Preiser
64018

With the relative lack of new GI figures in the pipeline, I was pleased when Preiser announced in the spring of 2010 that they were coming out with both paratrooper and infantry sets. I placed my orders sight unseen. Even on the basis of the box art above, if available at the time, I likely would have taken the chance. (Curiously, the photo on the top of the box shows only five figures, but a sixth kneeling figure also is included.)

However, opening the box brought to mind the old axiom, "Caveat emptor."

My heart sank. The quality of the sculpting is on par with the earliest Tamiya or 1/32 Airfix/Matchbox figures. In fact, those in some way even surpass the Preiser figures: the Airfix paratroopers have well-defined laces on the boots, but the Presier boots are devoid of detailing. There is none of the crispness in the molding that one sees in Dragon or MiniArt figures. There are no attempts at undercuts where the jump jacket meets the trousers. The laces that tied off the bulky pockets are inconsistent.

The choice and absence of details is a bit puzzling. There are no reinforcement patches on the knees and elbows that was widely common for D-Day paratrooper jump uniforms. The gas detection brassards are molded in place, but on the left arm, rather than the more typically seen position on the right arm.

The faces on the separate heads are not the worst I've seen, but will take some very skillful painting to approximate a lifelike effect. Most of the right hands are molded onto the weapons, including an M1903 Springfield with scope and flash suppresser. That's a problem if you want to replace the rifles with crisper alternatives from DML or Tamiya.

A saving grace—barely—is the gear. All of the usual equipment, such as musette bags, entrenching tools, wire cutters, canteens, ammo pouches, and bandage packages are present. Curiously, there are no Tommy guns or BARs, which overpopulate figure sets in a raio that far outweighs their actual presence. If every fourth soldier had a BAR, we likely could have ended WWII a lot sooner!

The sprues include some of the M1928 haversacks with meat can pouches used by infantry, suggesting that the equipment trees will be shared with the other forthcoming product.

The poses themselves are interesting and, as seen above, give a sense of cautious movement through urban rubble or the bocage.

It would be possible to replace the boots with some spares if you find the poses useful. As you can see, most of the figures are one-piece bodies, so some surgery is necessary if you want to use these for conversions and apply the best parts toward DML or MasterBox paratroopers, or any of the resin airborne from Warriors, Verlinden, Legend, and SOL.

I spent $17.71, which was a price match discount from the $21.99 regular price from the vendor, plus an additional $7.50 for shipping and handling. Lesson learned. I'll try to make do with these, but I'll make sure I get a good look at the infantry figures before I open my wallet again.

-tss-