Art Design: The standard Ultimate Soldier card which clearly shows the figure and all of his gear and accessories. As with any carded collectible; the only way to keep the card intact is to cut the plastic bubble open with a razor or X-acto knife. These soldiers are outfitted for the World War II and Korean War era.
Headsculpts: The headsculpt of Sgt. Burns (left) is well done. He looks a little bit like actor Forest Tucker (Sands of Iwo Jima and many other movies). Barman Belluchi (right) has a lot more character on his face. He looks mean and angry, a lot like the GI Joe Sgt. Savage or DC Comics' Sgt. Rock (also a GI Joe figure). Both headsculpts are well done, especially considering that these figures are only four inches tall.
Articulation: The Ultimate Soldier 1:18 scale figures are similar to the GI Joe 3.75" figures in terms of articulation. They have a cut biceps, and ankle joints; working elbows and knees. The hands, neck, and feet all rotate. The figures can be realistically posed doing anything that is humanly possible.
Outfits: The clothing on these figures is molded on. Sgt. Burns have similar fatigues on. Sgt. Burns has a green undershirt and his dog-tags are visible. Pvt.Belluchi has a gray undershirt and a couple of grenades sculpted to his jacket. The outfits look very good for display and dioramas.
Gear: Sgt. Burns is the Flame-thrower, and his snap-on gear is the side-arm holster (with side-arm inside), K-bar knife inside its sheath, bagged canteen, and a very cool camouflage helmet with loose straps. Pvt. Belluchi has his knife/sheath; full backpack; ammo bag, BAR rifle, small pouch, and camo helmet. All the gear is easy to snap-on to the figures. If you pose the figures a lot (playing with them) some of the gear will fall off, like the large ammo bag. The figures have trigger fingers on the grasping hands. So it is easy to pose them actually firing their weapons. For the flame-thrower, it is more difficult to get him to hold the weapon with both hands and fire forward, so just having him stand sideways is probably better.
P/A: These figures retail for about $4.99 each, and they are available at Toys R Us, KB Toys, X-marts, etc.
Overall: The attention to detail is outstanding. These troops are a must for any 1:18 scale hobbyist.
Grade: A
