Predaking
(Cryofire) [Target Exclusive]
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to the original Prime 2013 voyager Predaking. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of the original Prime 2013 voyager Predaking figure here.)
Predaking here does what
Hasbro does with many leader dragon figures when they need a repaint; they
make it an ice dragon! Cryofire Predaking's color scheme is highly reminscient
of Cryo Scourge and Cryotek's,
with a good mix of a dark, bluish purple and various shades of blue and
black. The purple is my favorite, though, as it's a very eye-catching shade
of the color and complements the blue, all while still providing something
a bit different than just more blue. The actual shades of blue themselves
are a dark, semi-watery shade (used on plastic) and a light, sky- or ice-toned
shade (all paint). Both of these colors complement and contrast against
each other exceedingly well, and of course fit the "ice" theme of this
redeco to a tee. There's also a fair amount of bluish black and milky gray
used, mostly for robot mode-- they help to establish a more neutral color
for the other shades to work off of, and generally look quite good in the
amounts they're used. I'm especially surprised I'm saying this about the
gray, but it's of that semi-metallic, milky shade that almost looks like
it's painted-- I wish pretty much any time a TF used gray, it was this
color. Altogether, this is a great color scheme, but the paint apps are
what really make it striking. There's tons of "fade" paint apps on Cryofire
Predaking, from the silver fade on the wings, tail, and smaller dragon
heads, as well as the light blue fade on part of the tail. Having the Predacon
symbols on Predaking's wings painted in that icy blue was also a really
nice, eye-catching choice, and the light blue also goes well with the black
on the robot feet. There's also a fair amount of paint picking out Predaking's
dragon head-- painting the eyebrows and some of the rear headcrests silver
helps add some contrast to all that molded-in detail, though his robot
head only gets a silver face. The metallic gold eyes look quite good, though,
to the point where I wish it was used just a tad more. On one final note,
Predaking has some cool Cybertronian-like details painted in a nice bluish
off-white on his front legs/arms, which is a cool little pattern.
No mold changes have
been made to Cryofire Predaking, though the missiles on mine seem to be
on more of hair trigger than on my original version. I'm not sure how widespread
this is.
Cryofire Predaking is
an utterly fantastic redeco. Is the general theme predictable? Certainly,
but that doesn't make it any less eye-catching. The combination of purple,
black, light and dark blue, and a bit of gray really go together extremely
well, and the "fade" spray paint apps on the tail and wings look utterly
amazing. My personal favorite color scheme Prime Predaking's gotten, and
highly recommended particularly if you don't have the original version.
(That said, with how much bendy plastic this mold has I still worry about
warping over the long-term.)
Review by Beastbot