I stumbled across these little gems in a boutique toy store last week. The German toy company Bruder is known for making very realistic toys. These toys take on the themes of farmwork, construction, forestry, etc, with detailed vehicles, playsets, and action figures. They really remind me of a hybrid of two of my early childhood favorites, Tonka & Adventure People. What struck me about these figures (aside from their realistic appearance) was the high level of articulation (especially considering they are aimed towards young children). There is only one female sculpt that I am aware of, but you can get her in a variety of color palettes. I chose two that seem very different despite being clones of each other. In a perfect world, the horses from the equestrian sets would be as articulated as the figures (they aren't), because the horse and rider combos would make for some amazing custom fodder. The playsets also come with accessories like the occasional helmet or tool. Let's check them out below!
The sides of the boxes really do a great job of highlighting the articulation of the figures while keeping to a really cool design motif. The blue bodies over the orange playsets and vehicles gives a very "heat signature" look.
These are basically the two pants colors and hair colors available for the women. I've seen shirts in Red, Orange & Tan (with an additional Green being available on the male figures). That makes a potential 14 color variations. I don't know that all the combos exist, but there seemed to be at least 5 or 6 in the small display I originally saw them in.
The have the signature "bruder" (yes the lowercase b seems very intentional) embossed on their lower backs.
Okay lets take a look at articulation. The head articulation is something I've always referred to as a "bowling pin" joint. Basically the head and neck are solid and there a large rounded joint in the torso which lets the head and neck rotate and turn freely. Vintage 3.75" GIJoes and more modern Toynami Space Ghost figures shared this same design. The shoulders are ball joints. The elbows are hinged with a bicep swivel. There is no forearm or torso articulation at all. The hips are an interesting hinge and swivel combo that is reminiscent of DCUC, but somehow different. The knees are great. The joints seem almost invisible, but they are just hinge joints with no rotating motion at all. There is also no lower leg articulation.
Here are a bunch of images from the catalog that came packaged inside each figure:
Here is a link to the English site:
They also have a great store finder if you're interested in picking any of these up. I was shocked at how many local boutique stores seem to carry these.
Time for some Comparison Pics!
These figures stand about 10.5 cm tall, or just a hair over 4 inches.
Cheers!
wow. this is... interesting. thats why i love it!! thou not rushing at all to get them. Such fun!
ReplyDeleteyou'll cave if you ever see them in person!
DeleteI am primarily a diecast collector, so I am very familiar with what Bruder offers. As a result, I've lately been getting into action figures again, largely 3.75" Primarily whatever Amazon (usually throw it into my cart if buying other stuff) or my local Walmart has cheap (i.e my main girls are Black Series Jyn Erso, a 2004 GI Joe Baroness, Lanard Snake Bite, and the team's medic, a Jurassic World Zia), but these Bruders seem to fit better as civilians. These are pretty good, but I feel the head sculpts introduced in 2017 look a lot better than these. Amazing how Bruder was able to make them look lifelike and normal, but still being durable enough for kids.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, Bruder's only female first responders are white and African American police officers. Would like to see female EMTs and firefighters in the line as well. Heck, maybe even a veterinarian to go with the farm-related stuff.