Tonight, we've got a review of the Dog Soldier's Cavalry Uniform from Okimbored. This is a fairly old set, that you can still find out there amazingly enough. For the money it is a pretty good value, but I will let 'OK' tell you about it and some of the things to look out for with this set as well...
This is what you'll get if you order the Dog Soldiers Trooper, With the advancements in bodies since 2000 I couldn't justify buying the actual boxed figures since I don't save boxes anyway.
You'll need to get a suitable nude for the uniform, this is trickier then it appears as you'll see.
The Dog Soldiers shirts have a false opening on the front, so your nude will need to have his head removed, I remove the hands at this time also.
With a quick dip in a pan of very hot water, the head can easily be removed, the shirt put on, and the head replaced.
Next come the trousers, unfortunately this pair is the first flaw I've found out of 10 uniforms, the left suspender is sewn backwards. In this case it really doesn't matter since they won't be seen, and even if you only ordered a pair for a bash where they would be seen it would only take a minute to cut the thread and re-sew it correctly.
here we get to the boots, these are big enough to easily put on any foot I've tried, unfortunately as you can see, they don't compare well with modern boots, keep in mind those would cost more per pair then this entire figure including the nude!
Next is the blouse, The material might be a bit thin, but once on the figure it looks fine to me.
At this point I've given him his new hands, I really like the gauntlet look for these figures, and although apparently not designed to hold anything let alone a weapon, the Dragon Models hands from "Kenneth Laird" and "Eddie Mac" are the best I've found. Kenneth's gauntlets, which I prefer, are a bit yellower and very hard to find now compared to Eddie's, which are more tan and available at most loose parts dealers.
The belt is on, along with the rifle sling, you'll need to supply your own ring if you want to actually attach the rifle. The belt itself isn't bad, as I prefer plastic belts to pleather, however once again the age of these figures shows with the quality and detail of the pouches.
The next issue is probably the most bothersome, when attached to the sling the rifle should hang like this, so it can be grabbed over the shoulder for use while mounted (the sling is not used while on foot)
Unfortunately being all plastic, the rifle butt is much heavier then the barrel causing it to hang upside-down, I'm thinking the barrel could be drilled and wire inserted to try making it heavier then the butt, but I haven't tried it yet
With the hat added we have a complete trooper ready for battle. To me the hats are the worst part of these figures, but 10 years ago molded hats were the norm and still are with many companies. The Dog Soldier hats are pretty shallow, so finding heads they fit well on can be a real challenge. I've gone through every Dragon nude I have, and as you can see some are ok. I've also tried fitting the hats on quite a few Power Team bodies, while I have found a few the hats will fit, I still haven't found out how to remove a Power Team head so I can't get the shirts on.
All in all, for being about ten years old now, and only available at a few obscure online dealers besides Good Stuff To Go (a great company to deal with) at $24 and your nude, I can't sing the praises of the Dog Soldiers products loud enough, which is a good thing since if your interested in the Indian Wars time period, Dog Soldiers is basically the only game in town.
With no serious competition, even ten years after the closing of their doors, Dog Soldiers remains a great product at a great price. something to keep in mind if your interested in this time frame since the supply truly is limited. If released today these figures would certainly be in the $60+ range and if the 1/6th hobby does see another company produce a similar product made with today's standards it would easily be $100+
Although I've only shown the basic Trooper as it would come from the dealer, keep in mind the many areas these figures could be improved. The shirt can be completely left out as it cannot be seen. The blouse could be greatly improved by removing the dot buttons and replacing them with real buttons from Battle Gear Toys. While I would choose to keep the plastic belt, the pouches, knife, and even the rifle could easily be replaced again from Battle Gear Toys. While not the greatest, I don't think there is a reasonably priced alternative to the boots, if money is truly no object to you Newline Miniatures makes some very nice ones. And many people are now making their own hats.
With some weathering to the entire figure you can easily have a great looking Indian Wars trooper for about $35 plus shipping.
Well, this is OKIMBORED signing off, thanks for reading and until next time, have a good one!
With no serious competition, even ten years after the closing of their doors, Dog Soldiers remains a great product at a great price. something to keep in mind if your interested in this time frame since the supply truly is limited. If released today these figures would certainly be in the $60+ range and if the 1/6th hobby does see another company produce a similar product made with today's standards it would easily be $100+
Although I've only shown the basic Trooper as it would come from the dealer, keep in mind the many areas these figures could be improved. The shirt can be completely left out as it cannot be seen. The blouse could be greatly improved by removing the dot buttons and replacing them with real buttons from Battle Gear Toys. While I would choose to keep the plastic belt, the pouches, knife, and even the rifle could easily be replaced again from Battle Gear Toys. While not the greatest, I don't think there is a reasonably priced alternative to the boots, if money is truly no object to you Newline Miniatures makes some very nice ones. And many people are now making their own hats.
With some weathering to the entire figure you can easily have a great looking Indian Wars trooper for about $35 plus shipping.
Well, this is OKIMBORED signing off, thanks for reading and until next time, have a good one!
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