Goonhammer has long had a love affair with tanks. We love tanks of all sizes, from the cutest little
Legions Imperialis tanks to
Rogal Dorns to the mighty
Astraeus Super Heavy Tank. There's nothing more than we love than a
BIG TANK.
But hear me out, dear reader. What if there was a BIGGEST TANK? Something that you could probably shove a Fellblade inside of it (1). Well, Joytoy decided to answer this question in a way that is fun and surprisingly cheap: the Blood Angels Predator Annihilator.
Credit: Kevin Stillman
So how is this big boy? Let's find out.
Packaging
The exterior package is the usual Joytoy box, with a big color photo of the figure on the front and pictures of the various parts of the model on the back. This isn't anything spectacular, but it also isn't anything bad. If you wanted to dump this particular packaging, I don't think anything of major value would be lost.
The Interior packaging is a pair of vacuum-formed trays holding the Predator secure in there. Getting the toy out of the box was not a problem, with most everything being pretty easy to get out of its internal packaging and onto the figure. The only issue was that some of the parts were wedged into an internal platform.
Assembly
Assembling the Predator is not all that difficult. The model has the Turret separate from the chassis, and the sponsons left off the chassis. Getting the Sponsons onto the hinges is a bit tricky, because you cannot see where the hinge is located. I was relatively gentle and everything attached cleanly. The turret is a tight fit and again, being gentle here is the key to make sure the thing goes on safely. All that being said, assembly takes five minutes. The only part that was annoying was an internal elevator connecting the turret: It doesn't want to stay in the shaft, and it can slide out if not assembled right. But we will discuss this later.
Sculpt
It's huge. It's a pretty faithful recreation of the 40K Predator Annihilator. The sponsons on the Joytoy, being designed in 2024-2025, are far more stable than the ones on the actual model. The model has a fully-sculpted interior cabin within the chassis, with benches for models to sit and a seat for the driver. I was able to fit a Blood Angels Intercessor into the driver's seat, but I don't think that he would fit on the benches: there's just not enough space.
Credit: Kevin Stillman
Credit: Kevin Stillman
I do not have any Firstborn Blood Angels (or Ultramarines that don't have a picklehauben or a giant standard) to try and fit there, however. But this is in keeping with the current rules of the Rhino chassis, which only allows Firstborn Marines to ride.
Where I think the model has some issues is baked in with the Predator in general: There's a central shaft that mounts the turret, and there's room and an attachable platform for a Marine to stand on and presumably command the Tank. However, the central shaft of the Predator does not line up with the top hatch on the turret. Though thinking about it now, this may just be the gunner's platform. The commander's hatch can also fit a Firstborn or a tacticus Intercessor, but you would need to bend the figure's knees to have it fit. The only action figures that really fit were a BST Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Donatello and a Black Series R2-D2.
R2-D2 may be blue, but he's apparently a loyal Son of Sanguinius. Credit: Kevin Stillman
Paint
The Predator has pretty good paint operations: Not a fully 'Eavy Metal style paint job, but this model does have fades and weathering that looks pretty good. The model does not, however, tend to go above-and-beyond with the paint operations. For example, there's no heat weathering on the lascannons and the lenses are all a single color. There is no object source lighting on the model. The decals are pretty well applied and give it the character of a Blood Angels model.
Credit: Kevin Stillman
The interior also has a fair amount of deco: the cockpit (as seen above) has paint applications on the controls and screens, as does the gunnery turret. The rear hatch has multiple colors.
Credit: Kevin Stillman
Accessories
This is where I think this model begins to have it's biggest problem: While it does not necessarily need any figures to go inside it in the crew compartment, I do not understand why you would purchase an action figure vehicle and not have as many crew members for it as you could fit. Furthermore, there aren't a whole lot of Blood Angels figures that really fit in here: while the Mark VI Blood Angel and the Intercessor Blood Angel are available (and indeed, I put the intercessor in mine!), there aren't a bunch of figures modeled on the old Blood Angels Tactical Squad currently on sale. They were released several years ago, and now command a high price on the secondary market.
Final Verdict
I don't have the room for this model. I knew that when I bought it. I still have not found a permanent place for my House Teyrn Knight. But this tank was surprisingly cheap, only $210 US dollars. For a toy with this amount of playability and deco, that's not a bad deal. The only issue with it is that getting some pilots is another $40-$50 on top of it. If Joytoy had re-released it's original Blood Angels Intercessors (which were based on the old Blood Angels Tactical Squad), this would definitely expand the play possibilities. I also wish this model had an enemy tank or monsters in which to fight it, besides Angron. Preferably something big and maybe, I don't know, Death Guardy?
Hey, what's this other big box from Joytoy...
Legions Imperialis Predator vs. Joytoy Predator. Credit: Kevin Stillman
(1) I did not try this.
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Goonhammer Reviews: Joytoy x Warhammer 40K Blood Angels Predator Annihilator
