In Depth Review Hasbro "Royal Marine"

[Tony L. Tillman]

In Depth Review

Hasbro "Royal Marine"

Price: $19.99

Set comes with the following:

Figure Grenades
Coverall M16/203
Balaclava SAT COM Radio
Scuba Mask Flashlight
Boots Smoke Grenades
L2 Submachine Gun Binoculars
Uzi SA-80 Assault Rifle
.9mm Semiauto Pistol M-18 Claymore Mines
Shotgun MRE's

Overall impression: Overall, I was not impressed. L

Figure: Generic Hasbro Pin Head. Has the new, smaller hands which look great
and are nice and pliable. Unfortunately, the balaclava left my figures face
stained a patchy black.

Coverall: A real nice charcoal grey multipocket jumpsuit that has black paint
smeared all over it. Pockets are open topped and functional. Drawstring neck,
snap front. Velcro closures on cuffs. Would have been a nice piece of
clothing, but apparently this one was used by a garage mechanic prior to being
issued to the Royal Marines.

Balaclava: Very nicely sewn with wide base at neck for tucking under coverall
drawstring collar. Mine seems to have been dyed with candle soot or India ink.

Scuba Mask: Box says it's goggles, but I have never seen goggles that block off
your nasal passages. On the plus side, it is a good quality scuba mask.

Boots: Generic Hasbro modern black boots like those that come with the carded
modern figures.

L2 SMG: A nice bit of work! British Sten type SMG, removable curved box
magazine. Multi-piece folding stock and removable barrel guard. With some
detail painting, this could be one sweet little weapon.

Uzi: Folding stock Hasbro Uzi with some minor detail painting and removable box
magazine.

9mm Semiauto Pistol: Beretta with removable magazine. Hollowed out barrel. One
of my favorite Hasbro weapons.

Shotgun: Although I cannot identify the make, this is one sweet piece of
weaponry. Long barrel, semiautomatic, (I assume) with handgrip and (get this)
EXTENDABLE full shoulder stock! Excellent detail painting, hollowed out front
barrel.

Grenades: Two WWII era green pineapple style fragmentation grenades.
Apparently the Royal marines are still using left over lend-lease stuff from
WWII.

M16/203; Standard Hasbro fare with some detail painting. Magazine and 203 are
fixed and do not operate.

SAT COM Radio: Another nice bit of gear. Very nicely done hand held radio with
flexible patch cord and adjustable throat mike and earpiece.

Flashlight: Standard green Hasbro angle head flashlight with silver painted
lens.

Smoke Grenades: Two of Hasbro's famous spoonless smoke grenades. Cut the fuse
and pin off the top and they make pretty good beer cans.

Binoculars: Modern military binos with minor detail painting. Same type as came
with the M1 Abrams Tank Commander.

SA-80 Assault Rifle: Fixed magazine, removable bayonet. Sloppy detail
painting. On mine the paint was smeared where some bright boy picked up while
still wet.
(Hey, buddy, if you are reading this, I got your fingerprint!)
Some minor over spray, just enough to make it look like it came out of one
knockoff sets out there.

M-18 Claymore Mines: Three black claymores with fixed extended legs.

MREs: Black, labeled "Trail Chow".

Rating: Well, usually I give Hasbro pretty high marks, but they really screwed
the pooch on this one. The paint on the coverall is so thick in some places it
looks like tar. This means if you try to dye it black, it'll come out
splotchy. Alcohol won't take the black splotches off the figures face. They
seem to be there permanently. The whole set would have been much better off as
a "Secret Orders" or "Battle Gear" set. Or not done at all. Definitely not
worth $20.00, even for play purposes. The WWII Marine - Pacific Theater set
has less in it, but has a lot more quality. No pouches, belts, holsters or
harnesses. I guess the poor guy is expected to carry all this stuff around in
his pockets.

"A" for concept
"C" for realization
"C" for quality control
"C" for price

Thanks
Oz

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[Jimandlauraw]

>Figure: Generic Hasbro Pin Head. Has the new, smaller hands which look great
>and are nice and pliable. Unfortunately, the balaclava left my figures face
>stained a patchy black.

Mine has the same thing, with the black stuf on his head. Is it possible that
this is an attempt at charcoal face cammo?

Jim W.

[Tony L. Tillman]

I thought about that, but mine also has it all over his hair as well.
Oz

[Aimee Whitson]

I agree with your review, BUT this set has a ton of kitbashing potential.

Unfortunately, some of Hasbro's offerings require a little boost. I replaced the
scuba mask with goggles from the Kuwait Top Secret Orders gear set.

I also added a Dragon bullet-proof vest, 21st rapelling harness, 21st drop-down
holster and pistol, and a 21st drop-down mag pouch.

Topped it off with the black belt from the Hasbro Smoke-jumper set. The belt is
worn upside-down so that stuff can be hung from the loops (namely, a Hasbro black
flashlight). I also threw some extra mags into the pockets on suit.

Anyway, he's now one of my favorites. One thing you can say about Hasbro, they
really challenge you to make their figs interesting. :)

Emilio