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USMC 2nd Marine Expeditionary Battalion in
Afghanistan's Helmand province
Soldier's Story
"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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Arinjoy Mitra is back with
another great guest review - tell us all about it, Arinjoy!
Thanks a mill again to Michael for making me a part of this prestigious
website..….
“1/6 Soldier Story Scale ” …..
Yes,
this is the name of the collectible I am looking at today, and it is
the name of only one product. I was really eager to find out if Soldier
Story products are really as good in hands as they seem in the promo
pics.
Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit flooded
into the Taliban-held town of Garmsir on 29 April 2008, in Helmand
Province, in the first major American operation in the region in years.
So like the name suggest, the figure is based on one of the many USMC
soldiers posted in Helmand province in Afghanistan. So let’s see if we
are actually getting what is expected out of a USMC no nonsense, well
kitted, One man army guy and one of the top military figure based
company like Soldier story.
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Packaging ****
A
packaging is the first thing that we see about a product and it very
well make or breaks the impression of a product at the first glance.
The packaging also shows how much creativity a company has put into the
designing and development of a product.
The graphics on the
box are BEAUTIFUL…. Trust me when I say ‘beautiful’ as I am combining
the great pictures of the product, together with an actual military
background and the finishing that complements the fact that it is a
military figure. The overall finishing is Matte, just like the desert
MARPAT issued uniform worn by the USMS soldiers.
The box is a
two door wardrobe design, so like you can see on the pictures it opens
up with the figure and some of the accessories in the middle section
and the rest of the accessories in the other two flaps. Everything is
well fitted with an inner plastic lining sheet to keep everything from
moving. The head of the figure does have one twisty, but it doesn’t
bother me that much if we are talking about just ONE twisty. All in
all, nice packaging with great graphics.
Sculpt:****
So…..
How does a normal USMC 2nd Marine Expeditionary Battalion soldier look
like……. Hmm, can’t say much, but I do know how USMC SSgt. Michael Nantz
from the movie Battle: Los Angeles looked like and hey… they both look
the same.
If I have to score the head on the basis of realism,
expression, skin tone and the choice of the face of the sculpt, I’ll
give it a 4 star, but if you want me to score it by comparing with
Aaron Eckhart as SSgt Michael Nantz, I’ll again give it a 4 star. The
sculpt is superb. The skin texture, the seriousness and the maturity in
the expression, the wrinkles and the hair texture are all amazing. The
sculpt is nothing less than the top company sculpts like Hot Toys and
Enterbay and the slight aged face also gives the figure a great
presence among all the other 1/6 figures. The hands also have a good
sculpt and they fit the weapons well and are in an accurate proportion.
Paint:
****
Like I
said earlier, the sculpt is of a little aged person, like in his 40s.
The paint application enhances this with great details on the wrinkles,
very slightly grown beard and skin coloration due to the age factor.
The eyes are glossy and reflect the correct amount of light. The
hairline and the eyes are very realistic and crisp and the overall
paint and the sculpt keeps giving a creepy feel that he is about to
talk. (I know he does, I know…… I am a true believer of Toy Story)
Articulation:
****
Underneath
the heavily kitted clothing there is a true type kind body called the
S2 Body. This base body is well articulated to give the figure the
required posability. I am guessing that this is also a 36 point
articulation body, but I can’t dare taking the clothes off as I have
already got him all dressed up and I may not have the guts to do it
again(details about the same in the next section). The heavy clothing
might restrict certain movements; the body however won’t disappoint you
when it comes to giving the figure great poses.
Accessories:
****
What does a USMC Soldier comes with, well…………. THIS……..
USMC ISSUE MARPAT HELMET COVER
USMC ISSUE T-SHIRT
USMC ISSUE MCCU SHIRT
USMC ISSUE MCCU PANT
USMC ISSUE BELT
USMC ISSUE AN/PRC 343 RADIO POUCH
USMC ISSUE MTV VEST
USMC ISSUE DOUBLE MAG POUCH
USMC ISSUE SINGLE MAG POUCH
USMC ISSUE 200RD POUCH
USMC ISSUE TRIPLE 40MM GRENADE POUCH *2
USMC ISSUE SINGLE FRAG GRENADE POUCH *2
USMC ISSUE USMC COMBAT KNIFE CARRY
USMC ISSUE DUMP POUCH
USMC ISSUE UTILITY POUCH
USMC ISSUE M127A SIGNAL FLARE POUCH *2
USMC ISSUE HYDRAPAK WITH TUBE
USMC ISSUE 15650 BOOTS
USMC ISSUE GUN SING
USMC ISSUE GLOVES
COMBAT APPLICATION TOUMIQUE
PATCHES
LWH HELMET
NVG MOUNT
PVS-14 NVG
USMC ISSUE GOOGLES WITH COVER
AN/PRC 343 RADIO WITH HEADSET
USMC COMBAT KNIFE
M16A4+M203 RIFLE
AN/PEQ 16 MIPIM
GRENADE LAUNCHER LEAF SIGHT
ACOG TA31 RCO 4X32 Scope WITH Doctor Red dot、Filter CARRY HANDLE
RAIL SLING MOUNT ADAPTER
M4 MAG *6+1
40mm GRENADE(METAL AND PLASTIC) *6
CQC M1911 HOLSTER
CQC PISTOL MAG CASE *2
M1911 MEU PISTOL
M1911 PISTOL MAG *2+1
M67 GRENADE *2
M127A SIGNAL FLARE(METAL) *2
HANDCUFFS *2
CLIMBING BUCKLE
CARABINER(METAL)
METAL LINE HANDS
S2 BODY
LEG KIT
Everything
true to their details and top notch. Worth mentioning are the great
details like the metal flares, metal carbiner, which has a moving and
lockable hook, the scope of the M16A4+M203 RIFLE which even has a
removable lens cover, bendable thin metal wire mouth piece on the
headset, actual laced shoes (and as we all know the military shoes have
a comparatively complex lace design), the fast helmet with positionable
night vision scope, goggles with cover, bendable hands with actual
gloves, The wrist watch with a movable loop etc. etc. Trust me, if I
have to write about all the accessories in detail, it would take me a
complete review, or even more. The uniform is very crisp and bright
like a newly issued one, unlike the weathered ones which we got with
figures such as HT John Connor. The vest has tons of accessories which
need to be attached to it. Yes, you need to nearly attach everything
together that comes in the box…. yourself…….It took me several hours to
figure out what attaches where and then to fully dress up the figure
(c’mon guys, I am not an ex-military or something, just a military
lover like all of those reading this now). I really would love if
Soldier Story starts giving manuals with the figures advising how to
kit them up. The accessories with the figure, you may choose any to
talk about are true 1/6 version of the actual thing and Soldier Story
don’t seem to worry about them being really delicate, but well, that’s
the best part. Everything is in great scale and fits like a dream. The
figure is more armed that a T800, John Conner and Indy put together.
Too bad I couldn’t give this section more than four stars.
Value:****
Great
value. The figure is mostly sold out or is at a lot higher price with
resellers. I was able to find this for $135 (with international
shipping) after days of searching. At the time when a normal Hot Toys
figure with minimal accessories is over $200, this is a price to grab
or to fight for. The number of accessories you get with this may get
three basic figures from the top companies together to shame. A must
have I would say.
Fun:**1/2
The
box says “Collectible Item:Not a toy”. This is exactly what it is. Do
not let anyone less than 15 years touch it, or don’t let anyone over 15
years, who is not a collector touch it. The figure has so much attached
to it that they may end up damaging or loosing something. This one is
yours, so you keep it to yourself. This is a true serious military
replica, not a toy. This might be great fun for a guy like me, but may
not be for others who don’t understand the value of these details.
Overall:****
Soldier
Story has proven themselves to be the leader in 1/6 military
collectibles with the kind of accessories, extensively done detailing,
head sculpts, choice of characters, packaging and one after another
amazing releases. I loved the figure and am craving for more.
Where
to Buy –
Like I said, it’s sold out on most of the venues, but you can always
try ebay.
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer.
Photos and text by Arinjoy Mitra.
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