CBI and
Easy&Simple's Erica Storm has been released. Time for some in hand photos and observations.
I'm not 100% sure what the extent of CBI's involvement is, but from what I can tell they created the Task Force 58 characters Anna, Brad & Erica and wrote the story. The figure seems manufactured entirely by
Easy&Simple; I've bought enough loose parts of theirs to recognize the molds and craftsmanship.
The head sculpt has a pony-tail that needs to be removed when wearing the helmet and thus was designed with a socket. It fits snugly so far and there's no fear of it constantly falling off. I'm not a fan of sculpted hair but this is particularly well done, imo, and I like it a lot. Her face, while still beautiful, has a harder look to it that is appropriate for a military character. And since my preferred look for her is hood up, even if I didn't like the hair, Which I actually do, it's not going to be showing anyway.
The HS fits very tightly on the neck peg and is very hard to rotate and has limited up/down mobility. Additionally, there is zero articulation in the neck as can be seen in the nude body promo pic shown above. To equalize the tight & restricted head movement, the wrists are extremely loose and flop around and/or fall off if you even look at them too hard. The pegs are very loose in the forearms and will need some tape or whatever to tighten them up enough to hold anything in her hands.
The hands are the next problem. Not that they are bad, just that you only get one pair. They're gun hands, so when she's not holding a gun it's pretty awkward that she's pointing all the time. When she is holding a gun, they are awesome. I have a lot of female soldiers and this is the first trigger hand I've seen with a straight finger that allows proper trigger discipline of laying it above the guard on the receiver without looking deformed.
The uniform & gear is top of the line. It's so rare to get female-sized night vision at all and these are very nice. Everything adjusts easily and stays where you put it. Really great. Another unusual feature I like is the 2 grenade loops sewn into the left leg of the combat pants.
The backpack is also very very nice. It has an integrated cover and hood that can be folded under, folded into, or unfolded up for a variety of looks. The small chest rig is great too.
Her cyborg nature can be visually masked if desired with the included neck gaiter and arm sleeve. I think she looks great, refreshingly different from the typical supermodel or sexy schoolgirl "soldiers" often offered in this scale and am happy to welcome her to my swiftly expanding army.
Recap:
Pros
-Excellent boots & MCB camo outfit
-
Easy&Simple weapons and gear
-Unique and versatile backpack design
-Female-sized night optics
-Good head sculpt
Cons
-No neck articulation
-Very tight head articulation
-Very loose wrist pegs
-One pair of hands