Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I am EXTREMELY excited to announce the release of a GORGEOUS new prop collectible that is being released by Hollywood Collectibles Group! This is a full dead-on replica of a screen-used P1 bio helmet used in Predator 1 and it comes mounted on an awesome wall mount display complete with foam dreads and cannon cast from the original mold. Now if you’re already drooling and want to check this out, head over to www.hollywood-collectibles.com. For an inside look on this gorgeous new piece, read on!

First off, let’s look at the price… this is a high end collectible, no question on that and it rings in at a cool $999.95 USD. Now many are saying this is way too high, but I disagree based on past product. Many of you know about the Icons P1 Bio piece, which consisted of a nice P1 style bio (that was NOT cast from an original) and a cool looking base holder you could mount on the wall. Well, for anyone that knows their props, this piece now sells for $1000 USD or more any time one shows up on eBay or on a sales forum or something. HCG is offering you something at that same price point, but this time completely screen accurate and MILES above the icons piece in terms of craftsmanship and overall “what you’re getting”. The price is up there, but worth every penny if the final product looks as good as the prototype.

Next up, there’s been some talk about the accuracy of this piece, and if it’s truly screen accurate. Well, I’ve done my homework and contacted HCG management and expressed some concerns I had. Let’s look at it in detail…

Now then, the items in question were the temple piece with 2 holes instead of 3, the non ribbing part at the extra spines on the jaw-line connector.

This was posted by member ICE over the The Hunters Lair:

So naturally when paying this kind of price, one would be very concerned about accuracy… after all, if this is cast from the real deal, why isn’t it dead on accurate?! Well guys, good question, and I have been looking in it this week. I semi-grilled my new friend Mark from HCG and he went directly to John Rosengrant at SWS for the answers. So here’s the deal:

First off, let’s talk about what is from the original molds and what is cast from existing pieces:

- The following items on this piece are castings from the ORIGINAL MOLDS: Armor, Dreads and Cannon
- The bio itself is made from a mold that was cast from the last surviving bio from the filming.

Let’s address the first issue… why doesn’t the bio look exactly like the closeup shots we’ve all seen? It’s because there were several bios used in the film, and they weren’t identical. Here is a photo of the last surviving bio from filming Predator, which currently sits in John Rosengrant’s office:

You can clearly see it does not have a ribbed temple piece and there are only 2 hose holes, not 3 like the other mask we’ve seen in behind the scenes stuff. This is the bio that was used to create the mold for the replicas.

Next issue… why does the cannon look different that in the movie? The cannon in the replica is fresh from the mold and not damaged in any way. The original used in the movie came from this exact mold, but was accidentally blown up and damaged by the effects guys on location and had to rebuilt and repair the cannon using whatever junk they could find on-site.

Also, bear in mind the back half of the cannon is cut off so it mounts flush to the wall (This is a wall hanging piece, not a full bust). Here’s a better look at the detailing of the cannon on the replica sent to me by Mark:

Also, here is some inside information offered directly from John at Stan Winston Studios:

The helmet that is the basis of the replica is a real helmet from the film. Knowing how crazy it was to create the helmets, suits, heads, and guns etc. there were differences. To give an example, the Pred’s gun that was extensively photographed prior to Mexico and early in the shooting differs from the final shots in the movie as the effects guys blew the gun apart by accident and it was rebuilt on the spot with whatever was on hand - stuff happens. This helmet, the only original one that still exists to my knowledge (unless someone has a stolen one) sits in my office and is the one we took a mold off. Is it different than the one in the photo - yes, but it is an original.

All the best,

John

So for those of you that were wondering about this, that’s what I was able to come up with over the last week

So now this question: DESPITE this bio coming directly from a screen-used original, do you think it should be modified to look like the one we’re used to seeing in closeups or should it stay true to the original from which it was cast?

Booya!

Ready to order one of you’re own? You can pre-order this item immediately by visiting www.hollywood-collectibles.com and I am told we should see it ship in 3 or 4 months from now. You can also visit our gallery to see all the pics I have of this piece by clicking on the photo icon below:

Enjoy and please feel free to use the form below to leave a comment!

Dan