{"id":26707,"date":"2014-01-29T00:37:25","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T06:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26707"},"modified":"2014-01-29T01:18:31","modified_gmt":"2014-01-29T07:18:31","slug":"neca-predator-thermal-vision-dutch-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=26707","title":{"rendered":"NECA Predator:
Thermal Vision Dutch Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> I\u2019m just going to tell you readers up front. I might pull this one out, I might not. You see, I just had to go and gave a repaint, a repaint<\/em>, a twelve picture review. Yeah, I\u2019m a friggin\u2019 genius. Anyway, that\u2019s a lot of text to fill up. I may be up to the task, I may not. I do know that I can\u2019t just say, \u201che\u2019s green\u201d and be done with it, so let\u2019s elaborate from there. I will warn you that Thermal Dutch here isn’t actually in a lot of the pictures, so if you\u2019re one of those folks that just look at the pictures… we\u2019ll, you\u2019re not reading this anyway. <\/p>\n

Hey, that wraps up the intro paragraphs. Two down, only a few more to go… <\/p>\n

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If anyone wants to know why I lavish so much praise on NECA lately, it\u2019s because they\u2019re clearly having fun. And I\u2019m having fun with them. MOTU Classics is a great line, but it\u2019s so damn serious all the time. MOTU fans have had a rough go the last fifteen years, but that franchise has so much drama in it that it spills over into fighting amongst its fan. Not fun. DCUC was a great line; it probably gets the biggest smile from me when I look at my display, but it died. That\u2019s really not fun. Now, there are other fun lines out there that I also enjoy. The Glyos Kingdom is a great example. Transformers is great right now (though a little too serious for my wife & wallet). And then there\u2019s NECA. In the last two weeks, I\u2019ve picked up a Giant Batman, colorful Predators, a rather touching Colonial Marine, and, oh yeah, a new Dutch that looks like he just blew up a cotton candy factory. <\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve mentioned before that I\u2019m a big fan of Joe Posnanski\u2019s Plus-Minus System<\/a>. It\u2019s a very simple method that potentially explains why different folks can enjoy the same things differently. Basically, it very non-scientifically takes expectations into account. If I\u2019m expecting a zero and I get a four, that\u2019s +4. Oppositely, if I\u2019m expecting a five and I get a two, that\u2019s -3. MOTU Classics Batros is a great figure that blew away my expectations. He might not be that fun for everyone, his review may even have been a little too excited, but I simply loved how cool he turned out when I wasn\u2019t expecting him too at all. That’s how Plus-Minus works. <\/p>\n

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I bring this up, because I think Trix Yogurt Dutch, as I affectionately refer to what’s really Thermal Vision Dutch, had some really lofty expectations to deal with. I bought Cigar Dutch easily. I bought Muddy Dutch semi-reluctantly because I couldn\u2019t deny that he was so damn well done. Trix Yogurt Dutch made me laugh so hard during SDCC or NYCC, wherever we saw him. Here we were all thinking, \u201cgosh, how many ways can they repaint Dutch\u201d! And yet, NECA wasn\u2019t even close to done (& they\u2019re still not, we all know NES Dutch is coming eventually and I still want NECA to make a Red Polo Dutch if I\u2019m being honest with myself). <\/p>\n

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For me, Trix Yogurt Dutch kinda came to represent the very fun road that NECA was heading down. Admittedly, I don\u2019t have any of the NES figures yet (soon, Robocop, soon). And while I am on a steady diet of rockin\u2019 Kenner Predators, Trix Yogurt Dutch seemed so much further out there than even those. So silly that I thought I simply I had to have him. While I have 3 Dutches now, Trix was the only one I wanted before I saw him. So I bought before I saw him too and that turned out to be more than a little ironic. <\/p>\n

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When the BBTS box arrive, I had… a little trouble finding that same fun in person. The Thermal Vision idea itself is still solid and he\u2019s spot on to the figure that NECA debuted last year, but having him in hand, I just don\u2019t know. Maybe it\u2019s really just the hype I piled on to the figure, but the effect the clear plastic and special deco has in person just isn\u2019t the same as it was in the pictures. I specifically put that Stealth Falconer Predator in the first shot because it’s a great example of something fun in pictures that was also completely awesome in person. <\/p>\n

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So what am I not liking about Trix Dutch? Well, all that there’s really to be unhappy with is the deco. I love the clear green, I have a well-known soft spot for translucent figures, and I think that was the right way to go for the base. So that leaves only the paint. I like it, but I wonder if they\u2019re taken from something particular, a shot in the movie or a poster, since they don\u2019t quite make sense as a person\u2019s heat signature. Random yellow spots on his shoes? No paint under the vest? In some ways, the paint almost seems like it was dictated by the sculpt more than anything else. So I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m just being picky, I suppose. Maybe I should take some of my own \u201chave fun with it\u201d advice? Oh, did I mention the back is completely unpainted? Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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While I mentioned Dutch is a repaint, I never technically reviewed the first version of this mold though. While a lot of Dutch parts are re-used from figure to figure, Trix Dutch is a repaint of the vested, but shirtless, Jungle\u2026 Encounter Dutch? I also want to strangely point out that even though we\u2019ve gotten a lot of Dutches of late, they have all blown off the shelves here. I picked up Jungle Disguise (Muddy) & Jungle Extraction (Cigar) when I saw them, but I don\u2019t recall seeing Patrol & Encounter again after those first purchases. Apparently, Dutch is hot right now (even though the heat signature one is mostly green)!<\/p>\n

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The good thing is that Jungle Encounter Dutch was an excellent figure. A great head sculpt, even without the cigar, and the bare arms and vest just as well done as the jacketed version I reviewed previously. That same sculpt is a little harder to appreciate here, but it\u2019s there if you go looking for it under the yellows & pinks. The articulation is also still fantastic. Ball-joints at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and inverted ankles, thigh swivels, and a great ab crunch. He still needs bicep swivels (the Preds too, they can\u2019t touch their forearm!), but just about everything else you want is there. Dutch has really gotten some amazing figures in the past year, no doubt about it. <\/p>\n

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Trix Dutch includes the same three accessories as his predecessor, the rifle, pistol, and knife. All are molded in clear green and have plenty of display options. The rifle can stow on Dutch\u2019s back via the strap and there is a holster and a sheath for the two smaller weapons. The rifle is probably my favorite since it fits great into two hand poses. The pistol is nice too, also getting a boost from the sculpted trigger finger on the right hand. The knife… it’s not as cool. The smaller grip doesn’t fit into either hand and requires some balancing and hilt-wedging to get Dutch to hold it. It is neat, but not as good as it could be.<\/p>\n

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Overall, the truth is that Dutch is more of an impulse figure. While I initially felt a little MEH about him, I do think that was largely due to my being way too excited about him in the first place. Heck, I pre-ordered this whole wave just to make sure I got him! (Speaking of, that Borg Predator is like an 8 when I was maybe expecting a 4 or 5. Dude!). I think I ended up getting him cheaper from BBTS than I would have at TRU, but he probably wasn\u2019t as much a \u201cbuy the whole wave just in case\u201d figure as I thought he would be, particularly with the lack of deco on his backside & under the vest. Still though, NECA did a great job coming up with the figure. I love the idea behind it. He won\u2019t go in the front of my display, but rather in the back, behind the rainbow Predators. I think my expectations will even out back there \u2013 he is really a novelty figure after all. And he\u2019s going to look sharp hanging in there with the others much more than he has trying to hold his own out here on my desk all week.<\/p>\n

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More NECA Reviews:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a> <\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

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For all our Reviews, check out our
\n Review Index<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

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