OK, well, here's my take on things:
21st Cent. Modern FiguresFirst, the sculpts on these figures are a mix of really detailed/nicely done, all the way down to what I can only categorize as some of the sloppiest work 21st's done ever.
The figures sport "skirt pieces", which are all nice and these are the first 21st figures to do so other than the Battle of the Bulge, but they're not "opened" at the sides or center to allow greater range of motion like the BotB figures are.
The headsculpts are very animated on the two Afghani looking guys. That's a shame because the one with a little Afghani hat has a removable hat and would be a goood army builder if he didn't have the animated face.
The British guy looks the best to me personally. Best articulation, sculpt, and overall quality.
The Spec. Forces, again, I can confirm sucks in every way except his arm articulation and hat. Very poor figure really.
The weapons in all the packages are bent horribly. It appears someone at 21st must moonlight at Hasbro on this. The plastic's cheap looking, feeling, and it has ruined the weapons (a shame since they're all new).
The U.S. and British fellow have removable stocking caps, which is cool... And one Eastern Warrior has a removable hat that is commonly seen worn by the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Very cool!
In short, had the head sculpts, leg articulation (both style and sculpt) and weapons been better, these figures would all be winners. Had they been changed in these ways, they'd be as good as the BotB figures actually.
Eversparkle Playset (Eversparkle's such a truly stupid name)In short, for $15 you really can't ask for a ton more.
You get 8 figures with 4 unique headsculpts (2 unique black men... One seemingly older than the other, and 2 unique white men, one younger and one with a mustache and seemingly older), which while they're not BBI or 21st level of detail they're good generic headsculpts. Customs Ahoy!
There's a plethora of gear, and it's all relatively undetailed though passable. Especially the tri-pod machine guns and mortar. The mortar's actually having poseable bases and bi-pod legs. Very realistic.
There's 3 sizes of crates and boxes which have removable lids and fit some of the ordinance inside. Very cool. Detailed and would look good with a paintjob.
Lots of the other little gear pieces like grenades, pistols, binoculars, clips, pouches, etc., are all molded with a peg on them like 21st figure's gear is, with the intent of it fitting on a figure's holes on their belt area/legs. Their tiny accessries are kind of disappointing.
There's knee pads and nightvision goggles that have working straps, but they're a pain to get on and awkward when you do. Far inferior to BBI's efforts in this area.
There's a 3-piece brick wall that frm the front looks neat, but from the back is "hollow" so it is a tad disappointing. I'm thinking of filling the back in with epoxy and giving it a good paintjob. It'll shine then!
There's stacks of sandbags that are similar in nature to the wall, and disappointing looking from the back.
There's 2 3-piece tables you build and they look nice within the building. Again, a paintjob is needed.
There are 2 rocket launchers that look like German Panzeerschrek's, and they come with 4 long missles for them which look neat. Not the greatest rocket launcher, but the rockets make a neat modern accessory. BTW the mortars (there's 2) have little mortar shells too!
There are 2 nice M-16 rifles, 2 rifles I can't identify, and 2 sniper rifles with molded-on bi-pods. The sniper rifles are very nice and I'm replacing my BBI rifles with these.
The M-16's will flesh out some army builder BBI figures too.
The playset itself is really great.
If you have mutliples of these sets, you really are only limited by the # of pieces you have from the # of sets you have. There's several different wall sculpts, colors, and "styles" included.
The floors interlock nicely, and there's a pin piece that fills out an open locking hole on the floors. Tough to explain, but it's neat. The pins are in short supply though. Really they should include twice the # of those that they give you.
The pieces all go together nicely, and you can ALSO stack upward so if you're ambitious and wanted to make a large office building, all you need to do is buy lots of sets.
I've found one simply isn't enough myself... I'm buying at least two more at some point. I figure I can spare $30 for that.
So, in the end I'm pretty pleased.
Again, as with all the parts, the playset could use paint. There's nice detail in the walls, and while they're a little "thin" they're nice. I think there's sci-fi and military potential there, and with the right paint they can look good in multiple settings (Africa, Europe, possibly the pacific).
The problem with having one set is the # of different walls tend to contrast some. That's not good, so you really may want mre just for consistency. I'd love t contact Eversparkle and just get MORE of a SINGLE piece or couple pieces rather than buy a whole set.
Honestly I'd buy a box of just the playset pieces than the accessories and figures.
$5 or $10 would go far with that.
My opinion, nab it. I'm nabbing at least 2 at some point, maybe more. It's a great item... Little toyish when completed, but I'm thinking paint and some fixing up will help it immensely.
The tabs that interlock will be the biggest eyesore. No biggie there to me personally, and if I was making permanent buildings I'd even shave them off and cover them with some epoxy that's sanded flush or smething.
