Figma’s Gurlukovish soldiers are nothing short of amazing. Initially I was concerned about them, even more concerned about ordering three due to the price, but as there ARE NO GOOD 6-INCH ARMY FIGURES these days, I said “screw it” and went all-in.
And I have no regrets. These figure are super fun, beautiful, pose well, have tons of accessories, and pop. One of my favorite art books is from Metal Gear Solid, and seeing these soldiers finally come to life is fantastic. I’m gonna go ahead and stop you here — it’s been years since I played the games, been even longer since I was into military dress. I think these outfits pretty well match the MGS2 outfits; however, I think there was an alternate helmet (Russian Army Airborne military VDV paratrooper helmet) used in the game, and it would have been great to have that in the figure set as well.
The sculpt on these figures is great. There is so much detail that it’s great to have them posing in different positions. The proportions are a bit “figma” anime style: small feet, small head. I’d rather the proportions were a bit more “realistic,” but that’s being nitpicky. The helmets take some getting used to as they are a bit “mushroomy” and look like they belong in Mario’s world and not in an ultra high-tech military game. But they are real; the helmets are the SSSH-94 still in use today.
The body armor seems huge, and googling leads me to believe the this is the 6B-3 TM Body Armor Vest, which is a bit clunky and definitely not designed to make the wearer look cool. Figma solved the chest articulation by adding a break in the armor under the pecs and under the armor at the waist. This allows for a decent range of movement; however, it does breakup the sculpt. It doesn’t look horrible, but the body armor does lose the “one-piece” look.
The articulation is great. This figure has all the range of movement that you want in an articulated figure. It is standard figma and is way above anything we’ve seen from any company making 6-inch military figures. The only improvement that I’d want to see is the figure’s ability to shoulder the rifle, I haven’t gone out of my way to try, but I’m not certain it is possible. All the joints are tight — a huge improvement over Solid Snake.
The Gurlukovich soldier comes packed with accessories: a rifle, knife, hands, stand, extra face, magazine, translucent explanation, question marks, and a translucent “ZZZ.” The extra face has the “alert eyes.” You know the ones: when you’ve been spotted and they are looking for you. Imagine if the cops in Grand Theft Auto V had those. Man, that would be trippy. The translucent marks/noises are cool, and I imagine instagrammers will be having fun with those.
I love the paint on these figures. While there is no weathering, the military colors pop and the camp is beautifully done. With the amount of paint, there was a ton that could have gotten screwed up, yet these are perfect.
The question you are probably asking is “Are these work the $80 price tag?” I don’t know. These days it’s so tough to decide that kind of thing. Toy prices in general have gone up and high-end limited collectibles are certainly killing it on the price point these days. Yes, I would love it if these were cheaper, but then I might not have fantastic military figures in my hand based on an amazing game. Are they worth it? To me? Yes.
You can order them today at:
