Author Topic: Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret  (Read 3743 times)

Offline Jesse James

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Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret
« on: October 23, 2006, 11:35 PM »
I'm breaking away from a figure review because I was recently given a couple Marauder Inc. accessories by a friend to give my thoughts on here at JediDefender.com.  My opinion doesn't reflect the opinion of the site here, this isn't in any "official" capacity a part of my duties here at the site, I simply am giving a little bit of my thoughts/feelings on the accessories Marauder Inc. is putting out on the market for 1:18-ish scale collectors (GI Joe, X-Treme Detail, Elite Force, Star Wars, Pirates of the Carribean, etc.).



First up I'm going to take a look at the above accessory of a "Modified British Sterling SMG"...  Or in Star Wars terms, a Blastech E-11 Blaster Carbine.

The guys at Marauder seemed to think Hasbro just hadn't done a good enough job with the Imperial Blaster so they decided to beef it up a bit.  Did Hasbro win or Marauder?  Well, I've always felt Hasbro's blaster was pretty good but there was definite need for improvement...  Most noteably a trigger guard is lacking on Hasbro's weapon...   Can Marauder up the ante? 

PROS & CONS

-Sculpt...  Marauder's sculpt of the E-11 is certainly quite spiffy.  The details like the pistol grip for instance are markedly superior on the Marauder E-11 compared to Hasbro's.  You'll notice right off the bat the raised bumps on the Marauder handle compared to the smooth finished handle of the Hasbro weapon.  The difference is different enough to catch my attention straight away and it's the kind of extra sculpting effort Hasbro bailed on.

Another little difference I noticed are the raised and recessed portions of the Marauder Blaster are sharper and more realistic.  For instance the chamber where, on a real Sterling, the spent cartidge is ejected from the barrel of the weapon, is sunk in on the Marauder weapon while it's less noticeable on the Hasbro weapon...  This is a pretty distinct difference.

Other small details include the spring mechanism on the back barrel portion of the gun...  On Hasbro's sculpt it is simply smooth and undetailed, but on Marauder's the coiling is sculpted into the weapon.  Same goes for the top "fin" piece of the barrel...  There is little "hole" detailing sculpted into it while the Hasbro weapon lacks that.

The biggie though is the inclusion of a trigger and trigger guard on Marauder's weapon...  The big detractor to the Hasbro sculpt was always the lack of a trigger guard as all the weapons seen in the films had the guard included.  Hasbro removed the guard to fit older styled hands that lacked separately sculpted trigger fingers.  Marauder Inc. ups the quality with a seemingly sturdy trigger guard that hasn't broke as I have put it into figure's hands, and seems very high quality.  It adds a lot of realism to the accessory overall.

-Decoration...  Marauder's stuff seems to come (at least what I bought) molded in black plastic.  It's plain, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed in the "shine" to it.  That said, some Hasbro stuff has the same shine as well...  It's better than getting something molded in awkward colors as well which happens from time to time.

The plain black plastic is ok, I just think Marauder would do better if they could get it to turn out in a "dull" tone rather than with some shine to it.

-Features...  Two features on the Marauder weapon are unique to this gun that the Hasbro sculpt lacks completely.  The Marauder E-11 has a folding stock that WORKS, as well as having small holes sculpted on to allow for adding a thread sling for the gun.

The folding stock is one of the surprises for sure and fans will probably be really happy to have this feature, let me tell you.  The feature isn't without flaw though, unfortunately.  The stock swings back easily and locks in place in the forward position as well, quite easily.

The stock however is a bit bulky and noticeable.  For fans that demand 100% accuracy the additional bulk of the stock may be bothersome to them.  Then again so would no trigger guard on the Hasbro gun, right?  :)  The other issue though is that the stock doesn't unfold 100% as it should.  It swings back, but there is a shoulder rest piece that is not moveable, that should swing down, turning the Carbine into more of a rifle (just as the real British Sterling SMG was).  I'd have been FLOOOOORED had the stock moved at each part instead of simply one.  I have swinging stocks on some German MP40's for my military figures I collect, but the inability for them to completely fold/unfold as the real weapon does has always bothered me and takes away from the novelty of the feature.

That said, I think most people will enjoy the feature for what it is, and may pick this gun up just to have a couple that feature this.   For me though, I actually like the inclusion of the loops for adding a thread sling even more!  To me that's a cool extra as I do think slings look sharp on weapons in this scale, especially on non-Imperial figures using the weapon.  Handing some slinged ones out to Rebels in your diorama can make them look like they stole and customized some of the weapons.  I think that's a major plus.

-Price...  The price is a tough thing to judge with the Marauder Inc. weapons...  A lot of the thought-process on this depends on your financial status I think, and how you feel about collecting in general...

For me, the debate comes down to this;  Do you want to pay $X extra to outfit your figures with something you think they'll look cooler with than what Hasbro gave you?  That's a tough question to answer I think, unless you've got money to blow on it without thinking about that kind of stuff.  I, unfortunately, do not have that luxury.

The Marauder E-11 is $1.00 each...  There are also sets you can buy more I believe, which is kind of cool if you get a break on price there.  $1 is pricey for an accessory I think since I can buy boxes of Hasbro parts at Toy Shows for usually fairly cheap.  And if you're outfitting 100 Stormtroopers...  Well holy ****.  $100 for blasters for them is not a tempting thought since if you're me, you already blew a LOT of $$$ on the figures themselves.

That said, $1 for one, or a handful, isn't too bad...  It's going to really depend how you feel about spending $1 extra to make your already $7 figure "nicer".  Me, I'm cheap, but I still want some of these guns for figures I have, haha.

OVERALL

So that's my little review of the Marauder Inc. Modified Sterling or Blastech E-11 accessory.  I really find the company's ideas interesting at the very least, and if they get into actually making more sci-fi doo-dads like perhaps crates, packs, and especially the less often seen weapons of Star Wars, I think I'm going to be compelled to buy into them.

As it is I think the E-11 is worth having a handful of...  They have a set of 12 for $9.99 I believe.  That's like 2 free, less than $1 each...  Not bad.  You can outfit rebels with them if you want, or if you've got a modest Imperial army they can get them.  They're cool.

There is one thing I'd suggest, and that's for Marauder to, instead of making the stock moveable on this, try making a single "extended stock" version that is in the COMPLETE unfolded position for people who don't care for the bulkier functional stock that doesn't unfold completely.  If they did unfolded ones I'd be in on a dozen of those at least.

If Marauder keeps up with the Sci-Fi line but starts tackling the various Sandtrooper rifles (which Hasbro makes too flimsy), Dengar's rifle, IG-88's rifle, the Sniper Rifle from Battlefront (who wouldn't buy that thing in bulk?), and other weapons of that ilk, I'm definitely in on those...  Or taking it a step further, how about sci-fi crates and barrels?  Funky hex-shaped storage crates and the like would go a long way...  Or chairs?  The IMperial Conference chairs from the Death Star anyone?  Or simple Destroyer Bridge chairs with maybe a small computer console?

Fans would eat that stuff up if Marauder Inc. can offer it for $1 or $2 a piece... 

The E-11 is a nice step forward into the Star Wars realm for them.  I just hope they take a bigger step soon to satiate the collector-demand for "set pieces" and weapons Hasbro truly hasn't done well yet like the Sandtrooper's rifle(s) and such.  That'll be when the collectors come out of the woodwork I think. :)
« Last Edit: October 23, 2006, 11:36 PM by Jesse James »
2011 Rebel Fleet Trooper Gets My Seal Of Approval!  But Where's The Friggin' Holster On Him!?
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Offline Jayson

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Re: Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2006, 01:15 PM »
Here is a link to their E-11 set: $9.99 for 12 or 84˘ each... not bad.

http://www.marauderinc.com/servlet/Detail?no=123
« Last Edit: November 13, 2006, 07:22 PM by jedijaybird »
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2006, 01:46 AM »
Thanks Jay, that's it...  Yeah, the dozen is a good deal IMO.  $1+ is pushing it, but you get them for less than $1 each in bulk and the deal is sweetened for sure.  The gun is sturdy too and I can't emphasize enough how important that is.

I give the gear a thumbs up...  I hope I get to review some of their other stuff in the future.  I may need to pick up some of the other earth stuff too for my military figures.

Honestly if they got into WW2 weapons, I'd go nuts...  I need lots of WW2 gear, and I'd appreciate some extra ammo slings and packs for figures.  21st and XD do good work but Marauder could definitely add to that 1:18 genre a lot as well.
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Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2006, 04:03 PM »
Wow! I've been waiting for someone to do this forever. I'm certainly going to five them a shot.
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Offline Billy Ray

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Re: Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2006, 07:11 PM »
Hey, thanks for this!  Those are some fine looking blasters...I might just have to order a set.  I really would like to see what else they come up with in the future!

Offline danielb

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Re: Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2007, 01:08 PM »
Hi guys,

Great review on those Marauder weapons. He's actually a pretty active member of the Joe collecting community. Course most of his weapons are real world, but he is planning on expanding his sci fi line. I highly recommend shooting him an email with any suggestions ya'll have for the star wars gear. Invite him over to the forum he's very communicative. Also if you find out about him through a joe board let him know and he'll throw in a freebee with your order.

Great guy to deal with, and his product has hasbro beat hands down.
you can check out reviews of his stuff here
http://www.generalsjoes.com/misc.htm

or check out joecustoms.com and run a search on the forum for him you'll find a ton of posts, mini reviews product suggestion threads (that are heard and listened too, unlike hasbro), and any number of other topics that cover his stuff.

I'm probably one of his biggest cheerleaders, I love the idea of a business being able to provide goods to the collector that is something wanted, or needed. Without just creating bootlegs of licensed products.

Dan

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Marauder Blastech E-11 & Beret
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2007, 11:28 AM »
I just got my first order of Stormie Blasters. Service was top notch and the quality of the blasters are great. However, I do have one minor gripe, I agree with Jesse's review that the flip stock is a little on the distracting side and too be honest, that is what is going to prevent me from placing another order for these. It's a shame because they're perfect otherwise. I might take one, cut off the appropriate parts and glue the stock to the barrel, but in a lot of ways, I hate to ruin such a quality piece of work.

Perhas a non-flipable stock varient would be in order?
« Last Edit: January 21, 2007, 11:29 AM by Darth_Anton »
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