|
Jeff Parker checks in tonight
with another of his exceptional Hot Toys reviews - take it away, Jeff!
I recently got hold of my first Hot Toys (HT) Modern Military (MM)
figure, the 75th Ranger,
I have to admit to liking it a lot.
And so I decided that with me being a ‘limey’ and also coupled with the
fact HT had just announced the release of their newest MM were to be
two British figures from the Blues and Royals regiment (B&R),
it seemed like a sign… well I chose to read it that way…what are ya
gonna do?
The Blues and Royals are actually a pretty modern regiment, only formed
in 1969, they were born of much older and historical stock however by
merging the Royal Horse Guards (the Oxford Blues) and the Royal
Dragoons (the Royals), and as both these were cavalry regiments, the
newly formed Blues and Royals are also technically the same.
Many tourists or fans of military
displays and Tattoos (don’t show your ignorance… no I do not
mean the type you get inked on your arm!) will be familiar with this
regiment, as they will have seen them at the Trooping the Colour and
various other events, in their ornate ceremonial outfits. These guys
are the ones dressed in blue (the clues in the title) where as the
Royal Lifeguard are in scarlet (see, George Lucas hasn’t got an
original idea in his head!).
In fact when I was young I even had an old Action Man (GI Joe) that
came in the ceremonial
outfit and you could also get the Royal
Lifeguard.
But back to the matter at hand, these are two figures of soldiers
serving in the field that are intended to represent how British troops
from this regiment look today serving in Afghanistan, it has been
hinted by some that they have a certain regal likeness, but I couldn’t
possibly comment. I’ve already said before that I am no expert on
militaria or modern firearms, but these still look like another couple
of cracking good figures to me.
Packaging: ****
Although obviously bearing different photos, this is in its layout the
same as the box I reviewed for the 75th ranger. So it’s a 5-panel flap
fronted pack, with the weapons and some accessories housed in a tray
fixed to the flap on the left, and the figure with his helmet and
clothing in the deeper tray on the right. However, like last time there
are no instructions included, so if like me you just want to make it
look like it does on the packaging, then that’s where these boxes come
into their own as they carry a wealth of images from many angles with
lots of close-ups and detail shots. If however you are more of a
military expert, then you can construct it however you see fit, and use
the box merely as a starting point, but from a general design and
utility angle it’s an attractive box that protects the figure very well.
Sculpt: ****
As I hinted above these do have a passing likeness to a couple of high
profile members of a certain ‘privileged’ family with many connections
to the British military. But they are ‘actually’ intended just to
represent a couple of generic soldiers and as such these are both very
strong and life like.
There is also a lot of work on
other elements like the boots, gloves and accessories, but I’ll cover
those in the relevant sections. Both the faces are natural with just
the right expression, kind of steely and determined rather than too
passive or indeed aggressive, top job on both.
Paint: ****
The faces both have nice clean
and very natural apps, lovely tight work on the eyes, mouths and hair.
The boots, gloves and accessories also have many bits picked out in
different colours and have weathering as well, all carried out to the
highest standards. I was especially impressed with the work on the Tank
Commanders hair, which is very convincing. There also seems to be some
washes applies to the clothing in places, this works well in adding a
layer of grime from operating in the field, but I’m sure once some
customisers get to work, they will look even better!
Articulation: ***1/2
Underneath their uniforms and kit they both have the classic True-Type
(TT) body reviewed here,
and like the 75th Ranger they only suffer very slightly from
restrictions from the clothing and kit. Again thy have boots that fit
directly onto the ankle peg but a set of feet are also included in case
you want to swap footware. So to sum up a great base body that poses
beautifully and suffers no more than you or I would wearing this amount
of gear.
Accessories: ****
As is always the case with modern military figures they come packing a
serious amount of equipment.
The Tank Commander has-
- Tanker Helmet
- Hydration Pack
- Crewgard Headset
- Goggles
- Sunglasses
- Smoke Grenade w/ Pouch
- Fragmentation Grenade
- Admin Pouch
- Drop Leg Pouch
- Holster
- Light-sticks
- Flashlight
- Watch
- Tactical Gloves
- Patches
- Ballistic Hard Plates
- Gurkha Knife
- 2 x M9 pistols, one with lanyard.
- L85A2
and the Lieutenant has-
- MK6 Helmet w/ Cover
- Tactical Headset
- Personal Role Radio (PRR)
- Radio Pouch
- LED Headlamp
- Goggles
- Sunglasses
- Gas Mask Pouch
- M4 Magazine Pouches
- Holster
- Light-stick
- Watch
- Tactical Gloves
- Knee Pad
- Ball-Point Pen
- Carbiner
- Patches
- Gurkha Knife
- M9 Pistol
- L85A2
w/ Grenade Launcher
Two fantastic hauls of goodies
with simply breathtaking details, all the weapons have functioning
elements from cocking mechanisms to removable magazines, and both the
rifles can be stripped down to their component parts, the Tank
Commanders L85 A2 has two ways of configuring in both the classic and
shorter L85A2 AFV seen
here.
I found that when kitting up the
Lieutenant you will have to give the helmet a good shove down on his
head, but as long as you have all the straps and the earphone in the
right position it all goes on just fine, the Tank Commander however is
a different story.
Don’t worry I got it all on OK
but I had to do a little dismantling to get it there. This will be more
apparent if you have the figure in front of you (and you have to
remember these are aimed at serious military buffs under the title of
model kits), but I sat and puzzled for a while and could not see any
way of getting the headphones on without completely undoing the front
chin strap, and to do that I’d have to remove the popper which is
welded on. So I came to the conclusion the best way was to gently
disengage the small plastic wire attached to the back of one of the
phones and then using a craft knife gently open up the bent metal wire
that goes round the back of the head and un-slot it, you can then get
it on pretty easily, simply re-slot the metal wire into position and
use a spot of glue to re-attach the plastic wire. You can then fit the
helmet over the top. This goes on far easier than the Lieutenants due
to its looser design. You will have to play around with the chin-strap
to adjust it to the optimum position, but once their it looks very
impressive.
I did find that once the
headsets and helmets are in place it’s quite a tough job to get the
sunglasses on, I managed in the end with the Tank Commander but soon
realized that the Lieutenants helmet was too tight so he remained ‘au
natural’, I’m sure if I was determined enough I would have got there
but he looked cool anyway.
To fit the Gurkah knife
and M9
pistol onto the Commanders plate carrier you have to carefully use a
scalpel to cut a few of the threads on the webbing so you can
make larger slots for them, but its relatively straight forward. The
hydration pack is a cool addition as well with some very well observed
details, and the small, embroidered patches are a tiny work of art.
Outfit - ***1/2
Both come with what are essentially very similar outfits, the trousers
are identical, and the smocks Shemaghs and T-shirts are the same apart
from the colouring, the only real difference are the hats and body
armour. The break down is like this-
Tank Commander
- SAS Smock
- Desert DPM Pants
- Plate Carrier **
- Cap
- Shemagh
- CQB Belt
- T-shirt
- Tactical Boots
Leiutenant
- SAS Smock
- Desert DPM Pants
- Body Armor **
- 30L Rucksack **
- Bonnie Hat
- Shemagh
- CQB Belt
- T-shirt
- Tactical Boots
Both outfits are supremely tailored and fit perfectly, I was very
impressed with the SAS smocks with their distinctive deep pockets and
hoods, but to be fair all the items are outstanding with working
pockets and drawstrings throughout.
Fun factor: ***
These are two supremely detailed figures, and to my ‘untrained’
military eye look to be very accurate. The base figures and outfits are
very robust, but many of the accessories are far too fragile to play
with, not that these will end up in the hands of kids anyway as they
tend to be snapped up by collectors pretty quickly.
It’s great to have a couple of
good British figures in the series and I shall display mine with a
certain amount of patriotic pride!
Value: ****
It’s nice to pick up some figures without a hefty movie licence, as
‘let’s face it’ they don’t come cheap, and as I’m mainly used to
picking up figures that are more from the ‘popular culture’ areas it
makes a change to get what are essentially ‘modern history’ figures and
for a far lower price.
You’ll find many on eBay for
between $90 to $99, and for a figure of
this quality with a ton of accessories that seems like a damn fine deal
to me.
Overall: ****
I think these are two great figures, and with this attention to detail
at this price-point it just has to be full marks. I love the way the TT
poses and looks so natural even when carrying so much equipment. These
do however have a bitter sweet edge for me, as I can now officially say
I’ve been bitten by the military bug… those two new Secret Service ERT
figures seem a lot more ‘essential’ all of a sudden.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ****
Sculpting - ****
Paint - ****
Articulation - ***1/2
Accessories - ****
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ***
Value - ****
Overall - ****
Where to Buy -
SST have the Tank Commander up for $119.99 on
pre-order
It would seem Michael’s sponsors aren’t big on military figures, but I
did find a couple had the Tank Commander.
Corner Store Comics-
Tank Commander- $107.99 pre-order
Alter
Ego- Tank Commander- $107.99 pre-order
- or you can try
eBay.
KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR LOTS MORE
PHOTOS!
|
