great haul brother! that's epic, are the neca predators easy to come by in Europe? I've noticed a lot of the Ebay auctions I've come across at reasonable prices were UK sellers.

Not really, to be honest. It tends to be the same stuff that's expensive here as it is anywhere else (looking at you, Lost Tribe).

That said, none of these cost more than retail - averaging out, with everything so far, at about 14-15 quid a pop. Just being patient.

so I got my fourth predator in hand (Viper) I'm still loving this line. I was wondering (and I know this is probably the biggest newb question ever),what is the best Xenomorph to display with the predators? I've been looking at a lot of them, but I find with the Neca stuff I've gotten, until you have it in hand it's hard to really judge.

Any xenomorph looks good with the Predators, the Aliens warrior is probably the most popular to display with Predators though since almost every AVP comic/game uses that look.

I would have to agree with En Sabah Nur here and say that you really cannot go wrong with any Xeno. While I do like the Warrior Xenomorphs, I'm personally impartial to Big Chap, who although is really a Xeno very early in it's life cycle (essentially a baby if you will) it's that menacing skull just barely peeking through it's clear dome that gets me. Makes it into a much scarier and more intimidating looking creature for me.

And a few more that came in this week...

http://www.toyark.com/attachment.php...1&d=1442655447

One thing I would add, is that the Tracker Predator is readily available here at prices lower than retail. The ones I've seen around still have both tusks, which is a bit of a miracle...

I spotted the new Kenner homage Alien Vs. Predator 2 packs at a KC area TRU this morning. Out of the four I found one of the Aliens was completely missing the dome from the top of its head and another was missing the alternate helmeted Predator head. Seems like the quality control folks at Neca were taking a smoke break when these were coming down the line, so make sure you don't accidentally pick up one with a defect. Cheers!

Mine came in from the mail yesterday. It's perfect as far as defects go, though if I were a MIB collector I'd probably be bummed that the predator's head isn't attached to the neck. It's supposed to be able to do this but it being detached in box is a bit humorous, like I can tilt the box back and forth and it makes him head bang.

I missed out on the pre-order at TRU's website when it was up (I typically don't pre-order from them due to a spotty past of doing so with them) so I'm hoping that I'm not going to run into problems grabbing it while I'm down, because the TRU website isn't even showing it anymore. Hopefully I won't have to resort to eBay, but we'll see.

Glad you like the set En Sabah!

I should hope that you'll find it eventually, from what I've seen on NECA's Twitter when a store gets this pack they get a lot of it.

whens the next single carded series suppose to be out?

They initially aimed for September but the initial guess is often wrong. Currently they're saying October, I'd guess mid to late. From behind the scenes peeks series 14 appears very close to shipping. I only intend to get Celtic because his mask is cool.

Does anybody know if the Kenner 2-Pack will be released in UK TRU stores? Or, as I expect, am I going to have to go ebaying?

I wouldn't count on them hitting UK TRU, those have never been fond of adult collectibles. I know somebody asked about the TRU exclusive NES Mego Freddy getting UK release and Randy said that Star Images is their distributor in the UK. In another Tweet Randy says "no need to eBay" regarding TRU exclusives.

As I mentioned in the "look what I just got" thread, I decided to head over to TRU this morning while out picking up some meds, when I ran into a case of the Kenner AVP two pack, freshly unpacked and awaiting inspection on the shelf.

My opinions on it though...I was kinda disappointed. The Xeno looks great, with some nice silver details and wash, but the Predator looked a lot brighter and beer colored than I expected. The grey highlights were also a bit darker than I expected to. Maybe it was the lighting in Joe's recent photo gallery, which really managed to hide it, but it comes off a little messier and way more pastel colored in hand. Couple it with the unpainted netting, and the cream colored mandibles, it comes off as a little bit distracting. Not to say that it's a dealbreaker however, as it gives the Predator it's own nostalgic feel, it just depends how much you care about those sort of things...

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...8_115657-1.jpg

Here's a little bit of a buyer beware as well. If you plan on opening up these guys, take the time to inspect the package like others are saying. For some reason, NECA used an entirely different tray mold for the Predator, and as a result, he doesn't sit properly in the packaging tray after the accessories were added. I got lucky, as the plasma cannon was turned inside of the packaging allowing it some space to fit properly, but the others not so much, and as a result nearly every single plasma caster on each set was either broken off, smooshed badly into the predator's head and shoulder or bent in some horrible 90 degree angle. This is also something that can be seen in Joe Moore's recent photo shoot with the set, (it's very noticeable in photos 31, 35, 36, and 38.) So pay careful attention to it, especially the swivel crane piece that secures the blaster to the shoulder pad. We all know how delicate those little parts tend to be, and I'd hate for them to break off on you immediately after busting these guys out of the packaging.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...928_130111.jpg

Triv, great to see your back on your feet man. I just got the 25th anniversary Pred, this guy looks almost identical, is it using any unique parts? The unpainted netting drives me nuts! I've got a couple of the kenner homage preds recently and my OCD forced me to painstakingly pain the netting black, my eyes hurt and my hands felt arthritic afterwards, but they look 100% better. Is the zeno a repack? I really like him, but I want at least three to display with my preds and I really don't want to army build that predator.

This and almost every predator with this armor design have used the series 8 figure buck since it was introduced though this one's head comes from the final battle two pack I think. The Alien is a repaint of the Big Chap from series 2 and sports a little less overall paint apps and has a solid black dome instead of a foggy clear one.

To answer your questions Kylactus, these are both straight up repaints, with nothing really new added in terms of mold or articulation. The Xeno is the NECA Big Chap figure, (the newest version) with a slight silver paint wash, along with a completely painted over dome, whereas the original Big Chap's was see through, to show off the skull underneath.

The Predator is simply a repaint of Renegade, and therefore is the same figure as the 25th Anniversary Predator, (or whichever one it was that debuted the new articulation in the legs...forgive me, takes a bit of energy to get up and check.) It wouldn't kill you to skip out on the set if you are looking to army build some Xenos, especially now that the two pack red and black Xenos are popping up at decent prices as well as the dog alien still being out there. (although army building Big Chap at this point might be expensive since he has been out for a while, and you know how the secondary market prices tend to be with retired NECA stuff.)

i really need this TRU set, the problem is my TRU near me sucks..... as for the color of the predator, i like it reminds of my original renegade. i'll have to keep an eye out for that messed up plasma cannon though.

I ordered mint from their website and the cannon looks fine so it may not be a hugely widespread problem but still something to watch for, I like this Renegade's colors because they do match so heavily to the original two pack but also because it reminds me of vanilla pudding.

Thanks En Sabah...from this day forth, This youngblood predator will no longer be known as Renegade...he will instead be known as...

http://www.cultobsessions.com/wp-con...an-Pudding.gif

Dude, now I am trying to think of a name that incorporates Chocolate / Vanilla Swirl :-P

Cha-Vin or Cho-Van might work, or work for a Jedi name :-)

I got me a 2 pack this morning !!!! I love how it reminds me of the original renagade 2 pack.

I'll post some outta box pics tonight. As for a different name for this renagade i like trivial's comment about the color. I think the "Beer" colored predator sounds good or how about custard color predator ? Bahaha

A side by side of Puddin' and Renegade, while Puddin' is the original and more well known color scheme they actually modernized the green version's scheme.
http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1sedwhiz.jpg