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

[MeatHookGekko]

The World Peacekeepers / Power Team ATV.

Really one of the best low budget and accessible modern vehicles in our hobby. Didn't take up a tremendous amount of space ( relative to other 1/6th vehicles) and had all kinds of useful application.

Basic rule of collecting and vehicles - If you were in the military side of the hobby long enough and knew enough local people, eventually many would just plain give their vehicles to you. Lots of people just want the free space and want those huge monsters out of their garage. Or they are married and it's an issue in their household. Or they have to move. Or they are getting divorced and their living situation changes. Or they are getting out of the hobby. Or they need to trim their collection and will sell it for 2 cents on the dollar as long as you will pick it up yourself with a truck. If you were patient, well back then, then you'd just sit back and eventually vehicles would end up in your garage. Obviously this is more conducive if you live in a place with more collectors around you.

Given the exploding cost of shipping anything these days, you can also sometimes find people just dumping out their 1/6th vehicles for cheap on Craigslist.

1/6th vehicles can sometimes be the most coveted pieces in our hobby, and the most utterly disposable.

You'll also notice most vehicles were under scale and many, like this one, ended up being "single seat" vehicles, even if their real life counterparts could hold more people.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

This is World Peacekeepers 3rd generation. The radio is a mold lift from DML's modern pilots. The vest, an interesting molded job, is a lift somewhat from the last stages of SOTW carded sets. You can see the massive improvement in the headsculpt quality. The facial features, paint application and detail. The boots are still at a generation 1 level, but the uniform quality also improved. Weapons, as always, were oversized and out of scale.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

This is a pretty nifty set.

Sniper figures, for one reason or another, have always sold generally well in our hobby. The binoculars are a lift from 1st generation TUS. Also various companies have spent the last two decades lifting the molds for the DML M82 Barrett Light 50. But notice the improvement at the elbow joints.

As more and more product came out, budget brands had more and more options with mold lifting to pump out cheap accessories. Hence as the top tier stuff moved from "toy" to "collectible", it became a tide that lifted all boats altogether in our hobby. Entry level stuff, what was left of it, took major leaps in quality accordingly.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

This is an interesting set, in so much as all "budget" lines usually and eventually ended up with a MOPP type of set. Basically a gas mask kind of guy. And the figures usually had some kind of facial hair. Well it's hard to get a good seal on a gas mask with facial hair. But from a production standpoint, it was easier to make heads that could have, down the road, reuse into other lines. So for example, this kind of head might be reused for a surfer figure or a skateboarder figure, that kind of thing.

What's interesting is the grenades. In the old days, the molded LC2 ammo pouches had side pockets for grenades. However it was difficult to fit pouches onto a belt with the grenades and fit everything sometimes. Hence in this set, you get just one LC2.

But you can see the practical pathway for all budget brands. What can they make that can be adjusted to have possible seamless future use in a different generic product.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

This is an interesting set, in so much as post 9/11 and post Columbine, mass market figures were made that leaned away from anything with "villain themes" and those with explosives in it. I'm not saying some things weren't made like mines or grenades, but stuff like this, for IED type application, was generally avoided by lots of brands. There was a slight boost in some niche products when The Hurt Locker came out, but not in the entry level offerings.

But the brand here had to consider creating variations without a ton of practical options. They already had a gas mask guy, a sniper, etc, etc. How can they sell another guy wearing basically the same uniform? I'm surprised this set was even made to be honest. But if production R&D is coming from overseas, especially Asia, then the cultural sensitivities to some of these things is different. Not better, not worse, just different.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

This was a little different. The top is a classic "grunt" squadbuilder, using mold lifts from DML generation 1 level parts.

The bottom however was a slight deviation into a quasi foreign figure. A Bren gunner mixed in with modern parts. I've seen this set up close, the Bren and those binoculars are actually pretty good little pieces there.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Last one for today.

This is DML Kenneth. He reused parts from DML WW2 Sean, the first released BAR gunner. DML realized back then that some collectors might be price resistant to the 30-35 dollar tier figure, so they experimented with a few less expensive figures. Fewer parts. More reused parts. Infusing a head type that was a former reject from a different set. Smaller packaging, using the "open face" design like you see with the World Peacekeepers and not the traditional "flap set" system.

There was a more robust loose parts market back then and more dealers to support it. If you had multiple figures with the same weapon, it made it easier to find that weapon. But often the weapons, if unique enough, would be the "anchor" and draw to the set. Hence sometimes we only got one shot a pretty cool single accessory or weapon in some of these sets. And it was unclear what would be reused later or not.

Hence collectors were locked into a push/pull of impulse buying and FOMO ( Fear Of Missing Out)

 

[MeatHookGekko]

This was Yellow Submarine. It's always been unclear to me if they had some kind of relationship with DML. But they did, for a short while, released some carded sets. The weapons IMHO still hold up today. But many of the cards were clearly shelf warmers. I saw countless YS sets rotting with online dealers at the time and even more at various 1/6th hobby shows.

The MG34 IIRC had a hinge system to change out the barrel. And it was a notorious point of fragility. This is an area where metal over plastic probably makes some sense. I'm not a fan of pure metal weapons, but specific metal parts on some weapons to protect durability concerns, I've always found that to be the most effective compromise with real metal usage.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

The standard back then was a two weapon carded set but sometimes up to a four weapon carded set. Depending on the subject matter. So just having one weapon per card wasn't very enticing to many collectors.

Many sci fi customizers loved the Anti tank rifle set because the big rounds and case were useful to dress up their fantasy figures.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

The premise might have been slightly higher detail, but fewer pieces at a slightly higher cost. These release pre-dated, IIRC, DML's Soldat and Road To Victory upgrades, so maybe a market just didn't exist for these, or maybe the subject matter was too poorly chosen.

I wished I had picked these up at shows when they were dirt cheap. The potential for them now is still pretty interesting.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

And this was the most common YB card I saw. Everywhere. No gun, just extra ammo. From a pure basic marketing standpoint, It's kind of unclear what the thinking was with this one. A bit odd. Maybe someone here from that timeline can fill me in a little.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Last one for today.

Some fun stuff. These were the infamous N2 Toys Matrix figures. They released the 4-5 inch figures not long after the movie came out. With "Switch" the woman in the white costume being the hardest to find. The 12 inch line they had were put up for preorder (Something like 45-50 dollars before shipping. In early 2000s, that was a princely sum for a single figure. Though lots of places back then didn't charge tax. ) . And lots of people preorderd them, extremely excited. Then they showed up and they just plain sucked. This was the Wave 2 line. Where they reused the bodies and heads and make a "real world" version and a Kung Fu version. Lots of people were upset as the promo photos were way better than the actual product. Plus people had to wait a good clip of time to finally get them. And IIRC, pictures came out before the preorders filled, so the level of suckage was impending doom for some collectors. Many affectionately labeled these informally as "Special Needs Kevin Bacon" and "Homeless Janeane Garofalo"

This was when "ecommerce" was kind of a Wild West situation online. The concept of preordering was still a little raw. Unrefined. Chaotic.

Later, at brick and mortar music stores ( remember those?), these N2 figures would eventually hit clearance. Sometimes as low as 2 dollars a set by rumor.

That Kung Fu outfit, I've seen it up close before, it's BIG. The hands would drown under the sleeves. So it looked like a 4th grader wearing his dad's jacket to school.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

The dreaded "molded T shirt" figures from Hasbro GI Joe. Here they bring back Duke's headsculpt into a common figure set. Even bring back his pants from the aged Hall Of Fame set.

The name of the game for these figures was durability. They could take a pure pounding non stop. As they were designed more for the toy element, particularly the entry level offerings, compared to the collectible element. Reuse was common. Which was often confounding. Because many times the really cool pieces were never reused, and the stuff no one wanted was pumped out again and again.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Another reuse set. Another molded on shirt. Bringing back the oversized Beretta 92FS pistol from the Hall Of Fame line. The rocket launcher is actually pretty coo. Unclear to me why they didn't just make a decent M202 Flash, a la the film Commando.

This figure came out when there was a bit of a price creep. That's the thing. Hasbro GI Joe got themselves stuck. They made stuff that was little too rudimentary for adult collectors given the price points, and stuff that kids didn't like as many were shifting to other forms of entertainment like Pokemon or video games, and none of this was appealing to soccer moms at Target ( themes were possibly too violent and the prices were too much for a "distraction toy", i.e. a toy to stop the kid from screaming all day)

It's these complex trade offs that caused former businesses like KayBee and Toys R Us to collapse. Even FAO Swartz. I suppose that's a little sad. Many kids today will never know the joy of running into a huge toy store full of cool stuff.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

One of the benefits of not having a dedicated line with specific characters was you could keep pumping out the same set over and over with some moderate variations. Here is mostly reuse but with a pretty nifty and rare spherical sea mine.

But the issue became if you kept releasing the mostly same variation of guys that didn't sell that well. But I can see the reasoning for all the divers and sea related guys. You wanted kids to have something for the pool or the bath tub.

But the awesome thing here is he's just holding his knife at the ready. He's primed to get it on. But you also see the transition point here - No guns. As there was more and more increasing pressure to get toys with guns out of stores.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

In the mid 90's, Action Man simply released carded sets that were repackaged and repainted Hasbro GI Joe Hall Of Fame weapons and accessories. They are even shown being held by a HOF Caucasian "Grunt" figure in the package art.

At the time, GI Joe was still transitioning away from it's "vintage" production mindset. Which was the classic "Razor And Razor Blades" strategy. Release a few core stock figures (like the HOF African American "Grunt" in the photo above) , then release a bunch of less expensive accessory sets. So yes, very much more in the "doll" vein of collecting than what came later in our hobby. However this oscillated with the reality of the success of GI Joe RAH in the 80's, which was driven by the cartoons ( paid for by toy companies like Hasbro) that focused on unique characters with unique personalities and being very distinctive from one another.

IMHO, part of the reason GI Joe 12 inch died off was it transitioned far too slowly out of the Razor and Razor Blade concept. Too invested in what used to work, instead of what did work.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Last one for today.

Fun stuff. It's Lara Croft. With Angelina Jolie's patented DSLs. All the other accessories, weapons and gear were irrelevant. Just get the DSL's molded right apparently.

And the Action Man set with the robotic dog. Don't care what anyone says, that set was super bad ass. This is where Action Man kind of excelled where Hasbro GI Joe didn't quite hit the mark - Just the all out fun factor. If it's going to be toy, then let it be a real toy.

Interesting enough, a Target manager once told me that the 12 inch Action Man stuff would move much faster than the 12 inch GI Joe stuff. If it's a fun concept, IMHO, it's a little easier to hide the gun from the soccer moms. They will notice the robot dog first, and not the guy's rifle. Just a thought.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

I picked up this set loose complete many years ago. Well, without the full nude ( probably to save shipping weight). I'm not typically a fan of this era, but it was included as part of a larger package deal of loose sets. I thought it was fantastic. I'm sure I still have that rifle somewhere, as it's just a really fantastic piece. I wish I could give more detail on the back history of this figure, but it's a bit out of my depth. Maybe someone else had it and is more familiar with this line and theme. I will say despite being a 2006 release, it's a really fantastic figure IMHO and many DID sets have aged very well in our hobby.

IIRC, I didn't get the whole nude, but I did get the headsculpt. So for "Dick", I still got his head. So I got Dick's h..... never mind. It made me laugh though.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

This was Dog Soldiers. If you wanted Indian figures with some level of detail in the early 2000's, then this was it. That lever action rifle, from their line, but probably not with that specific figure shown, was basically it for most people. If you wanted a loose lever action rifle, this was, for a while, the most accessible one. ( No one really parted out SSC figures, so the western figures early on weren't so feasible on the secondary/loose parts market) Lots of people would use a flat head jewelers screwdriver to lift those dots off (Pretty sure they were glued on, someone can correct me though) and then repainted them.

Was very nice for it's time, these kind of sets, but not clear if there was much a market for them. Or demand.

 

[MeatHookGekko]

Wilhelm, early DML German WW2. Couldn't tell you much about him. Here's what I can say, collectors on that side of the hobby were very precise. I.E. the level of shade on an item, too dark or too light could be a point of some minor controversy. For some collectors, not all. Only real takeaway I got was that for German WW2, if you are a brand, you really need to get it right. The level of interest and research many collectors would do was extensive for many in the hobby. I learned a lot by just observing WW2 collectors in the past talk about the gear and the history of it.

One thing I did learn was that the "zeltbahn", a kind of poncho, could be rigged with three others and form a larger shelter for soldiers. Very versatile and ingenious.