Tuesday 27 January 2015

Elder Predator - V2 (NECA)

NECA Elder Predator
With age, comes experience... along with the things that are old and hard to let go. Thus the Elder Predator with its ala-Pirates of the Caribbean motif combined with advanced Yautja technology. All it takes for this Predator is to put on a pirate hat to make it look like one of the crew of the Flying Dutchman. But the Elder Predator is the head honcho of the tribe making it the wisest and most respected Predator regardless of how it looked.

















Its 18th century flintlock pistol that you can snug behind its belt is merely a decorative item or "trophy". There is no way Elder has been using it as a weapon as far as hunting humans is concerned, although interestingly for this figure, it got an interchangeable right hand to be able to hold and grip the pistol. In addition, it has a cutlass (according to its package) that looked more to me like a machete that we saw wielded by the Bad Blood Predator.



Elder may not be as rich as Bad Blood in terms of sculpted features, but it is well sculpted enough to stay somewhere at the top. It got the sheath for its cutlass adorned with beautiful "pirate-like" designs. It got a man purse with its strap dangling across its body and trophies that are stringed together like beads at the other side across. And did I mention that this Predator got a piercing at a corner of its lip? Total badass! Also, you got those colourful hair clips glued to its gray tentacle-like hair.


Even its skin is kind of ash gray! The only part where you see some paint wash and colour shadings are its armour, weapons and a few other accessories. Standard to NECA Predators, the Elder got the Plasma Caster and the Wrist Blade which has this nice reflective finish of silver. Sadly, this Predator does not have a Biomask or an interchangeable head with the mask on it- a feature which I'd like NECA to consider.


Furthermore, NECA should at least add some hinges and joints that may be useful for executing some more dynamic pose. They need to replace that "rotating elbow-joint" with a double-joint plus a swivel at the upper section of its forearm where the edge of the gauntlet meets with its skin. Unfortunately, NECA is still using the standard issue and I don't want to go through all of its joints and movable parts again.


I wish I had the first of version of the Elder Predator to compare it with V2. I pressume this new version must be better than the first one that was released a long time ago. Probably the similarities with the two Elder Predators, and all these NECA Predators are their height and body mold. This Predator is highly recommended to someone who's dearly a fan of the Predator franchise.


4 comments:

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    1. I think the accessories made it looked impressive.

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  2. I got this Elder for the upgraded head sculpt with jewel details and hair color. Of course, I missed the first version. Good to have him back. Nice!

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    1. i probably wouldn't buy Elder V1 now that I've seen the awesome feature of Elder V2.

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