[Joe Moore]

NECA Ultimate Jungle Hunter Predator - Toyark Photo Shoot

[The Heat]

I saw one of these in person at TRU the other day, and I've gotta say it seems like NECA has taken a step backwards in terms of paint apps here. All in all it looks kind of flat, whereas with previous releases he had a glossier and more detailed look. Also I've heard there's tons of QC issues with this guy, which is unfortunately starting to become a trend again with NECA.

I'd probably only pick this one up if you don't yet have a jungle hunter predator or if you just absolutely must have one with the articulation/flip out wrist computer.

[Gunathar]

I think he looks fantastic. Can't wait to get my pre-order.

[Jsironstories]

I picked one up from my local comic store the other day, and I am so, so disheartened by it. I missed out on the other Jungle Hunter Predators, so I had to have this one. So I picked the one that had the least amount of warping to his wrist blades, but he came with a whole host of problems. His cannon is too loose and won't stay upright (even before I put the blast effect on. Once that's on? Forget about it. It will never stay upright...); the factory went super crazy on the silver paint, and though I've left him out and about to air out he still smells overwhelmingly of paint fumes; and his wrist control panel won't close all the way.

I love NECA, but I can't help feeling like something is going on that might end my collecting relationship with them. I've been seeing more and more QC issues on figures (I still haven't bought the Hicks/Hudson 2-pack, because I can't find one without either paint or glaring joint issues), and while I know they have amazing customer service when it comes to getting replacements on genuine issues... that's not something I should feel like I'll reliably have to pursue with each new purchase.

I'm especially disheartened because I am looking forward to the Prometheus Lost Wave and the upcoming Blade Runner figures. But what I've been seeing on pegs the last few months has been dampening that excitement.

[Joe Moore]

I was dreading the smell after I heard more than a few people mention it. Thankfully, I didn't notice anything like that on this one. Blades were fine here, but yeah, the shoulder cannon was too loose to hold the firing effect piece up.

[En Sabah Nerd]

I definitely had to do some heavy sifting to find a good one at my TRU. Lots of bent (or in one case broken) blades, paint splotchiness on the netting for some, lazy eyes on some of the alt heads, and a few with misplaced left shoulder armor. The first one my brother got had what was supposed to be up on the left shoulder down and to the side on its bicep instead thankfully he returned it and found one that was good. The smell though wasn't something that I really encountered, it was there when I opened it but it went away after only about a half-hour. I also didn't have any problems with the shoulder cannon, it was pretty solid out of the box and hasn't gotten any looser. The goods of this figure though do override the hassle of having to search for a good one. The colors are pretty spot on and the glossy plastic used for the skin-cast parts gives it a sweaty and more natural appearance than previous versions of this character. It's not as perfect in delivery across the board as some of their other ultimate figures (both predators have had the lowest QC of any ultimate) but it is still a really good figure and by far beats any other way to get the Jungle Hunter at this point.

[Dolemite]

Glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who got stinky Jungle Hunter figures. It's taken a few weeks, but the smell is (almost) completely gone. But for a while there they really REEKED of something that almost smelled like motor oil.

Overall, I'm really happy with the quality of the figure. Joints are all very tight and the paint apps are very good. The figure doesn't have as many goodies/accessories as the City Hunter, but that's not NECA's fault...the CH just had way more gadgets in Predator 2. The only odd design choice is making the scorch marks on the Jungle Hunter's helmet more cartoony-looking than they were on the original figure, but it's no big deal; overall, the paint work is much more detailed and realistic.

Also, I LOVE the updated articulation...I actually think I like this Predator body more than the new AvP ones, now that they've added the double elbows/knees/bicep swivels/ab crunch. They feel more stable, whereas I find more issues with loose joints on the AvP bodies.

My only real issue with the Jungle Hunter is an ongoing one I have with NECA...they HAVE TO STOP PACKAGING THEIR FIGURES IN A WAY THAT WARPS/DAMAGES THE FIGURE AND/OR IT'S ACCESSORIES. Luckily my TRU had a ton of Jungle Hunters in stock so I could sift through them all, but the problem is that the plastic tray is so cramped that many of the wrist blades were bent/warped, the mandibles on the alternate head bent, and most of the plasma casters were straight-up damaged. The place in the tray where the plasma caster goes is so snug that it almost bends the wire on the back of it in half, and in many cases broke it off completely. A lot of the articulated arms that caster itself sits upon was bent as well. I found two Hunters with undamaged plasma casters, but I really had to dig around to find them.

But NECA has a rep for packing their figures to that guns and other accessories come out warped as shit; the minigun from the recent Ultimate Terminator 2 T-800 is a great example. Luckily I had the accessories from the original release of that figure to swap, as they were made of better plastic and packed in a way that they weren't destroyed when I opened the box. Or the Ultimate City Hunter and his "look at it and it'll snap off" wrist computer door (I've since replaced that figure with one with a much more solid door that has yet to break, thankfully). Or Serpent Hunter's broken tooth. This is something that NECA really needs to address.

I know that QC issues are par for the course with NECA, and it's why I never buy their stuff online...I always wait until they hit stores, because I know once I get to look them over I can always find a perfect one with zero issues. When a NECA product is issue-free, they really do make the best stuff in the world, especially at their price points. But I wish they'd get a handle on the QC problems.

[Dolemite]

BTW, Joe, awesome photo shoot as always.

[Gunathar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who got stinky Jungle Hunter figures. It's taken a few weeks, but the smell is (almost) completely gone. But fora while there they really REEKED of something that almost smelled like motor oil.

Temporary smells I can live with. Major QC issues on the other hand...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Overall, I'm really happy with the quality of the figure. Joints are all very tight and the paint apps are very good. The figure doesn't have as many goodies/accessories as the City Hunter, but that's not NECA's fault...the CH just had way more gadgets in Predator 2. The only odd design choice is making the scorch marks on the Jungle Hunter's helmet more cartoony-looking than they were on the original figure, but it's no big deal; overall, the paint work is much more detailed and realistic.

Sculpting details and paint application have always been NECA's strongest points in my opinion, especially since the AvP series (or their Predator models 2.0 as I call them). Good to know this Jungle Hunter is on par.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

Also, I LOVE the updated articulation...I actually think I like this Predator body more than the new AvP ones, now that they've added the double elbows/knees/bicep swivels/ab crunch. They feel more stable, whereas I find more issues with loose joints on the AvP bodies.

Excellent news! All my AvP Predators, my Ghost Predator and my Ultimate City Hunter have tight joints and can hold the most dynamic poses. Version 2.0, I tell ya!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

My only real issue with the Jungle Hunter is an ongoing one I have with NECA...they HAVE TO STOP PACKAGING THEIR FIGURES IN A WAY THAT WARPS/DAMAGES THE FIGURE AND/OR IT'S ACCESSORIES. Luckily my TRU had a ton of Jungle Hunters in stock so I could sift through them all, but the problem is that the plastic tray is so cramped that many of the wrist blades were bent/warped, the mandibles on the alternate head bent, and most of the plasma casters were straight-up damaged. The place in the tray where the plasma caster goes is so snug that it almost bends the wire on the back of it in half, and in many cases broke it off completely. A lot of the articulated arms that caster itself sits upon was bent as well. I found two Hunters with undamaged plasma casters, but I really had to dig around to find them.

OK now I'm concerned. I've had QC issues with my Ultimate City Hunter as he arrived as an Utlimate mess (see here: http://www.toyark.com/little-help-pl...70/#post708506). Now all I read are similar kind of issues with Jungle Hunter. Not good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

But NECA has a rep for packing their figures to that guns and other accessories come out warped as shit; the minigun from the recent Ultimate Terminator 2 T-800 is a great example. Luckily I had the accessories from the original release of that figure to swap, as they were made of better plastic and packed in a way that they weren't destroyed when I opened the box. Or the Ultimate City Hunter and his "look at it and it'll snap off" wrist computer door (I've since replaced that figure with one with a much more solid door that has yet to break, thankfully). Or Serpent Hunter's broken tooth. This is something that NECA really needs to address.

I totally agree with you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

I know that QC issues are par for the course with NECA, and it's why I never buy their stuff online...I always wait until they hit stores, because I know once I get to look them over I can always find a perfect one with zero issues. When a NECA product is issue-free, they really do make the best stuff in the world, especially at their price points. But I wish they'd get a handle on the QC problems.

You are very fortunate. No brick and mortar stores carry NECA figures around here. The two TRU near me don't hold any so I have no choice but to order online and hope to get a good copy

[Gunathar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

BTW, Joe, awesome photo shoot as always.

And I second that

[Krunomo]

My Kane figure's black paint apps never properly dried. It was like picking up a toy covered in grease. I can deal with a little bit of a smell so long as they paint is actually dry and doesn't come off.

[suchaname]

The QC issues are every other figure for me, and they're so frequent that online UK sellers now have a prepared script for you over rightfully accepting a return.

As a collector you should know there will be 'imperfections'.

'Imperfections' are 'personal preference issues'.

They receive too many return requests from collectors.

They won't cover you for return postage as the item isn't 'damaged'.

And so on.

If NECA don't get their act together with the factory I'll have to bow out - I got a very startled looking Arnie the other day and ran into the same little bitch of a seller above. Arnie has eyebrows WAY above his glasses... He must have seen some of the absolute shite that's reaching stores.

And the packaging issue! FFS, you shouldn't need to hairdryer something that's increasingly costlier and brand new!

[Bearjew]

I hate to hear of these issues. It makes me hesitant to order online.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearjew

I hate to hear of these issues. It makes me hesitant to order online.

Unfortunately this seems like one that you should really try to find in person to look over. Way too many at my TRU I would consider not worth getting because of the bent wristblades, that's the big recurring problem I've seen. Most predators I've been okay with going online for but somehow here the blades have become a real QC issue, maybe they should've designed the bubble around the blades to be more open so it wouldn't be so common.

[Bearjew]

I was considering ordering the Friday 13th ultimate online but I worry about what issues that it may have. I guess these issues just make me paranoid

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearjew

I was considering ordering the Friday 13th ultimate online but I worry about what issues that it may have. I guess these issues just make me paranoid

So far none of the Jason figures have had any widespread QC issues that should be as concerning as the Predator here. Loose hips isn't something you can really spot while it's still in box and for the most part the Jasons have been good otherwise with QC.

[hunterelf]

WOW, you guys really think this was a good figure?
i got mine 2 weeks ago and the smell still exist! Also you guys are ok with the nipple tattoo like scorch marks and the obvious mold lines on the top of his helmet?!

They rushed to produce this and packed it without the paint drying, i speculate that this "ultimate" version is just a gap product for the 30th anniversary line.

To me it's a huge disappointment

[Dolemite]

Just had to say that the TRU near me got in more Ultimate Jungle Hunters and I can say with 100% certainty that this figure represents NECA's most dire quality control issues in years. If you carefully, CAREFULLY go through each and every figure on the shelf you can find one that is acceptable and perhaps even good, but overall this release is embarrassing and NECA needs to address it.

Almost every Jungle Hunter in this new shipment still has the bizarre stinky paint issues (you can smell it though the box), bent/broken wrist blades, random deep scratches on the masked head, sloppy paint apps, warped mandibles and lazy eyes on the un-masked head, damaged plasma casters, and - worst of all - random parts of the figure are LITERALLY MELTED from sloppy glue application. It's mostly where the wires insert into the shoulder armor, but whoever was in charge of that in the factory went a little crazy and as a result we have globs of dried glue resulting in melted wires and shoulder armor.

So far, as En Sabah Nerd said above, the new Part 4 Ultimate Jason isn't displaying any real QC issues, but it's also a much less complex figure. The Ultimate Jungle Hunter is a totally different story. Their older 25th Anniversary Jungle Hunter had practically ZERO QC issues, and compared to that the Ultimate JH is almost at Hong Kong bootleg quality. Just sad and if this trend continues, there's going to be backlash...after all the City Hunter and Serpent Hunter both had QC issues as well. Already people realize that ordering a NECA figure online (as opposed to waiting to pick one out at retail) is a waste of money because you never have any idea what's going to be wrong when you open the box.

NECA needs to get their act together or it's going to cost them sales.

[SpasticPlastic]

I actually ordered 2 online because my TRU still hasn't gotten any in. Other than a warped mandible on one of the unmasked heads, I had zero defects on any of them. There was a smell, but it only lasted 2-3 days and now it's gone.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dolemite

but it's also a much less complex figure. The Ultimate Jungle Hunter is a totally different story.

I'm quoting just this part because I think it highlights why this new Predator is having so many issues. The ultimate jungle hunter is a fairly complex figure, in addition to the new articulation scheme several armor bits that used to just be parts of the mold are now separate pieces that come with their own potential issues. Compared to many other movie villain designs like Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, and even the Alien the Predator has a lot more little wires, gadgets, and details that can go wrong in toy form. There are still some wires that NECA excludes from the 7" scale figures because they'd probably be a mess to actually put on the figures.

It is way more of a chore than it should be to get a good ultimate jungle hunter and the real reason that that's a shame is because it is a good figure when you find one with minimal or no issues. I love having mine and even it isn't flawless but as an overall sign of NECA's QC it isn't encouraging, hopefully they improve upon this because they're still one of my favorites in the business.

[Dolemite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpasticPlastic

I actually ordered 2 online because my TRU still hasn't gotten any in. Other than a warped mandible on one of the unmasked heads, I had zero defects on any of them. There was a smell, but it only lasted 2-3 days and now it's gone.

Glad to hear that you lucked out!

Mine still have a faint odor about them, but you only notice it when you get close.

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

I'm quoting just this part because I think it highlights why this new Predator is having so many issues. The ultimate jungle hunter is a fairly complex figure, in addition to the new articulation scheme several armor bits that used to just be parts of the mold are now separate pieces that come with their own potential issues. Compared to many other movie villain designs like Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, and even the Alien the Predator has a lot more little wires, gadgets, and details that can go wrong in toy form. There are still some wires that NECA excludes from the 7" scale figures because they'd probably be a mess to actually put on the figures.

Yup...I'd say the Jungle Hunter is actually more complex than the City and Serpent Hunters were, and, proportionately, it has way more QC issues. I really wish NECA would tell whatever Hong Kong factory they use to step up their game.

Quote:

It is way more of a chore than it should be to get a good ultimate jungle hunter and the real reason that that's a shame is because it is a good figure when you find one with minimal or no issues. I love having mine and even it isn't flawless but as an overall sign of NECA's QC it isn't encouraging, hopefully they improve upon this because they're still one of my favorites in the business.

Yeah, it took some doing, but I managed to find two Jungle Hunters with minimal/no issues. NECA's still the best in the game and there's no way I'm giving up on them, but it's just annoying that I'll always have to make sure I hit their shipments right when they get to the store so I have multiples to carefully examine before I can make a purchase. But hey, that's toy collecting for you.