Review – Terminator Salvation Hunter-Killer with T-700

Manufacturer: Playmates * Year: 2009 * Ages: 4+

The Playmates Terminator Salvation 3.75-inch series is kinda hit and miss, with the T-700 (reviewed here) and T-R.I.P. (reviewed here) turning out neat and the human figures and the T-600 (warning here) not looking so good.

Well, in addition to the carded figures Playmates also gave us a boxed Hunter-Killer (priced at about $20 at Target). Fortunately, this Hunter-Killer toy turned out great.

Let’s take it outside and play with it.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

Packaging

Get ready for the twist ties and rubber bands, folks. Window boxes sure look nice on shelves — and this one comes with more than its fair share of twist ties and rubber bands in order to secure the Hunter-Killer and T-700 exactly where the packaging designer decided they would look best in the box. It’s annoying to release the toys from the package, but we’re all used to this nonsense by now.

In terms of graphics, the Hunter-Killer box follows the same basic design as the carded figures, with the only significant difference the fact that the back of the Hunter-Killer box doesn’t show the other releases in the series but, instead, highlights the features of the Hunter-Killer toy. It’s an okay box, but it’s not such a glorious work of graphic design that you’ll feel bad as you toss the box in the trash.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

The Hunter-Killer Toy

About twelve-inches wide with a seven-inch wingspan, the Hunter-Killer is a big toy ship that follows the design of the vehicle as seen in Terminator Salvation, even if it isn’t actually the correct scale. It’s not an uncommon flaw with toys based on movies — consider how many Star Wars toy vehicles are grossly undersized compared to how they appeared in the films — and it’s not a serious issue with this toy since there’s no cockpit for pilots.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

The sculpting on the Hunter-Killer is fantastic, following the movie design quite closely and really showing off the dangerous, predator-like lines of the vehicle. Looking closely at the Hunter-Killer toy makes me think this was a computer-designed piece — not hand-sculpted — because every edge is looks sharp and the amount of detail in the surface texture would have been better achieved with a computer than having someone sit with a lump of clay and carve all afternoon.

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Click to enlarge the image.


And as for paint applications, you can forget it. The Hunter-Killer is cast in a dark gray plastic and the only paint I can find is around the engine exhaust. Everything else on the toy is that same plastic color; this helps it to look like the design in the movie and had to have made constructing this toy cheaper. After all, just think how much time and money was saved by not painting every detail on the ship.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

Features

The Hunter-Killer has a few specific play features that, while not spectacular, do prove that the Playmates staff knew they were designing a toy.

First up is the retractable landing gear. The shot below, showing the HK from behind, shows the rear landing gear extended. The ship balances quite nicely on these — and on the one pad in the front that can be raised or lowered — which makes displaying your HK on a shelf very easy.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

The HK also has spring-loaded missiles — shown below — that are fairly strong. It’s your typical spring-loaded missile feature where you load the missile and then press the button. It’s basic, but fun, and the designers did a good job of blending the firing button into the vehicle’s sculpt (you can see the button in the below photo).

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

The two guns on the front of the HK swivel left and right, but by hand and not through any sort of mechanical feature. Still, it’s a nice touch.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

Another feature, shown in the next two photos, is the concealed compartment for carrying the T-700 action figure. The compartment sticks a little, and can only be opened easily by tugging on the front landing gear, so you’ll want to be careful opening it too many times. This is a neat feature, but the design has issues since every time I open the compartment it feels like it’s about to break.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

The T-700 fits neatly inside this compartment, with the figure snapping into place and staying in position without trouble, even through the roughest of flight.

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Click to enlarge the image.


The Hunter-Killer’s last play feature is the wheel on the top of the ship — shown in the photo below — that is used to rotate the wing assembly pieces. My only complaint with this feature is that the wheel is in a difficult place to reach when you’re holding the ship; it would have been better if Playmates had figured out a way to control this feature from a switch or level located on the vehicle’s tail piece.

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

This is a Cool Toy!

The Terminator Salvation Hunter-Killer, despite being a solid chunk of (nearly) unpainted plastic with only a few simple features, is a very fun toy. It’s a robotic gunship, complete with an action figure and a place to carry him, and looks great in any 3.75-inch action figure collection. The spring-loaded missiles make it fun to use to attack other toys, while the vehicle’s design is one of the coolest in the new movie. (The only robot design that’s even better than this has to be the Moto-Terminators, though there’s no 3.75-inch scale Moto-Terminator toy which leaves me settling for the 7-11 desktop toy (reviewed here) and hoping Playmates gives me an awesome Moto-Terminator toy.)

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

The photo above (and the one below) shows the Hunter-Killer moving in on some of my Masters of the Universe Classics action figures (in fact, all of my Masters of the Universe Classics action figures) and Castle Grayskull. These toys sure don’t know anything about sticking within their own lines, do they?

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Click to expand the photo in a new window.

Includes T-700!

It’s nice that Playmates tossed in a T-700 with the Hunter-Killer, since that gives the robotic vehicle some ground support (and a robot to ride around inside the underside compartment). This T-700 is almost identical to the single-carded T-700 I picked up last month (review here), with the only difference being that one of the legs on this new one is in better shape than the carded figure.

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Click to enlarge the image.


In my Captain Power Lord Dread review (found here), I wrote:

“(I wonder what my T-700 would look like with this cape . . . )”

Monsterforge responded in the comments with:

“… we’re waiting, Phil… patiently…”

And that comment led to . . .

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Click to enlarge the image.

Closing Thoughts

There’s not much more to say. The Terminator Salvation Hunter-Killer has a great look, a few fun features, and feels like a solid toy. I wouldn’t throw it across the yard, but I’m also not worried that accidentally dropping it is going to leave me with a twisted mess of plastic.

The 3.75-inch scale vehicle should fit well with any 3.75-inch collection, and any Terminator collector is going to want one of these on his shelf. And $20 is a good price for this, especially when you keep in mind that the T-700 alone sells for $7.


Search for Terminator Salvation 3.75-inch action figures at Amazon.com!

Order Terminator Salvation 3 3/4-Inch Action Figures Case from Entertainment Earth!


Philip Reed is happy that he grabbed the Hunter Killer and is going to keep an eye on them. If these go on clearance and drop to $10 or less he’s going to grab a second one. Very cool toy.

3 thoughts on “Review – Terminator Salvation Hunter-Killer with T-700

  1. Thanks for the review. I still have not picked up any terminator figures, I’m on the fence due to the lack of some PsOA that I consider key.
    Your new theme week is coming at a perfect time for me, though. I have been on a bit of a robot kick lately and am excited to see what this week will bring.

  2. DO WANT!!!! Clearance on movie toys, I am waiting on ya!

    BTW, thanks for the caped terminator pic… it’s everything I hoped for and much, much more!

  3. Thx for your review, I’ve bought my own HK after I read your review. BTW, I’m not sure can you notice that, the T-700 that comes with the HK is actually formed with T-700’s upper body and T-RIP’s lower body, that’s why its legs are better than the 1st T-700 you’ve got.

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