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Packaging - **
The packages are simple plastic trays inside cardboard boxes. They
lack instructions for building the little display stands, but you can figure
it out. That engineering degree comes in handy occasionally.
Like most Japanese boxes, you'll need to tear these open to get into
them, so they aren't particularly collector friendly. But with no
window or any way to see the product, opening them up is the only real
option anyway.
Sculpting/Design - Tommy Gun ***1/2; Swords ***; Flintlock **1/2
I'm not sure sculpting is really the right title, so I added 'design'.
The key here is how well the work as accessories. These are made from
several different materials, all of them fairly realistic.
The swords come in several pieces in the box to be assembled by you.
The blade extends back into a tang, which is a single piece of metal end to
end, just like a high quality knife or sword! There is a thin piece of
brass that wraps around the blade, and then the guard for the hand slips
over the tang. Behind that comes the sculpted cloth wrapped hilt. The
pieces fit snugly, but not so tight that you'll damage them putting them
together. They also look terrific once assembled, as though they came
that way from the factory.
The scabbards are plastic, but have a ribbon wrapped appropriately at the
top. There are instructions on the right way to do this, but
fortunately for me, they were already wrapped and tied when I received mine.
While the hilt is sculpted to appear like wrapped cloth, it actually looks
extremely realistic.
The blades are a nice, heavy, high quality steel, straight and quite
sturdy. The swords are slightly under scaled though (I've included
some shots with Connor, as well as with his sword and with a 1/6th scale
lightsaber for comparison), but it's not too far off. The blades are
different in length as well as style - the white handled sword has a deeper
curve to the blade than the black handled sword for example.
The flintlock also comes in more than one piece, and you have to attach
the barrel to the stock. Once you do this, it's a good idea to not try
to disassemble it.
Like the swords, there's plenty of metal used in the flintlock. The
barrel, hammer mechanism, trigger and trigger guard as well as the ramrod
(which is not removable) are all metal, giving the gun quite a bit of
weight. As you might guess, that weight is distributed more toward the
front of the gun than toward the stock, so some poses might be tough to
maintain.
The flintlock is also the weakest when it comes to scale. I'd go so
far as to say it's not just underscaled, it's 1/10th scaled or so.
It's a very high quality item, that looks great on it's own, but was the one
I was least impressed with to use as an accessory to actual figures.
The tommy or machine gun lacks the cool metal parts, and is entirely
plastic. While that's a bit disappointing, the big plus is that it is
extremely well scaled for 12" figures, perhaps better than any other gun in
this style I own. The 21st Century and BBI stuff hasn't been bad, but
this gun looks terrific in a figures hands. The sculpt is excellent,
and of course the clip is removable.
Paint - ***1/2
There isn't a lot of paint here, but what is here is excellent.
There's no slop at all, and these really do appear like itty bitty versions
of the real thing.
Quality - Swords, Flintlock ***1/2; Tommy Gun ***;
Taken on their own, it's the swords and flintlock that have the highest
quality. They are made from the most realistic materials, they have
the heft and feel of great accessories, and they look excellent on their
own.
While the tommy gun doesn't do quite as well in this category - he is all
plastic after all - he still looks amazingly good because of the sculpt and
scale.
Accessories - Black sword, White sword ***1/2; Flintlock ***; Tommy
gun **1/2
Oddly enough, these accessories actually have accessories. Any score
in this category improves both the value and the overall assessment, since
it was a pleasant surprise to get anything extra.
The machine gun has the least extras, with just the black stand and a
paper target in sixth scale. The target might make for some interesting
dioramas, but the stand is a bit wonky in design, and doesn't work as well
as I'd like as a display base.
The flintlock has a nifty specialized stand that holds the rifle and the
extra knife quite nicely, as well as a little plastic 'sign' that is
probably a nameplate of sorts. It's in Japanese, so I'm guessing here.
The knife that comes with the flintlock has to be put together just like
the swords, and the quality is about the same. The scale issues are a
bit more of a problem, since the knife got smaller all around, not just in
length. While a knife might not have as long of a hilt as a sword, it
often has one that is just as big in circumference. This one was
scaled down in every way, making it even further out of sync with sixth
scale hands. Still, it's quality of construction is quite good.
The black handled sword comes with a display stand as well, designed for
the swords and the accompanying scabbard. The flag has the colors and
crest on it, and fits nicely in a hole in the back of the stand.
There's the plastic name plate again as well, but there's also a small red
cloth for the stand to sit on. All in all, a very nice presentation.
And yes, before I get 100 emails, I realize I put the black handled sword
upside down on the stand when I took the photo - I was just too lazy to go
back and reshoot it.
I assume the white handled sword was supposed to have the same style
stand, but I ended up with one like the flintlock. That doesn't work
particularly well for a sword and scabbard, but I rigged it to get by.
Along with the little name plate, there's a 'meal', including a tray, plate
with food and stick, and sealed envelope with writing on the front.
That's a very cool addition to the display, and adds some historic
perspective to the various different swords.
BTW, the stands go together one way - put that brain to use when
assembling them to ensure you don't force or break anything.
Fun Factor - *
No, these aren't really for kids. Your best bet is the machine gun,
which is all plastic, but breakage would be an issue. For the swords
and knives, they are much too sharp for a six or seven year old to be
playing around with. These are for the older collector. That
won't be a deduction for my overall, but it's worth pointing out.
Value - Tommy Gun **1/2; Black Sword, Flintlock ***1/2; White Sword
****
We've gotten some pretty decent sixth scale machine guns in the multi-packs
from companies like bbi and 21st Century, so paying around $5 isn't as good
a value. This is a better machine gun than most, particularly in terms
of scale, but that's still a bit expensive for a purely plastic accessory.
However, the swords and flintlock have a lot more to them, with multiple
items and accessories as well as metal parts. At $5 or so, these are a
much better value.
Shipping will cost you $3 - $5 as well, but you can get a combo deal from
folks if you buy more than one.
Things to Watch Out For -
Try not to put out an eye.
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