Head Sculpt: What can I say on this head sculpt that hasn't already been said? A great head sculpt when it was released back in 1999. The only issue this head sculpt has, along with the first few Dragon 1/6th scale figure releases, is the very plain looking face. Not many facial lines, and the eyes seem too narrow. The thing about this head sculpt, to me at least, is at the time I still liked some of the 21st Century head sculpts better. They had more of a "battle face" then this figure had. The hairline and texture is done exceptionally well, even by today's standards. The extreme "bowl cut" was a popular hair style for the German soldier at the beginning of offensive operations into the Soviet Union. Dragon represents this time frame very well with the style hair seen on Hans. You can't compair this head sculpt to the quaility head sculpts Dragon releases today, but in 1999 this head sculpt was one of the better ones on the market.
Grade: 9.0 (A).
Body/Articulation: Hans comes with the original designed body, that is very light weight and has allot of articulation that mirrors that of a real human body. The body is much lighter then 21st Century bodies and you can place this figure into more difficult poses, without additional support. You could never say this with 21st Century bodies. The only issue I have had with this type body are after prolonged bending of the joints, the joints become too loose and sometimes can not support the weight of the body. These older Dragon bodies were very prone to breaking much easier (arms/legs breaking off from the body). Infact the second figure release "Klaus" had this problem quite a bit. Still this body was a breath of fresh air for the 1/6th scale collector back in 1999.
Grade: 8.8 (B+).
Uniform/Field Gear: These are the two areas that this figure caught allot of collector's eyes. The uniform, for the time it was released, was nothing short of spectacular. The tunic is done very well to include a very historical accurate German army national emblem over the right breast pocket. The eagle is very detailed with a very distinctive swastika symbol underneath the eagle. The material used for the tunic and pants is a very good quality. Since this figure release, Dragon has come up with many different patterns and weaves for their German uniforms. They also experimented with different types of permanant and self applied decals, but the factory applied decals found first on Hans, are by far still the best. Now as far as the field gear, this figure was loaded down with allot of good items. Even by todays standards, this figure has quite a bit of gear. The MP40 ammo pouches are the plastic/rubber molded type, that still look very good, even to todays high standards for German figures. The binos are done very nice also, minus the unrealistic looking elastic strap. The breadbag and water bottle are the first type that Dragon released. They look very nice, but look too clean to be a field soldier's items. The belt Hans has is the black in color belt, with the silver "Heer" belt buckle. The belt buckle is very detailed and smoked anything that was released by 21st Century or Cotswold Collectables. The gas cannister is the version with the gas cape pouch over straped over the top of the cannister. This gas cannister version is one of my favorites. The mess tin is done very nice, minus the elastic band that secures same shut. The entrenching shovel is the first version of the folding type, that doesn't unfold at all. The entrenching shovel includes the cover you can attach to the belt. The Y-Strap is the orginal black molded plastic/rubber version with the painted metal ring on the back. This version of the Y-strap is still to this day, the most popular version of the Y-strap Dragon has released. Now, the M40 helmet is another item that was done better by Dragon then anyone else. The only issue I have with same, is it doesn't fit on Hans' head. I am still confused to this date why they made the head too big for the helmet. Allot of collectors believe it was intentionally made like this. I personally think Dragon messed it up. Overall, the uniform and field gear that came with Hans, outshined all the competition in 1999. It should also be noted that Dragon was the first company to use real metal clips on their waterbottles and metal loops on their breadbags. You can't make the equipment look any more real then using metal, like the real issued items used.
Grade: 9.5 (A+).
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