It seems silly in hindsight, but clearly Fox licensing wasn’t super-bullish on Prey at first. Which was fair enough — the last few Predator movies haven’t been the world’s most popular, although toys based on the creature designs always do well.
Prey — released straight to streaming — seemed a low-cost affair overall, and a test to see if the back-to-basics approach would click with audiences. It did, fans wanted more, and now, a year later, we’re finally seeing merchandise featuring the Feral Predator, like this Hot Toys rendition. (Next we need Naru, but that probably depends on the big guy’s sales.)
Red Pred Redemption
Hot Toys often uses the same base body, but you can’t really do that with a new alien hunter who goes around barely clothed. So this figure is all new, and includes a light-up feature for those familiar targeting dots.
Here’s how the company describes it: “Exquisitely crafted based on Feral Predator’s appearance in Prey with phenomenal paintworks, the one-sixth scaled figure features a newly developed head sculpt with highly detailed rubber hair, interchangeable mandibles with fangs, sculpted lamellar skirt and ankle wraps. A variety of hunting weapons such as shield, blades, whip, batons in different modes, spear gun and spear, and accessories including an LED lighted Predator mask, capsule backpack, bones and a newly designed diorama base inspired by Naru’s campsite for extensive display.”
As of this writing, pricing is not yet available, but it certainly won’t come cheap. Like NECA tends to do, they may defray tooling costs with variants — battle damaged, cloaked, bloody, and so on. Plus there seems to be more of a chance for a direct sequel this time around, despite the fact that the franchise is notorious for completely switching out casts every time. Arnold Schwarzenegger set the tone by conspicuously not being back for a second round, and no subsequent lead ever has either. Many fans are rooting for more Amber Midthunder, though, which means similar era Yautja to fight.
Take a look at the official Hot Toys Feral Predator images below:
