The Lost Predator, also known as the Borg Predator, was one of the Lost Tribe from the Yautja Mother Ship, which was hidden beneath Los Angeles in 1997 during the events of Predator 2. The tribe revealed themselves to Mike Harrigan after he defeated the City Hunter Predator in combat. The tribe, knowing that the victory was honorable, collected the body of the City Hunter, and presented Harrigan with a Flintlock pistol as a trophy and show of respect. After the battle, the tribe left Earth. In the film, the Lost Predator is portrayed without a mask. Toy companies have come up with their own interpretations of what the mask would look like.
NECA is releasing an upgraded figure based on the Lost Predator. This re-release features an updated body with new articulation, and numerous accessories. It is based on their Armored Lost Predator from Predator Series 11 (2013). Included are a masked portrait, two unmasked portraits, a number of interchangeable hands, a sword, and shuriken. The figure is scheduled to ship out on September 22, and will be in stores by early October. Our friends at NECA were kind enough to send the figure along for review. After the jump, check out my thoughts and gallery for the upcoming figure.
Pre-Order Links: Entertainment Earth • Megalopolis
Predator 2 – Armored Lost Predator Ultimate 7″ Scale Figure by NECA Toys
Pros
- Three solid head sculpts
- Built in light feature on masked portrait
- Excellent articulation and range of motion
- Very good paint work
- Parts swap out easily
- No issues with joints
- Great packaging art by Tristan Jones
Cons
- Light up feature on masked head didn’t work great
Overall
For the Armored Lost Predator packaging, NECA brought in longtime Alien and Predator artist Tristan Jones. Fans of the Dark Horse Comics series should be very familiar with his excellent work. It features a foil Predator logo as well. On the back, you can see some photos of the figure, and a check list of the Predator 2 30th Anniversary collection. The Lost Predator sits in a plastic tray that also holds the accessories.
As someone who has handled and photographed a number of Predator figures over the years, I’m always glad to see an older figure get upgraded to the Ultimate body type. The added articulation is always welcome, and makes posing with accessories, especially a sword, much easier. The Lost Predator works great with the addition of double jointed knees and elbows. Poses look more natural and I love being able to have him hold the sword with both hands. The articulation is helped by an excellent overall sculpt. The sculpted netting is sharp, and the exposed skin areas have very different texture work compared to the armored areas. This release is based on their Battle Armored Lost Predator, which re-imagines the Lost Predator in full armor. The armor itself is a softer material, which helps in posing. Paint work is strong here, with great transitional colors on the portraits and exposed skin. The armor has a nice metallic look to the paint. Areas like eyes, teeth, and nails all have crisp edges with no paint bleed. The netting is painted on, and those lines are also really cleanly applied.
Joints are all very solid here. The elbows, shoulders, hips, and knees all had noticeably tight joints. After handling for a few days while shooting, none of the joints ever felt loose, and the figure stood with no issues. Parts all swapped out easily, with no need to heat up any of the connectors. The three heads are all outstanding. I like that both an opened and closed mouth portrait are included. The mask is a great futuristic looking design. It has built in electronics for a light up eyes effect. You can access the batteries by removing the center portion of the forehead. there’s a small button at the top of the mask that turns the electronics on and off. The eyes functioned just ok. They would be nice and bright for a few seconds, and then begin to die out pretty quickly. This was a really early advanced sample, so I had to source my own batteries. However, the final shipped product will include them. I’m hoping the electronics will be a little stronger on the final released piece.
Overall, you get a great looking Predator figure with the new Lost Predator. The paint, articulation, and sculpt are all handled really well. If you own an original Armored Lost Predator release, then I would highly recommend this upgrade. Check out a selection of photos below, and the full gallery after that.
Backgrounds featured in some of the pics are from Extreme Sets – use code TOYARK at checkout for 15% off your order!
Predator 2 – Armored Lost Predator Ultimate 7-Inch Scale Figure by NECA – Toyark Advanced Photo Shoot
Next to the alpha and avp scar pred this is one of my favorite preds. Hopin’ i can find him.
I've desperately wanted this figure ever since the original version was released with it's wonky no-bend elbows and loose, jiggly hips and all. I can't wait to get my hands on this figure...I'll most likely get at least two.
He looks outstanding, I hope what we see in stores looks this good. That is if he can be found in stores. Lately NECA distribution has sucked.
That said, I've always been fond of this design, I remember getting the original release for my birthday back then. A great figure visually, but like Dolemite said the elbow articulation was almost nonexistent. Plus the hip joints on mine are also super loose, even after the loom bands trick to tighten them up.
I'm really looking forward to this one, the new articulation is more than enough to get my attention. Having unmasked heads and extra hands also helps. I didn't even know we were getting both open and closed mandible heads.
WOW..if the figure looks this good when it arrives to my door I will be speechless. Neca is really stepping up their game with this release based on these photos. It looks like they even listened to recommendations from fans and it shows. I am going to buy multiple of this one. Nice work Neca.
Hey Joe, are you able to compare to the original release and tell us if the changes they made to accommodate the new LED visor has changed the sculpt or shape of the head at all? Judging from your pics it doesn't look any different at all, which is impressive.
Great photo shoot as always, BTW.
The original Ultimate City Hunter also had a more movie-accurate paintjob IMO, with more subdued colors, more color blending from area-to-area, and glossier plastic that made the flesh look more realistic. The re-release that you have, on the other hand, has a brighter color scheme with less blending and duller plastic, which makes it look more "toy-like." The re-release does have hinged wrists as opposed to the ball joints on the original, but the slightly-improved range of motion (albeit up and down, not side to side) isn't that big of a deal. I really prefer the original Ultimate.
Funny thing about the Lost/Borg Predator...people have been babbling about him for years, but if you asked me to pick him out in that scene at the end of Predator 2, it's really hard since the ship is so dark and misty. I mean I can find him the the second or two that he is fully visible, but he never stood out to me from all the others before.
If anything, you see way more of him here while he's getting down with Danny Glover.
[youtube]ljEC7HKbP0g[/youtube]
Really nice pic's
Funny thing about the Lost/Borg Predator...people have been babbling about him for years, but if you asked me to pick him out in that scene at the end of Predator 2, it's really hard since the ship is so dark and misty. I mean I can find him the the second or two that he is fully visible, but he never stood out to me from all the others before.
If anything, you see way more of him here while he's getting down with Danny Glover.
[youtube]ljEC7HKbP0g[/youtube]
Hey Joe, quick odd question...does this release have the dreadlock beads painted all the way around or are they black/unpainted on the underside? Neca used to paint them all the way around but recent years they stopped and only painted the top side and left the bottom side unpainted. I'm just curious thanks.
All of the solicitations had 2 head sculpts and a removable mask listed. As I am rapidly running out of room, I was hoping that was the case. If they do 3 heads for all of the tribe, I'm gonna be in trouble.
But I know it almost certainly was due to some poor Chinese person being forced to do it for 16 hours straight every day at gunpoint. *sigh*
Ultimate Armored Lost Predator Available Now from NECA - The Toyark - News
Ok so I watched an in hand review and the dreadlock rings look like they are not painted on the back/other side/underneath. I know it was stated before that they were but I mean on close up shots of the dreadlocks they were definitely only painted on one side. I don't think they did go the extra mile and paint them like i previously thought.
Just watched that review, the beads looked really sloppy. Hope they're not all like that. Also sounds like another price hike is coming for these ultimate figures.
Yeah they did look sloppy and I was really thinking they would be better this time but not from what I saw on that review and yes that is unfortunate, they are starting to get pretty pricey.
Got mine today from Amok Time...THIS is the figure I really wanted when the Battle Armor Lost Predator was originally released back in 2013. Arms that can bend and solid hips that don't cause the figure to fall over. The light-up visor is just icing on the cake (and works well, so I guess Joe's flickering issue was isolated).
Keep reading: NECA Armored Lost Predator Photo Gallery - Page 2
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