Bumping an oldie, but goody.
Marauder Inc., incase you weren't aware, have their own line of "designer" action figures... Basically think along the lines of Vitruvian HACKS, Acid Rain, etc. IE: not $6, but built FOR collectors.
Their line is basically generic "soldiers" you can army build, but also buy to suit your needs completely.
Marauder always has had a line of weapons, then their really neat figure stands (which I was able to review for them). If you need stands, IMO they still have the best option out there as they're interlocking and feature pegs for both sizes (vintage/modern). They're cool, check out the review.
That said, their Task Force line of action figures is pretty interesting to say the least.
My brother backed their kickstarter for this line, and has the items sent to my house... So I get to see them. He got a custom head of himself, I think, since he backed them with so much $... I saw it and it's a shocking resemblance to my brother so I found that cool unto itself.
Anyway though, the Task Force figures are basically a generic jumpsuited character with multiple holes placed for holsters, ammo pouches, sheaths, armor plates, whatever. The basic construction style mimics a modern GI Joe design (wish it were more like an Acid Rain figure, but I digress). It's pretty heavily articulated, and nicely detailed. It would work well with GI Joe, Star Wars, or any other number of toy lines in the general 3.75" scale.
I ordered one tonight, and a pod of gear for him. A basic figure with no gear is going to run you in the range of $15 I'd say. Adding pockets, pouches, weapons, helmets, armor, etc. all adds to the price of the figure. For mine, I went a little balls out since I wanted to get a taste of the whole thing, but I also could easily get guys just as drivers with limited gear (which is ultimately what this guy I got is going to be... My Acid Rain vehicles need dedicated drivers).
They're nicely decoed too, and you can pick from a variety of headsculpts that is pretty diverse. I got a guy in a black baclava with a skull deco on it. Quite badass.
Anyway, I wound up spending around $47 shipped on one figure, but again I decked him out with tons of gear and I got extra weapons too for my growing Acid Rain World army too. While it'll never be as big as my Star Wars collection, I have every intention of displaying my ARW toys separately and this Marauder Task Force line is a really ideal way to extend my collection beyond the line as it stands right now. I'm not a GI Joe collector, but if I were (and since it's such a limited line at this point, with Hasbro's gaze elsewhere), this would be such a filler line that I can't see how you'd be miffed GI Joes weren't relevant at the moment. There's just tons of stuff to buy to fill the gap ya know?
Some guys see the down times as miserable... IMO, it's time you can use to find new ways/things to collect, and branch out into other areas that maybe aren't directly related, but you can clearly see similarities, and it will build on your existing collection.
Acid Rain World got my attention when Star Wars started hitting the doldrums, which for a guy like me who is into articulation, it never really got out of those times... at least not very far out of them. I love this stuff though. Very happy with it. And I'm thinking these Marauder Task Force figures may have found a permanent place in my collecting habits as well, especially if they branch out to a slightly more Star Wars flavor of sci-fi stuff.
