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ZERT AMG Juggernaut Sully review and pics
Easy & Simple ZERT AMG Juggernaut: "SULLY" ( ES-ZERT-AMG )
Greetings sixthscale figure fans – today we will be looking at Easy & Simple’s ( E&S ), newest figur, and the third figure in the venerable ZERT lineup – the ZERT AMG Juggernaut: "SULLY" figure. And in case you didn’t already make the connection, this one is indeed based on Easy & Simple plank holder, Brian "Sully" Sullivan. Just take a gander at the head-sculpt if you think that I am kidding you…
Being both a ZERT sixthscale figure devotee, and a member of the ZERT squadron, I was uber eager to lay hands on this figure. I am already the proud owner of the ZERT Jameson "Youngblood" Deathridge figure ( XP001 ), the ZERT NSN416C Rifle boxed set, and the ZERT Exclusive Super Death Squad 13 Halo Nuke Team ( MSE SDS13 00 ). So I am down for any new sixthscale additions that are ZERT themed.
Before we jump into the review with guns a’ blazing, let’s take a second to read up on what ZERT ( Z.E.R.T. ), or the Zombie Eradication Response Team is all about…
About Z.E.R.T.:
Z.E.R.T. is an organization that uses “Zombie” as a metaphor for any natural or man-made disasters that will occur in our lives; Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, criminal attacks or any type of situation where being prepared, trained and most importantly, armed with the proper mindset is required to see you and your family through to safety. Z.E.R.T. was officially launched in Las Vegas, November 2011 and now has 23,000+ members in 41 different countries! Over 600 of these members are located in Las Vegas Nevada USA. Members are divided into Squadrons. A Squadron is an area/country represented by a letter/s, for example, the X Squadron represents the West Coast of America. Each member of Z.E.R.T. is assigned a Call Sign and a Squadron designation. The Call Sign highlights the time you joined the unit, the letter is where you are located. The letters XP prior to a call sign were only awarded to the first 100 founding members “Plank Owners” ( e.g. XP001 = West Coast of America, founding member number 001, aka “The Boss”! ) Members can find other squadron members by being invited to their respective Facebook Squadron Page. Join Z.E.R.T.
Training:
Z.E.R.T. is made up of Tier 1 Special Forces Instructors who have the ability to teach civilian members the most relevant and useful methods of avoiding or surviving a “Zombie” event! Z.E.R.T. fosters a friendly and safe environment for people from all walks of life and backgrounds to interact, learn and train together. The Zombie Apocalypse theme is a bridge to many people who otherwise may not seek out traditional training courses. By being a part of Z.E.R.T. they are exposed to many different opportunities for enhancing their skills. Participation in Z.E.R.T. training courses also creates safe students with a foundation in the basics that can be applied to courses and activities anywhere in the shooting/training world. Each Z.E.R.T. member can take it as far as they wish to go, at their own pace with the emphasis being on a safe fun experience for all involved. Join Z.E.R.T. to start your journey and be ready if your own personal Zombie Apocalypse happens!
So there you go.
Head-sculpt and base body:
E&S Body with Sully Head-sculpt
I am always excited to see a new sixthscale base body hit the market. And while the E&S base is not exactly new per se', it has certainly been overhauled. Gone are the wobble knee joints and floppy ankles. What now have is a very respectable and anatomically sound base for display ( as part of a boxed figure set ), or for creating our own custom projects.
The head-sculpt is, of course, one of the many cool aspects of this set. In this case we are getting an “inspired” sculpt, but not one based on an actor, or an operator, but of one of the plank holders of MSE – the one, the only Mr. Brian "Sully" Sullivan. Now to say that this ads appeal to the figure set would be an understatement – and who out there in the sixthscale world hasn’t dreamt of having their likeness personified in a sixthscale sculpt? As a friend and sometimes associate of Brian’s, I can say that I am not only proud of him, Jen, Brian L. and Kit, for making MSE and E&S household names in the sixthscale world, I am also stoked for Brian that he can make multiple-form minims now that he has his countenance fashioned in sixthscale. Too cool.
So how does this sculpt stack up to other sixthscale sculpts out there? How does it compare to the standard that I refer to as the Hot Toys paradigm? It stands up. In fact, it is one of E&S’s best yet ( and I am not just saying that because I know the guy that it is based on ).
A standout feature of the sculpt ( mechanically speaking ), is that it is a two piece sculpt - meaning the head and the neck are two separate pieces. I really like this feature as it allows the head to move more naturally. Add in the E&S base body neck socket ( which is a ball and socket connection that attaches in turn, to a ball and socket connection ), and you get more range of motion than with any other base body/head-sculpt on the market. Big kudos to E&S for this inclusion.
Other standouts with respect to the base body are the ball and socket hip joints. These also have a greater range of motion than the competition, and are so flexible and posable, that they make the contortionist girl at the Cirque De' Cile' show look like Boris Karlof in Frankenstein - or that Bernie guy in Weekend at Burnie's.
Another great standout with the base body is that E&S has improved the stiffness of the hip joints - so there is much less wobble and much more stability to the figure when posed without a stand. By the way, I do not recommend posing any figure without a stand. I have seen way too many figures take massive shelf dives over the years to let them go stand-less.
Uniform elements:
Typhoon Camo Pattern Frog Shirt (Black Shirt, Black Multicam Forearm Guards)
Typhoon Camo Pattern Reinforced Pants (Black Reinforcement Builtin Knee Pads)
Cobra Belt
Black Multicam Cloth Helmet Cover
ZERTified Combat Boots
ZERTified Combat Gloves
Sully Approved Patches
A real standout ( the real standout ), with this set is the Typhoon Camo Pattern top and bottom. To say that this camo is cool would be a gross understatement. It is the same type of camouflage pattern that we saw with the E&S Commonwealth figure ( although with that figure the pattern was rendered in a tan variant - with a green variant being offered as a "chase" set ). So it really good to see it in this set as well - only in a cool black and grey scheme. I look forward to seeing more of it with future E&S releases - maybe even a white/winter version?
The cut and fit of the uniform is excellent, with tidy stitching and scale appropriate Velcro accents and closures. I also really liked the black accents on the pants - a good compliment to the black body of the FROG shirt. The whole set has a really slick high speed look that is in keeping with all of E&S's offering to date.
Additionally, we receive a black sleeveless t-shirt with a bit of padding added near the shoulder/chest - this to fill out the figure in that area - a good addition to the set. We also get a Cobra style belt ( small buckle version ), that is rendered in black and gray with a burnt bronzer colored buckle - all in keeping with the overall black and gray look of the figure. really keen stuff to be sure.
A notable improvement seen herein, is with the latest E&S gloves - in this case the "ZERTified Combat Gloves". The material that they are made with is way easier to work with than previous offerings. These are cool Oakley type gloves ( think Factory Pilot gloves ). Before we dive headlong into how cool these gloves are, I wanted to take a second to delve a little deeper into the general improvements that E&S has made to their molded gloves over the past few figure releases.
They went from a stiff material with little detail and paint, to more flexible material with much greater detail, both in sculpt and in paint. In fact, I would say this pair ( that come with the Sully figure ), are my most favorite E&S glove hands yet. The detail is superb - especially with the armored knuckle detailing - they have that carbon fiber look - and are slightly glossy compared to the rest of the glove which is suitably matte in appearance. Good job E&S - now to pick up a half dozen pair loose for future figure bashes.
Another great piece in this section are the "ZERTified Combat Boots". They are of the molded ball and socket variety, and crisp in detail - both by way of the sculpt and paint effects. As with the gloves, the ZERTification come by way of red accents throughout the upper and sole. This is a keen look, and makes me wonder what the next set of ZERTified gear will be.
Gear ( softline elements ):
"Tacdip" Chewing Tobacco & Holder for Rear of Helmet
Vest ( Wolf Grey Vest with Light Grey MOLLE Strapping )
Shoulder Pads ( Wolf Grey with MOLLE )
Neck Guard ( Wolf Grey )
Groin Plate ( Wolf Grey - with "Get Some" written in White )
Triple M4 Mag Pouch ( Wolf Grey )
Medic IFAK Pouch ( Wolf Grey )
Double Pistol Mag Pouch ( Wolf Grey )
Double Frag Grenade Pouch ( Grey w/ Black Buckle )
Dropleg Panel x2 ( Grey w/ MOLLE Strapping )
SAW Ammo Pouch ( Grey W/ Black Buckle )
Double M4 Ammo Pouch ( Grey W/ Black Buckle - Used to Hold Smoke Grenades - Right Dropleg Side )
It is super cool to see so much Wolf Grey gear with this ( as well as other E&S offerings ). The whole Wolf Grey/Grey Ghost/Grey Man look has really taken off over the past couple of years. So it is only natural to see it reflected here in the sixthscale. And having more grey gear is good for us bashers - gives us plenty of fodder for shadow warrior style customs.
I mentioned this to Brian once, and he told me that one of the missions of his company is to make is easier for bashers and customizers to combine kits and loose parts to make their own figures. I love this - it shows what you can accomplish when you have a guy like Brian behind the scenes. He was and is a basher and customizer himself, so he translated this into his business. Well done sir!
I want to talk a little about the vest that comes with this set. The stitching and detailing is top notch - very clean and very sharp, and the attachment of the pouches is made easier with the doubled over PALS strips located on the back of all of the pouches. This REALLY helps with the weaving process ( threading the PALS webbing on the pouches through the PALS webbing on the vest ). Time was, only Playhouse Toys took the time and effort to give us reinforced PALS web on their pouches, but lucky for us, Brian and team have included this extra aid with their pouches as well.
Gear ( hardline elements ):
FAST Helmet with V-Lite x2 & NVG Mount
Helmet Chops & Flip up Visor
The "Helmet Chops & Flip up Visor" is a great inclusion, and is one of those "about time someone made this is sixthscale" items. It is very ( repeat ), very kick-ass. Take time when you are fiddling around with this little bit of sixthscale gold as it is fragile - like all hyper detailed miniature things tend to be - it's like the more detail you add, the greater care you have to exercise when hadnling the piece in question. I decided to loosen up the Phillips head screws that act as swivel points for the visor. This made it easier to raise and lower the visor.
I also detached the visor from the chops to make sliding the chops onto the helmet rails easier. This way I could slide on one chop at a time. Way easier that trying to linbe up both at the same time. When the chops were both where they needed to be, I reattached the visor by reinserting the little Phillips head screws. Just be really carefulk not to lose the screws - they are really tiny.
Not mentioned in the lineup, but appearing in the set' was a pair of NV goggles. Pretty neat detail with these - both sets of lenses are red. Cool!
Weapon elements:
P220 Pistol ( Grey Slide, Black Lower) & Tac Light & Pistol Mags x3
Pistol CQC Holster with MOLLE Attachments ( Black )
Frag Grenades x2
Red Incendiary Grenades x3
Smoke Grenades x2
Folding Knife
ZERTified M240L Machine Gun (Grey Receiver, Black Parts)
Rifle Sling (Black)
Red Dot Optic & Rifle Suppressor
Ammo Backpack MICO Belt Fed
The ZERTified M240L with the MICO pack is the top piece in the weapon section - but this does not mean that we do not receive other sixthscale goodness with this set. The whole kit is cool, and properly ZERT in nature, but the M240L/MICO combo is yet another new E&S weapon mold, and therefore really stands out. Plus, the Sully figure looks like a zombie slaying machine when kitted up and fully-loaded with that pack and MG. Zombie Killer of the Week? I think yes.
The M240L itself is very crisply detailed ( on a par with other E&S offerings ). There are no slugs or sprue residue, and there is even a bit of manufacturer stamping on the main body of the 240. Also of note, the RIS ( or Picatinny ), fittings are not too loose and not too tight. So you will not have to worry about trying to "tune in" your optics and rail goodies so that they will fit without falling off or breaking the weapon when you try to push them on. This is the Goldilocks style of fit that E&S is becoming known for. Great work guys.
The other pieces that I want to mention are the Sig P220 Pistol, and the red incendiary grenades.
The Sig is the same version that came with the Chris Kyle memorial figure, only in this case with a grey slide ( cool look - very "ZERT" ). the details on this pistol are sharp - and the Houge grip is a good look. We get a Grey SERPA style holster ( with a black PALS mount ), and three magazines.
The red incendiary grenades are worthy of mention because of the way they look with respect to the other red, black, and grey elements of the figure. It is not easy to successfully incorporate red accent into a tactical or mil-spec figure - believe me - I know from personal experience. You have to pick and choose wisely so as not to undermine the overall look of the figure. Too much red and you end up with a ZERT rave enthusiast - too little red and the whole red accent look is lost. The way that Brian and crew have bridged that gap with the Sully figure is nothing short of inspired. It definitely ties the Sully figure in nicely with the both the Deathridge and NUKE Team figures.
Box art:
Jennifer Sullivan has been killing it with her box designs. She has a background in this stuff, and it shows. The box is made from the thicker card stock that we are seeing more and more these days ( not the flimsy cardstock that we saw with the old DML boxed sets for example ). This heavier stoic is closer to the stuff that comprises the covers of a hardbound book - so it is very sturdy. This is a great thing as the box will definitely stand up to more handling, and will allow the collector to repackage the figure more easily for storage or resale. The main ( or top ), flap is a flap over closure design - with the the little embedded magnets to make the lid stay shut. I love that.
As for the look of the box ( the box art ), it is in keeping with previous ZERT sets. There is an artistically filtered picture of the figure ( front view of the figure on box front - back view on the box back ). This filtered look is a nice esthetic for the ZERT line and creative departure from the plain stock photo look that we get with other sets.
Kudos to Jen for another cool box design.
In closing:
I will wrap things up by saying that this figure is a good fit with the previous ZERT line. He is also a good stand alone figure with lots and lots of new gear and cool parts. As with all sixthscale figures, due diligence should be exercised when handling the small parts - thay are, as I mentioned earlier, fragile. So take your time when you are kitting this guy up - and use a stand when you poie him and give him a spot on your figure shelf.
As always, thank you for taking time to read my latest review. Other reviews I have previously posted ( both boxed figures as well as accessory set reviews ), can be seen here on OSW, as well as at Black Ops Toys.
Best regards, Michal A. Skram II
PICS in next four posts...
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发表于 2016-11-20 02:36
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发表于 2016-11-21 08:28
