The "Less Than High Speed" 1/6th Military Product Archive

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Not long after, BBI/Elite Force came onto the scene and released their first SWAT figure. Not from New York, but instead from....Ohio..... The helmet and weapons were metal. Don't know what they were thinking. Also there was a turn key to make the face move. His mouth would open. Then close. Then open. Then close. The headsculpt was not a headsculpt, it was a mechanism head post with a "sleeve" that basically worked like a facemask that was the face and hair. So it was like Zartan. If Zartan looked like he was wearing someone's scalped skin as a mask.

In essence, trying to avoid the KISS methodology gave our hobby it's first Thomas Harris "Buffalo Bill" vibe. Put the lotion in the basket, buddy.

 

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DML, attempting to maximize the use of it's molds, started to pump out some weapons cards. IIRC, this was the first modern weapons carded set that DML ever made. Based on some obscure film.

It has SDU Ray's MP5SD
Detective Chow's Beretta 92FS pistol
NYPD Winona's Glock 19 pistol
NYPD ESU Bill Smith's Glock 17 pistol
And a Benelli M3 shotgun from DML Seal Team Six Rick

And also attempted to create gloved hand sets too.

 

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Second to last one for today. Very very low speed. It's the World Peacekeeper's version of The Rock!

It's supposed to be Sean Connery. Kind of. And look, he has a grappling hook with about 4 inches of line to it. That will scale him far, I imagine.

 

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And, last one for today. Fun stuff.

It's a custom for Chuck Norris. The launcher is an Arwen system from BBI/Elite Force's generation 1. Meaning it was metal. This guy cut actual metal, and a good thick piece of it, to get this custom going. The magazine is a DML one from the SR-25 set. The core weapon, I don't know. Maybe TUS.

Since this custom is likely about 40 percent real metal, then technically, it could really hurt someone. If you threw it at them.

Lone Wolf McQuade in a jungle. Can't beat it. Not a chance.

 

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DML SAS Chris was built upon Val Kilmer's character in Heat. The included HK91 SG1 was to simulate what the character, Chris, from Heat, used in the parking lot scene in the movie.

Close to everything in this set was reused from other sets. The revolver and holster were in a different sniper set. The L96 was in a different SAS set. The HK91 is from SDU Lam. Binoculars from NYPD Winona.

 

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DML Brian, IMHO, was likely loosely inspired by the success of the film Three Kings.

This was pretty cutting edge in development for the time. The LBV 88 was cloth based, but had much more intricate stitching and detail compared to the previous SDU/LE lines. This was the first release of modern cloth boots in the entire hobby. And actual string laces.

Also the first release of a high end M16A2 in the hobby. You can see what DML was thinking here, to make the forward grip removable, not just for detail, but to potentially create other options later down the road for other figures. Many believed the headsculpt was loosely based on Tom Berenger. It doesn't look like him, but the sculpts back then were clearly very rudimentary.

 

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I know I've spent a bit more time on modern figures, so I'll do a little more WW2 now. This is DML Jeb. Likeness based on young Nicholas Cage. It's unclear to me if this was the first release from DML RTV for a cloth BAR belt. But I wouldn't have put it past DML to hide it inside an expensive deluxe set. You'll notice the alternate gloved hands. Also the new "functional" DML RTV 1911 pistol with working slide. For some reason, DML IMHO could just never get a basic 1911 pistol right. Ever. I don't remember if the bipod here could be removed from the BAR, but I know that back in the day, that was a huge demand from collectors. They wanted DML to make a BAR without the bipod rig molded onto it.

Interesting enough, modern collectors coveted that trench knife and sheath. IIRC, there was an old photo of a PMC having on on his chest rig and then everyone wanted it for a time.

 

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This was, IIRC, DML's first foray into making the German WW2 MG34. I've added in a video from Forgotten Weapons to highlight some of the technical background of the weapon. It is and was a pure work of art. However things I noticed as a mostly novice WW2 collector at times - The hinge system to change the barrel was notoriously fragile and was a pure weak point and I've seen other collectors had it break on them. Also the bipod mount point would break on this weapon and the DML MG42.

The way I used to roughly "time date" some DML WW2 figures like this was to see if the bolt on the KAR98 would function or not. Very old DML sets were static.

IIRC, Echo Base Toys mentioned these DML German WW2 boots, that he had too many and literally couldn't give them away at one point. Best I can say is I don't know. I'm not a huge WW2 collector and the majority of stuff I got was US Rangers or paratroopers and basically loose weapons. If others want to fill in some information gaps here on WW2 German stuff, they are more than welcome to chime in here.

 

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Here is DML WW2 British Mark. I posted up the back of his box to show how much I appreciated the historical text and information on some of these older sets. It's unclear to me if DML just reprinted text from some Ospreys though.

As British figures were made a little later and not as much of a focus as German and US, so it appears that a lot of even older stuff is mostly cloth based. Which is pretty interesting. You can see how much development DML and the hobby in general got to in just a few years. IIRC Michael Chan SDU was a late 1999 release. So in just a little over two years, you can see the massive leaps in production quality in these sets.

I was always happy to see sets like these with packs, because DML and BBI simply did not often add them into their sets. This might have been the first appearance of a Mills grenade in our hobby, but I don't know for sure. IIRC, some collectors wanted this set to have an Anthony Hopkins kind of headsculpt, i.e. to pay homage to his character in A Bridge Too Far.

 

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Some people have said that this figure, DML WW2 Dave, from the Big Red One, was partially based on Tom Sizemore's Sgt Mike Horvath character from Saving Private Ryan. And I just don't know to be honest. IIRC, someone told me that Horvath had some kind of tanker jacket in the film. Also he carried a M1 Carbine and not a Thompson. What I do remember is those gaiters were an absolute PITA to deal with and put on and off. Just a hot mess. Also the little pin connectors for the pouches on the molded canteen holder and holster and pistol ammo pouch were pretty fragile.

I remember getting that jacket in a trade back in the day, and it was somewhat coveted for a time. I know when I resold it later, that lots of people wanted it. Well, back then and before RTV came out.

What I do know is that that Thompson submachine gun was a little tricky to find loose because it was the first one that DML ever made. I call it the "Battle Arena Toshinden Problem" BAT was, IIRC, one of the first game releases for the first ever Playstation. So it sold extremely well because there weren't a ton of games available on launch day. Same issue might apply here, lots of early 1/6th sold because there was nothing else like it in the marketplace.

 

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I remember buying this set. Not for the 17.98 listed in the top photo though.

This was, back in the day, considered one of TUS's better headsculpts at the time. I liked the set. Certainly it doesn't hold up today, but for it's time, it was a step up for 21st Century Toys in terms of their product. This might have been one of a very small handful of full WW2 German sets I've ever purchased. I do remember trading out his parts later and everyone wanted the boots and the molded cap.

 

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Don't know much about this set other than just plain saying Cotswold just couldn't compete anymore for full boxed sets. But I remember wanting the tools, because tools were hard to find in 1/6th in the old days.

 

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Fox's show, Prison Break was huge in Asia. Huge. There's reason why the stock Hot Toys early True Types had headsculpts looking like the Prison Break brothers.

DID T Becker was interesting in that it had a Robert Knepper headsculpt. And a damn good one at that. This is really great set and generated interest from the modern side of the hobby as well, as basically the entire set could be repurposed for modern/civilian application.

As for the real life inspiration, probably the basis of the "Free Gift" secondary head sculpt, I just don't remember and I just don't know.