It’s been a long time since I’ve bought a Predator figure. I’m a fan of the movies, but I have a pretty substantial collection of older NECA figures. I’ve been impressed with the look of the newer figures and their improved articulation and have long been thinking about picking one up if the opportunity presented itself. Fortunately for me, I stumbled on a new and unique figure from the line while shopping at Target. Let’s take a look at the Human Predator, Machiko Noguchi.
I think I only ever read Machiko’s origin story and I remember liking it quite a bit. At the time, it was an interesting riff on the classic Alien survival story, except Predators show up at some point and there is a bit of a team-up between Machiko and the main Predator. I’m not familiar with her armored look outside of what I’ve seen online and the old Hot Toys Machiko figure because I haven’t read those books.
Machiko seems to have different armor in every picture I’ve seen, but I think this figure captures the spirit of a particular comic-book armor well and adds a ton of detail so that it fits in nicely with the film-based figures. The overall sculpt is quite beautiful.
I especially like the textures and designs applied to the armor pieces. It adds a sense of realism and helps the figure blend in well with other Predator figures.
Machiko comes in a standard blister card which was pretty beat up on my figure, but I think that worked in my favor because it was the only figure left from the wave on the shelf. Machiko comes with a removeable mask, a blaster rifle, and an extra hand.
The blaster rifle feels like it comes right out of a ’90s comic book, which is great since it appears to be based on a weapon from specific panels, but with added detail. The style, shape and heft has that ’90s vibe that I never cared for as a comic book reader, but I love seeing in an action figure. It’s also this great electric blue color that stands out nicely and somehow feels more appropriately comic-bookish to me.
The mask attaches to the face fairly solidly even though there are no real clips or dents for it to cling to. I love that they actually sculpted a very detailed interior mask. The techno sculpt is so pretty.
It has these tiny little cables that plug into the shoulder gun that were super fiddly to put in place on my figure, so I just stick them under the gun harness most of the time and it looks fine to me.
The extra right hand is open and works well for rifle holding poses, though it was super tight on my figure. A little heat let me swap the parts more easily.
The articulation is fantastic. I’m definitely going to have to think about replacing some of my older Predators if the newer ones are all this good. Machiko has:
- Double hinged knees and elbows
- Swivel/hinged shoulders, hips, and wrists
- Ball and socket neck, mid tors, lower torso, shoulder gun, and ankles
- Single hinged toes and shoulder gun
- Swivel biceps and forearms
- Sliding claws
All of these POA have good range of motion. The knees get more than a 90 degree bend, but are a little hindered by the knee pad straps and the size of the boot cuff. The head movement is also somewhat limited by the large head of hair and the large shoulder cannon.
It’s a little frustrating at times, because she doesn’t look to right very well, but I can’t see how they could have done it any differently to get more movement. The ball joint ankles are also slightly limited as I’m really used to the swivel/hinge joint at that part of the body.
The paint is excellent. Every piece of armor has a wash or drybrushing that brings out all that glorious detail. The mask has a striking gold color and the grungy wash applied to the crevices really makes it sing.
Overall Machiko is a fantastic figure. If you have Predators or Alien figures, I can’t recommend this one enough as a unique addition to the collection.
