ROME Imperial Army Reloaded: Infantry by HH Model/HaoYu Toys review (updated with comparison photos)

shazzdan wrote:The ACI figure just arrived. Pretty disappointing. No instructions. Not even a photo showing how it is supposed to go together. Just a plain brown box.

Your above photo seems to have a shoulder strap for holding the gladius. It appears to be missing in my box so there is no way for the figure to carry the sword or dagger. There is no way to fasten the cingulum belt around the waist - or if there is, the fastener is broken. One of the pleather straps on the cingulum had delaminated so I had to glue it back together. There are rivets missing from some of the other cingulum straps. The shoulder armour just sits loosely on the shoulders with no way to attach it to the girdle plates, which means that it can't hold the scarf in place and makes it impossible to pose the figure in anything but an upright standing position. Your photo seems to show proper caligae shoes but mine are just molded on the foot and painted.

This sounds pretty bad. I imagine you must have gotten a damaged and incomplete set second-hand. The instructions were only for the thread on the helmet, the belt, and the caligae. There should be a fastener on the cingulum, and a shoulder strap for the gladius.

Here are a few photos of mine, if it helps, and a youtube review:

Well that explains why the armour won't go together. The vertical lugs are missing from the girdle plate. The loops for lacing it together across the stomach are either missing or broken off.



Here is the cingulum belt. There is no way for it to fasten together. The paint job looks completely different from the above photo.



Here are the shoes. I can't see how I could have an incomplete set if the feet are completely different.

It is hard to tell from the ebay photos but it looks like I got a bootleg version, not the ACI version.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ZH009-Roman-Empire-Soldier-1-6-Scale-Medieval-Ancient-Action-Figure/153633303958

For the price I think that I actually did ok ($108). The rest of the accessories are pretty good and I prefer this head sculpt to any of the above three. I can't find a new ACI version for less than $250.

Here is a used one for a decent price if anyone in the US is interested.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ACI-TOTAL-ROME-ROMAN-LEGIONARY-ELITE-OPTIO-1-6-SCALE-ACTION-FIGURE/223678646795

Oh no, China Toys strikes again! That would also explain the simple brown cardboard box. Yes, the feet are totally different, with sculpted laces and fairly poor execution (though if you had to lace the bloody ACI caligae, you might think them an improvement!). They remind me of the China Toys Greek hoplite (where that wasn't an issue, since a hoplite would more likely be barefoot). Looking at the belt, perhaps nothing is missing there and it just closes a little differently than it would in real life -- if you fit it in, would it get sufficiently stuck to stay on (look at mine)? As for the connection between the shoulder and torso armor, yep, they are missing the vertical lugs. On the bright side, if anyone can improvise and fix these, it would be you. But yes, the price explains it -- China Toys takes various shortcuts (which might explain the absent strap for the gladius and pugio), and while much of what it makes is usable, it requires kitbashing and modification to be good.
PS the eBay listing definitely used the images of the original ACI figure!

Just discovered something new. Pliny says that Romans used sea sponges for helmet padding. Not sure what to use to simulate this in 1:6 scale.

May as well do a mini review of the bootleg version of the ACI legionary by China Toys.

The negatives are mentioned above but there are positives too. The sword and dagger are cast from metal and are decently painted. The scabbards are well made and fit the blades snugly. The javelins have a metal shank and point but a plastic shaft. The shield is fairly well made, the detailing is good, but the painted emblem on the face is sloppy. The helmet is made from plastic but is well detailed, is the right size (would fit even better with a little padding), and has a decent paint job. The clothing - tunic, pants, cloak - is decent. Even if I threw away the armour and belt, I could make a profit by parting the rest out and selling the accessories so it seems a decent buy to me. The figure itself is ok - definitely worth keeping - though you would have to change the feet if sandals don't suit the rest of the outfit.  If anyone wants some Roman legionary accessories, this would be a cost-effective way to get some ($108 including shipping).

Interesting discovery, and it sounds like a fair review of the China Toys bootleg (judging by my experience with the Teutonic Knight and the Greek hoplite). They are definitely a plausible source for plenty of decent spare parts.

Changed my mind about the figure. The joints are so loose that the legs collapse when it tries to support its own weight. Makes me appreciate the TBLeague figures even more. I messed around for over an hour and this is the best I could do. It is no good for anything except a carefully balanced straight-legged standing pose. Nothing I can do will make the belt stay in place. Options are to either glue it closed or throw it away. The scabbards aren't balanced correctly - if left to dangle, the sword will hang upside down. Made a temporary adjustment with a rubber band and used one of my spare belts to sling it over his shoulder. The javelins need painting so that they don't have mismatched colours.

I still think it is worth the money. Get a TBL seamless figure and replace the cingulum belt with one parted out from one of the above three figures and it will be fine.

The best parts are the sword, dagger, and helmet. The shield needs a paint job but is well detailed. The headsculpt is pretty good, too; I actually think it is better than any of the others in this thread. I like the die-cast metal armour but it is only useable for a limited range of poses, but the two separate pieces make it easy to remove from the figure. If I were to buy these as individual accessories I'd be prepared to pay $10 for the dagger, $20 for the sword, $20 for the helmet, $15 for the head sculpt, $20 for the shield, $25 for the armour, and $10 for the clothing. This totals $120, which is more than I paid for the whole set.

I'm thinking about buying another one so I will have pieces to customise and experiment with. The wrist bracers were never worn by Romans but I'm going to add some bling and use them for a fantasy theme.

Another great set and review. And just like with the centurion, plenty to learn too. Looks like this really is an improvement on the older versions. And any fixes for historical accuracy would be easy to do. Hope you get to those other reviews you mentioned.

ZombieTestSubject wrote:Another great set and review. And just like with the centurion, plenty to learn too. Looks like this really is an improvement on the older versions. And any fixes for historical accuracy would be easy to do. Hope you get to those other reviews you mentioned.

Thank you very much. While I don't love the head sculpt, and I am annoyed by the inaccuracies (although they are easy enough to leave off), it's probably my favorite legionary in sixth scale. And I hope so too (the other reviews).

This just in: apparently HH and HaoYu are re-releasing this set as a limited variant version. For example, see the preorder announcement on Monkey Depot:
https://www.monkeydepot.com/HY_Toys_Black_Armored_Heavy_Infantry_Shanghai_WF20_p/hyb0026.htm

If someone really wants this set, here might be your chance to get it. Yes, the color scheme is partly changed, but one can always modify it if needed. It now has two manicae (this seems to be a fetish for these companies) and no camp tools.