In this, the third review in a series of linked reviews, the forthcoming Masterbox Ltd 1/35th scale figure set MAS3524: WWII Hand to Hand Combat, 1941-1942 (Eastern Front Series, Kit Nª 3), is put under the spotlight. A very unusual set this, consisting as it does of four figures (two German, two Soviet) locked in some very active hand-to-hand combat. Once again, the keynote of this set is animation. The full review, along with images, vcan be seen:

Figure Review (LINK)

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I do like the animation in them, and with a little work, look like they will build up fine, plus a lot cheaper than $15 to $20 for each resin figure for a small fighting vugnette.

Just think of the blood and gore dioramas that can be protrayed with the three sets for a pittance, and a little patience and clean up.

That is something that was really missing, animated figures.
And over the top they are apparently multi-pose, what could we ask more !?
Maybe its not a myth that smaller compagnies react faster to consumers requests.

With the set of german figures about Mamayev hill (don't remenber the manufacturer, anyone does??) we have a lot a material to depict the very nature of Stalingrad battle. Not that it was'nt possible before, but now it's going to be easier...and cheaper.

Very nice set, congrats to Masterbox.

Hi Jim,

Thanks again for this VERY usefull review !
Philippe, the manufacturer you are searching for is Tristar. The set you mentionned include two guys running with an MG and two guys lying, probably officers.

Concerning the MB kit, I must admit they really made a jump in quality. They were already original (the commandos, victory set and us paras were quite original !). Funny to see the german heads look less detailled than the russian one. It happen to be the same for Zvezda : their russian snipers are unbelievable, unlike their german counterparts which are quite common...Must be remaining from the past...

I really like the pose of these guys. I'll second one comment : it's the first really well animated figures I've seen in 1/35 plastic...
It's funny because in the pair with the german charging with bayonneted rifle, it looks like the russian has been already hit by the bayonnet...

To conclude, I predict we will see a lot of trench warfare dioramas in the next months...by the way Jim, when this set will be released, Did MB announced a precise date ?

Thanks again,
Julien

Jim, Thank you for the review !! Now we,ll have some real action figures! Cheers-

Rob-

MiG-17

@Julien, the U.S. distributors have the three sets listed for release in APRIL

@ Philippe:




From the conversations I have had with both Masterbox and MinArt, that is absolutely correct. They are desperate for feedback and suggestions for new products.

Tristar



**edited due to commercial issues**

Jan, sorry, but i'd prefer you didn't post images of other companies' products in THIS thread - one thing is answering a question about another company's products but, this thread is specifically for any comments about the Masterbox figure review. Hope you understand...

Been looking forward to this for a while, so thankyou Jim.
I'm really impressed, with this kit, not only because of the excellent animated poses but also because of the quality of the casting.
It's a fresh change from the boring poses often found in kits, that make action scenes very difficult to portray in diorama's, even harder has been to portray both 'sides' of a fight in one scene due to the distances involved being difficult to portray in scale.
Let's hope this kit becomes a milestone that encourages some of the other manufacturers to A. give us more animated poses and B. encourage an interaction between figures as seen in this (what could be) groundbreaking kit.

James

I must say I have been impressed with Masterbox so far. I have two of their sets. The poses of the figures are animated, the heads ARE the best I have seen in plastic. Their detailing is damn good other than the hands. That is their weakest point. What impresses me most about Masterbox is their creativity, they are not the same old poses. I have high hopes for them. Would like to see some more US, and allied figures. Great work Masterbox!

Paul

Not really - I was under the impression this was a non-profit, non-commercial site

However, I have removed the images as requested.

Ok let's start a debate on 1/35 plastic heads, and show everybody we are an objective website ! and not a commercial one.....
I hope our dear plastic figures producers are listening.
I could not agree when you say MB produce the BEST heads in plastic in the whole market.

Until know, I've seen many of their release, and sorry to say their heads are not so good. The big problem is the fitting between helmet and head. It seems their helmets are too tiny for the heads. For the face, they generally are nice, but a bit fat. And when you put the tiny helmet on top of the fat face, it doesn't look good at all !!!

From what I've seen their new releases seem to have really nice heads, specially russian and bared heads, like the russian guy charging and shouting. But their german ones seem to renew the same problem.

And sorry to say that Miniart figures faces have a LOT MORE CHARACTER than the MB ones. Where in MB, the faces all looks the same, in a MIniart set of five figures, no one have the same face !!! It's simple, it's the same faces (I agree with a little less sharp details) than the one of TANK, the russian resin manufacturer. You cannot compare MB and Miniart in term of quality. The only point of weakness in Miniart is that it's rare the figure have expressive faces, but it's normal in a certain way as Miniart doesn't release in action figures...

And sorry to tell you that Tristar does produces excellent figures with really nice expressions, better than MB. Dragon could do well also from time to time, specially with GEN2 figures.

To conclude, until know for me we cannot say MB produced the best heads in plastic. From what I've seen for the moment some of their heads have a lot of character, but the german helmeted one are still crap. MB could pretend to the title of best figure face producer only when it will have solve this problem.

My 20$ thoughts...

Julien

@ Paul, i've got two NEW U.S. sets in front of me as we speak

@ Jan, the 'What's New' threads are for a specific Review or News item. No one has any problem to responding with the name of another manufacturer but posting images of their figures, is, IMO, a step too far. This is the link to a specific review of a Masterbox figure set and as such, if it's directly related to the subject of the related to THIS review then there isn't any problem whatsoever.

@ Julien, as I said before, until these three sets came into my possesion and BEFORE having seen the future releases, I would have agreed 100% with you. However, fair is fair. IMO, the heads on THESE figures are utterly superb. I mentioned in the reviews, that comparing these sets with the earlier MB releases is like comparing apples to oranges - they HAVE undergone a MASSIVE increase in quality. Simply put, they DON'T compare to previous releases (apart from the P.O.W. set) which, to me at least was a major leap forward for the company.

Regarding MiniBox, i'll be reviewing their Soviet Artillery crew shortly and initial indications are that we're ALL in for something special with this set...

I would have to say yes, the heads may not be the most animated, but ... when I can see eyebrows (at least on the set I have) on the heads that is impressive. Tri Star is good, their figures are good as well. I don't dispute that, but MB has done a fine job and I would like to encourage that.

Jim when wiill you release the news on the new figures?

Paul, I haven't decided yet whether to do a Preview (no rating) or a full Review (Build and evaluate).. If things go o.k., I should have the first out in a few days...

Thanks, perhaps I will get to see them before my trip to England/Normandy...

Ok guys, we seem to agree on the fact they made huge progress.. I wait to have these figures in hand to make my decision.
But Jim, I guess you made a lapsus, By writing "Minibox" instead of Miniart...Maybe it's a Join venture between Masterbox and Miniart.

The soviet artilery crew at lunch, from the pics I see of the Nuremberg show, looked incredible !! This is what I call good competition effect in the scale modeling market !!

I think we gonna be spoiled this year !!!!!

Finally I hope the releasing date will be the same in the US and in Europe..

Best,
Julien

I just looked back at the review and compared the build sample with the box art....Is that just me or it's not 100% the same thing. As Julien said, the russian who's holding a shovel looks more like he been hit then struggling for his life, I don't see how he can be positioned to hold the Kar98 with the other hand. I think we'll to modify it a little to get what's on the box cover.

And thank you for the answer, that was Tristar indeed.

Yep - my bad i'm afraid . Rather than build the figures completely, they were 'tacked' together due to time constraints. As I said, there are 50 ways to build these figures - add another set or two and the possibilities ARE endless, The figure with the shovel - if slightly repositioned, could in fact be getting a bayonet in his chest...

Jim

Wow this hand to hand set looks great. I see what you mean about slightly altering the arms and equipment to get a slightly different attack pose.

Since these figs as well as Set#1 and #2 are in your hands would it be possible to start a new thread featuring all three together? Maybe you could line up the Germans on one side, the Russians on the other and the hand to hand in the middle.

It's your opportunity to play toy soldier while making shooting and explosion sounds!!! Pow Pow Pow!

Great review ...I will need to have several of these kits when they hit the shelves. I like MBs figures so far and hope that they continue to produce more of these action-oriented figures in the future.

I'm actually planning on doing another 'What's New' thread to link in all three reviews. Thanks for the suggestion anyway! What there is in the meantime, concentrating on their FUTURE releases, is this:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/news/2205

i too like the animation of it.. keep up-

This is actually a good idea.






Mark
"training on the use of my expandable baton and mastering it"