1/6 UJINDOU UD9017 US Infantryman ("The Big Red One", Hürtgen Forest 1944)

[Asta]

I ordered the figure from Kit.

Don't ask me why, because he's far outside my theme. Yet I kept looking at the photos, and they kept whispering, "Buy me!"

 

[FlyAndFight]

I'm most likely pre-ordering as well but I want to see what Facepool does with the "Band of Brothers" line. They have teased that it will continue past the "Richard Winters" figure but news has been scarce.

 

[Asta]

Ujindou pretty much hit their Q4 2022 estimated release dates for UD9015 Chindit and UD9016 Gran Sasso Fallschirmjäger.

UD9017 "The Big Red One" was also meant to be Q4 2022. Should be soon...

 

[FlyAndFight]

I went back and re-read this thread. Some observations regarding the figure:

- Everything seems a bit "bright"; the color palette on the accessories, such as the roll/blanket and the wooden stock on the Thompson, just a couple of examples.

- I do like the M7 shoulder holster. By coincidence, I recently picked up a 1:1 version for one of my 1911s. And that's one obvious way of telling the difference between the WWII US shoulder hosters. The M7 holsters the 1911 and the M3 "Victory" holsters the S&W Model 10 revolver. It isn't written in stone but pretty much standardized. I do like how the M3 included the bullet loops for the .38 caliber rounds.

Hopefully UJINDOU continues with more WWII US figure releases. Would love to see some pilot figures, as well.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

I was half expecting a Mark Hamill head sculpt...
It's a really good time to get back into WWII with all these great figures coming out, maybe it'll signal a renaissance of 1/6 if interest in super heroes dries up.

I was hoping for a Robert Carradine.

Some actors will get multiple chances to get their sculpt made ( Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Will Smith, etc, etc) But something like this might be the only chance to get a sculpt like Robert Carradine.

The actual head looks like a mix of a young Mark Rylance and Bear Grylls.

The Thompson looks like metal and wood. I don't know how any one else feels, but I'm not a fan of most metal and wood based weapons. I prefer metal at times for utility. (i.e. shifting to a metal barrel instead of a plastic one because some types of weapons are very fragile. The M14 or M21 is a good example. A metal barrel for those is ideal, because in plastic, they break so often) I got a DID US WW2 flamethrower a long long long time ago, I think from JP Hobbies on clearance, and it was metal and damn that thing was heavy. No way a figure could stand up while wearing it. And even if you could figure it out, the weight would wear down the joints on the figure eventually.

Also there's some level of detail that just translates better with plastic versus metal.

The DML MG42 is a work of art. I've never seen anything made in 1/6th quite like it and I've seen a lot of weapons. But you couldn't pull that off in metal. Not at that level of close detail. Now IIRC, the barrel in that was metal, which I thought was a cool and interesting choice, again, judicious use of metal here and there might work out better.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Most of these newer collectors or even older collectors who don't know anything but Hot toys and the new era of "3rd party figures" don't realize is it all started with Military figures and back then, having a willys jeep and kubal wagon and all those pakguns/AA guns were the cool vehicles/weapons we needed space for and if you could afford it those armortek 1/6 tanks that cost over 5 thousand dollars, and getting one of those tanks is still on my bucket list.

I would say 90 percent of my vehicle collection was outright given to me. A guy in the hobby basically handed me his M2 Bradley, some Stuarts, a White Scout Car, a Kubel, the German motocycle with sidecar, I think a half track of some kind, etc, etc. Basically his wife said it had to go. So he asked me to take it off his hands. Just wanted it gone and I was local enough. But I've done that too. I've practically given vehicles away. I have a Hasbro LSV, same thing, different guy told me his wife wanted that out of the house. Hasbro M8 scout car too. RC Stuart. Littlebird. Just offloaded it onto me.

The only answer I can come up with is you need a barn. Not a big garage, but a literal barn or something as big to accommodate a vehicle collection of some kind. Trying to sell any of these vehicles now is close to impossible unless you do it on Craiglist and it's local. Can you imagine what it would cost to ship a TUS M2 Bradley today? I mean not even across the country, even just the next state over. And some kind of damage in transit is almost automatically implied.

Here's what I will say, for whatever Ultimate Soldier could have done better, good God did they think big. I mean doing that Bradley was just raw guts. Now that I'm older and I'm more aligned into how much risk is involved into tooling something like that, of that scale, that's pretty incredible.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Indeed! Some of that stuff still holds up well, especially DID. But when I think back, it's really DML that I have a soft spot for. The sheer amount and diversity they brought out in the early 00's was amazing. And those beautiful boxes with the Ron Volstad illustrations, man... those were good times!
Having said that, I really don't regret selling all of that stuff off. It was a good time, it was fun and I learned a lot, but at some point I realised I had over a 100 little soldiers and it just didn't make any sense to me.
Still, it's great to see WWII making a come-back, it's such a defining moment of history.

Volstad used to participate on the boards a little bit back in the old days. Sixth Division and the old original Warrior Forum. The old EZ boards. Then it happened, I remember it. Someone brought up the topic on if they'd take their figures in a plain white mailer box instead of box art/plastic coffin standard, and save X number of bucks on the set.

I think Ron took that discussion pretty hard based on some of his responses.

WW2 in 1/6th took a massive generational leap with Dragon's RTV ( it was Road To Victory?), I remember that. Moving from plastic to cloth. This was timed when BBI went into WW2, and released Hoppy Bell, a D Day Ranger that was a legitimate squad builder for around 30 dollars. The big deal back then was, IIRC, James Gordon, a deluxe US paratrooper set that highlighted all the RTV innovation. He was a legit squad builder, just the way DML back then was going to release one, in a deluxe set only. Without BBI nipping at the heels, I don't think that generational leap was going to happen that soon, because let's be honest, DML was pretty open about milking that slow moving cow as long as possible.

On an aside, a dealer told me once that Toy Soldier ( now a defunct brand that did mostly modern and Vietnam sets) took those early conversations to heart about minimal packaging/essentially a white mailer box with a big sticker on it, to try to keep the price points down a little lower.

I can see Volstad's position on it. Then again, I can see the mass of guys trying to stretch out their hobby budget and their positions as well.

I suppose it still is a complex conversation point now. What is the packaging/art costing us as collectors. I know the HT boxed sets, some of those have some pretty elaborate packaging. And there's this ASMR subculture that's around, that gets a high off the unboxing experience, etc, etc.

It's cool to see WW2 still supported. I don't dabble that way too much anymore, but it's nice to have a range of options additionally for like head sculpts, bodies, some weapons, some dio type items, animals, etc, etc.

 

[Asta]

1999 was when the gates of 1/6 hell opened for me.

For some reason I ended up on a site reviewing Toys McCoy's Indiana Jones, and I saw DML figures there for the first time. I was taken aback by how figures had advanced in quality since the days of Action Man/GI Joe and Kenner's '90s Star Wars.

Over the next year I dabbled in BBI and DML, before deciding I was going to buy every single DML figure. At some point I discovered Sideshow's 1/6 Star Wars, and then Hot Toys. Moving into that world the DML collection got boxed up and consigned to the attic, and I eventually sold most of them. Because by that time I couldn't bear the porcelain doll-like DML heads, or the hands. It's no wonder they used Volstad's art to promote the product inside.

It seemed like too much effort and expense to buy new heads and bodies, especially when the clothes didn't often fit newer bodies due to DML's propensity for short arms. Now I wish I'd kept that collection, just for the uniforms and other parts. The weapons and accessories were often very good, and boots were well sculpted.

Twenty years on from plunging through the gates of hell, Dragon in Dreams previewed D80151 Afrika Korps Infantry Hauptmann Wilhelm. It re-ignited the interest I'd had in the Afrika Korps ever since their fantastical appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was a full circle moment, bringing me right back to my introduction to DML.

Still regretting getting rid of the old collection, I've rationalised it that I'm now able to start over with better quality figures. It's also helped me to finally ditch my addiction to Star Wars figures, which I'd continued to buy even though I was rarely ever thrilled to receive.

Historical figures are much more satisfying because they necessitate research to verify accuracy, period and the places where certain uniforms and equipment were seen. Then there's the assembly aspect, rather than simply pulling a Hot Toys from its box and virtually putting it straight into display.

That was how I felt about DML too. The figures represented something real, so they held meaning. I still don't know what it was about the Ujindou "Big Red One" that prompted me to pre-order though.

 

[abake]

Nice stroll down memory lane!
I remember the old Dragon forum and how lovingly Ron's art for every release was inspected. It was quite a downer when DML stopped using his art and went for photos of the figures instead.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Agreed. I really appreciated those box art works. Unfortunately, that was the time-frame where I would throw away the boxes with no thought of resale value.

 

[Asta]

He's shipping out today from Kit along with the two Ujindou Commando Snipers.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Looking forward to your review(s), Asta!

 

[BuddyGus]

Interesting grenade pouch. I have never seen one like that before.

 

[Asta]

There was a post on BBICN this morning from someone who just got The Big Red One in hand. They were raging about the small sculpt, the material for the overcoat and the magazine for the Thompson that wouldn't stay in.

They were so disgusted they said they boxed him back up without looking at the rest of the contents, and were offering him for sale at below what they paid.

A little while later the post was no longer there. Maybe they had second thoughts? They do complain a lot over there, even more than here.

I didn't save the photos, but the figure looked as expected. The sculpt actually looked a bit bigger than in the prototype photos. Ujindou are head shrinkers though, every figure so far has a small sculpt. The only one I couldn't use (without hiding inside a pressure suit helmet) was the Iwan Rheon original Commando.

The problem in their photo was that the cap was too big for the head. Wasn't planning on using it, though it seems it would work for a more regularly scaled sculpt.

Don't recall having any problems with the magazine on Blair Mayne's Thompson. I'm sure I tried the stick before leaving the drum in.


It might actually be added realism...

https://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/index.php?/topic/13848-thompson-mag-falling-out/

 

[Jaeten]

There was a post on BBICN this morning from someone who just got The Big Red One in hand. They were raging about the small sculpt, the material for the overcoat and the magazine for the Thompson that wouldn't stay in.

They were so disgusted they said they boxed him back up without looking at the rest of the contents, and were offering him for sale at below what they paid.

A little while later the post was no longer there. Maybe they had second thoughts? They do complain a lot over there, even more than here.

I didn't save the photos, but the figure looked as expected. The sculpt actually looked a bit bigger than in the prototype photos. Ujindou are head shrinkers though, every figure so far has a small sculpt. The only one I couldn't use (without hiding inside a pressure suit helmet) was the Iwan Rheon original Commando.

The problem in their photo was that the cap was too big for the head. Wasn't planning on using it, though it seems it would work for a more regularly scaled sculpt.

Don't recall having any problems with the magazine on Blair Mayne's Thompson. I'm sure I tried the stick before leaving the drum in.


It might actually be added realism...

https://www.machinegunboards.com/forums/index.php?/topic/13848-thompson-mag-falling-out/

I appreciate you bringing up that post, because I wondered if I'd dreamt it up after it disappeared! It was disappointing to hear those complaints since I'm looking forward to this one (1st Ujindou for me). I'm still holding out hope that it'll be great, especially since the post was deleted/retracted.

 

[Asta]

I appreciate you bringing up that post, because I wondered if I'd dreamt it up after it disappeared! It was disappointing to hear those complaints since I'm looking forward to this one (1st Ujindou for me). I'm still holding out hope that it'll be great, especially since the post was deleted/retracted.

I've been happy with the five Ujindou figures I've received so far.

These are UD9002 SAS Edward McDonald; UD9003 SAS Paddy Mayne and UD9013 British Commando 1944 (with a head swap), with a fourth figure put together from leftover parts:

UD9015 British Chindit 1944 with a head swap, which I always intended to do because I wanted him bearded (the Thompson is HT Captain America's because the Jungle Carbine didn't see a jungle until after the war):

UD9016 Fallschirmjaeger Gran Sasso Raid 1943 with a head swap (the rest of his uniform is on the figure next to him):

 

[Asta]

It's been bumper day for deliveries: the 'Big Red One', the two Commando Snipers and Premier's Marauder Wez, who's taken up most of my time today so far.

Only just got around to unboxing the Ujindou parcel from Kit.

 

[Asta]

Addressing the complaints from the now deleted BBICN post...

The sculpt is tiny.

It's so small that it's even swamped by an old DML German helmet.

The problem is that the Big Red One helmet isn't designed for a bigger sculpt, so I'll have to use it.

The second complaint was the material of the overcoat. It's thin, a darker green than it appeared in the promo photos, and entirely unflattering.

Luckily I wasn't planning to use it.

The third complaint was that the magazine wouldn't stay in the Thompson. No such trouble with mine. In fact I can't even pull the magazine out because it's so slotted in so tightly.

It's wood and metal as with Blair Mayne's:

Now I have to get the flasher's mac off the figure, because Ujindou decided to ship him wearing it, and it's fastened with working buttons.


EDIT:

I'm going to go a different route. The cap fits a spare sculpt I have perfectly - an Eleven Tom Hardy Mad Max. So I'll swap the body for a necked one and use the helmet as an accessory.

The helmet itself is frustrating too, because the liner's separate yet you need to wrap the leather and fabric straps around the front and back. (Since a lot of American soldiers got it into their heads that fastening the strap would result in their neck being broken should they be caught in a blast).

Therefore I've glued the liner to the foam spacer inside the helmet, so the straps should stay in place when it's picked up.

 

[Asta]

I was about to say that the M43 jacket looked good. It is, and it has working buttons just like the two overcoats.

However, there's a button sewn on the underside of the collar on each side, and under the lower lapel on the right. The threads securing those buttons show very unsightly on the outside.

With the collar and lapels laid down flat you can't see those buttons, so I've removed them in order to pull out the unsightly thread.

Once the buttons are cut off and the threads pulled out, the holes they leave are virtually invisible. It's a big improvement aesthetically.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Sounds like this release is a disappointment.

In regards to the helmet, would it be possible to use one of DiD's or Facepool's "Saving Private Ryan" figure's helmet instead?

That head sculpt definitely needs to be replaced. I'm not sure who mentioned it previously, but it would be pretty cool to use a Mark Hamill "Luke" sculpt.