It may be hard to believe it, but this year marks the thirtieth anniversary of one of the science fiction genre’s most beloved franchises, ‘Predator’! That’s right, the hunt began three decades ago and while we’ve had a few off years in between new film releases, the ‘Predator’ franchise is still alive and well thanks to numerous comic book and video game offerings that have been released and expanded upon the series mythology. It’s always something special when a franchise like this hits on such a bit landmark like this, so in order to make sure we are all able to celebrate adequately, the team at NECA is planning to release a special new ‘Predator 30th Anniversary’ line of figures!
This “new” wave of ‘Predator’ figures is a mixture of actually new figures and re-releases of some now hard to find and long out of production older figures from their popular ongoing ‘Predator’ 7″ scale line! While many people have been praying we would finally see a figure of Dillon, Blain, or Billy (all of whom it looks like we won’t ever get figures of thanks to likeness rights issues), this wave consists of seven figures; four versions of the first film’s lead protagonist Dutch (as portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger), and three versions of the titular Predator alien!
Here is the full rundown of the wave from NECA themselves:
Introducing a special action figure collection celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the classic Predator movie! We’ve brought back some out-of-production fan favorites for those who missed out the first time around and given them various upgrades – plus we’ve included one all-new figure, the Jungle Demon! Everything comes in new collector-friendly 30th anniversary window box packaging with foil accents. All Dutch figures feature the likeness of Arnold Schwarzenegger and have over 20 points of articulation. All Predator figures feature brand new bodies with over 30 points of articulation, retractable wrist blades and articulated shoulder cannons.
Jungle Disguise Dutch: Comes with torch, spear, bow and arrows.
Jungle Encounter Dutch: Comes with M-16 with grenade launcher, pistol and knife.
Jungle Extraction Dutch: Comes with M-16 with grenade launcher, pistol, machete and knife.
Jungle Patrol Dutch: Comes with M-16 with grenade launcher, pistol and knife.
Jungle Demon: Comes with removable backpack and over 30 points of articulation.
Jungle Hunter Masked (Prototype): Comes with removable backpack, bloody skull and spine, and now over 30 points of articulation.
Jungle Hunter Unmasked: Comes with removable backpack, skull and spine, and now over 30 points of articulation.
So there you have it! While the Dutch figures remain largely unchanged from their original releases, it looks like all three versions of the Jungle Hunter Predator will be receiving huge sculpt and articulation upgrades from their previous releases! These figures are set to release this June.
To top it all off, next year we’re supposed to be getting a new sequel in the series dubbed ‘The Predator’, which is being written and directed by Shane Black (who, fun fact, actually was one of the stars of the original ‘Predator’ film)! While that is still some time away, at least for now we have these awesome figures coming in just a few short months!
Jordan is a Toy Columnist & Staff Writer here at ScienceFiction! Journalist, Musician, Toy Collector, and Overall Awesome Guy! For more on Jordan’s thoughts, toys, and wacky adventures, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
