| "Arnold" 13th Mountain Division "Handschar" (Cyber-Hobby Exclusive/Dragon-Models) |
 |
 |
| Sculpt: The head sculpt has a very good likeness of the actor, but with black hair. The shading on the face is done very nice. You have a slight black shading around the moustache and beard area. The flesh tones on the face are blended very nice. The high areas have a darker finish (parts exposed to the elements) and the low areas of the face are a little lighter in color. Dragon as of late has really impressed me with their head sculpts (Milo, Udo, Hakon and Arnold have been some of the best sculpts in the past year). If you collect the Cyber-Hobby exclusives from Dragon, you are well aware of the higher quality that is put into the head sculpts. This head sculpt is no exception. I am not a big collector of the Cyber-Hobby exclusives, but this figure was one that I had to have, after seeing the head sculpt. If you have a chance to get this exclusive without getting raped in the secondary market, by all means pick this figure up! Grade: 10.0 (A+/Perfect). Body/Articulation: The same type "Neo" body that Dragon has used for some time. Again, some of the best articulation on the 1/6th scale military figure market. This type body allows for some of the most difficult poses. The joints as of late have been a little more stiff, which is a good thing in my opinion. The older Dragon bodies had very loose joints. I prefer the stiffer joints, due to the fact they support the weight of the body much better. Yes, the same clicking noise is still present, but this is the only minor downfall this body has. Grade: 9.5 (A+). Uniform: The uniform, including the smock, are done exceptionally well. The camo pattern on the smock appears to be a "Blurred edge" or "Rauchtarnmuster" pattern. The waist band on the smock is a little wider then usually, allowing you to slide the smock over the upper torso of the figure without having to worry about breaking the figure. It seems to me that Dragon pays more attention to detail on their exclusive figures, as compared to their general release figures. The smocks that come with their general release figures are so hard to slip over the upper torso. The tunic is done very nice with the "Handschar" 13th Division symbol on the right collar and the croatian coat of arms on the left sleeve. I'm very please that Dragon used the more permanant factory applied insignia on the tunic. I remember some of the figures in the past that used the paper type stickers. Dragon's "Faulkner" figure came with this type of insignia and it took away from an almost near perfect figure. I'm glad to see that Dragon has gone away from this type of cheap insignia for their WWII figures. The pants are the standard issue that have been out on the market for awhile. Now, the fez is the big charmer of this set. This is the first time Dragon (or any company for that matter) that has done a 13th Mountain Division soldier, so this was the first time that this units trademark "fez" has been released. Dragon did a very good job with it. The material used on the outside of the fez is the standard field gray color topped of with a black tassle. The decals on fez are the "SS" national eagle symbol and the "SS Skull". The decals are both very nice, but on mine it appears that the "SS" national eagle symbol has been applied at a slight angle (not straight). Not a very big issue, but you would think that they would pay even more attention to detail on an exclusive figure, since the die-hard Dragon fan is usually the one who buys the Cyber-Hobby exclusives (some of their strongest fan base). Overall, the uniform is done very well! Grade: 9.8 (A+). Field Gear: The field gear, for the most part, is the same standard German figure issue that has appeared on many other German "Heer" and "SS" figures. The figure comes with the standard black belt with "SS" belt buckle, Y-strap suspenders, mess kit (field worn finish), breadbag with waterbottle (field worn painted water bottle), gas mask cannister (field worn finish), and Machinegun cleaning pouch that has appeared on quite a few other machingunner figures (Otto, Marcus, Rudolph, and Max anniversary figure) . The only difference annotated with this pouch is the external rag that protrudes from the pouch, is a little darker then previous released ones. Now, the back pack that comes with this figure is a work of art. No loose strings and all the pockets are sown on straight. A very professional looking back pack. BBI had released a pretty nice looking back pack with their DAK Mountain trooper, but the one that is packaged with this figure blows away BBI's version. The M42 helmet that comes with this figure is the newer version with the leather type chin strap (as first seen with Hakon). This figure also comes with a field shovel. The shovel is nothing really special, but it does come with a nice "field worn" finish to it. No poor quality issues with any of the field gear. Grade: 10.0 (A+/Perfect). |
 |
 |
 |
 |