Predaking Die-Cast Metal Collectible Figure Transformers Titanium Series Item No.: Asst. 33901 No. 33922 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: Sword, display coaster Action Feature: n/a Retail: $4.99 Availability: September 2006 Other: Fist new G1 Predaking toy since original, and still the only one not counting reissues
PREVIOUS	RSS	NEXT

As one of the bigger, more popular, and more famous faces of the later days of the original line, Predaking gets surprisingly few toys. There was the original, this one, and a reissue of the original - sure, other toys share the names, but the combiner team hasn't really been updated much. This non-transforming 2 1/2-inch figure has articulated wrists, shoulders, and a neck too - plus you can plug a sword into his hand. He also has a "display stand" which has no peg for his feet, so it's really just a coaster.

The configuration and coloring is very true to the original combiner team, except the right and left arms are swapped. Other than switching up Divebomb and Rampage, it's pretty much the team you've always known with the Halloween-ish colors of yellow, black, orange, and red creating a more-or-less unified look along with an absolutely huge sword. I love the huge sword - should Hasbro ever revisit this team as full, transforming, combining toys I hope they bring it to life as a similarly huge weapon.

Despite the gimmick of bringing metal back to Transformers toys, there's not much here. The arms, wings, head, and legs are all plastic - and so is most of the torso. I think - it's not a part of the toy you might actually touch. All of this aside, the paint job is actually quite impressive given the size and the fact it's Hasbro. Each little beast head has painted eyes, and many show feet or claws with a little deco too. The wing tips are black, their feet are the same colors as the toys in most cases, it's hard to not be impressed by what is essentially a gorgeous execution of a pretty weak toy concept. Hasbro took the ball and ran with it - and for five bucks, this wasn't a bad little figure. Keep in mind $6 could also have bought you a Scout-class 4-inch transforming robot in those days, but such is life.

Given this release was nearly 10 years ago and there doesn't seem to be much buzz about much newness with this team, it's no surprise that the original toy and its reissues continue to be pricey. This little collectible figure is basically a PVC figure with a bit more metal and articulation - not enough to be impressive, but certainly good enough to compete with those underpainted solid rubber figures for about three bucks. It is not impressive, but it isn't bad - but as a non-transforming figure it may not be the kind of thing your collection needs. I took nine years to open mine, and were it not for this review he'd probably still be in the package. He's not ugly, he's not wildly disgusting, he's just not as good as other toys in the brand. And he's also about the size of a Mini-Con, so chew on that.

Additional Images

Click here to see more Hasbro figures in Figure of the Day.

Click here to see more Transformers figures in Figure of the Day.

Want to buy this figure? Check Transformers availability at our sponsors:
Entertainment Earth

Featured Toy Video