Alien vs Predator Arcade – Predator Assortment by NECA – Toyark Photo Shoot

In 1994, Capcom released a side-scrolling beat ’em up arcade game loosely based on the Alien vs Predator comic series. In the game, you can control one of four characters, all with distinct move sets. The playable characters were the Predator Hunter, the Predator Warrior, Major Dutch Schaefer, and Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa. Along the way, the players face off against numerous Alien creatures, who have invaded California. During the sixth level, you face off against the Mad Predator in a boss fight. All-in-all, the game is a fantastic tribute to the Alien and Predator franchises. It’s remembered fondly for it’s quick paced fighting, outstanding visuals, and great character designs. Sadly, the game never received a proper port to home consoles.

Now, 25 years later, fans of the Alien and Predator franchises can relieve the great game via a new series of action figures from NECA Toys. They have broken down the collection into three waves. The first assortment features the Predators from the game; Predator Hunter, Predator Warrior, and the Mad Predator. The second wave will include three Aliens, while the final assortment includes Dutch and Linn. We picked the figures up from sponsor Entertainment Earth. You can check out my review and photo gallery after the jump.

Related entertainment Earth Links: AvP Xenomorph Set, AvP Dutch and Linn, All NECA Alien vs Predator

Alien vs Predator Arcade – Predator 7″ Scale Figure Assortment by NECA

Pros

• Great packaging design
• Figures look right out of the arcade game
• Paint application is well done
• Good articulation
• Nice weapons for Hunter and Warrior
• Tubes didn’t break off the chest or arms
• Mad and Warrior Predators were free of any issues

Cons

• My Hunter Predator had numerous issues

Overall
The Predator assortment from the Alien vs Predator Arcade Figures comes packaged in wonderful arcade themed window boxes. NECA used art from the games marketing materials to create the art design of the packaging, and it looks great in person. On the back of the box, you get a nice shot of the included figure, as well as a list of the entire AvP Arcade assortment. Each figure sits in a plastic tray, with a few twist ties used to keep the figures in place. The Predator Warrior includes a Smartgun, a Combi Stick, and a Plasmacaster shoulder cannon. The Predator Hunter includes a Pulse Rifle, a spear, a smart disc, and a spear. The Mad Predator includes a Facehugger and a Chest Burster.

The figures, for the most part, appear to be mix and match repaints of the City Hunter and Jungle Hunter Predator bodies. They may have pulled in some elements from other Predator releases to complete the looks. The sculpts are excellent as always, with strong detail work and impressive texturing on the skin, armor and weapons. The Warrior and Hunter include masked portraits, while the Mad Predator features an unmasked head sculpt. Each figure uses the Ultimate style bodies, which offers double jointed knees and elbows. Range of motion was solid, though the left arms of the Mad and Warrior figures is a bit limited due to the tubes that attach to pieces of the arm and chest pieces. Thankfully, those stayed intact the entire time. All three feature a right arm with an extendable blade, as well as a left arm where the gauntlet can open.

The paint application on the three figures does a great job of emulating the in-game appearance of each Predator. While NECA’s previous classic game releases featured cel-shading to mimic the pixelated look of those games, these have more traditional paint decos. The only spot where the paint is more in-line with the older looks is the bio masks. those have harder edges between colors. But, for the bodies, and most of the armor, there’s more smooth transitions between colors. The bodies themselves have a more airbrushed look that helps to highlight the muscle definition. Overall, the paint work is really clean and crisp here. Nothing really jumps out as being out of place and there’s no paint bleed.

Both the Mad Predator and Warrior Predator were pretty much perfect, quality control wise. No locking issues, no loose joints, no damage. Wrist blades felt good, and the hinge for the other gauntlets were super tight and locked in place nicely. My Hunter Predator, however, wasn’t so lucky. The elbow joints were locked tight and had to be heated fairly well to get a clean break from the paint. The bigger problem on mine was the hip area. The waist had a glob of plastic obstructing the hole where the legs go in, and the legs never set properly. This cause the figure to collapse and the legs and waist to fall off the figure when I initially tried to stand it. Once I saw the issue, I spent time heating and cutting out the excess plastic out. Once reassembled, the figure was mostly ok, save for the now looser hip connection. This felt like a one-off issue thankfully, and I don’t see this being a widespread issue on the figure, but have a hairdryer handy in general.

Despite the issue with the Hunter, I am still ecstatic to own these figures. The AvP game has been a favorite of many fans of the two franchises, and the designs make perfect action figures. The figures look pretty great in hand, and the Aliens are likely going to be even better. Check out some select images below, and the full gallery after that.

Some of the backgrounds featured in pics below are from Extreme-Sets.com. Enter code TOYARK at checkout and get 15% off your order!