Toy Review: Revoltech Predator

Revoltech Predator

It’s been some time since I last bought a Revoltech figure. I started with Danboard but quickly moved onto the Fräulein Revoltechs, including the TV and Movie versions of Gurren Lagann’s Yoko, Pocco, among others. After I got completed the four Transformer figures (Hot Rodimus, Starscream, Megatron, and Convoy) I stopped the line. I had gotten most of the characters in the line up at that time that I knew, and since prices were going up it was time to drop it.

But then they had to go and pick up all sorts of new licenses and drag me back to the toy store. Damn you, Kaiyodo!

Now aside from their outstanding line up of Mecha, Super Robots, and other Anime characters, they’ve also got characters from some of my favorite movies. Kaiyodo’s Tokusatsu Revoltech line covers various characters, usually superheroes, from live-action films and television series that are heavy on the effects. Things like kaiju monster movies, superhero TV serials and mecha dramas are dumped into this sub-line, but there are also figures from various American Sci-Fi and Horror movies.

So far there are 25 figures, including 3 Xenomorphs from Alien, Batman from The Dark Knight, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, and Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean. Number 22 on that list is the Predator from, duh, Predator.

The box is about twice the size of the old Fräulein Revoltechs’. Most of the newer toys are packaged with more accessories and interchangeable parts, so the increase in size is understandable. However, this particular piece had surprisingly little inside the carton.

If you open the front flap of the box, you’ll see the figure, a few extra hands, the face mask, a plain round stand, a small, transluscent orange box to hold those pieces, and a tiny little nameplate. Oh, and a little plastic coin worth 10 Revoltech points (I not really sure what they’re actually called, but it looks like you could trade them in for freebies IF you lived in Japan).

There are also some catalogs that describe the rest of the Sci-Fi Revoltech line up. Brings me back to the 80’s when I was intent on collecting all the Robot Pts I could so I could get me a set of OMNIBOTS! and reinforce my Autobots against the Decepticon onslaught!

Anyway, the number of accessories in the set makes this one of the poorest figures in the line. He really should have some weapons (SPEAR!) or a better stand that allows for jumping positions (the one included is absolutely useless).

He comes already assembled, but I went to the trouble of taking him apart so you could see exactly why these toys aren’t for kids. Like Zombie Kong and Cyborgic Rex, there are far too many tiny parts that fit too easily in young mouths.

If you’re not familiar with Revoltech at all, the gimmick is that the figures are built upon the proprietary “revolver” joint (basically a racheted hinge joint with a post on either end that fits into holes in the various body parts). figures are sculpted with an eye to maximum articulation and they make the most of this double post-hinge system.

It doesn’t always work, but more on that later.

When I got him out of the box, I couldn’t help but compare him immediately to NECA’s Classic Predator.

Sculpt wise, I’ve got to say that NECA’s effort was far better and much closer to the source material. The Kaiyodo figure’s proportions are all out of whack with short legs, a long torso, skinny arms, and a truly gigantic head. The thing is massive compared to the rest of him. It’s got it’s own gravitational pull.

He fares much better in terms of paint, with colors that are slightly darker and glossier than the bigger figure. He looks slimier. I’m not sure that it’s a good thing.

It’s to be expected. The Japanese markets are different from ours so they can price things to match what it takes to make them. If there are two 6″ figures and one requires more paint, then Kaiyodo is free to price it higher than the other. In a similar situation, toys intented for the American market would need to be at the same price point. So if NECA is making a 7″ figure line, it’s got to fit it’s processes and paint applications to the allowed budget. Hence the mass market messiness of the their Classic Predator.

Articulation is also better on the Revoltech toy, but since the line boasts about their articulation, that race was run as soon as they announced the figure.

The best feature of the Revoltech Predator, though, what made me wonder if I shouldn’t just keep it despite my preference for the NECA figure, is the detail:

As I said, the paint is great, with the spots on the alien really distinct compared to the NECA version and all the colors in the proper place. The face is particularly well done, and the mandibles look creepy as hell. His crest and the gold bands on his dreadlocks are colored in rather nicely as well.

The mouth is closed on this one, which allows his face plate to fit snugly on to his head. It’s a molded piece that is held on my friction, but with the deep eye sockets and protruding jaw, it stays in place well. The molded pocks and nicks in the metal of the helmet really stand out, too.

The shoulder-mounted cannon isn’t as sturdy as the first toy. While the NECA version’s gun was loosely mounted and could fall off, the entire shoulder assembly on the Kaiyodo version is wibbley. It’s mounted on with a single, tiny revolver joint and simply rests on his shoulder. This is annoying since his head’s so big it tends to knock it askew. It also doesn’t point up or down very well (you can do it, but the joint’s so tight it feels as if it’d break).

The best part though are his forearms. On his right he’s got his trusty double blades that extend out. The NECA version has them as well, but the detail on his gauntlet seems much sharper and the paint cleaner. On the other hand, he’s go the flip-open panel that we first saw in the original movie where he started his self destruct. The panel really does flip up and there are alien numerals painted on the display screens.

Sweet!

Though the Revoltech Predator looks good under the microscope, as a whole it just fails to really excel. The odd shape of his torso, his giant, planet-sized head, and his fiddley joints really bring down his value.

Although you can get him into some really insane poses, he often fails to keep them because of the weight of his upper body and the multiple break points created by all those points of articulation (who would have thought you could have TOO MUCH articulation?). His circular stand is useless as well since even if you plug in the small post found on it into his foot, he tends to bend at the ankle and fall on his face.

Put that together with the fact that they failed to include any real accessories (other than the extra hands), and it doesn’t feel worth the Php 1,800.00 (about $40 US) I pre-ordered him fore, let alone what they’re asking for him now.

Unless you’re a Revoltech nut, I’d say this is an easy pass.