Henschel & Son Tiger I Heavy Tank

The only thing you might notice after a few weeks is that there isn’t any weathering on the vehicle. Sure, the armor is beat to hell, but there aren’t any burn marks, scratches, or other surface damage to the vehicle. Only the actual gun has a few painted on scratch marks. Other than the molded in details virtually all of 21st Century’s vehicles seem as if they have all just rolled off the assembly line. Some fans are interested in this factory fresh look, but i believe the majority of fans want the armor to look as if it has seen some action. I know this resonates with diorama builders.

On the other side of that argument, some customizers may find this a disadvantage, as ripping apart various portions of the tank and making the tank seem like it has been to hell and back are all part of the fun.21st Century Toys is infamous for its usage of brittle plastics to get those nitty gritty details in. To be honest I can’t tell you if this is a necessary step, or if they cheaped out to save a few bucks in molding. Like I said, the tools are a nice touch but held on with very small, delicate tabs that keep them secured to the hull.

There are numerous smaller items to be wary of when handling the tank if this isn’t just going to be for display (which I don’t see anyone would go for 1:18 if it’s just going to sit around). Any pieces that move are at potential risk at being broken. Although a lot of the hinges are larger than on most pieces, the plastic is still very brittle. The MG-42’s small tab holding the gun to the mount is very delicate, as is the entire mount itself. The antenna are also small and can snap off easily.

The only issue I saw in the overall construction of the vehicle is the gap between the lower chassis and upper chassis that didn’t seem to get glued all the way together. You can see it in the front view picture to the right underneath the driver’s viewport.

The Eastern Front Tiger comes with a single pack in figure, A Tank Commander, complete with a set of headphones with wires molded right on. The figure uses an older style mold and the articulation is a terrible swivel style from 21st Century’s first series of figures. This articulation style is often exploited by Hasbro when they need to cheap out. The figure doesn’t hold up to the newer tank crew figures such as those packed in with the Panther and those available as single packs, like the Battle of the Bulge series of figures.

The swivel style joint is a 45 degree angle pin connector at the knees and elbows. When you spin the arm or the leg around, they will turn to form a 90 degree angle. This severely limits the number of poses you can accomplish. You can usually get two poses: standing and kneeling. Sure you can try and bend the joints ever so slightly to make him do whatever, but it always looks silly.

The skin tone on this German Tank Commander is to red. You can see that in the picture above. For some reason 21at Century had a difficult time getting skin tone right on a lot of their figures. Some were too red, others too brown. They all look as if they have varying types of sunburn. The skin on this particular figure is very, very shiny plastic. You can see the photography lights reflecting in his face. The shiny plastic detracts a bit from the overall appearance, but you are left wondering what else they could have done.

The figure also comes with a few simple accessories packed in. 21st Century is always generous with accessories, it is one of the best features of the action figure line up.  The figure comes with a standard brown stand with a single peg. The stands are a bit wavey so i can only assume that they are supposed to look like shadows underneath the figures. The figure also comes with a pistol holster that attaches to the waist with a single peg. The figure has two peg holes and the holster can be put on the figure’s left or right side. Lastly, a Luger pistol, the standard German side arm, is also included. The pistol will not fit inside the holster. 21st doesn’t do this gimmick. They probably believe that preserving the authentic scale and details of the figure are more important. The Luger is lightly weathered with some silver paint.