Starting a Star Wars 1/6 (12") figure collection
Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 3:56 pm
Recently I decided that I wanted to add some 1/6 scale figures to my Star Wars collection, so began researching which figures were worth getting and which to avoid. The general consensus was that the Marmit/Tomy figures (only released in Japan in 2000, small range) were incredibly accurate figures, the SSC and Hot Toys figures are top of the tree (with prices to match), Medicom were nicely details but a little small (closer to 1/7 than 1/6), and Kenner/Hasbro are generally low budget kids toys but with a few exceptional figures that are worth buying.
As a fan of the Imperial side, this was where I decided to focus and I started with the figure I wanted most - the Stormtrooper. I didn't manage to find any at a reasonable price, but did grab a Marmit Sandtrooper at a good price - and all I can say is that the reviews were spot on. The details are great, even down to the lopsided helmet that is a pretty much a miniature version of the full size kit I recently built. There are some shortcomings - the boots are moulded with the shin armour and there are no feet on the figure, so there's no ankle articulation, and the head is just a ball rather than a human looking head. Overall though the figure is excellent, and with his helmet on and stood up straight these two issues are irrelevant. The backpack is very detailed, and the ammo pouches fit neatly into place at the hips and shoulder, with a bright orange pauldron on the left shoulder to complete the look. The armour also has sand coloured blobs and streaks to represent weathering in the deserts of Tatooine.
I also got a Marmit Stormtrooper shortly afterwards, again an excellent figure with the same two drawbacks as the Sandtrooper. While the figures are similar, they have enough differences that even stood together you can see that they share few components. The armour is obviously almost the same, as it is for the actual on screen suits, with the left kneepad and the ab plate details being the most obvious differences. The helmets are subtly different too, with the Stormtrooper having the "hero" bubble style lenses and lines in the trap areas, and the Sandtrooper with the "stunt" style flat lenses and the trap lines correctly being absent. The Stormtrooper also has the drop boxes at each hip rather than ammo pouches, and a thermal detonator on his lower back.
Both figures come with an E-11 blaster as the only weapon. On screen the Sandtroopers are also seen with DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles (converted from a German MG-34 machine gun) and T-21 light repeating blasters (a British Lewis machine gun with cooling sleeve, and the round ammo drum removed), so to replicate these in small scale I picked up a Dragon 1/6 scale MG-34 (shown beliw) and an old Palitoy Action Man Lewis gun.
Dan
As a fan of the Imperial side, this was where I decided to focus and I started with the figure I wanted most - the Stormtrooper. I didn't manage to find any at a reasonable price, but did grab a Marmit Sandtrooper at a good price - and all I can say is that the reviews were spot on. The details are great, even down to the lopsided helmet that is a pretty much a miniature version of the full size kit I recently built. There are some shortcomings - the boots are moulded with the shin armour and there are no feet on the figure, so there's no ankle articulation, and the head is just a ball rather than a human looking head. Overall though the figure is excellent, and with his helmet on and stood up straight these two issues are irrelevant. The backpack is very detailed, and the ammo pouches fit neatly into place at the hips and shoulder, with a bright orange pauldron on the left shoulder to complete the look. The armour also has sand coloured blobs and streaks to represent weathering in the deserts of Tatooine.
I also got a Marmit Stormtrooper shortly afterwards, again an excellent figure with the same two drawbacks as the Sandtrooper. While the figures are similar, they have enough differences that even stood together you can see that they share few components. The armour is obviously almost the same, as it is for the actual on screen suits, with the left kneepad and the ab plate details being the most obvious differences. The helmets are subtly different too, with the Stormtrooper having the "hero" bubble style lenses and lines in the trap areas, and the Sandtrooper with the "stunt" style flat lenses and the trap lines correctly being absent. The Stormtrooper also has the drop boxes at each hip rather than ammo pouches, and a thermal detonator on his lower back.
Both figures come with an E-11 blaster as the only weapon. On screen the Sandtroopers are also seen with DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles (converted from a German MG-34 machine gun) and T-21 light repeating blasters (a British Lewis machine gun with cooling sleeve, and the round ammo drum removed), so to replicate these in small scale I picked up a Dragon 1/6 scale MG-34 (shown beliw) and an old Palitoy Action Man Lewis gun.
Dan