TF Prime Beast Hunters: Predaking!

Presenting the Voyager Class Predaking, leader of the Predacons from the new Transformers Beast Hunters series.

Predaking's wiki actually has a quote from him going "My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!"

Too bad Ultra Magnus kicked his butt and he had to retreat without having killed Wheeljack and all he could do was growl when Starscream made a snide comment about his failure.

Quite an inglorious debut for, as Shockwave put it, "The Ultimate Autobot Hunter"

Though I suppose Predaking did kick Optimus Prime's butt so badly that the Hammer wielding Ultra Magnus had to be introduced. (I swear if they use this to introduce a Rodimus Prime, someone will die).


I'm also kinda miffed that he's not a combiner. The original G1 Predaking was much, much more terrifying in my opinion.

Anyway, the Beast Hunters Predaking's blister pack reads that "The Terrifying Predacon tyrant Predaking is a mighty evil from the ancient past with the power to burn entire worlds to cinders!"

It puts Predaking's stats in comparison with Ultra Magnus' and Optimus Prime's as:

• Strength: 10 - Equal to Prime's 10 and Magnus' 10
• Intelligence: 8 - Also tied with Prime and Magnus
• Speed: 9 - Waay faster than Magnus's crawling 5, and still faster than Optimus' decent 7.
• Endurance: 10 - Predaking is slightly more lasting that Magnus' 9, and on par with Prime's 10
• Rank: 10 - Versus Magnus' second in command level of 9 and Prime's 10
• Courage: 10 - Again tied with the fearlesss Prime and Magnus
• Fireblast: 10- Predaking ties with Optimus Prime and has the slight edge over Magnus - 9. 
• Skill: 6 - Lower than Prime's elegant 8 and on par with Magnus at 6. 

Makes you wonder how Ultra Magnus was able to beat Predaking - answer: Optimus Prime already softened him up. But then again it all falls down to that massive hammer Ultra Magnus packs.

What's to like about the Voyager Class Transformers Beast Hunters Predaking?

Not much unfortunately, I think he's mostly hype. I really expected a more fearsome character. With higher detailing. To make things worse, the detailing that I'm talking about is depicted on the back of the packaging where you can see that Predaking has black trimming.

Oh well, never trust packaging.

Overall articulation is decent. Nothing as excellent as say Starscream's. He can twist ever so slightly at the waist and his wings are repositionable so they don't just droop back there like his transformation instructions state. By the way, check out the spikes (From his dragon head) that protrude from his rear armor when he transforms.

Both of Predaking's hydra heads can attach to mounting points on his forearms to form twin cannons - they can even combine to form a dual blaster and the Beast Hunters Predaking's articulation is high enough that he can hold the combined weapon with both hands. You can also just use the Hydra heads as fearsome arm extensions.

Speaking of wings, do remember to check out those fine runes - which is a nice detailing touch - on Predaking's wings and other armored parts.

Beast Hunter Predaking's tail becomes a Sword. It mounts onto his hand, but he can barely grasp it. 

Predaking' grip is actually improved if you reverse the sword:

Lastly, Predaking can kneel... kinda;

Predaking is best in Hydra mode - though having seen him fly, he's not really a Hydra and is best thought of as a three-headed Dragon (Having played Dungeons and Dragons, I've become quite intimate with the Chromatic Dragon concept. Predaking as an Orange Dragon should be breathing Molten Rock - seems quite apt).

Personally I think he looks best without the additional heads. Note how you can also tuck in Predaking's wings:

What's NOT to like about the Voyager Class Transformers Beast Hunters Predaking?

I think that the biggest issue of the Transformers Beast Hunters Predaking is that he somehow feels... diminished. Maybe I'd gotten so used to him being the gigantic berserk of a Decepticon that in this form it feels like I just got a regular Decepticon. 

You can see from above also that he has grip and articulation problems. I would have appreciated a more prehensile neck and tail for Predaking in dragon mode. A better sword would also have been nice. And in robot mode, Predaking's head is stuck kinda looking up. 

Hell I got more of a buzz out of Shockwave than I got from Predaking. 

What's with that tiny waist? Is he wearing a corset?  Predaking can actually hint at turning his waist but he really cannot. 

This was a gift from my dear brother and sister from the United States so I'm not really sure how much he cost. He was purchased from Target. He's available on Amazon for US$ 21.99 (Roughly PhP 901.60 plus shipping). 

Here's the best part about the Transformers Beast Hunters Predaking:

Yippie Kai-Yay Mother F&*#ers!!!!!

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