Figure Review: Hot Toys US Army 75th Ranger Regiment (M249 Edition)
This is the latest 1/6 scale military offering from Hot Toys! Apparently, this figure shipped earlier than its SCAR-L Edition counterpart. Straight from the mailman and straight out of the box, this is the Hot Toys US Army 75th Ranger Regiment (M249 Edition).
As we have come to expect from Hot Toys, their box design simply brings out the "wow" factor. Nicely done with good colors combination, the box itself is a collectible!
Weapon Accessories
The M249 itself is a masterpiece to behold. Seriously, no other 1/6 scale manufacturers has come close to Hot Toys in terms of quality for 1/6 scale weapons design and production. Granted that most Hot Toys 1/6 scale items are slightly larger than similar items from other manufacturers, this does not deviate from the fact that when on-hand, any Hot Toys 1/6 weapons is a joy to behold. In terms of durability, the high standards that Hot Toys has set are replicated in this M249. However, Hot Toys can further improved on this by providing us with metallic 1/6 scale ammo instead of their standard plastic looking and drab-colored 1/6 scale ammo which leaves much to be desired and definitely does not do justice to the high standard they set for the M249 itself.
A Shotgun is included. This is an older version which was used by Hot Toys for their earlier figures. I see this shotgun as an added bonus for use in future kit bashes.
Other Accessories
The Recon Chest Harness with Back Panel and MBSS Backpack included in the box set are good for kit bash use. Used with the figure and its PCU, the color of these accessories provides good overall color combination so much so that the overall figure is pleasing o the eye without looking like a doll. The boots are nice but it cannot be used with 1/6 nude bodies (from other manufacturers) easily as it is designed to fit into the standard Hot Toys legs joint and this design is obviously not an industry-wide standard.
The head sculpt is really good. Paint job is well applied with an even flesh-tone and the eyes of the head sculpt do not have that doll-dot look. Overall, the head sculpt is one of the best thing about this figure.
Overall Figure
When fully geared, the overall figure is a great looking one. However, it must be noted that I had quite a lot of problems fitting the NVG to the Helmet mount. Somehow, the fitting is very loose and the NVG keeps falling off until I get fed-up and simply super-glued the NVG to the Helmet mount! I am not sure if this loose fitting is an isolated issue that comes with the particular figure I used for this review or if it is a design flaw. In any case, this is not a major issue. A little super-glue does the job well!
Another thing I dislike about Hot Toys' recent 1/6 military figures is the molded gloved hands. By themselves, these hands are great but Hot Toys should provide an additional pair of ungloved hands just like what they usually do with the truetype feet.
Overall Rating
Considering all the points noted above, I would give this figure an overall rating of 3 out of 5 (3/5).
In rating a figure, I also take into consideration the price point. With this in mind, a figure that comes with a higher price point (RRP) will be required to achieve better overall quality, durability, accessory level etc vis-à-vis a similar figure with a lower price point in order to achieve a similar rating. I believe this to be a relatively fair way of rating a figure since price varies widely between similar figures from different manufacturers.
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