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Series 1 of NECA's Cinemachines was well received, so they're back again with Series 2.
Type: long-range customized transport ship; modified for interstellar travel
Crew: 3 minimum - can accommodate up to 20
Defenses: high-density layered shielding; front-mounted heavy blast plasma cannon with vertical pivot
Planet Origin: Unknown
Function: Used by the nomadic group of Yautja hunters known as "the Lost Tribe" as a means of transport and living quarters
Size: 37.18m L x 19.59m W
Weight: approx. 239,841.602 kg
Max Speed: light-speed
Now, all we see of the ship in Predator 2 is its rear end,
when Detective Murtaugh Lieutenant Harrigan finds it under the city and makes his way inside. This, however, is a full ship, from stem to stern. So either NECA got access to blueprints that have never been seen by anyone else, or, more likely (since the ship was a matte painting and not a physical model), they made up a whole lot.
Working from the assumption that NECA just invented this whole-cloth, they did a lovely job. For the original matte painting, artist Mark Sullivan was sent pieces of the Predator costume by the production designer, and told to use the same shapes and design for the ship. He definitely did, and NECA's carried that forth as well. The ship itself is mostly a warm grey, with a few gold, silver and bronze elements scattered about, and the overlapping plates definitely make it look like something that could have fallen off City Hunter when he got beat up. The toy itself measures 6⅜" long, 2⅞" wide, and a little less than 1½" tall - so a very long, flat design. (Though we must say, that doesn't seem very conducive to hiding in an abandonned subway tunnel - how did it ever get in or out?)
Even compared to what little we saw in the film, this isn't an exact duplicate. We do get the rear hatch (to give you an idea of size,
Danny Glover was approximately half as tall as that door, meaning the Lost Tribe Ship is about the same scale as the Pacific Rim Jaegers) and the engineson either side of it, but the gangplank is about 50% longer and there are two additional engines on the starboard side that absolutely were not there in the movie.
As mentioned, we saw more of the ship's interior than its exterior, particularly the big round ballroom where the final fight took place (and where Predators stage their dance-offs).
There's no matching feature on the surface of the ship, no circular area to suggest where that might be, geographically speaking. A long "hallway" leads from the open door, curving to the right and joining the fuselage just behind the tubes that lead to the thrusters. On the opposite side of the ship is a similar structure, but it ends much sooner, and appears to have another archway leading to the upper surface of the ship, though the door on this one is closed. Unless that's an intake vent. Hey, it's not like any of this is canon anyway, let it be whatever you want!
Speaking of "canon," the cannon mentioned on the back of the box is nowhere to be found. The Lost Tribe Ship is more like
the Derelict and Space Jockey from Series 1 than the Dropship and APC, because it doesn't have any moving parts or fun little features. It's a solid chunk of... plastic? Metal? Resin? It's a solid chunk of material, so don't expect to actually be pivoting a heavy blast plasma cannon to aim it at all your other toys. The nose does appear to have little pincers, giving the entire thing a very insectoid look - maybe the Predators were influenced by Alien Queens?
So that the ship doesn't have to just rest on the ground (or your shelf, as the case may be), it includes the same kind of flight stand as the Bat Gremlin. It has a 3⅝" x 2⅞" platform, a curved support arm that adds about 4⅞" to the height, and rather than a C-clip like the Gremmy got, a simple hinged post that plugs into the belly of the ship.
Although the ship spent most of its screentime resting on the dirty ground, you'll want to use the display stand, because it affords you the opportunity to see the cool detailing on
the belly of the ship. There are lots of vents and pipes, and it's all just as asymmetrical down here as it was up above. The ship's design almost feels organic, like the Lost Tribe captured some sort of space creature, fitted it with armor, and started tooling around the galaxy in it (similar to the way the Brood used the Acanti).
DST may have the biggest collection of Aliens toys, but nobody beats NECA when it comes to Predators. Minimates might be the only way to get the non-Dutch humans from the first movie, but NECA's made the entire Lost Tribe, they've made the Trophy Wall and all its crazy skulls, and now they've made the Lost Tribe's ship! NECA loves this license, and they love giving us everything they can from it.
-- 01/05/17
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