This set of eight AvP snap kit action figures places the battle against the warring Aliens and Predators in your hands on a new, super-poseable 3 3/4" scale. Two of the figures are Alien Warriors, including the highly resourceful Grid Alien. Two are Alien Eggs, open (not available for review) and closed. The other four consist of Predators: Scar, a "cloaked" Predator, their leader, the Celtic Predator, and a "Birth of the Hybrid Chestburster" Predator (not reviewed here) seen at the end of the movie.

These oversea Hot Toys imports were released a few years ago are hard to come by these days. However, for those lucky enough to acquire them, they are well worth the money spent.

Packaging: The figures each come blind-boxed so you don’t know who you have until you open it. Because of this, it can be rather stressful completing the set. Your best bet is to go with a case of 10, assuring you receive all eight unique figures (in addition to two surprise duplicates!) and all the bonus pieces required to build the towering 11” Alien Queen. The latter is truly the star of this assortment, and alone worth the price of buying them all.

The main graphic on the boxes is a close-up of the Alien Queen’s head and there are also photos of all 8 characters in the series on the back as well as assembly photos on the sides.

Paint: The paintwork on these mini action figures is almost flawless. The attention to detail is very evident in every character from the skin color and texture to the miniature detail work on all the weapons.

Assembly: Putting these little treasures together is as simple as snapping each ball-jointed piece firmly into place. I did have some difficulty getting some of the limbs together, so I softened the body parts in boiling water. After the plastic cooled off, most of the limbs and pieces popped right on, but I had a couple of arms and legs that just would not stay in place and came loose with the slightest bit of movement.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: I recommend simply applying finger pressue on snapping these together. May get a blister doing it, but it can be done.)

Articulation: Each figure features amazing amounts of articulation for being only in the 3 ¾ scale. Although the articulation works well on the Aliens, the Predators do have some issues.

The dreads on all the Predators’ heads are made of a hard plastic which impairs their neck, shoulder joints and mounted laser cannon from movement.

The dreadlocks on the Predators would have worked a lot better if they were cast in soft vinyl. Their arms also have very limited movement and can easily pop out of their sockets if the arms are moved too much.

Accessories: Aside from the numerous detailed spears, throwing stars and wrist blades that the Predators come with, each figure also comes with a keychain attachment. You know, so you can carry 'em with you. The Alien Eggs are rather nice in that each one detaches at the top so you can see the gooey inner workings. Of course the MAIN ACCESSORY is an included limb of the mighty build-a-figure: THE ALIEN QUEEN.

The spiked mean momma measures a whopping 11-inches tall when fully assembled and stars all the crazy ball-jointed articultion as her smaller kin and then some. Her massive tail is fully bendable and her neck features a nice pliable material as seen in Hot Toys' larger 1:6th scale figures (such as Robocop) to mask the articulted joint. Some seriously cool stuff.

The Alien Queen BAF alone is worth at least $40 from my wallet. Her inclusion as an extra in this set equals a VERY tempting reason to buy them all. A very nice bonus, indeed.

Overall: I really enjoyed assembling each figure with the help of my son and these figures can be really fun to pose with Star Wars and G.I.Joes, both of which are in the same scale.

These oversea imports are sold through websites that specialize in Japanese and anime collectibles, but are rather hard to come by these days. The complete set with Alien Queen is currently selling for a little over $100. I highly recommend these action figures to all Alien and Predator collectors who don’t mind paying a little extra or hunting them down.

Visit the link below for even more images of this warring duo.

Review by Jorge Pelaez and Jeff Saylor

Images by Jorge Pelaez and Jeff Saylor

Review Samples Courtesy of Hot Toys