Review date: 8/2/2003

Manufacturer: Dragon Models / Yamato

Released: 2002

Availability: RARE

Type: Action Figure

Personal Story:
I discovered the existence of this figure in another toy site which began my hunt. It was the first Dragon Models figure I was interested in since most of the figures they made were based on real life military people. I love Jin-Roh and I had to get this. It was sold out everywhere because this version is the hardest to find. I finally found a seller on Ebay selling it for only a few bucks more than the retail price. Great deal. I snatched it up and waited 3 long weeks for it to arrive. It was worth the wait.

Btw, You should read drifand's excellent review at ToyboxDX. His review is really detailed and he took a lot of nice photos of the figure that will enlighten you even further.

Sculpt:
Kick ass. What can I say? He looks absolutely fabulous! The amount of detail that went into the mask and outfit is very impressive. The helmet is made from diecast metal! His mask looks exactly like the one we see in the movie. His goggles are painted with a translucent red paint so we can see his light up eyes. When you turn on the eyes, it's actually very bright. I'm glad they didn't stick some cheap dim light bulbs there. Sweet. The body that's used is very poseable and the clothes are very true to its movie counterpart. The armor is great too. The torso part is hard plastic while the shin guards and boots are soft. It's modeled after the live-action movie so you won't see the trademark look of the anime version.

The accessories are cool too. They include his awesome MG-42 with real metal bullets! Two pistols with removable magazines. The guns look very good and realistic. I was disappointed with the lack of guns though. It would've been nice if there were a tad more things included but the MG-42 makes up for it. There's also a rod included but I have no idea what it is for.

A lack of a stand was disappointing. The foot rest is good but you have to squeeze in a foot to put it in. I don't want one of the feet to be deformed so I decided to leave it out. The figure stands up pretty well without a stand if you can position it correctly. Any fan of the anime will be happy with this version. It may not be the one you recognize, but it looks damn cool enough to keep me happy.

Paint:
The paint job is pretty good. The black is pretty consistent with all the armor parts. The metal helmet and the plastic armor look the same so nothing sticks out. It's pretty much black all the way around. The "01" on the back of the helmet and backpack is clean and clear. The paint job on the guns are nice and very accurate. Not bad at all.

Overall: A+
This is one fine looking figure. Anyone who likes the Jin-Roh designs will enjoy this figure. He kicks total ass! The light up eyes is the coolest feature with this figure. It's worth every penny for the amount of accuracy and attention to detail that was made to it. Grab it if you see one!

Where can I find this?
Pretty much impossible. You can find the International version quite easily but this version is very rare due to the popularity of its "light up eyes" function. Good luck.

The box. Very nice design. I love that painting on the cover! You can open the flap on the front to see what the figure looks like.

Bad ass...

Holding his Luger with the main gun held on his back.

The weapons and accessories. Check out the pistols with removable magazines!

The eyes actually light up! Cool...