Before heavies like NECA and McFarlane Toys had the license, Kenner ruled the license roost with ALIENS, Predator, and their last .shtml ALIENS Hive Wars. The line was made of some leftover molds and had other items on deck, but its status as one of many Kay-Bee exclusive lines which were effectively dumped meant that this swell Warrior Predator was in short supply. Oh, and like most Kay-Bee exclusives, the coloring was pretty funky.
At about 6-inches tall, the Warrior Predator had blue skin. Not like dark blue skin, but a few notches darker than a baby blue one. All things said it's a weird choice, but the color scheme basically looks neat with silver armor and piercing green eyes, peppered by white fangs and tusks. It's a fearsome beast, and one that would have undoubtedly been cooler had it been painted differently. The mold itself is pretty neat, and a shining example of what Kenner was moving toward in the late 1990s-- statue-like poses, 5 points of articulation, and some nifty large weapons. This is not a figure designed to do much sitting, he is effectively a well-made statue for kids. You'll have no problems posing him or getting him to hang on to his weapon, but it can be a little awkward to get him standing just so. He will stand, though.
As one of the final two Kenner Predator molds at retail, this one erred on the side of being vaguely movie-friendly. If this guy (in different colors) showed up to fight Topher Grace, you probably wouldn't balk at it. His sibling in the line had an extremely large jaw, and an unreleased future figure would have sported four arms-- it was on the fast track to being a delightfully goofy toy line.
The neatest feature about this particular figure was its articulated jaw, which does a nice job of approximating the creature's striking mandibles. The lower jaw is hinged and can open quite wide (see below), although it doesn't seem designed to chomp on anything in particular. Still, it's fun to play with. The figure's helmet basically sits on the forehead of the creature, although there are holes for posts next to his jaw, under his dreadlocks. The helmet has no such posts, so the reasoning behind the holes is unknown-- unless he was designed for another mask, of course, in which case oh well.
Due to the figure's strong sculpt, I ran out to get one when it was first released and sadly did not buy the other ALIENS Hive Wars toys, although I had always meant to go back to get them eventually. Today it's worth $7-$12, making it pretty inexpensive for the new collector. Unless you've got a strong love of the bizarre, you might want to pass on this one. Although if you're a customizer, I would personally like to implore you to buy one, repaint it, and show me what you come up with. It's a really strong design with a great sculpt, and aside from suffering from frostbite it may be one of Kenner's most fun designs from the line.
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