I loved the Machiko figure so much, my interest in Alien and Predator figures was sparked anew and I went out looking for the Broken Tusk Predator to go with her. I was curious to see the beefed up articulation in use on a Predator figure and very impressed with the result. Let’s take a look at Broken Tusk!
The Broken Tusk Predator (I’m going to refer to him as BT from here on out because I’m already sick of typing out his title) comes in a standard blister card with a Predator silhouette on the front and some art and character backround on the back.
The figure comes with the extra long staff from the comic and a big honking gun.
The staff is super long, so it comes packed in two pieces that peg securely together. The plastic is pretty stiff and holds it’s shape well which is nice because action figures often can have a case of droopy staff. Ahem. The blades are interesting, one side being more ornate, the other looking like an improvised hatchet.
Both sides are well detailed and painted with weathering and some sort of alien blood splatter. It’s gruesome, but good!
The gun is big and honking and has that ’90s comic book vibe I’m digging, but the level of detail in the sculpt and weathered paint job make it feel like it belongs to an alien world. It has a strap that’s somewhat soft, but you can’t really re-pose it much.
The sculpt also does a great job of bringing the comic-design in line with the movie aesthetic really well with the texture and detail of the sculpt.
The little tech details on the gauntlets are beautiful and I love that his self-destruct mechanism has a little hinge that opens to show off the countdown clock. All the detail on the armor from the tubes to the Alien chest trophy are so lovely.
The bulk and height on this figure make for an impressive silhouette and even though it’s a specific comic character, it really captures the feel of the movie predators too. This guy is a TANK!
The paint is really great with grimy washes, metallic paints, and I’m glad to see that they paint the netting way more consistently on these newer figures than the did on the older ones.
Articulation is also very good with:
- Ball and socket neck, mid-torso, left shoulder, ankles, and waist
- Swivel/hinge shoulders, hips, and wrists
- Double hinged knees and elbows
- Swivel forearms at the gauntlets
BT is very poseable, though I didn’t get much motion from the upper torso joint, possibly due to the armor, or it might still be stuck. I also think that double knees aren’t that useful if the ankles don’t have a hinge forward, but I appreciate the updates.
BT is very poseable, though I didn’t get much motion from the upper torso joint, possibly due to the armor, or it might still be stuck. I also think that double knees aren’t that useful if the ankles don’t have a hinge forward, but I appreciate the updates. The left shoulder swivel/hinge connects to the body with a ball and socket, so that gets a little more movement than the right.
One caveat about the articulation is that my figure had several stuck joints. Both hips were frozen at the hinge and swivel joint, the wrists did not swivel, the torso ball joints were stuck, and the shoulders were also frozen.
Having recently broke a figure with stuck joints, I opted toward caution and used heat to free up all of these stuck joints. Once free, they moved well, but I’d advise caution.
Overall, this is a spectacular Predator figure. The sculpt, paint and articulation are all above average and figure is just fun to play with.
The only real critique I have is that he had a lot of stuck joints that gave me pause. Once freed, the figure feels like a solid, playable toy. This guy definitely made me want to go and track down the ultimate Jungle and City Hunter figures for my collection.
