Review 1: Art Figures 1/6 Soldiers Of Fortune 2 Dolph Lungren as Gunner Jensen 12-inch figure

The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. The film is about a group of elite mercenaries tasked with a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator whom they soon discover to be a mere puppet controlled by a ruthless ex-CIA officer. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and early 1990s, and stars an array of action veterans from those decades, including Stallone, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Gary Daniels, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Schwarzenegger in a cameo role), as well as more recent stars such as Randy Couture, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, and Steve Austin.

One of the members of the Expendables is Dolph Lundgren who plays Gunner Jensen. Dolph Lundgren is a Swedish actor, director, and martial artist. He belongs to a generation of film actors who epitomise the action hero stereotype, alongside Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Steven Seagal, and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

This is the recently released Art Figures AF012 1/6 scale Soldiers Of Fortune 2 12-inch action figure. The figure does bear a striking resemblance to Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen in The Expendables, not just in the likeness of the head sculpt but also in terms of outfit, gear and accessories. Scroll down to see the rest of the pictures :)

This Art Figures AF012 1/6 scale Soldiers Of Fortune 2 follows after their AF-010 1/6 scale Soldiers of Fortune 12-inch action figure which was essentially Jason Statham as Lee Christmas from The Expendables. You can check out the earlier reviews of Art Figures AF-010 1/6 scale Soldiers of Fortune 12-inch action figure "Lee Christmas" HERE, HERE and HERE

Art Figures AF012 1/6 scale Soldiers Of Fortune 2 Dolph Lungren as Gunner Jensen 12-inch figure comes with a 1/6 scale head sculpt, 12-inch figure body, black hoodie, black combat pants with knee pads, Black Tactical Vest, Holster, gloves, black beanie (cold cap), Milkor MGL 140 grenade launcher, 40mm grenade rounds x 6, M9 pistol, Remington M870 Shotgun with 3 shotgun shells and a LARGE knife

Here's the Art Figures AF012 1/6 scale Soldiers Of Fortune 2 12-inch figure (Dolph Lungren as Gunner Jensen in The Expendables) straight out of the box, kitted out in black hoodie, black gloves, black combat pants with knee pads and belt, black combat boots.

Gunner is holding his HUGE A$$ knife! The hands of all Art Figures 12-inch figures are all 1/6 scale bendy hands i.e. they are flexible and posable because there is a thin wire inside every digit / phalanges of the hand. That's why the hands can be made to grasp the blade handle easily

Scroll down to see the turnaround views of Art Figures Soldiers Of Fortune 2 figure

Hot Toy has acquired the license to produce The Expendables 12-inch figures a while back already and so far they have only released two Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross 1/6 scale figures and nothing / nobody else! I think Hot Toys is going to ditch the line like they did "The Platoon" figures with only Charlie Sheen as Chris Taylor and Tom Berenger as Staff Sergeant Robert Barnes figures released. Can somebody tell Hot Toys that a duo doesn't make up a platoon, not even a squad!

It seems Hot Toys are just happy to keep pumping out their Iron Man figures because that is their cash cow and they have been milking it like forever. That's fine but just don't leave collectors in the lurch and dump lines as soon as they come out. There are so many unfinished lines it boggles the mind. Don't produce if you cannot commit because it leaves a bad aftertaste.

Check out the close-up views of the Art Figures Soldiers Of Fortune 2 1/6 scale Dolph Lungren as Gunner Jensen head sculpt. I think Hot Toys aren't the only ones with the good realistic life-like sculpts

Gunner looks as mean as he does in the films and the resemblance is very good IMHO

From every angle you can tell right away that this is Dolph Lungren as Gunner Jensen. I didn't like Hot Toys version of Bruce Willis as General Joe Colton head sculpt at all. HPC Toys did a pretty decent Bruce Willis head sculpt recently - see the pictures HERE and HERE. Bruce Willis was in the Expendables films too so let's see who's next in line for Art Figures to release.

Dolph Lundgren's breakthrough came when he starred in Rocky IV in 1985 as the imposing Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, he has starred in more than 40 movies, almost all of them in the action genre. He was Frank Castle in the 1989 film The Punisher, making him the first of three Punishers to play on the big screen.

Now that's a thought: a 1/6 scale Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle the Punisher 12-inch figure :)

Here are the 1/6 scale accessories for the Art Figures 1/6 scale Soldiers Of Fortune 2 12-inch figure all laid out. They are: Black Tactical Assault Vest, combat belt with pouch, black beanie (cold cap), drop-down pistol Holster, Beretta M9 pistol with 2 pistol magazines, Remington M870 Shotgun with 3 shotgun shells, LARGE Bowie knife (made by Gil Hibben for the movie), Milkor MGL Mk 1L grenade launcher (shown taken apart in picture below), 40mm grenade rounds x 6.

Close-up view of the 1/6 scale Black Tactical Assault Vest worn by Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lungren)

I realized the difference between military collectors and some Hot Toys collectors when I opened the packaging for the Hot Toys G.I. Joe Retaliation: 1/6th scale Snake Eyes 12-inch Collectible Figure (see my reviews HERE and HERE). Some (NOT all) Hot Toys collectors expect everything to be pre-assembled when they receive the figure because either they do not know how to put on the accessories properly OR they cannot be bothered to do it (might be both). For every broken strap or part damaged in the assembling process, they'll go complaining to Hot Toys and expect replacement parts hence Hot Toys has decided that all figures shipped will have everything already assembled so as to reduce the complaints from some of these ignorant, complacent and hard-to-please collectors (I'm not saying all Hot Toys collectors are like that but I do know of a few who fall into this category). Not only that, Hot Toys has also reduced the number of accessories considerably so that no further assembly is required, in a bid to further reduce the number of unwanted complaints (that and also extra accessories cost extra to make as well - God forbid that they should lower their profit margins)! Used to be you buy a figure, open it up and play / pose with it. Now, more people are buying it, keeping it sealed in the box and hoping to sell it later for profit. Never open the box nor take out the figure. SIGH

Military collectors, on the other hand, live to assemble and kit a figure up because that is part of the FUN :) As a military enthusiast, putting on the gear and accessories is akin to putting the kit on yourself and you feel the satisfaction of assembling the figure just as a real operator would kit up to prepare for battle. That's why most military figure sets come unassembled so that we can get involved in the gearing up process which can be quite an enjoyable, especially when everything comes together nicely. Collecting military figures does not make one a war monger. Most are hard core pacifists, yet still find military subject matters fascinating :)

I said all that because Art Figures 1/6 scale Soldiers Of Fortune 2 12-inch figure does require some assembling (very minimal compared to other military figures out there). I even took apart the Milkor MGL Mk 1L grenade launcher to see how many parts it can become ;p All's well and the Milkor MGL Mk 1L grenade launcher is now assembled back together in the picture below, with the six 40mm grenade rounds loaded in the chamber. Click on the picture for a bigger and better view

Click on the picture for a bigger and better view :)

Check out my earlier post HERE of 1/6 scale Multiple Grenade Launchers.

NEXT: The fully kitted 1/6 scale Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lungren) 12-inch figure from The Expendables 2