German Infantry 1942 (2 Viewers)

Andanna said:
Matt recently asked that I please display his soldiers in their natural habitat rather than in the outskirts of town. Happy to do that for the person who blessed us with these superb figures.

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Nicely done, Andanna!! I have set my First Legion Stalingrad figures on my K&C "fall of Berlin" diorama, and compared them to the other matt WWII figures in my collection from K&C, Figarti and Honour Bound. Other than the dramatic scale difference, what struck me most was how First Legion had finally put together the four basic elements of making a truly realistic figure: historical accuracy, sculpting, posing and painting.

K&C had mastered the consistent sculpting (9.5 out of 10) and posing (10 out of 10), but had chosen a painting style that was less realistic, with black outlines around details and brighter colors, making the figures more eye catching, but simultaneously more toyish (8 out of 10), and gets called on historical errors fairly often (7 out of 10). Figarti had chosen the more realistic (and time consuming) connoisseur style paintjob (9.5 out of 10), and has made few historical errors to my knowledge (9 out of 10), but has not yet provided consistent sculpting (8.5 to 9.5 out of 10) or posing (6.5 to 8.5 out of 10). Honour Bound, has the best historical accuracy of the other manufacturers, having only been called on one mistake to (9.8 out of 10), has posing down very nicely (9.5 out of 10), but has sculpted a style of figure more suited to a glossy finish (8 out of 10), and adopted K&C's style of paint finish (8 out of 10).

First Legion has provided a level of sculpting and posing which is consistently excellent. In fact I compared several of my FL German and Russion figures to similar K&C figures, and found virtually identical poses (10 out of 10). First Legion has sculpted more anatomically correctly proportioned heads and hands, but, they seem too small for the figure to the naked eye, and can only be fully appreciated under a magnifying glass (9.8 out of 10). The painting is the best I've seen in the industry, and on a par with far more expensive connoisseur figures (10 out of 10). Having followed the discussion of the experts on First Legion's WWII accuracy, and having not seen the experts call them on a single mistake, historical accuracy also warrants a perfect score so far (10 out of 10)

At 39.8 out of a possible 40 by my ranking system, I can't imagine much better bang for your buck. If the figures are scaled up a couple of millimeters, so they can be (1) more easily appreciated by 40+ year old eyes and (2) comfortably displayed alongside the figures that make up the bulk of most 1:30 scale WWII collections, I would raise that rating to a perfect 40 out of 40. Not to bad for FL first attempt at WWII.
 
Louis Badolato said:
Nicely done, Andanna!! I have set my First Legion Stalingrad figures on my K&C "fall of Berlin" diorama, and compared them to the other matt WWII figures in my collection from K&C, Figarti and Honour Bound. Other than the dramatic scale difference, what struck me most was how First Legion had finally put together the four basic elements of making a truly realistic figure: historical accuracy, sculpting, posing and painting.

K&C had mastered the consistent sculpting (9.5 out of 10) and posing (10 out of 10), but had chosen a painting style that was less realistic, with black outlines around details and brighter colors, making the figures more eye catching, but simultaneously more toyish (8 out of 10), and gets called on historical errors fairly often (7 out of 10). Figarti had chosen the more realistic (and time consuming) connoisseur style paintjob (9.5 out of 10), and has made few historical errors to my knowledge (9 out of 10), but has not yet provided consistent sculpting (8.5 to 9.5 out of 10) or posing (6.5 to 8.5 out of 10). Honour Bound, has the best historical accuracy of the other manufacturers, having only been called on one mistake to (9.8 out of 10), has posing down very nicely (9.5 out of 10), but has sculpted a style of figure more suited to a glossy finish (8 out of 10), and adopted K&C's style of paint finish (8 out of 10).

First Legion has provided a level of sculpting and posing which is consistently excellent. In fact I compared several of my FL German and Russion figures to similar K&C figures, and found virtually identical poses (10 out of 10). First Legion has sculpted more anatomically correctly proportioned heads and hands, but, they seem too small for the figure to the naked eye, and can only be fully appreciated under a magnifying glass (9.8 out of 10). The painting is the best I've seen in the industry, and on a par with far more expensive connoisseur figures (10 out of 10). Having followed the discussion of the experts on First Legion's WWII accuracy, and having not seen the experts call them on a single mistake, historical accuracy also warrants a perfect score so far (10 out of 10)

At 39.8 out of a possible 40 by my ranking system, I can't imagine much better bang for your buck. If the figures are scaled up a couple of millimeters, so they can be (1) more easily appreciated by 40+ year old eyes and (2) comfortably displayed alongside the figures that make up the bulk of most 1:30 scale WWII collections, I would raise that rating to a perfect 40 out of 40. Not to bad for FL first attempt at WWII.
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Certainly an interesting perpsective Louis and I do thank you for the high marks. Interestingly you rank our sculpting and posing a 19.8 out of 20 while K&C's ranks a 19.5 out of 20. So our sculpting and posing is 1.26% better than K&Cs? I just wanted to clarify this to make sure my 39 year old eyes read this correctly....;)

Regards,

Matt
 
FirstLegion said:
Certainly an interesting perpsective Louis and I do thank you for the high marks. Interestingly you rank our sculpting and posing a 19.8 out of 20 while K&C's ranks a 19.5 out of 20. So our sculpting and posing is 1.26% better than K&Cs? I just wanted to clarify this to make sure my 39 year old eyes read this correctly....;)

Regards,

Matt
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I called it like I saw it, Matt. In sculpting and posing quality I gave you a slight edge over K&C (you would have a greater advanatge if I had added a catagory on the detail of the bases of the figures), but you dominate the competition on historical accuracy and painting (I gave K&C a 15 and you a perfect 20, a 25% advantage). Considering you scored 39.8 (only 0.2 off perfect) out of 40 on my rating system, I thought you would be pleased, especially considering no one else scored even 35 out of 40.:eek:
 
Louis Badolato said:
I called it like I saw it, Matt. In sculpting and posing quality I gave you a slight edge over K&C (you would have a greater advanatge if I had added a catagory on the detail of the bases of the figures), but you dominate the competition on historical accuracy and painting (I gave K&C a 15 and you a perfect 20, a 25% advantage). Considering you scored 39.8 (only 0.2 off perfect) out of 40 on my rating system, I thought you would be pleased, especially considering no one else scored even 35 out of 40.:eek:
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Oh, don't get me wrong Louis, I am of course pleased with the high marks you gave us on your scale (which I assume is only a "toy soldier" scale). In fact, you've probably been too kind to us as it doesn't leave us much room for improvement and I think we can do much better still. In terms of the relative sculpting and posing quality, I guess I'll just leave that alone as clearly I'm biased! ;)

Best,

Matt
 
Interesting rating system. I pulled out 3 sets of several K&C, HB and Figarti pieces wearing as similar coloured uniforms as possible (i.e. compared North Afrika pieces to each other, Western Europe Summer to each other and western Europe Winter to each other.) I do not have any FL figures and could only go by the photos and peoples comments on size.

Your rating system got me to compare figures and uniforms as I had never done before and really noticed a difference between the 4 manufacturers on painting and posing.

I'm not sure what you mean by sculpting? But considering facial expressions and body proportions, I would rank them about the same as you have except for HB which I think has improved with their last few sets..

I would not weight historical accuracy as much as painting and posing. Unless it is a glaring error, historical accuracy does not impact me visually as much as painting or posing. And the number of different sets of figures a company has made over different time periods makes historical accuracy a difficult comparison. The more sets and the longer the time period, the more errors there will be.

But in comparing painting and posing the FL and K&C poses are similar to my eye. The biggest difference to me is in the painting style. The FL painting with battle damaged uniforms is far nicer in my view than the black outline/brighter colour style and also better than Figarti which I like.

Without putting numbers to it, subjectively I would put FL a bit further ahead in quality than you did with no weaknesses. Each of the other manufacturers has one weakness (K&C - painting; Figarti - posing; HB - painting).

Comparing Figarti 1/32 scale figures to the 1/30 scale of K&C I can see what you mean by size matters. If FL figures were the same size as HB and K&C, I think their lead would be even larger.

Terry
 
Interesting rating system indeed. I certainly would have a different relative result for the Napoleonic range but the absolute postions would be the same.
 
SteveDavid said:
My first 8 figures have arrived of the Stalingrad range...and I am angry!

Angry at myself that I did not order ALL of them day one!!!

These are the best so called "toy soldier" figures I have ever seen. Better than this? Even for FL to be measured against these in the future will be difficult!

The pureness of the sculpting, the fantastic painting, the natural poses, the fine size....THE PERFECT MATCH.

I am a FL fan, agreed, but objectively, this is ART. I compared one of these vs my Aeroart figures and the result is ... there is no difference!!!

Wouw, wouw, wouw...no photo makes them justice. They have to be seen in person and I guarantee that any OBJECTIVE, NON-BIASED WWII collector will have to admit that these are a must-buy.

Price-quality - unmatchable! Having seen them now, I understand even less these eternal discussions on price, size vs the competition simply because objectively speaking, and with all respect to other brands, there is no competition - these are in another league. And mixing them with others - no way!

Ok, hit back and give me the stick for this comments - I don't care - as it is the reality.

Congrats Matt!

Look forward to the Stug!
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Couldn't agree more Steve.
The photos put up by Andanna say it all I reckon.

Regards
Harry
 
I would just like to echo the praise of the outstanding reviews of Louis, Frank, and several other forum members on these very well made figures.

Long before, I collected historical miniatures, I collected original WWII uniforms, equipment, and medals that began when my father gave me a few WWII items that belonged to my Grandfather, a pioneer with the Wehrmacht’s 45th Infantry Division. The 45th was an Austrian Division that that fought in Poland, France, and Russia. During Barrbarosa, the 45th was attached to Guderian’s Panzergruppe 2 . As a result, my collection of WWII Items is quite extensive and enough for a small museum.

I also have an extensive photo collection of WWII original photos and photo albums including those of my grandfather. Additionally, I have an unquenchable thirst for WWII military history. For two years of my current Marine Corps Career, I was on the adjunct faculty of the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College where I taught Theory and Nature of War and History of Warfare from the French Revolution until Present.

This background knowledge can be both a blessing and a curse. Every time I try to enjoy a good WWII movie or get another WWII Art Print, I can’t help detect some historical inaccuracy in uniforms and equipment that detracts slightly from my full enjoyment. On the other hand, I'm quite impressed when they get it right. This is also true of my collection of WWII historical miniatures from various makers including some of their most recent releases of WWII figures. I never point out these historical inaccuracies on this forum because I feel it would inappropriate for me to criticize the art of others. In spite of any inaccuracies, I do consider most of the current 1:30 historical miniatures on the market works of art.

With all the historical figures I get, I can’t help giving them a detailed inspection when I get them to see what the artist got right and what they got wrong. As I closely examined each new German and Russian figure of First Legion’s entire first wave of WWII figures, I was in awe not only of the meticulously sculptured detail and superb painting but I could not find even one historical inaccuracy on a single figure of the entire lot. The attention to detail of this company is amazing! While you can’t pick up the level of detail I’m talking about from the photos of these figures, small details like wear spots on the black dyed leather Y-straps exposing the raw leather underneath are painstakingly painted on these figures to represent the real life wear of original worn equipment. Absolutely awesome!

I am really looking to getting the next wave of figures and the upcoming StuG.
Well done!
Semper Fi!
Rick
 
Panzer said:
I would just like to echo the praise of the outstanding reviews of Louis, Frank, and several other forum members on these very well made figures.

Long before, I collected historical miniatures, I collected original WWII uniforms, equipment, and medals that began when my father gave me a few WWII items that belonged to my Grandfather, a pioneer with the Wehrmacht’s 45th Infantry Division. The 45th was an Austrian Division that that fought in Poland, France, and Russia. During Barrbarosa, the 45th was attached to Guderian’s Panzergruppe 2 . As a result, my collection of WWII Items is quite extensive and enough for a small museum.

I also have an extensive photo collection of WWII original photos and photo albums including those of my grandfather. Additionally, I have an unquenchable thirst for WWII military history. For two years of my current Marine Corps Career, I was on the adjunct faculty of the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College where I taught Theory and Nature of War and History of Warfare from the French Revolution until Present.

This background knowledge can be both a blessing and a curse. Every time I try to enjoy a good WWII movie or get another WWII Art Print, I can’t help detect some historical inaccuracy in uniforms and equipment that detracts slightly from my full enjoyment. On the other hand, I'm quite impressed when they get it right. This is also true of my collection of WWII historical miniatures from various makers including some of their most recent releases of WWII figures. I never point out these historical inaccuracies on this forum because I feel it would inappropriate for me to criticize the art of others. In spite of any inaccuracies, I do consider most of the current 1:30 historical miniatures on the market works of art.

With all the historical figures I get, I can’t help giving them a detailed inspection when I get them to see what the artist got right and what they got wrong. As I closely examined each new German and Russian figure of First Legion’s entire first wave of WWII figures, I was in awe not only of the meticulously sculptured detail and superb painting but I could not find even one historical inaccuracy on a single figure of the entire lot. The attention to detail of this company is amazing! While you can’t pick up the level of detail I’m talking about from the photos of these figures, small details like wear spots on the black dyed leather Y-straps exposing the raw leather underneath are painstakingly painted on these figures to represent the real life wear of original worn equipment. Absolutely awesome!

I am really looking to getting the next wave of figures and the upcoming StuG.
Well done!
Semper Fi!
Rick
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quite a commendation, congrats matt.

now about that stug...:D
 
Panzer said:
I would just like to echo the praise of the outstanding reviews of Louis, Frank, and several other forum members on these very well made figures.

Long before, I collected historical miniatures, I collected original WWII uniforms, equipment, and medals that began when my father gave me a few WWII items that belonged to my Grandfather, a pioneer with the Wehrmacht’s 45th Infantry Division. The 45th was an Austrian Division that that fought in Poland, France, and Russia. During Barrbarosa, the 45th was attached to Guderian’s Panzergruppe 2 . As a result, my collection of WWII Items is quite extensive and enough for a small museum.

I also have an extensive photo collection of WWII original photos and photo albums including those of my grandfather. Additionally, I have an unquenchable thirst for WWII military history. For two years of my current Marine Corps Career, I was on the adjunct faculty of the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College where I taught Theory and Nature of War and History of Warfare from the French Revolution until Present.

This background knowledge can be both a blessing and a curse. Every time I try to enjoy a good WWII movie or get another WWII Art Print, I can’t help detect some historical inaccuracy in uniforms and equipment that detracts slightly from my full enjoyment. On the other hand, I'm quite impressed when they get it right. This is also true of my collection of WWII historical miniatures from various makers including some of their most recent releases of WWII figures. I never point out these historical inaccuracies on this forum because I feel it would inappropriate for me to criticize the art of others. In spite of any inaccuracies, I do consider most of the current 1:30 historical miniatures on the market works of art.

With all the historical figures I get, I can’t help giving them a detailed inspection when I get them to see what the artist got right and what they got wrong. As I closely examined each new German and Russian figure of First Legion’s entire first wave of WWII figures, I was in awe not only of the meticulously sculptured detail and superb painting but I could not find even one historical inaccuracy on a single figure of the entire lot. The attention to detail of this company is amazing! While you can’t pick up the level of detail I’m talking about from the photos of these figures, small details like wear spots on the black dyed leather Y-straps exposing the raw leather underneath are painstakingly painted on these figures to represent the real life wear of original worn equipment. Absolutely awesome!

I am really looking to getting the next wave of figures and the upcoming StuG.
Well done!
Semper Fi!
Rick
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Most impressive review Rick.
 
Louis Badolato said:
.......................At 39.8 out of a possible 40 by my ranking system, I can't imagine much better bang for your buck. If the figures are scaled up a couple of millimeters, so they can be (1) more easily appreciated by 40+ year old eyes and (2) comfortably displayed alongside the figures that make up the bulk of most 1:30 scale WWII collections, I would raise that rating to a perfect 40 out of 40. Not to bad for FL first attempt at WWII.
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That's a significant viewpoint which is rarely mentioned on the forum but I feel is important to most collectors. I dabbled in 1/72 scale diecast AFV's as that scale provides excellent detail at cheap prices, and of course you don't need as much display space. Despite the terrific detail I found my 1/72 displays lacked the WOW factor of my 1/30 displays causing me to cut back buying 1/72. I even shifted my 1/72 display to a back room to make more space in my dinning room which is now purely a display room. Of course 1/32 scale is much closer to 1/30 than 1/72 but the size difference is still a significant factor imo.
 
"Suicide is painless. It brings on many changes. But I can take or leave it if I try.";)
 
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