Expanding on the universe set up in Prometheus, Dark Horse Comics published Fire and Stone. This was a multi-part story arc that pulled together their Alien and Predator comic series. The story arc explored what happened on LV-223 after the Engineer ship crashes at the end of the film, after David and Shaw leave to find the Engineer home world. Ahab, a battle-hardened Elder Predator looking to hunt an Engineer, is pulled into a larger conflict between humans, Xenomorphs and assorted hybrid creatures created by the left over black goo of the Engineers ships. Armed with traditional Yautja weapons, years of experience, and unlikely allies, Ahab proves to be worthy of his Elder title and finds there’s more to the hunt than just collecting his trophies.
NECA originally released Ahab Predator as part of their San Diego Comic-Con 2014 Exclusives. The figure proved to be an instant hit with fans. When NECA introduced their new Ultimate body types for the Predator line, fans had hoped they would revisit the Ahab figure. Earlier this year, they did just that with the reveal of the Ultimate Ahab Predator 7″ Scale Figure. We picked this figure up from sponsor Entertainment Earth. After the jump, check out our full gallery and review.
Related Entertainment Earth links: NECA Ahab Predator, NECA Bad Blood vs Enforcer Predator, All NECA Predator Items
Fire and Stone – Ultimate Ahab Predator 7″ Scale Figure by NECA
Pros
- Excellent sculpt
- Greatly improved over original release
- Nice accessories
- Swap out bladed gauntlets
- Removable mask
- Great articulation
Cons
- Overly tight joints
- Armor wires quickly broke
Overall
The Ahab Predator comes packed in a collector friendly flapped window box. The packaging features excellent artwork from the Dark Horse comics series on the front. Throughout the sides and back, the design takes inspiration from the comics. The back showcases a comic panel style layout, with multiple photos of the figure and its accessories. There are two plastic trays inside the box. The main tray houses the figure, with a secondary tray holding some of the accessories. Ahab includes a cape, a spear, swappable wrist gauntlets, a smart disk, an Engineer gun, an Engineer skull and spine, interchangeable hands, a Plasmacaster (shoulder cannon), and a removable mask.
Out of the box, Ahab is an incredible looking figure. By using the updated, and more articulated, body style, the figure is a huge update over the initial release. Double jointed knees and elbows and a fully articulated torso add some great range of motion. There’s a ton of intricate details sculpted in, especially on the armor and head sculpt. NECA also has a newly sculpted waist, which looks to be more accurate to the comics. There are additional updated details throughout, which help to separate it from the earlier release and keep them both fairly unique. The skull necklace looks to be mostly the same as the original. It’s large and free flowing, and makes a great addition to the design. Paint work is quite nice as well. The sculpted netting is fully painted, which is always welcome. As with all of their Predator figures, there’s great transitional paint work on the exposed skin, with darker tones on the back, fading into the lighter tones on the front. I do wish there was a small bit of wash over the scarring on his face, but it’s a minor gripe. The armor work and mask all have a nice worn look to them, with multiple dark paint washes over a metallic base.
As I mentioned earlier, the figure features a full Ultimate Predator body, with more articulation than the previous release. I have really enjoyed that added range of motion in the past, but ran into a few issues here. On my figure, the joints were extremely tight and almost locked in place in some cases (hips and shoulders). It took quite a bit of heating with a hair dryer to loosen this guy up enough that I felt comfortable posing him. The same needed to be done when trying to swap hands. The connection is extremely tight and the hand began to pull away from the peg if I tried to swap them out without a bit of heat. Also, the wires connection the armor pieces together didn’t last long. The one holding his chest armor to his right should plate broke at the shoulder plate when I first tried to move the arm. The one on his Plasmacaster’s back broke as well.
Once I moved past those issues, I was able to enjoy the figure. The included accessories are excellent. I love the design and execution of the Engineer gun, which looks great with Ahab, or even one of the Engineers. Removable masks for Predator’s are always welcome, and it functions nicely here. The other unique feature is that you can swap out the top of the bladed wrist gauntlet for two different blade types. The first has two retractable blades, while the alternate ones include three retractable blades. It’s nicely executed, and the pieces swap out quite easily. His other wrist gauntlet does open to feature the self destruct mechanism.
If you can grab a figure where the joints aren’t locked (and can avoid breakage on the wires), then you are in for a great release. I love the overall look, and the addition of a cape is a great touch. The included weapons and accessories are outstanding, and make for some great display options. Check out soem select photos below and the full gallery after that.
For those wondering, the backdrop comes from NECA’s Red Alien Queen.
CompaniesNECA
CharactersAhab Predator
Scale7 Inch