Review: Armored Assassin Predator Figure Is the Best Thing About His Movie

Whether you liked Shane Black’s The Predator or not, lovers and haters can agree that the toys based on the movie are absolutely the best thing about it. We’ve gotten a translucent figure in thermal vision, Predators in human military fatigues, a shirtless Pred with light-up eyes, and the big one. Namely, the Assassin Predator, who is the largest Yautja creature ever on film. As such, he also towers over all the standard 7-inch scale figures. As does his price tag of $55, almost twice what the regular figures cost.

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As big as this guy is, he also has the smallest proportional feet. A hybrid of Predator DNA with other species, he has legs that are like the hind limbs of a quadruped, with backward-angled ankles. To keep balance, most of his joints are the super-tight clicking variety. So once you have him in a pose, he stays in it. Still, you might want to invest in a figure stand just for safety.

The name may strike a person as odd. For an “Armored Assassin Predator,” he looks pretty naked, wearing only a loincloth with codpiece shielding, and wrist bracers. The key to the name, I think is in the biological definition. He’s armored the way an armadillo is, with naturally thicker skin. So he can take your negative reviews of his film, as well as an extra load of enemy fire. His gray base with red veins mildly resembles Dave Bautista’s Drax color scheme in the MCU.

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Shoulder joints are concealed by this natural armor, with hard rubbery plates that bunch up a little when his arms are moved outward. I’m not sure this will hold up to a ton of re-posing, but it’s sturdy enough right now. They’re pivot-and-cut ball joints, as are his hips, wrists, and upper ankles. Mid-torso, neck, and waist are classic ball joints, while his double-hinge elbows have balls at both ends. (The double-knees have a ball joint in the top end only.) Lower ankles are hinge-and-rocker.

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There’s an extra head with roaring mouth, and these may hurt a little to switch out, since the forehead spikes are pretty hard. At least his dreads are soft. Trickier are the wrist accessories. There’s a single blade for his right wrist, which is made of harder, brittler plastic and easily slots in and out. His left has a pop-out cannon in closed and open mode, and while easy to switch out, doesn’t always stay in. A collector may wish to pick one and glue it in. Unless it’s being kept in package, which is a fine option too. Like all NECA “ultimates,” he comes in a window box which opens for display.

It’s hard to imagine the Predator fan who’d be disappointed to own this. Even if the movie doesn’t top most fan lists, it’s not like everyone who bought Aliens vs. Predator toys adored those films either. And this is the biggest, baddest Predator in the bunch. Nothing wrong with some height variety in a display, and it’s fun to imagine that we finally have an alien who could challenge the Alien Queen one-on-one in a fistfight. (When the next Alien Queen figure comes out later this year, it’s how we’re gonna do things!)

Check out the gallery below for more images.