Sideshow Star Wars Infantry Battle Droid Two Pack

I'm a big fan of the Star Wars Clone Wars animated series, as well as a fan of Star Wars in general.  While there have been some hits and misses with Star Wars 1/6 products over the years, Sideshow Collectibles has been doing a very good job with their Clone Wars action figures recently. 

Released the second week of January as part of their "Militaries of Star Wars" 1/6 action figure line, these Infantry Battle Droids are a surprisingly well-engineered product with over 20 points of articulation including telescoping necks, legs that swivel at the hip joint, and gripping fingers.

Nice box captures actual poses possible with these figures.

As with many SSC 1/6 scale toys, the packaging includes a magnetized flap.

The two droids are even able to replicate their "shutdown" state, all folded up when you first open the package.

I was able to secure the "EX" version with an extra backpack screen-printed with the number 1138, of course a reference to George Lucas' first film as a director.

They come with a pair of blasters and removable backpacks.

Overall, they're a pretty cool addition to any Clone Wars fan's shelf.

The only issues I have with these are the backpacks, which don't have a locking anchor point and thus are prone to falling off, and the stiffness at certain moving joints.  The latter may be attributed to the final process where paint may have dried into the moving parts, or else a general production side effect of plastics just being tight due to their newness.  It can make your first attempts at posing a bit nerve wracking as it can feel like putting too much pressure will break the plastic parts.  Just take your time when first handling, and you should be fine.

I'm pretty happy with these, and glad I was able to pick them up.  The price might seem a bit high, even for a two-in-one set, but considering these are all new molds and tooling, then it seems to be about in line for the R&D and production of a brand new, licensed product.

Halt!

I'm not sure if these are TV/film accurate--the neck seems a bit short.  Roger roger!

Hot Toys MMS 156 Captain America, The First Avenger

Marvel Studios has done a largely successful job of building up hype for it's upcoming Avengers movie this Summer.  Starting with the wildly popular Iron Man 1 and 2, and then moving on to Thor, and Captain America.  Admittedly, I based my initial reactions to the Thor and CA films on their trailers and felt that the CA trailer "looked" like it would be a better movie than Thor.  I was wrong!  I ended up enjoying the humor and earnest fantasy of Thor over the more pedestrian Captain America.  Still, each were good movies in their own way, and I couldn't pass up a chance at Hot Toys' version of the Captain America action figure.

Unfortunately, like the film, while this figure looked good on the surface, it has some issues that prevent it from being the true blockbuster it could have been.  The main problem, IMO is the lack of articulation caused by the heavy, albeit well-designed costume.  The prototype photos show the Captain in a number of interesting, and somewhat dynamic poses, but in reality, it is very hard to get the correct range of motion in the arms and legs to really accomplish them.  Granted, it is ultimately possible, however, it is generally just too difficult for all but the most patient figure collector to mess around with.

The shield is amazing and real metal as well, but a pain to get properly set in the hands.

Everything else is standard Hot Toys: unreal paint apps, fine tailoring, high quality materials, and that extra attention to details that make these more than just "toys".  Ultimately, whether I can recommend this figure to you will depend on how much you enjoyed the movie or appreciate the character as it appeared in that movie, especially given the price. 

Hot Toys' shoebox style packaging. Includes blister on the inside of the top cover, full color printed insert inside, and main figure with accessories in the lower box.

Shield and gun--metal, pleather, and other materials.

Well packed in vacuum-formed tray.

If he looks stiff, that's because...he is.  :p

The helmet is sculpted as part of the whole head.  Really amazing how well the paint job is.

The shield looks wonderful, but is a surprising pain in the rear to get on there.

Soldier Story Felgendarmerie Des Heers 1945

I try to stick primarily to Hot Toys and Modern Military figures to keep my collection under control.

However, once in a while I'll see a figure that tickles my fancy for whatever reason, and I just decide to go ahead and pick it up.  Such is the case for the Felgendarmerie, or German military police, figure from Soldier Story.  While I don't much care for what these units did, especially during the time this figure is supposedly fashioned after, it's an interesting and notable theme if you have any interest in WWII military history.  The figure comes with the metal gorget that earned these enforcement officers the nickname "chained dogs".

While the set itself does not include too many parts and accessories compared to a Soldier Story modern kit, what is there is generally the same higher-end quality of materials and worksmanship the company tends to adhere to.  The paint job on the head sculpt is well done, although almost ironically, it seems to be a passive version of the head Soldier Story used for their Panzergrenadier Wiking version (which you may remember sported a unique open-mouthed expression).

Overall, I like this set, but at around $95 or so MSRP, it's kind of pricey for what you get.

A rather "srs" bit of box art, methinks.  Note the blood at the top right.  :p

You get a couple different looks with the helmet and field pack.

Aw, only one blister pack for accessories.  :(

Yeah, this is pretty much all you get.  I guess I'm spoiled by DID and SS modern sets.

He looks dignified despite some of the duties they carried out.

I dunno why, but I like him better with the cap than the helmet.

A passive face for someone even his countrymen's own soldiers feared.

Enterbay RM-5 (Shek Kien)

I hadn't really planned on it, but I decided to try out the new RM-5 body from Enterbay.  The main draw for me was not the new rubber torso, or design of the body itself, but (as with many of my Enterbay interests) the head sculpt.  The likeness is of Chinese actor Shek Kien as he appeared in the movie Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee.  Shek's character Han puts together a martial arts tournament gathering all the world's best fighting masters in what would be the basis of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and most other video game fighters.

The base figure set from Enterbay is just odd-looking to me.  I'm not sure what it is, but it has a strange, hunched-over gait that just doesn't seem to work with the head and the way the eyes are painted looking off to one side.

Does this look normal to you?

How about this?

Sexy and I know it!

Sorry, there is just something about this figure that results in immediate stupidity when posing.

While the figure is capable of a number of interesting poses thanks to the 30+ points of articulation, my copy seemed to have a loose or slightly floppy torso spring.  It's not too bad, but I do wonder how long it will last if I mess around with it too much.  The joints have a solid design with generous range of motion for the arms, knees, and even ankles.    The ankles are similar to the wrist pegs in that they are hinged on the top end and ball jointed on the bottom, as opposed to a double ball-jointed design, but they work well for most poses and have no problem holding the figure up on my copy.

Since I purchased the figure with the RM-4.2, Enterbay threw in a free "Kung Fu" suit.  While I'm happy for any freebies, the suit is really cheap.  The stitching around the collar was very poor and frayed badly out of the box, and the material feels flimsy overall.  The shoes and socks are very good, and the string loops that fasten the top of the suit together are very strong, however.

Horse stance?  No problem.

Ohara!  You fool!

Chinese boxing?

The figure may have been rushed to market, because there are some paint flaws.  The worst one on mine is on the head--a nice black line that cannot be explained away as an errant "hair" on the character's head.

Aw man, a bit of a drip or something here.  :(

All in all, the RM-5 came out to $54 shipped--about the same price as a Hot Toys muscle body.  I added an additional $44 shipped for the RM4.2 to get the Kung Fu suit free.  I would say that if you could only buy one, get the Hot Toys muscle body.  You can get the set for $55 shipped from Sideshow Collectibles, and it will be better quality and have a more standard gait for your 1/6 kitbashes.

Crazy Dummy Ranger Gunner in Afghanistan

Today, I'm featuring Crazy Dummy's US Army Ranger Gunner.  This figure sports CD's MK46 Mod0 LMG and comes complete with Gen2 Multicam, RLCS gear, MICH2000 helmet w/PVS-15 night vision, and an original, new head sculpt.  Not sure who this guy is supposed to resemble, but it's nice to see a non-caucasian in the mix this time around.

As with CD's first SEAL set, this SAW figure has a ton of gear and details, most of it pretty well done, IMO.  One of these details is one that you can't really see--underneath the BDUs is a "bulk suit", designed to make the figure appear more muscular.  While I understand the aesthetics behind this decision, I'm not as fond of the execution.  Ultimately, the padded suit makes it harder to dress the figure and restricts the articulation in the upper body enough where it's more of a hinderance than anything else.  I was pondering removing the suit altogether, but decided to just leave it as is for now.

He certainly looks big enough to tote that LMG.

This is one my first gunners.

I dunno about the general looks of this guy, but he seems determined--it's a good expression for a military figure.

Soldier Story 1st Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment

Don't have much to say about this one.  Overall it's a great figure, but there are few oddities that I decided to address.  One, the guy sports a goatee--something a real ranger wouldn't do.  Second, the metal alice harness and rabbit extractor is nice, but a bit too heavy and ultimately not something I really wanted to use on the figure.

So, away went the Edward Norton "American History X" head, and in came the Soldier Story marine in Tarawa to take its place.

Also left behind was the extractor set and here is the result:

Oops, I forgot to attach the drop down holster, lol.

I have to say, even with molded boots, he looks ready to go.

Just like the Toys City Marksman Overwatch dude, the Soldier Story Ranger helmet features little bungies to secure the NVG.

Femme Fig Photoshoot of the Day

Happy New Year everyone!  I recently came across a Cy Girls AJ.  These Cy Girl figures are very well done.  I regret missing out on them when they were in production.  Fantastic pose-ability, nice headsculpts with good paint apps, and good costumes and gear.  Perhaps the only issue is that the actual sculpts are reused across multiple figures (with different combinations of makeup and hair implantations).

Anyhoo, here's my take on AJ!