NECA Predator Figure Series

[Origin]

The actor who played the lead Pred in both AVP movies, Ian Whyte, is actually only about an inch shorter/roughly the same build as Kevin Peter Hall, the actor from the original Predator films. Which is why Wolf in AVPR looks about the same size as the original creature(s). Originally the Predators in AVP1 should have also used the original proportions, but the reason for the "bulkier" look is due to a casting error/lack of time.

Ian Whyte actually plays each of the Predators in AVP1 when they appear solo, save for the few shots where more than one Pred was shown on-screen.  For these shots, they hired a pair of Body Builders to stand-in for the other Preds. They were much shorter/bulkier than Ian Whyte, so in order to achieve parity in their appearances, the production team "bulked up" the suits to make all 3 look similar, in addition to using forced perspective shots (ie: Ian Whyte would actually stand behind the other two actors, in order to make them appear similar in height on-screen). Basically it was the best they could do with the time/resources given.

To further smooth things out, Wes Anderson thought up the fact that they were just adolescents, which is at least SOME kind of story-related reason for the change in appearance I guess.

So yeah, they should have been thinner from the get go.

[Blacklabel]

wes anderson?

[Raiden]

Doesn't matter for me as I think all preds are macho , even the smallest/thinnest pred is muscular than Arnie,the Mr. Universe. so that's really no problem. All are giants compared to human being

[Greyback]

@Origin, interesting, but at the end the AVP Preds have other proportions then the other Predators. There body is more beefy and very muscular, not so skinny. That can I sea in the most camera shots(especially the costume in the making of). And that is was neca must do, otherwise its not the AVP Preds from the film.
Im worry that the Neca AVP Preds as skinny as Mcfarlane or first Hot Toys Preds.
When they have the same proportions as the new upcoming Hot Toys Scar or the Sideshow statue, I have no problem with it.


Are some new informations on the 1/4 Elder ?
On the last picture I can no sea inprovements(except the new canon).
And I sea that neca no inprove the error on the genital protection and the cheap, ugly netting.

[slaysaliens]

yeah, I do know that Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.  had some other designs and ideas as to what the AVP preds should have looked like......I personally would rather NECA go w/ Tom & Alec's designs & ideas rather than Paul WS Anderson's final version.  Once you set up and display all your preds it's gonna look kinda weird w/ some Fatty McFat Fats hanging out. 

Predator's IMHO are a very svet species and it shouldn't have been up to Paul WS Anderson to change that when there are a total of 4 other predator movies demonstrating other wise.  Do we really think he is better story teller or director than John Diehardpredator McTeirnan?  Is his opinion more valuable than Stan Winston's?  For me, no.  I love their armor, helmets, even the personality Ian Whyte brought to life w/ scar and celtic, but the Pamela Anderson chest looks stupid. 

*the reason for the "bulkier" look is due to a casting error/lack of time.
*they hired a pair of Body Builders to stand-in for the other Preds.

Source?  Never heard of this.  The actor, like you said, is Ian Whyte from both AVP & AVPR so he's plenty tall and plenty thin.  The problem w/ the difference in Scar/Celtic and Wolf is that Paul WS Anderson's vision was that the Predators were going to be on screen w/ Aliens.  Therefore, he insisted that his predators reflect a comic book style body with heroic proportions and other changes to look less like a monster and more like a character.
Changes as per Paul WD Anderson:
wider shoulders, narrower waists, smaller heads, longer dreadlocks, less slime on body, warm golden eyes, larger iris, less pale clammy amphibian skin tones, & more human like skin tones.
that's all from the makers of the AVP movie, source is The Creature Effects of ADI book.



oh and a FRIENDLY helpful tip about English:
sea = large body of water
see = eyes
again friendly, not a raging English teacher

[samoht]

I saw the larger 18" preds in my local comic store yesterday. They look incredible, especially city hunter.

However, the latest 7" predator figure they have is Gort (Lost).

I am not going to get Dutch or masked city hunter in a loooong time it would seem. If ever.

[Xenomrph]

yeah, I do know that Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.  had some other designs and ideas as to what the AVP preds should have looked like

Is there any concept art or anything kicking around online? I've actually never seen any concept art for either AvP movie. Never really went looking, to be honest.

[Bat Chain Puller]

yeah, I do know that Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.  had some other designs and ideas as to what the AVP preds should have looked like

Is there any concept art or anything kicking around online? I've actually never seen any concept art for either AvP movie. Never really went looking, to be honest.

I have the two "Inside the Monster Shop" books and like most films the concept art is far superior to what ended up on screen. If I recall, the designs for AVPR were better than AVP. Oh the irony.

[Xenomrph]

Huh, I might have to look into getting those off Amazon or something. Thanks for the tip!

I'm a big fan of concept art for both movies and videogames. I'm going through the Bioshock Infinite art book right now.

[Greyback]

yeah, I do know that Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr.  had some other designs and ideas as to what the AVP preds should have looked like......I personally would rather NECA go w/ Tom & Alec's designs & ideas rather than Paul WS Anderson's final version.  Once you set up and display all your preds it's gonna look kinda weird w/ some Fatty McFat Fats hanging out. 

Predator's IMHO are a very svet species and it shouldn't have been up to Paul WS Anderson to change that when there are a total of 4 other predator movies demonstrating other wise.  Do we really think he is better story teller or director than John Diehardpredator McTeirnan?  Is his opinion more valuable than Stan Winston's?  For me, no.  I love their armor, helmets, even the personality Ian Whyte brought to life w/ scar and celtic, but the Pamela Anderson chest looks stupid. 

*the reason for the "bulkier" look is due to a casting error/lack of time.
*they hired a pair of Body Builders to stand-in for the other Preds.

Source?  Never heard of this.  The actor, like you said, is Ian Whyte from both AVP & AVPR so he's plenty tall and plenty thin.  The problem w/ the difference in Scar/Celtic and Wolf is that Paul WS Anderson's vision was that the Predators were going to be on screen w/ Aliens.  Therefore, he insisted that his predators reflect a comic book style body with heroic proportions and other changes to look less like a monster and more like a character.
Changes as per Paul WD Anderson:
wider shoulders, narrower waists, smaller heads, longer dreadlocks, less slime on body, warm golden eyes, larger iris, less pale clammy amphibian skin tones, & more human like skin tones.
that's all from the makers of the AVP movie, source is The Creature Effects of ADI book.



oh and a FRIENDLY helpful tip about English:
sea = large body of water
see = eyes
again friendly, not a raging English teacher

Ok, you right on the sea^^
I did not pay attention about this.

But on the design its a point of the personal perspective.

I never think that Anderson is the better director or that the AVP design ist better than the designs of the other movies(except the Predators design, I dont like it).

But this have nothing to do with the Neca "inprovements".

The fact is that the final movie design is bulky and beefy.  And I want always a full accurate represantation in figure form from this movie designs.

It is not the right of neca to change this. Neca is not a effect company, they have nothing to do with the movies. When they change the proportions, this is not AVP. This is not fair to Anderson and the AVP fans that like the design.

This is only the personal thing of Randy Falk to do what he like( for example he says that Neca dont make figures to bad films, okay and what is with AVP:R or clash of the Titans?).
But as a company, this is not profesionell.

Think at the bad critics about the Hot Toys Aliens and Predators and there artistic variations.

When you dont like the AVP designs, its ok, I respect that. But its not ok when Neca change the design for this reason.

Neca can make two variants, accurate AVP Preds and thinner AVP Preds for the people that dont like it.
For the thin variant, they can use the Predators bodys.

[Origin]

Oops, looks like I fudged the directors name. While I wouldn't ever actually get their films mixed up, Paul W.S. Anderson is obviously who I meant. I suppose it was more wishful thinking as to why I kind of just gleaned over Mr. Andersons contributions to the creature redesigns, since I always thought they looked disproportionate (even when considered separately to the P1/P2 designs).

I love their armor, helmets, even the personality Ian Whyte brought to life w/ scar and celtic, but the Pamela Anderson chest looks stupid. 

That line from your comment is a great example.

As for the info about the stand-in actors for the other preds, I think I was flipping through the different subtitle channels on my player for a few seconds, and the English/Hard-of-Hearing subs for one of the AVP(or AVPR even?) DVD Commentaries that popped up alluded to that fact. It was a few months ago, so I'm not certain.

I'll be sure to post the actual source when I find it.

In any case, I personally wouldn't mind seeing the film-accurate versions, in all honesty. Preference aside, something DIFFERENT would be very cool. Or going further with what Greyback said, maybe have swap-parts for some of the armor so fans can display them they like, film-accurate/bulky or an alternate/form-fitting style.

[samoht]

I got Borg the other day.

He is such an awesome figure. He is the third predator figure I own. I have no interest in the Lost tribe and I got him purely on badassery and awesomeness.

[Sexy Poot]

Damn dude u posted these pics in like 3 threads! Borg really is one of the better members of the tribe. The future tech armor and green skin really do make it stand out.

[Xenomrph]

Neca confirmed a Bad Blood Predator figure eventually.

[Gridseeker]

Neca confirmed a Bad Blood Predator figure eventually.

HOLY SH*T! BTW, in which appears?