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The year is 1987. A terrifying alien creature, its entire way of life built around being the ultimate hunters, stalks and kills a team of the world’s greatest mercenaries. Heads explode, bodies are flayed and left hanging from trees, and a man’s skull and spine are ripped from his just-dead body. And multiple companies decided this would make a perfect children’s toy.
Predator first came to the toy aisle in 1994 courtesy of Kenner, complementing their just-as-odd Aliens toyline. The Kenner figures are famed among collectors for the liberties they took with the license, focusing on new, toyetic character designs. When Galoob acquired the Alien and Predator licenses for their Micro Machines line in 1996, they took a different approach: movie-accurate vehicles, micro-figures, and even playsets – including this absolutely horrifying Alien set that recreates the chest-burster scene from the first film. Understandably, the line was short-lived, making these sets among the most collectible Micro Machines produced. This week, Heritage is auctioning a near-complete set, including the ultra-rare Predator playset.
The History of Micro Machines – And Why They Thought Predator Toys Were a Good Idea
Galoob began producing Micro Machines in 1987, revolutionizing the well-established toy car market segment by reducing their scale. This meant Micro Machines could offer a competitive price point, and better yet, could offer elaborate playsets in scale with their vehicles. They also began manufacturing micro-figures, which, while not in true scale with the vehicles, could interact with the playsets.
The line expanded into licensed properties in 1994 with Star Trek and Star Wars, which were massive hits for Galoob. The world of both franchises was perfectly suited to Micro Machines, full of iconic vehicles and playset-ready locations. The Star Wars line was the runaway hit, spawning dozens of inventive playsets, vehicles, and micro-figure sets.
After their success with Star Wars, Galoob began looking for other popular properties to license. This began with logical choices like James Bond and the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, franchises that placed a heavy emphasis on ships and vehicles (if you count Zords as vehicles). As Galoob exhausted these logical choices, they experimented with popular properties, if not exactly tailored to the Micro Machines format.
Micro Machines’ Predator Figures & Vehicles
Micro Machines only produced five items for their Predator line before succumbing to the usual pressures faced by kid-geared Alien and Predator lines of poor sales and pressure from parents’ groups. The Micro Machines had a third factor working against them, unique to the line: Micro Machines is focused on vehicles, and the Predator franchise isn’t exactly replete with them. Sure, the titular Predator has a cool-looking ship, but otherwise, Galoob was pushing generic army vehicles packaged with Predator minifigures.
Three “Predator Collections” were sold, each consisting of two vehicles and three micro-figures. The first included Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Blaine (Jesse Ventura), a cloaked Predator, a “Guerrilla Troop Truck,” and a black helicopter. In a missed opportunity by Galoob, the helicopter was somehow not marketed as “Da Choppa.” The second collection was Carl Weathers’ Dillon and Sonny Landham’s Billy, another Predator, another helicopter, and a 4×4. The third and final consisted of a “thermal vision” Dutch, Anna (Elpidia Carillo), a third Predator, the Predator ship, and another Guerilla truck.
A larger-scale Predator ship was also offered for the “Action Fleet” line, scaled up so that it included two (reused) Predator micro-figures that could fit inside its cockpit. This is the rarest item in the line, seeing only extremely limited production at the end of the line’s run in 1997.
A Closer Look At the Coolest Micro Machines Predator Toy
The coolest and most sought-after Galoob Predator item was the “Transforming Action Set.” The Transforming Action Set’s design is akin to a Polly Pocket playset, a common style of toy seen across licenses and manufacturers throughout the nineties. The exterior of the playset is modeled after a masked Predator’s head and can be opened up to reveal a microfigure-scale environment within, depicting the guerrilla camp seen in the film.
The back of the playset stands, while the front side is meant to lie (relatively) flat, creating two different play zones. The flat section includes several scene-specific action features, including a push-button set of barrels that simulate an explosion by triggering a mechanism that launches a figure into the air. There’s another push-button trigger that, when a vehicle is placed on it, launches the vehicle into a collapsible wall, recalling a moment where Dutch sends an explosive-laden truck careening into a building.
The standing side of the set depicts the edge of camp and the jungle beyond, and incorporates the lurking, watching Predator with an awesome hidden detail. This side includes a trap-door opening foxhole, a swinging tree branch, and a “headquarters with collapsible roof.” In the upper left-hand corner, behind the swinging branch, a holographic sticker depicts the cloaked Predator, watching the attack on the camp as it does in the movie. When the playset is moved the right way, the cloaked Predator’s silhouette disappears, becoming truly invisible.
Why The Micro Machines Alien and Predator Toys Are More Popular Now Than Ever
There are few franchises with a fanbase of collectors as diehard as Alien and Predator. While the Micro Machines figures were poor sellers at the time, the thirty years since they came and went from store shelves have coupled with low production runs to make them highly collectible.
Though fans have been spoiled with myriad toy lines based on the franchises, the emphasis on vehicles and playsets makes the Micro Machines unique. That’s why carded samples of the figures and vehicle sets are worth seventy-five to a hundred dollars apiece, and why the Transforming Action Set is worth hundreds – if you can even find one for sale. Heritage’s lot includes all three “Predator Collection” sets and the Action Set, making it the best chance collectors might see in years to put these oddities at the center of their Predator display.
Did you know about these Predator Micro Machines? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the Forum!
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