Nightstorm Predator (NECA)

NECA Nightstorm Predator

What's awesome about the NECA Predator line is that there is always something new and interesting despite its lack of relation to the movies. Take this Nightstorm Predator here; who would have expected that this guy is inspired from the vintage classic Predator line by Kenner. At first, I wasn't able to tell. Probably because around Kenner's era of Predators, I wasn't into Predators yet nor into collecting the action figures, and so I wish I could show you on this blog what a classic Nightstorm Predator looks like.















Nonetheless, you can see that the artwork on its packaging is very retro, again, Kenner-inspired. While Nightstorm's skin colour is originally black, NECA's version is a darker blue which I think still makes it strikingly unique and awesome looking. This Egyptian-themed Predator is like a clash between the past and the present having Kenner's classic design and feature together with NECA's modern articulation and paint work.

Speaking of paint work, Nightstorm's armour is mostly covered in gold ranging from a glossier type to a matted finish type of gold. Also, it got bits of green, brown and gray dry brushing to make it look like it has gone through centuries of war. While it's blue skin made this Predator almost like a close cousin to the Navi, the black paint that gives rise to its bodily hair and blotches still put it in line with our typical Predator.

With some reference to other Predator body mold, apparently the head sculpt came from the NECA Berserker Predator from the Predators movie toyline series. The mandible jaws are pretty wide open along with its regular jaw. You can see some beautiful line work across every sides and corner on his armour. Nightstorm Predator got these huge long claws that measure almost the same in length as his arms. Another distinctive feature is... its boots! This Predator is actually wearing a pair of golden boots with its toenails partially exposed and it hinders a lot with the articulation, which I am going to discuss later.

Lets get on with accessories which are the best part of this figure. What amazed me is the removable mask, which is well detailed and even as you look at the back (or the inner side) you will also see all these alien-tech mechanisms sculpted with tremendous amount of details. Resembling that of a scarab beetle, the mask fits perfect around its forehead while these gaps around the jaw is purposely designed to avoid his retracted mandibles. Nightstorm Predator also comes with a spear, which also has an Egyptian theme on it with the addition of a skull spiked on top as its spinal cord hangs below. His shoulder cannon is also well-detailed and got a decent amount of articulation.

Comparing its articulation to the Boar Predator, Nightstorm's range of movement suffered greatly because of its overdeveloped body armour. Like most NECA Predators, Nightstorm has a ball-jointed neck lets its head slightly turn to the left or to the right but barely moves up and down. Its arms barely moves up because of the armour. It got single-jointed with rotation to the elbows as well as rotation to the wrists. It got diaphragm swivel, Y-jointed hip with swivel to the upper thighs, single-jointed with rotation at the knees and lower calf swivel. Nightstorm with its boots overlapping the joints cannot entirely move its ankles even if they are made of a soft pliable plastic, and this is the only problem I have with this figure.

Standing between 8 and 8.5 inches tall, the Nightstorm Predator is a taller figure to its predecessor especially once that mask is on. With its amazing details, overall, this Predator is superb and will get fans and collectors searching for it out in stores just to own this extremely one of a kind type of NECA Predator.