, the latest Kenner wave, or the Jungle demon Predator, will be familiar with the highly articulated sculpt. By adding in additional articulation, the figure now has a far more natural feeling range of motion than the Predator figures prior to 2016. The double jointed elbows really allow for some dynamic fight poses and the Predator can bring the gauntlet computer right up to his face now. The figure has a nice weight to it, so posing with the new double jointed knees won’t cause the figure to tumble over. Joints are nice and tight throughout, with no noticeably loose spots and no paint locking issues. The head sculpts and the hands all change out easily, but fit snugly onto the pegs.
Longtime NECA Predator fans have been looking forward to this release since it was announced last year, myself included. As someone who started collecting Predator figures later on, this is my first official version of the Jungle Hunter and I’m very pleased with it. The included accessories are excellent, and by included masked and unmasked head sculpts, it open up some great display options. My only real issue came up when attaching the shoulder cannon blast effect. The small ball joint that holds the cannon itself couldn’t support the added weight of the effects piece. Other than that, the Ultimate Jungle Hunter is an outstanding release. Check out some highlight photos below and the full gallery after that.
NECA Ultimate Jungle Hunter Predator - Toyark Photo Shoot




I saw one of these in person at TRU the other day, and I've gotta say it seems like NECA has taken a step backwards in terms of paint apps here. All in all it looks kind of flat, whereas with previous releases he had a glossier and more detailed look. Also I've heard there's tons of QC issues with this guy, which is unfortunately starting to become a trend again with NECA.
I'd probably only pick this one up if you don't yet have a jungle hunter predator or if you just absolutely must have one with the articulation/flip out wrist computer.
I think he looks fantastic. Can't wait to get my pre-order.
I picked one up from my local comic store the other day, and I am so, so disheartened by it. I missed out on the other Jungle Hunter Predators, so I had to have this one. So I picked the one that had the least amount of warping to his wrist blades, but he came with a whole host of problems. His cannon is too loose and won't stay upright (even before I put the blast effect on. Once that's on? Forget about it. It will never stay upright...); the factory went super crazy on the silver paint, and though I've left him out and about to air out he still smells overwhelmingly of paint fumes; and his wrist control panel won't close all the way.
I love NECA, but I can't help feeling like something is going on that might end my collecting relationship with them. I've been seeing more and more QC issues on figures (I still haven't bought the Hicks/Hudson 2-pack, because I can't find one without either paint or glaring joint issues), and while I know they have amazing customer service when it comes to getting replacements on genuine issues... that's not something I should feel like I'll reliably have to pursue with each new purchase.
I'm especially disheartened because I am looking forward to the Prometheus Lost Wave and the upcoming Blade Runner figures. But what I've been seeing on pegs the last few months has been dampening that excitement.
I was dreading the smell after I heard more than a few people mention it. Thankfully, I didn't notice anything like that on this one. Blades were fine here, but yeah, the shoulder cannon was too loose to hold the firing effect piece up.
I definitely had to do some heavy sifting to find a good one at my TRU. Lots of bent (or in one case broken) blades, paint splotchiness on the netting for some, lazy eyes on some of the alt heads, and a few with misplaced left shoulder armor. The first one my brother got had what was supposed to be up on the left shoulder down and to the side on its bicep instead thankfully he returned it and found one that was good. The smell though wasn't something that I really encountered, it was there when I opened it but it went away after only about a half-hour. I also didn't have any problems with the shoulder cannon, it was pretty solid out of the box and hasn't gotten any looser. The goods of this figure though do override the hassle of having to search for a good one. The colors are pretty spot on and the glossy plastic used for the skin-cast parts gives it a sweaty and more natural appearance than previous versions of this character. It's not as perfect in delivery across the board as some of their other ultimate figures (both predators have had the lowest QC of any ultimate) but it is still a really good figure and by far beats any other way to get the Jungle Hunter at this point.

Glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who got stinky Jungle Hunter figures. It's taken a few weeks, but the smell is (almost) completely gone. But for a while there they really REEKED of something that almost smelled like motor oil.
Overall, I'm really happy with the quality of the figure. Joints are all very tight and the paint apps are very good. The figure doesn't have as many goodies/accessories as the City Hunter, but that's not NECA's fault...the CH just had way more gadgets in Predator 2. The only odd design choice is making the scorch marks on the Jungle Hunter's helmet more cartoony-looking than they were on the original figure, but it's no big deal; overall, the paint work is much more detailed and realistic.
Also, I LOVE the updated articulation...I actually think I like this Predator body more than the new AvP ones, now that they've added the double elbows/knees/bicep swivels/ab crunch. They feel more stable, whereas I find more issues with loose joints on the AvP bodies.
My only real issue with the Jungle Hunter is an ongoing one I have with NECA...they HAVE TO STOP PACKAGING THEIR FIGURES IN A WAY THAT WARPS/DAMAGES THE FIGURE AND/OR IT'S ACCESSORIES. Luckily my TRU had a ton of Jungle Hunters in stock so I could sift through them all, but the problem is that the plastic tray is so cramped that many of the wrist blades were bent/warped, the mandibles on the alternate head bent, and most of the plasma casters were straight-up damaged. The place in the tray where the plasma caster goes is so snug that it almost bends the wire on the back of it in half, and in many cases broke it off completely. A lot of the articulated arms that caster itself sits upon was bent as well. I found two Hunters with undamaged plasma casters, but I really had to dig around to find them.
But NECA has a rep for packing their figures to that guns and other accessories come out warped as shit; the minigun from the recent Ultimate Terminator 2 T-800 is a great example. Luckily I had the accessories from the original release of that figure to swap, as they were made of better plastic and packed in a way that they weren't destroyed when I opened the box. Or the Ultimate City Hunter and his "look at it and it'll snap off" wrist computer door (I've since replaced that figure with one with a much more solid door that has yet to break, thankfully). Or Serpent Hunter's broken tooth. This is something that NECA really needs to address.
I know that QC issues are par for the course with NECA, and it's why I never buy their stuff online...I always wait until they hit stores, because I know once I get to look them over I can always find a perfect one with zero issues. When a NECA product is issue-free, they really do make the best stuff in the world, especially at their price points. But I wish they'd get a handle on the QC problems.
BTW, Joe, awesome photo shoot as always.
My Kane figure's black paint apps never properly dried. It was like picking up a toy covered in grease. I can deal with a little bit of a smell so long as they paint is actually dry and doesn't come off.
The QC issues are every other figure for me, and they're so frequent that online UK sellers now have a prepared script for you over rightfully accepting a return.
As a collector you should know there will be 'imperfections'.
'Imperfections' are 'personal preference issues'.
They receive too many return requests from collectors.
They won't cover you for return postage as the item isn't 'damaged'.
And so on.
If NECA don't get their act together with the factory I'll have to bow out - I got a very startled looking Arnie the other day and ran into the same little bitch of a seller above. Arnie has eyebrows WAY above his glasses... He must have seen some of the absolute shite that's reaching stores.
And the packaging issue! FFS, you shouldn't need to hairdryer something that's increasingly costlier and brand new!
I hate to hear of these issues. It makes me hesitant to order online.
I was considering ordering the Friday 13th ultimate online but I worry about what issues that it may have. I guess these issues just make me paranoid
WOW, you guys really think this was a good figure?
i got mine 2 weeks ago and the smell still exist! Also you guys are ok with the nipple tattoo like scorch marks and the obvious mold lines on the top of his helmet?!
They rushed to produce this and packed it without the paint drying, i speculate that this "ultimate" version is just a gap product for the 30th anniversary line.
To me it's a huge disappointment
Just had to say that the TRU near me got in more Ultimate Jungle Hunters and I can say with 100% certainty that this figure represents NECA's most dire quality control issues in years. If you carefully, CAREFULLY go through each and every figure on the shelf you can find one that is acceptable and perhaps even good, but overall this release is embarrassing and NECA needs to address it.
Almost every Jungle Hunter in this new shipment still has the bizarre stinky paint issues (you can smell it though the box), bent/broken wrist blades, random deep scratches on the masked head, sloppy paint apps, warped mandibles and lazy eyes on the un-masked head, damaged plasma casters, and - worst of all - random parts of the figure are LITERALLY MELTED from sloppy glue application. It's mostly where the wires insert into the shoulder armor, but whoever was in charge of that in the factory went a little crazy and as a result we have globs of dried glue resulting in melted wires and shoulder armor.
So far, as En Sabah Nerd said above, the new Part 4 Ultimate Jason isn't displaying any real QC issues, but it's also a much less complex figure. The Ultimate Jungle Hunter is a totally different story. Their older 25th Anniversary Jungle Hunter had practically ZERO QC issues, and compared to that the Ultimate JH is almost at Hong Kong bootleg quality. Just sad and if this trend continues, there's going to be backlash...after all the City Hunter and Serpent Hunter both had QC issues as well. Already people realize that ordering a NECA figure online (as opposed to waiting to pick one out at retail) is a waste of money because you never have any idea what's going to be wrong when you open the box.
NECA needs to get their act together or it's going to cost them sales.
I actually ordered 2 online because my TRU still hasn't gotten any in. Other than a warped mandible on one of the unmasked heads, I had zero defects on any of them. There was a smell, but it only lasted 2-3 days and now it's gone.
It is way more of a chore than it should be to get a good ultimate jungle hunter and the real reason that that's a shame is because it is a good figure when you find one with minimal or no issues. I love having mine and even it isn't flawless but as an overall sign of NECA's QC it isn't encouraging, hopefully they improve upon this because they're still one of my favorites in the business.
Mine still have a faint odor about them, but you only notice it when you get close.
Full Thread: Jungle Hunter Predator Ultimate Figure - Toyark Gallery
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