Wednesday, May 30, 2012

TTL "Baby" Female PMC

Let's be honest here.  Most female 1/6 action figures on the market today come in two varieties: character-based themes that are based on films or other media, and decidedly male-oriented fantasy/fetish figures where the figure has revealing, BDSM-themed, or otherwise "stripper-ish" clothing.

Luckily, TTL has seen fit to release some sets that kind of fall outside those categories.

Today, I'm lightly reviewing the "Baby" female PMC set.  PMCs, or private military contractors are professional soldiers for hire and have become an important part of modern military and defense support around the world.

TTL's female PMC features a long-sleeved turtleneck, tactical harness, jeans, ballcap, goggles, weapons, and, for whatever bizarro reason, a creature-hoodie (in this case it looks like a polar bear).

Cutsey jacket aside, Baby is a pretty straight shooter who appears ready to handle herself in sticky situations.

While it's a nice-looking and welcome change of pace for a female figure, I do have a couple of problems with this set.  My biggest peeve is with the chest rig.  This thing is horrible.  The molle is sewn poorly and is really difficult to loop the pouches to.  The next issue is the boots.  The silver color just looks comical and wrong compared to the rest of the outfit.  I could paint it a better color, but why do I need to do this in the first place?

Despite the complaints, I like the figure overall.  TTL's bodies are well-articulated and the headsculpt is one of the better ones they've done in recent years.  I also appreciate a design that isn't aimed squarely at 14 year old boys who have no experience with real women beyond their mothers.

From this pic, you can see that the head may be a bit small and the hands too big for the base body.
A good head sculpt with solid paint apps highlights this figure.

It's nice to have a fighting female in the mix once and a while.

Unfortunately the chest rig is crap and the boots look hideous.  :p

DAM 75th Ranger 1993 Somalia Grenadier

I actually passed over this figure initially despite wanting to continue collecting DAM/VTS's Black Hawk Down tribute line.  The reason for this was that I ended up with two copies of the Matt Eversmann Team Leader set due to a miscommunication with someone I was trading with on an action figure forum.

After unsuccessfully trying to get rid of the extra copy, I decided to just keep the set and pick up the loose parts necessary to complete the Grenadier version.  Luckily, I was able to secure the head, vest, and weapon for a good price and quickly went about slapping it together.  

I'm happy with the result, as it's only a bit off from getting the actual set.

In a way, it's kind of sad that the primary differences are just a few key parts, but I still love it.

No real problems with this set.  DAM has been reported to have some QC issues with their stuff, but I was lucky to have had things as they were intended to be.

Can't wait for more BHD from DAM!