N005 Grenadier of the Old Guard Review (Aliexpress LEEGO-Compatible Minifigure Review)
Today we will take a quick look at the Old Guard LEGO-Compatible figure from Aliexpress. If you like the look of him, and you'd like to buy him, why not check out this affiliate link to buy!
As ever, this minifigure comes with excellent printing around his body and legs. I've commented before that the company who make these minifigures could have taken way more shortcuts, such as using the same body here for the Grenadier and Old Guard, but they haven't. These are two different torsos and legs.
The Bearskin hat is really well moulded, with a printed plate at the front featuring an imperial eagle and has the plume in red. The Guard would sometimes remove this plume during battle and store it in a cardboard tube, so it could be brought out for the victory parade. At Waterloo however, they were known have advanced wearing the plume.
The figure of course has a fine moustache, as is only fitting for Les Grognards.
Here we can see a side-view of the arm and leg printing, and the continuation of the crossbelt is visible.
In this image, I have removed the head, epoulettes and backpack, so you can appreciate the fine printing on the back, including the coat tails and pouch.
The left hand side shows a bayonet-sheaf (worth noting that if your figure is walking, this will become oddly angled half-way down), the revolutionary symbol underneath the plume, and a chevron of veterancy.
Finally, by asking my minifigure to show off his flexibility in this image, you can see the top-down design of the bearskin. No detail has been left-out, and this caps off an excellent production run.
I don't really feel there is much more to say on this figure. If you wish to channel your inner Napoleon and decide now is the time to send in the Old Guard, why not pick some up through these affiliate links:
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I've recently put together a French army with 30 of both Fusiliers and these ones and thought I'd share my thoughts as well.
ReplyDeleteThe good part is design of minifigs is elaborate to the point Lego's imperial soldiers feel simplistic in comparison. There are also pieces Lego doesn't make at all, like all those various hats, helmets and plumes and, of course, bayonets. You could source them separately elsewhere, or you could just save yourself the trouble and get the whole package with this ones.
The bad part is many of the minifigs become too flimsy when you try to display them with both epaulets and knapsacks at the same time. Lego never has such an issue as all pieces sit firmly in place. As a result I ended up having to display Fusiliers with just the knapsacks and Grenadiers with just epaulets, which is annoying. Another frustration is the rifles - they only attach to hands in a single spot and they don't sit in there firmly either. So making every soldier point their rifles perfectly the same becomes a hassle. I also didn't like how bayonets are attached to the rifles, in fact 2 or 3 rifles broke in my hands in the process of attaching them. A few minifigs also came with faulty parts, for example one knapsack was bent, scratched and in a mix of colors. To be fair, considering my army consists of about 100 minifigs, having only a handful problematic ones is commendable for an off-brand. So a good habit with this figs is to order slightly more than you need for spares or to account for possible issues like that.
Is it worth it? In terms of sheer quality Lego is the clear winner, while this wins if you're after Napoleonic flavor and couldn't care less about sourcing parts and waiting weeks on your Pick a Brick orders. In terms of cost they're ultimately similar, especially when you consider you should really buy spares because of varied quality - so take your pick.