Elder Predator (Takara)

March 25, 2011 | By More


 

The Elder Predator (MA-15) figure was released back in 2005 as part of Takara’s Alien VS Predator line. The Elder wasn’t as popular as the Scar and Celtic Predators or even the Alien Warrior I reviewed some time ago, but it’s still a very impressive figure.

From the start, the AVP line had some serious quality issues with the Predator characters, as reports abound about broken right knee joints on the Celtic and Scar versions. This malady seems to have skipped the rest of the figures in the line, so, even though the Elder Predator may be slightly less sought-after than the other two, it remains quite a formidable entry in Takara’s roster.

The reason so many people tended to ignore the Elder is because the figure doesn’t come with a removable Predator mask, just his ugly bare face. To be fair, a mask is present on the figure, but it’s more of a non-removable pauldron rather than an actual accessory.

The Elder Predator is constructed from the insanely articulated Material Force basic male mannequin with a few modifications made to represent the armored sections. The level of detail on the armor and alien specific pieces is quite impressive, but even on the less complex areas of the figure the slack is picked up by an extremely effective paintjob.

The armor pieces have a very light wash applied on them to accentuate the etched detail, but the alien body shows the fishnet pattern from the cloaking device painted over the two tone alien skin job. The hair tendrils are molded from pliable rubber and painted gray in a gradient that is lighter at the tips, with assorted brass and silver rings painted on them.

The alien face is well detailed, but it seems to lack detail because most of it is painted in the same cream-colored hue, even though it has enough shading wash. I think it needed a noticeably different color for the fangs and mouth areas.

The articulation on the Microman figures is very extensive, as most of the joints feature a combination of real ball joints with multiple swivel axes above and below the sphere. Think of it as taking the most versatile joint design from Hasbro and adding a couple more pivots just to cover any eventuality.

Now, on the Elder Predator figure, the character design does get in the way of some of these joints, but the overall posing range remains good.

The one thing to remember is that these are more like poseable display models rather than toys. While most of the extra detail pieces are made from pliable rubber, the basic body is made entirely from rigid styrene-like plastic and the joints depend on precision molding and good old friction to keep a pose, so moving them around continually will eventually end up loosening the articulations.

Since display is the name of the game here, the Elder Predator comes with a lot of accessories to show off. Included with him is a chromed sprue full of the signature weapons we have seen in the movies. There are extended and collapsed versions of the double-tipped spear, the throwing disk, sheathed and unsheathed blades, two spine-removing tools of different lengths and a couple of ginormous gauntlet scythes.

The Elder Predator also comes with an oval plastic display base and three pairs of hands, one with open palms, other with closed fists and a gripping pair. Included with the figure is a deep red rubber cloak, but it can be removed by popping off the Predator’s head. To round things up, the Elder also comes with a necklace adorned by the skulls of some of his preys. Other than the human skull, none of the others are readily identifiable as belonging to any “Hunt Worthy” species, but I guess they are just the stylish choice among mature Predators. The figure comes with a short length of plastic line to string them up, but I may replace it for a more rustic looking material.

Despite it’s rather fragile nature the Elder Predator is one of my all-time favorite figures and having him in a scale compatible with the bulk of my collection just adds to the enjoyment.

Errex Score: 98/100

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Category: Featured, Other Film, Toy Reviews

About the Author ()

I've been collecting action figures since the original Kenner Star Wars days. Nowadays, I still collect pretty much anything that catches my eye.

Comments (1)

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  1. Engineernerd says:

    Absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing with us all.