Produced by McFarlane Toys
Asking Price: $24.99 each.
My Advice: If you’re a completist or love the movie, grab it.
While the film this set is based on didn’t exactly burn up the domestic box office or light up the hearts of critics, it did come back to kick some serious ass with overseas dough and the DVD release as well. So it made its money. But for those of us who were a little displeased with the film, there’s always the original comic book series, and the prospect of kickass toys from the likes of McFarlane.
While not the license’s finest hour, the set is exactly what it purports to be: a recreation of the final scene in which a Predator gives birth to a nasty hybrid booger that must be destroyed. You’ve got the chamber, you’ve got the table that the stricken Predator lays on, you’ve got the other Predator keeping watch and…that’s about it. The two Predators don’t get to do too much, seeing as how they’re just kind of there.
The Predator who’s “hatching” has three points of articulation (neck and shoulders), but seeing as how he’s supposed to just lie there and, you know, “give birth,” that kinda makes sense. I think it would have been cool to have the hybrid be a point of articulation as well, so he could swivel around and stuff. But that’s just me. The sculpt on this figure is pretty good, considering he’s only 4.5 inches tall and thus, there’s not a lot of room to work. The braids all are flexible and the armor’s pretty detailed for such scale.
The Predator who’s just kinda hanging out over to the side has three points of articulation (wrists and neck). He comes with that wicked staff/spear thing and his blades (stashed under the base in the box), can be inserted into his wrist weapon. His sculpt is good, complete with braids and the nifty cape, but I dunno, his face looks a little squished to me. Just around the mandible region. Maybe it’s just me. And the only problem with this guy is he’s got these metal poles in his feet to put him into his place on the base.
So the end result of all of this is you’ve got the equivalent of a diorama that really can’t be played with. Both figures are kind of locked into their roles in the scene and…that’s it. I’m also troubled by the cardboard top that goes across the titled back top of the set: it appears like it’s supposed to be on there permanently. And it comes with a slightly cheesy logo for the film and stuff. I’m not sure why this is on there, it’s pretty superfluous and, because it’s cardboard, it just comes off as tacky.
As much as I love the Aliens and Predator stuff that McFarlane usually puts out, this one is a bit weak. One, because the thing is very limited into what it’s good for: you basically can set it up and just leave it. And two, because that top gives it a cheeseball affair, when McFarlane toys are usually of a higher quality than what that cardboard portends. If you’re a huge fan of the movie or just can’t stand not to own everything Alien/Predator related, then by all means, it’s not that expensive. But otherwise, I’d advise you to grab something else from the second series of McFarlane’s Alien vs. Predator toys.
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