In Depth Review 21st Gran Sasso Fallschirmjager Boxed Figure Set.
Tony L. Tillman
21st Gran Sasso Fallschirmjager Boxed Figure Set.
SKU # 38748 33615 2
Price: $29.99 (Toys R Us)
Set comes with the following:
Figure Ammo Bandolier
Helmet Flare Pistol with Grenade Round
Peak Hat Flare Rounds Bandolier
Scarf Stick Grenades
Smock Gas Mask Canister
Tunic & Trousers Bread bag
Boots Mess Kit
Belt Canteen
FG42 SMG
Overall impression: Excellent set. High quality and attention to detail.
Figure: New head sculpt. SS body. Head sculpt looks good , but the mouth is
half open and the teeth have been outlined in black. Overall effect is a
mouthful of blood. Make a good casualty. Blue eyes, Brownish blonde hair, swept
back at temples. Prominent Roman nose & furrowed brow.
Helmet: New sculpt Fallschirmjager (FSJ) helmet with molded on chicken wire
cover and rubber band. Painted AK Mustard Yellow and moderately weathered.
Rubber helmet strap with silver painted buckle.
Peak Hat: VERY nice molded officers peak hat. Done in khaki color with crisp
painted full color detail Luftwaffe insignia of eagle and national colored
cockade. Fits figures head well.
Scarf: Red & white nylon neck scarf.
Smock: FSJ 2nd pattern jump smock in early war tropical camo pattern. The
second pattern parachute smock's main difference from the first pattern smock
was that it was manufactured from camouflage material. Colors are khaki brown
and green. Snap front and cuffs. Sewn pockets on front. Rip hip has sewn
holster for flare gun.
Tunic & Trousers: Shirt- Very well made tunic. Snaps on shirtfront & cuffs.
Khaki color. Material is nice & heavy. Two front breast pockets. No rank or
insignia.
Trousers - Snap front. Left thigh pocket. Pants are plenty long. Good
detailing. Nice heavy khaki colored material. Snap cuffs. Same as came with
Monte Casino officer.
Boots: Standard 21st lace front black paratrooper boots. No painted detail.
Belt: OD green ribbed elastic with standard FSJ belt buckle. Very crisp detail
on buckle. Painted gunmetal & lightly weathered.
FG42 SMG: Looks like the old mold has been retooled. All parts are now attached
except the magazine. Very crisp detail and well painted. Several new
features have been added. BTW, did you know that only 2000 FG42's were ever
made?
Ammo Bandolier: Standard 21st issue FSJ around the neck FG42 ammo bandolier
with 4 pockets on each side. Loops for attaching to belt. Color is blue on
blue.
Flare Pistol with Grenade Round: Very nicely molded breech loading WWI flare
pistol. The real one was a whopping 15.5" long and weighed 3.5 lbs.
Flare Rounds Bandolier: Molded flexible bandolier glued to hemmed khaki cloth
strap. Flare round ends are detailed on bandolier, but rounds themselves are
not removable. Painted detail.
Stick Grenades: Standard German stick grenades with AK Mustard Yellow caps with
OD Green paint spots as camouflage
Gas Mask Canister: Standard 21st issue with khaki colored carrying strap.
Silver buckle & fittings. Canister is painted AK Mustard Yellow and daubed with
OD Green paint as camouflage.
Bread bag: Standard 21st issue tan hard plastic bread bag with gunmetal colored
fittings and khaki colored 1/8th inch nylon straps.
Mess Kit: Standard 21st issue tan AK Mustard Yellow hard plastic mess kit with
gunmetal colored fittings and khaki colored elastic strap. Daubed with OD Green
paint as camouflage.
Canteen: New sculpt. Or re-sculpt of old 21st canteen. New FSJ canteen is
actually larger than the old standard issue 21st German canteen and has a
pronounced neck & cap. Full size drinking cup daubed with OD Green paint as
camouflage. Gunmetal colored fittings and khaki colored elastic strap. Black
snap for attaching to bread bag.
Rating: Great set. Lots of new stuff. New Fg42, hat, smock & flare pistol are
all excellently done. When assembled the figure looks good on display. And if
you don't like the set as is, there is a ton of kitbash material here.
"A" for concept
"A" for realization
"A" for quality control
"A" for price
Thanks
Oz
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Greg Brown
with Tony on everything except the smock. From the prototype pics, this
smock was to have simulated the "tan and water" camo pattern, sometimes
known as "Sumpfmuster" (means "marsh pattern" for you non-germans out there
;-)). This was a late war (1943ish) variation n the "splinter" pattern that
most of you are familiar with. Unfortunately, the 21st interpretation is
nothing close to the actual pattern. This disappointed me greatly, for up
until now, Roy Bowen and the guys in Kentucky have been the only people to
offer a close anomaly of the "tan and water" pattern...
Greg
Tony L. Tillman <ozone...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010704230516...@ng-md1.aol.com...
Xavier Basora
Let me as a totally niave question: just how tough is it to recreate the WW II
German patterns? I've never seen any in colour (unlesss you count the Ospret
plates taht Ron Volstadd and friends do). So I have a tough time visualizing the
colours and sometimes, I don't believe that they actually existed :)
xavier
Greg Brown wrote:
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JBolingS
It ruined the whole head for me. His teeth weren't just outlined in black
the black lines are nearly as wide as a tooth giving him a one tooth-one
space-one tooth look. Also the smock, correct or not, just isn't very well
made. The fabric doesn't have a high enough thread count. It looks like he's
wearing a burlap sack with green blobs painted on. Oh, this is just MHO. J
Steven Marthinsen
snapped him up. I believe 21st tried to copy the third pattern smock seen
on page 28 of Kurtz's German Paratroopers book and while it is not perfect
it will certainly do (at least the uniforms are usable ... most Hasbro stuff
goes right in the sale bin!). The headsculpt is fine and certainly better
than some of the Dragon teeth bearing boys. All in all, a good set and a
promising start for the year.
Steve
Tony L. Tillman <ozone...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010704230516...@ng-md1.aol.com...
The Reddigs
come with the new GI Joe Stealth set. My Mom bought me this as a gift and I
am so fond of him that I named him for my Grandmother (Moms' Mom.) Her
maiden name is Krull.
I think this set ROCKS.
--
Carin- posting via Mom's computer
reply to: long...@tminet.com
"JBolingS" <jbol...@aol.comremove> wrote in message
news:20010705203727...@ng-fr1.aol.com...
Greg Brown
I've seen a ton of interpretations of the German Splinter Pattern and all
have their distinguishing features, some bad, some on the money. It's a
crap shoot really - either you do great on the camo pattern or not. I was
really surprised on this one since their previous Fallshirmjager smocks were
so well made and the pattern well done.
Greg
Xavier Basora <xav...@mail.abacom.com> wrote in message
news:3B448C89...@mail.abacom.com...
JBolingS
horrible, the mouth was so much worse than the anything Dragon has sculpted
that there is no comparison. There was more black than white on the teeth of
the figures I saw. J