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Z.M.D.C. Camo Trooper

Jeff Parker, the man who loves cool sixth scale, is back tonight with a review of the 12' Z.M.D.C. Camo Trooper.  Don't know what that is?  Then let's have Jeff give us the lowdown!

Thanks as always to Michael, for giving me and so many others a place to praise, and vent our spleen towards the 'toys' we spend our hard earned cash tracking down, buying and all too often shipping. I have a penchant for Far East 1/6 scale toys (I in no way think they are necessarily better than European or U.S manufacturers, but they often seem to bring a different aesthetic to their designs that appeals) so shipping is always to be considered. I've had this figure for a little over a year now, and have kept meaning to get round to a review, but somehow work, deadlines, or 'newer' figures that I purchased seemed to get in the way. But I just made a New Year resolution (I know we're in April but what the heck!) to do more reviews for some of my 'older' figures; and after following a link from this very website to one of its sponsors (Action HQ) it kind of wet my appetite to go back to a favourite old friend and re-evaluate how good I originally thought it was, this was the article that set me off.











Packaging - ***
I'm giving this figure an unusually high score, considering it is about as far from collector friendly as you could possibly get. But the flipside is it's also the most unusual packaging you will probably get, and in my books originality should always be respected. It consists of a BIG corrugated brown cardboard box, which at first glance could be mistaken for a trainer box. But it's covered in really cool screen-printed graphics. A negative image of the figure is over printed with Chinese and English text, letting us know this is a member of the 'Jiu Gang' and that he is equipped with a 'Z.M.D.C.' or zero metal defense capsule. It's worth using the link above if you want more of a back story, but in brief, after a catastrophic meteor shower in the year 2030, a new anti-matter is discovered, and scientists learn how to harness its power for a military application (but don't they just always do that!). This guy's armour is the result. Now back to the cardboard can, there is also a sticker informing us this the camouflage version and mine is numbered 466 of a 500 run (this camo version was an exclusive, and to the best of my knowledge, which is gleaned from other internet sources 400 went to the Hong Kong toy fair 2002 and the other 100 went to the N.Y. toy fair in 2003, so don't ask me how this guy ended up in a comic shop in Singapore). I should also let you know there is a white version, viewable at Action HQ here.

Now I wasn't aware this was as limited a release but it says even the white one was only limited to 800 figures. The box opens like a shoe box to reveal a large 3-piece Tina Turner concert....sorry I mean concertina-style folded array of transparent plastic cases all linked/hinged together, and holding everything in place with quite a few twistie-ties. This is where potentially it gets nasty for your collector. As without cutting these plastic cases open, you ain't never gonna get your hands on it. But if you're a purist 'mint in box' kinda collector, you're missing a treat!

Sculpting - ***1/2
Under the armour this guy does have a human form and face, this is far from the best head sculpt I've seen, but still has a nice generic Manga'esque feel to it- but lets face it, how many people are gonna want to display him sans helmet anyway!. No, the most impressive area of sculpting is his mondo-armoured suit and its substantial array of fire power. The sculpting on this baby is fantastic, but as it's a character the manufacturer in effect made up (they just wanted to create a cool heavily armoured figure, and invented him a back story), you could argue 'how could they go wrong?'. But they really have pulled out all the stops on this one, and the sculptors seem to have had a field day putting rivets, straps and pistons all over the place. I hope my photos do it justice, as I feel it would take too long and be over repetitive to try and describe each panel, shield and helmet, so you'll have to trust me....it's nice!

Paint - ***1/2
I can't fault this area, the head, be it only eyebrows eyes and mouth (bald as a coot) are nice and tight; it's the armour that steals the show. If you use the second link above you will see the white version of this guy, and very nicely weathered it looks too. But when I first saw this camo version I instantly knew it was the one I had to have! I finally tracked one down on the Internet to a guy in Singapore, and it was worth the wait. Considering the paint job is in effect covering the entire figure it is really clean and works soooooo well. It's overall colours are a base gun metal with a two tone green random camo patern paint job. You also have the option of adding (I never have, what a wimp!) any number of decals that are supplied on a sheet, they're the kind you used to get with model plane kits, you kind of slip them off in water then apply them, and wait to dry (see the link under 'fun factor' to see where DaJoint think they oughta go, but hey! it's up to you).

Articulation - **1/2
The body this guy comes with was a new one on me, and I think DaJoint must have created their own. It's like a more toned version of an early Dragon body and has all the articulation you need. So why only two and a half stars, well like the T-850 figure I reviewed recently the arms just aren't strong enough to cope with the body glove and then the weight of the armour on top. I 'luckily' had a spare Dragon body knocking about and as the hands, feet and head were interchangeable with it I did a swap. The armour is so heavy though that even the Dragon body still struggles with the job. This figure really needed tighter ratcheted arms to cope. You'll also find he has to stand in a kind of legs open squat, as the leg armour is so bulky he cant get his thighs together, not an outfit for a lady then! 

Accessories - ***
I suppose his only real accessories are his two weapons. One is a kind of cannon that fits over the lower arm (for some reason shown on the south paw in all the pics I've seen, but fits fine on both) this weapon flips open to show you a pistol grip that you first have to get the hand around, you then flip and clip it shut and a long spring is then attached to an area just under the elbow that trails round to his back pack/power supply. The second weapon (which I think is exclusive to the camo version) is basically a big f*** off pulse rifle. And though the canon is impressive I think the rifle looks better making him look like the next step up from a Colonial Marine, where as the canon makes him look more Warhammer'esque.

Outfit - ***1/2
This is pretty much covered in the sculpting because of the amount of armour. But he does have a kind of neoprene'ish wet suit like under garment. This fits pretty well and though bulky, kind of has to be so the armour has something to grip. Its all black with a balaclava style hood, double zip front, and knee and elbow pads.

Fun Factor - ****
Baring in mind how poorly constructed a lot of toys are that are purely designed for the kid/play arena, this guy could teach them a thing or two. All too often with adult collectables and designer figures you feel you have to wear kid gloves all the time for fear of breakage or losing a tiny piece, this figure however is really robust. I'm not saying you should throw it about, as some areas are physically stronger than others. But any reasonably careful kid could have hours of fun with this, as will most collectors, it's one of those figures that looks really cool on the shelf, and always draws comments. See this link to DaJoint for pics far cooler than my digital camera will allow.

Value - ***
I bought this figure in January 04 and paid $89.00 for it. I've only seen two come up on eBay in the last year and both went for well over $200.00 so I guess I have nothing to complain about. Would I recommend it if you had to pay over $200.00, yes I think I would, as it's price seems to be slowly rising all the time. Also I saw in a link from Michaels review of last years SDCC that DaJoint are releasing at least two more figures and colour variants this year (also available over at Action HQ) one of which is a camo Z.M.D.C. General (already listed at $199.00, but only 100 production run).

Overall - ***1/2
I guess you can tell this is one of my favourite figures, It kind of became a Holy Grail to me when I first got into 1/6 scale collecting, along with the Medicom Rocketeer. And I had just about given up hope of ever getting my sticky mits on one (I've now completely given up hope on the Rocketeer) when I stumbled upon a guy in Singapore that had just what I wanted, at a price that didn't make me feel physically sick. So perhaps I'm biased, but I still think it's the strongest non licensed figure I've seen to date.

Score recap
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ****
Articulation - **1/2
Accessories - ***
Outfit - ***1/2
Fun Factor - ****
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy - 
Check out Action HQ for the two new 'General' (that's his rank rather than being basic) versions, on this link, under DaJoint.

Or failing that, like me keep scanning the Internet with all the usual suspects, and keep an eye on eBay.

KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS!



Figure from the collection of Jeff Parker.

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