Thursday, May 6, 2010

Hot Toys "Inglourious Basterds" Lt. Aldo Raine REVIEW 1

And now presenting another made-up figure from the movies based on the Second World War (Captain Miller from "Saving Private Ryan" as seen in the previous post never really existed): This is the Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Series MMS118 "Inglourious Basterds" 1/6th scale Lt. Aldo Raine Collectible Figure.

"Inglourious Basterds" is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starred Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Diane Krüger and Mélanie Laurent. The film tells the story of two plots to assassinate the Nazi Germany political leadership, one planned by a young French Jewish cinema proprietor (Laurent), and the other by a team of Jewish Allied soldiers led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt).

And this is the packaging (box) of Hot Toys Lt. Aldo Raine 12-inch figure. It seems to be the standard type of packaging for Hot Toys non-DX figures now, as seen in the previously released Hot Toys Blade and Wolverine figures. Think of it as a shoebox.

The back of the box packaging has a quote from Lt. Aldo Raine's opening speech: “… I sure as hell, didn't come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross five thousand miles of water, jump out of a fuckin air-o-plane, fight my way through half of Sicily to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity. Nazi ain't got no humanity. That's why every soldier we find wearin' a Nazi uniform, they gonna die.”

Lift the lid and Hot Toys 1/6 scale 12-inch Lt. Aldo Raine a.k.a. Aldo the Apache is revealed with authentic likeness of Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine in the movie.

Remove the top tray containing Aldo and all the accessories that come with this boxed set is revealed. There is the cap, water bottle, German MP40 submachine gun (Maschinen Pistole 40), M1 Garand rifle, sling bag, leather holster for the Walther P38 pistol, a classic American Bowie knife with hard leather sheath, Hitler Youth Knife (German: Hitler-Jugend-Fahrtenmesser) with sheath and the figure display stand with "Inglourious Basterds" movie logo and Lt. Aldo Raine nameplate.

And here's Hot Toys Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) without his Resistance Fighter outfit, choosing to go topless to show off the Hot Toys TrueType body (approximately 30 cm tall) with 34 points of articulations. Aldo the Apache wears 1/6 scale brown Corduroy pants with leather belt and metal buckle. He also has on Leather-like long boots

Lt. Aldo comes dressed for the bitter cold - Jacket with worn-out edges, brown sweater, inner shirt, scarf, leather belt for his gun holster and blade pouch, and cap.

Even though this inner shirt would be completely covered, Hot Toys still bothered to ensure that miniature buttons of the correct size, scale and color are stitched on.

Let me introduce you to the principal Basterd, the head honcho, most Inglourious of all Basterds, Lt. Aldo Raine. He's from Tennessee, he's a lieutenant, and he runs a guerilla outfit in Nazi-occupied France that is hellbent on taking out the Nazis. In true guerilla style.

This is a hillbilly straight from the mountains of Tennessee, a man with a scar around his neck that “will never once be mentioned,” this is Brad Pitt in one hundred percent Quentin Tarantino Nazi-scalping business.

Apparently Tarantino said in an interview that Raine was lynched by the KKK for defending African Americans in the South and that was how the scar around his neck came about. The screenplay refers to it as a 'rope burn'.

And this 1/6 scale headsculpt of Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine is totally spot on, with the amazing skin tone, facial features and hair :) Just like Hot Toys said in their preview shots: Movie-accurate facial expression with detailed wrinkles and skin texture, Real-like hair style, and moustache

"You probably heard we ain't in the prisoner-takin' business; we in the killin' Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin'."

"Aldo The Apache" is a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army First Special Service Force and the non-Jewish leader of "The Basterds" Jewish-American/German soldier unit.

"When you join my command, you take on debit. A debit you owe me personally. Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred Nazi scalps. And I want my scalps. And all y'all will git me one hundred Nazi scalps, taken from the heads of one hundred dead Nazis. Or you will die tryin'."

Tools (weapons) to help Aldo and his "Basterds" kill Nazis and scalp them: Walther P38 pistol with removable magazine, sliding charger and working hammer, black leather holster, Hitler Youth Knife (German: Hitler-Jugend-Fahrtenmesser) with sheath, American Bowie knife with hard leather sheath.

Other accessories include cap, German water bottle and a faux leather sling bag

The 1/6 scale German WWII water bottle has pretty amazing details. The water bottle cover becomes a mug with metal handles and the water bottle itself has a removable cap. Anyone thirsty?

Hot Toys Lt. Aldo Raine movie collectible figure comes with the MP40 submachine gun with removable magazine, folding stock and working spring-loaded bolt as well as the M1 Garand Rifle with sliding bolt and a clip of eight (8) rounds.

In the film, some of the "basterds", including Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), Wilhelm Wicki (Gedeon Burkhard) and PFC Gerold Hirschberg (Samm Levine) carry German Karabiner 98k rifles, most likely taken from German troops they captured and killed. Raine's Karabiner has "Inglourious Basterds" carved into the butt.

In this instance, the words "Inglourious Basterds" are 'carved' into the butt of the M1 Garand Rifle. Did somebody make a boo-boo with the weapon choice? Stands to reason that the "basterds" would use weapons and ammunition used by the Germans since they are operating behind enemy line without means of logistics support from the Americans.


NEXT: Lt. Aldo Raine in full resistant fighter gear

Related post: Hot Toys "Inglourious Basterds" Nazi Waffen-SS Colonel Hans Landa REVIEW


7 comments:

Willy's Toys said...

The detail is crazy! =D

Phil said...

Hey Alex - great review of a great figure - can't wait to get this. As for the Kar98/Garand issue, it looks like HT did its product design based on the following early promotional picture which clearly shows a M1 Garand (though the "Inglourious Basterds" carving is upside down): http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/955/955662/inglourious-basterds-20090220000844483.jpg. A more cynical view would be that HT also wanted to save money and utilize the same molds as the Joker DX Garand.

Phil

Anonymous said...

Awaiting the Jew Hunter (no news about it !)....... Perhaps HT can't afford the high license fee after the Oscar !

Anonymous said...

Hey Alex, been following your reviews for quite some time now. Just wondering, are you going to review the HT Iron Man MIII BD version? I'm quite new to hobby, is there any rule of thumb out there on proper care and maintenance of these expensive collectibles?

alex teo said...

Hi Jon, I lurve it :>

Hey Phil, thanks for the link :) kinda solved the mystery for me. Also what you said about using the same mold. Gotta go back and watch the DVD again CHEERS

A 1/6 scale Jew Hunter Standartenführer (Colonel) Hans Landa portrayed by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz would really be NICE!

Hi anon, I didn't get the HT Iron Man Mk III Battle Damaged figure but am looking at possibly reviewing one in the near future :) From my own personal experience, taking the figures out of the box is MUCH BETTER than leaving them in the blister or box as the humidity and heat from long term storage can cause some outfits to melt. I've discovered that displaying the figure (inside a glass cabinet and NOT in direct sunlight) prevents the outfit from melting or disintegrating while those kept in boxes tend to melt away.

Plus you get to show off the figure too! keeping it in the box only shows off the packaging as the figure is partially blocked by the layers of plastic tray and you cannot see or enjoy the figure and its details. CHEERS!

Albert said...

That is not an SS Dagger, if not a Hitler Youth Knife.

alex teo said...

thanks Albert for that keen observation :) I've since corrected the post to show the right description CHEERS