Once I got to the car, I opened the box to see what I got and boy, was I pleasantly surprised! It was a bit shocking to see this level of quality on a 21st Century product and for free no less. The reversable mouse gray/white winter uniform is outstanding and comes very very close to being Dragon quality. This thing looks great and fits great. It's nice and bulky so it actually looks like it'll keep your sams warm unlike other arctic uniforms which tend to be thin. It has drawstrings at the hood and waist. The hood is prabably the only thing I don't like about this piece of clothing; it has a lot of room but it is shaped a bit funny so when it is up, your soldier will have a conehead. It is a bit too tapered at the top so it creates this conehead shape. A nice touch is the red band on the left arm. Germans used this to distinguish friend from foe since Russian and German winter uniforms were very similar.
The pants are also reversable and have suspenders, true to the real thing. He comes with jack boots and it is unfortunate that 21st didn't take the time to make the felt boots that usually go with this uniform.
Underneath the parka he wears a normal tunic with grenadier shoulder boards and has one tank destruction badge on his arm. The figure, by the way, is a supersoldier body with a German infantry/grenadier head. The helmet is a normal German helmet except it is painted white.
This genadier comes with a captured Russian PPSH 41 submachinegun. This gun was a favorite among the German troops who got their hands on one. The gun has a removeable ammo can and is adaquately detailed, but nothing terribly special. Other accessories include the belt, breadbag, canteen, ammo pouch, gasmask canister, a gray balaclava, shovel, and two stick grenades. He also comes with a pair of normal ungloved hands. This brings us to another point of interest in this set--the gloved hands. This is the first time 21st has used molded gloved hands and I think it's great that they're trying it out. It helps give the figure a true sense of being in winter conditions and completes the uniform. Think about it-- this figure would not look right in those fingerless gloves 21st uses so much. These molded gloves are a good step in the right direction. I would kind of like to see them molded in gray plastic instead of just painted in gray since the paint wears off. Some people might also want to cut away inbetween the fingers to make a trigger finger.
Another thing you would want to do is make extra holes in the belt so that your figure can wear it over his winter uniform as the prepunched hole makes the belt too tight. I used a push pin to start the hole and then pushed the peg through it. The new hole had to be made pretty close to the end of the belt to accomodate the extra padding.
Well, I guess that's it for my review. This has become my favorite TUS WWII figure by far because of it's attention to detail and quality. 21st Century did an excellent job with this figure and I hope they eventually sell him as a boxed figure so everyone can enjoy him. For now, if you're thinking of buying two figures, you might as well head on over to KB and get one of these while they're still around.
