The Review
The Jungle Hunter is one of those figures that can carry a display all by itself. The mask, shoulder cannon, netting and skull trophies give you plenty to look at before you even start changing the pose. This Hot Toys Predator 2.0 Jungle Hunter review covers the Deluxe Version, MMS817, based on the creature from the original 1987 film.
There are some welcome additions here, especially the moving eyes, light-up mask and the Deluxe jungle base. But this isn’t a clear upgrade in every area. The head, paint and body proportions have some accuracy problems, and the articulation still limits the poses you can get. If you already own an earlier Jungle Hunter, those differences matter more than the 2.0 name on the box.
Jungle Hunter 2.0: The Overall Look
With the mask on and the figure standing upright, the familiar Predator look is there straight away. The armor, wrist blades and trophies help break up the body, while the netting and fabric loincloth add the layers you expect from the film costume. It’s a busy design, but the separate parts are easy to pick out on the shelf.
The proportions are where things start to look different. This figure is tall and quite lean, with a long-looking neck and visible space around the ankles. The film’s Jungle Hunter has a broader, heavier look. This version doesn’t quite capture that, even though the armor and accessories make it immediately recognizable.
That also changes how some poses look. A straight standing pose works better than a deep crouch, and bringing the arms across the chest helps fill out the upper body. The bigger issue is that this is still a fairly limited body underneath all those details. A new head and extra accessories don’t automatically make it a better figure to pose.
The Head Sculpt and Moving Eyes
The moving eyes are one of the best additions. You can point them toward the skull trophy, line them up with a turned head, or have the figure look straight ahead. That gives an unmasked display more expression without needing a different sculpt. To reach the eye controls, the head comes off the clear neck connector.
You also get interchangeable mandibles for a closed-mouth look and a wider roar. The slightly uneven shapes give the face some character, and changing them makes a noticeable difference to the expression. They are separate pieces, though, so the joins and paint match are worth looking at closely. The difference between the face paint and the mandible pieces is easier to notice when the mouth is open.
The sculpt doesn’t fully capture the Jungle Hunter’s face. The shape around the eyes and mouth is off, and the black eye sockets don’t match the browner look of the film creature. The little facial quills are sculpted in, but they aren’t picked out in black. Those are small areas, yet they all affect a face that collectors know very well.
The eyes themselves have a printed pattern that doesn’t match the film eyes, and the teeth have a painted finish rather than the more translucent appearance seen on the older figure. None of this stops the head from reading as a Predator. It does stop it from feeling like the careful accuracy update you might expect from a new Jungle Hunter.
The dreadlocks are another weak point. They hang quite straight, look glossy and don’t spread around the head as naturally as they should. The bead pattern also lacks the third bead on many of the strands. Between the hair, the long neck and the facial differences, the unmasked display is less convincing than the masked one.
The Biomask and Shoulder Cannon
The main biomask is closer in shape to the film mask than the earlier Hot Toys Jungle Hunter mask. It gives the figure its strongest overall look and makes several of the head-sculpt issues less noticeable. If you plan to display this version masked, that is a real point in its favor.
The finish is less successful. There is a lot of sculpted pitting and brown, rusty-looking weathering. The Jungle Hunter’s mask should look worn, but this treatment is too heavy in places. The lenses also need a darker look. These details are much easier to judge in a close-up than in a full shelf display.
The mask sits quite far forward on the face, and the limited downward movement in the neck makes it harder to get that lowered-head hunting pose. You remove the mandible pieces to fit the mask. The light cable then connects behind it, with the wiring running back through the dreadlocks.
The red targeting lights work through a USB-C power setup. A small junction box is included and can be clipped out of the way at the belt or stand, but the USB-C cable itself isn’t included. The removable mask cables can be threaded behind the hair. They aren’t permanently attached pieces that you can simply forget about when changing the head.
The shoulder cannon attaches with the back assembly and can turn, move up and down, and sit in a lowered position. Magnets help secure that assembly. It adds a lot to the figure’s outline, although there is no light in the cannon itself. Keep that separate from the mask’s working targeting lights when deciding what the electronics actually add.
Armor, Skin Paint and Outfit
There is plenty of surface detail across the armor, from the rough metal texture to the worn edges. The finish gives it an aged look without needing a completely damaged suit. The colors aren’t fully consistent, though. The armor has a green tint, while the cannon and medical kit have a bluer tone on the reviewed figure. Those pieces don’t quite look like one matching set.
The skin is quite reddish brown, with strong texture and markings across the body. Some of the striping on the arms doesn’t match the film costume. Combined with the lean shape, that paint choice pushes the overall look farther away from the original Jungle Hunter than it should.
The netting is also quite thick. It gives the body the right basic pattern, but it is coarse enough to stand out as material stretched over a figure. Finer netting would help the skin underneath look more natural. The fabric loincloth works better: its worn edges and loose hang suit the character and don’t look as stiff as a sculpted piece would.
The straps are sculpted plastic rather than a thin imitation-leather covering. That’s useful to know if you’re comparing the construction with older figures, although it doesn’t prove how every part will age. The bands at the neck are brown where a more golden finish would be closer to the costume.
There are soft bands around the elbows that can help cover the joints. The trophy necklace and other hanging pieces move as you pose the figure, so expect to straighten them again afterward. The necklace’s pink wash is another paint choice that could have been more convincing. The uneven armor on the legs looks suitably detailed, but it doesn’t hide all of the ankle hardware.
Wrist Blades, Hands and Skull Trophies
The wrist blades give you several display choices. There are shorter blades, longer blades and a spread pair for the scene where the Predator pins Dutch against the tree. These are interchangeable plastic parts rather than metal blades or a telescoping setup. The spread option is a useful addition, but a Dutch figure isn’t included.
The different hands let you change between fists, open palms and gestures. They cover the main standing and action displays, though the hand choice for holding the skull-and-spine trophy isn’t ideal. Getting the fingers and trophy together convincingly takes more care than the accessory’s shape might suggest.
The skull and spine have plenty of sculpted detail, and the softer spine hangs differently from a rigid piece. The bright red paint is less convincing. It makes the bloody finish look exaggerated rather than like the darker, messier trophy from the film. It’s still an important accessory for an unmasked display, but the older treatment looked more natural.
The Deluxe set also includes two separate skulls. They have different teeth and damage, so you aren’t getting two identical pieces. You can place them around the jungle base to add some variety. They aren’t magnetic attachments, so they rest on the base rather than locking into a fixed position.
The Medical Kit and Deluxe Extras
The medical kit comes off the figure and opens to reveal the tools inside. It makes a good detail to show beside the accessories discussion because the closed and open views look quite different. The internal tools are sculpted in place, however. They aren’t loose accessories that you can take out and put in the figure’s hands.
The drawer isn’t the easiest part to open, and the older version’s translucent cover had a nicer look. This one still gives you the recognizable kit and its interior, but the extra detail doesn’t turn it into a fully working set of separate tools. The wrist computer also opens, revealing the controls and screens inside the gauntlet.
Alongside the two loose skulls and jungle base, the Deluxe Version adds the Gort mask based on an alternate concept design. It has a different face shape, a honeycomb lens treatment and its own heavy weathering. It’s an interesting second display option, but it isn’t the mask worn by the Jungle Hunter in the film. The Deluxe set also doesn’t include the standard version’s plain base. Choose it for the extras you actually want to display.
The Jungle Base and Display Options
The Deluxe base is a large part of the package. It brings together a tree, plants, rocks and details from the jungle setting, including the knife and an arrow. The knife is plastic and removable, and the arrow can be positioned at different angles. Those smaller parts give you more to arrange than a plain stand.
The support pole can be moved between positions toward the front and back. A rock covers the unused opening, which is a useful way to change the support position without leaving a hole on show. Some plants have specific keyed positions, while others give you more freedom to arrange them. A few of those parts don’t stay seated especially firmly.
The paint and finish let the base down a little. The leaves can look glossy and plastic, and the greens and browns are fairly uniform. It supplies the jungle setting, but the plants aren’t as natural-looking as they could be. There is still useful room for the figure, and moving the support helps when you change the pose.
For a shelf display, the choice between the main mask, the unmasked head and the Gort mask gives this set its variety. The photo below also shows the Predator alongside Alien figures in a separate collector display. Those Alien figures aren’t included with this set. It’s a good example of how lighting and the surrounding collection can change the feel of the same figure.
Articulation: Best in Upright Poses
The head can turn and tilt on its ball joint, but the collar limits how far it looks down. The shoulders have some movement across the chest, with the armor restricting the range. There is no separate bicep swivel, and the single-jointed elbows don’t give you the deep bend that would help with tighter action poses.
The wrists hinge and swivel, so you can adjust the angle of a hand or blade. The biggest restriction is in the torso. It is hard plastic with very little movement at the waist and no proper abdominal crunch. You get some turn and side lean, but not the folded-forward position that would make a low hunting pose look convincing.
The hips move forward and outward, with rotation at the thighs. The knees bend to roughly a right angle and have rotation, while the ankles can tilt and turn within the limits of the armor. The visible ankle connectors are harder to hide when the legs are spread. The older Jungle Hunter’s torso could manage a deeper bend, so this doesn’t feel like a broad improvement in posing.
A relaxed upright stance, crossed arms or a turned head works better than trying to force a deep crouch. If you enjoy changing figures into very different action poses, the body is something to take seriously. If you mainly want a masked Predator standing on a jungle base, these limits will matter less.
Final Thoughts
The moving eyes, working mask lights and Deluxe accessories make this an interesting Jungle Hunter set. The masked display is its strongest option, and the extra mask and base give you different ways to arrange it. There are enough useful details here to enjoy looking through the photos and planning a display.
But the face, dreadlocks, body shape and several paint choices keep it from being the accurate replacement many collectors wanted. The limited torso and elbows also mean it isn’t the obvious upgrade for someone who already owns an earlier version. The 2.0 label matters less than which parts of the figure actually work better for your collection. Our earlier Hot Toys 2.0 figure comparisons cover the same question through older releases.
For more figure coverage, browse our sixth-scale figure reviews. This set is easiest to appreciate for its masked display and Deluxe extras, with the accuracy and articulation limits kept in mind.
