New Company; Human Wave Figures

[laughingravy2]

I had a brief gander at the first release by the new US company, Human Wave Figures at WoH, but was able to meet and speak at length with the owners at their booth at DXPo yesterday.

Friendly, longtime collector, Curtis, has funded and begun a promising venture. Their first figure, a WWII german, has some of the most detailed and exacting accessories I've seen. Exceptional quality. The HS is amazingly close to the photo of the actual soldier that it is based on. The body, similar to the G3.5 in articulation, allows for a multitude of poses.
Overall, a very proffessional and quality product, in an equally professional package.

I inquired as to future releases and the (hopeful) possibility of non-german and even non-US, at least not paratroops, figures. Thankfully, Human Wave has plans for various nation's figs. I was very pleased to hear of an upcoming figure based on Curtis' uncle, who served as a .30 cal gunner on an M3 halftrack during WWII. An armored GI will be a welcome release, and as a tribute to a family hero will be a worthy cause.

Along with the 70 or so figures that are planned to date, there are also plans for vehicle releases. As with all new and budding companies, the road has and will be a long one. Funding and sales will determine the future of any company. I can only hope that Human Wave will establish itself as a strong lock-in in the hobby. They're "good people", with an equally great product, and most certainly deserve any support the hobby can give.

Our favorite e-tailers have the figure available, and had them on display at DXPo06.

Here's the website for Human Wave Figures;
http://humanwavefigures.com/index.html

[rjones25]

Sounds interesting, but without any pictures, even on the website, I can't say anything else about what I think.

[ToyBoxer]

Any images?

[pukingdog]

I'm ever the wide-eyed optimist, so I say good luck to Curtis and company, and hope this is the beginning of a great thing.

[Bobby]

I hope his venture grows to be as big as DID, DML, and BBI. Best of luck to him.

[rogerbee]

Without any pics and no chance of a UK distribution deal, it's very hard to judge.

Sort it out!

CHEERS!

[Tiger]

hmm very interesting, time will tell

[Mortar Conn]

LG2: Take any pics at the shows that you can post?

[laughingravy2]

Not to worry regarding pics. I know in this immediate gratification society of ours, it may be difficult to wait, but as soon as the dealers get home from DXPo, they will all be posting pics of the prodcut. And those pics will do more justice to the figure than any of my feeble attempts at photography could.

*Edit* BTW, I don't know anything about a UK distribution deal, or wtf "sort it out" means. I'm quite "sorted out", thank you.

[MisterToy]

Their first figure, a WWII german...

REALLY?!!! How freakin' original! Now that's something we can use! Thank goodness!

Eric

[Porkins73]

Its always exciting news to hear of a new up and coming 1/6 manufacturer. It probably means more venue to spread what little cash I have left on more dollies!
Can't wait to see the picts.

Anyway, in this internet age, one really doesn't have to have a local brick n motar distributor. Can always purchase online. If the fig is good enough, you can always find a reason to justify that shipping cost

[Chii]

There's some pics of him from the 6th Division.

First off, the collar tabs are actual tabs, not stickers. So they have a raised appearance. I think that yes, it's another German, but it's a WELL DONE German, and it has some parts that some DML Germans have been lacking lately, namely left and right MP40 pouches.

[mikoyan29]

Wow, another WWII German.

Looks pretty good though.

[grizzerr]

"Nazis........why did it have to be Nazis???"

[Favre4ever]

I saw this guy up close and I thought it was nice... Especially the gear and headsculpt. The owner seemed like a ok guy as well.

[38oliver]

Interesting. I'm not overwhelmed by the theme, but it does look well done. I'm especially interested in the figure design. The small portion of the wrist seam and neck post do look like it could be a BBI G3.5. We can only hope the execution is as good as the plan, and that we'd have other themes done as well as this one appears to be.

[Porkins73]

reviewing those pictures posted (thanks Chii ), the quality looks like somewhere around SST's standards. But I will have to look at the fig upfront to be able to give fair judgement.
Nevertheless, IMO DiD has reached the zenith of offering a high quality WW2 figure with affordable prices. It will be hard for any new up and coming company to beat them or even equal to them in terms of quality and prices. And I am feeling that the current WW2 king (aka DML) is already slowly surrendering its crown to the new heir

A new company, in order to make an impact in the 1/6 world, will most likely succeed if they stick to a certain genre of figs to produce ie Ignite on its ancient theme. Areas that are not already covered and could probably have a big enough audience to support. Bad business directions / decisions could just cause mediocre sales ie Dogsoldier of its Wild West theme.

oh well... nothing to shout about for this german. It is just too generic and can be build from my spare box in a zip Sorry if I sounded too negatively

[GIGENE]

I wish them the best of luck. I like how they plan to release Polish figures as well. I'll have to email them and suggest that French and Japanese figures would be a good idea also.

[MKb42h]

I am an ok guy. Everybody knows that. Why did I do Germans? I did Germans because that's what I like and what I know about. I've actually got a list of over 70 figures planned with many being non-German. All I can ask is that you give my first figure a chance. I can't tell all that I am going to do because as the saying here goes: "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

No, the body is not BBI. I do have "official" pics on my site now.

Thanks,
Mkb2h

[Auret]

i wish you luck dude... but unless you can manage to do something different and innovative (as in something the other companies aren't doing) i , for one, won't be buying...

ww2 germans are about as overdone as a topic can get in this hobby....

the quality looks pretty good though....

[laughingravy2]

I will GUARANTEE that nobody here can replicate this figure with what's in their spare parts box. To say so without seeing the figure first-hand is a bold, but fairly ignorant comment. There are parts and pieces that no other company has done yet in this set.

I'm the first one to say he's not a german fan. Said it right to Curtis, matter of fact. But that doesn't diminish the fact that a new company, with new ideas to come, and a promise of various nationalities to come shouldn't deserve as fair a shot as any other. german first-fig or not. I may not be a german fan, but I'm already a fan of this company. And when the figs that I particularly collect are released, I won't have to look around for a bandwagon to jump on and shout from. I'm already there.

You don't like the fig? Great, move along. But here's a guy who put his money where his mouth is and started a business in 1/6 fig manufacturing.

[Joebros]

Hey, this is a NEW company. So their first figure is German, so WHAT? Give them time. Let them make more items. Never once did I see LG say "look, a German from a new company, buy it!" All he's doing is telling us of a new company that's making some really cool, previously unmade items.

If anything, the German is a GOOD idea because, as some have so nicely mentioned, there are SO many other Germans out there to compare it to. And nobody has said they'll only make Germans. Quite to the contrary! They will be doing MANY different figures from different eras and different countries AND vehicles.

So please don't turn your heads away so quickly. That's all I ask. You don't have to buy anything. If this isn't something you want to buy, don't. But at least acknowledge that a NEW company for the collector BY a collector is a good thing.

I seem to remember a new company back in 97-98 that was started by a few collectors and came out with AWESOME Vietnam uniform sets. The uins fit tight on Hasbro bodies (and those were basically the ONLY bodies back then), the pouches didn't stay on the belts, belt buckles broke, boots were big and ugly and the weapons seemed to be molded from someone else's weapons.
And that was just the Nam stuff! Their first WWII figures were worse!

Sound familiar? I'm talking about 21st Century Toys.

For those that weren't around back then, that was 21st in their beginning. But you know what? Their uniform sets sold, and sold very well. As they went, they got better and better. Their vehicles went from expensive ugly things to reasonably priced 4-wheel (or tracked) marvels. Their weapons went from chunky molded toys to beautiful 1/6 weapons, many of which no other company has ever made. Their bodies went from thin, loose, hardly posable and baby-faced to big, super posable bodies, some with excellent heads. I could go on, but I digress.

My point? Collectors gave 21st a chance. They bought the accessory sets, figures and vehicles anyway. And, IMHO, that's why we have DML, BBi, DID, etc, etc. Because collectors helped the new guy.

Curtis, I wish you great success!! I, for one, will watch your company and hope to see something I can add to my collection. Looking at your German, I see some interesting pieces. I hope that, in some ways, you will be like 21st and give us incredible items we can only get from you. And in other ways, I hope you won't be like 21st.

End of sermon.

[Jørg]

So, when does the Quake 3 figure come out?

[MKb42h]

LG2 you've past your first test. You've just been hired. And thanks Joebros. What's Quake 3? No, I do not nor do I ever plan to be like 21st Cent. BTW it was great meeting all the cool guys from the hobby at the DX06 show.

[Solid Snake]

Well Mister MKb42h I wish you good luck! Quake 3 is a video game, And when -do- we get to see pictures of the body?

[38oliver]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

Well Mister MKb42h I wish you good luck! ... And when -do- we get to see pictures of the body?

Ditto on that one.

[Jørg]

Originally Posted by MKb42h

What's Quake 3?

Quake 3 (aka Quake Arena) was a rather popular video game put out by id software. Your site uses the game's logo on almost every page.

[Mortar Conn]

Just checked out the official pics on the site. VERY nice, looks like DiD quality or better.

What is Remy? Dutch, Flemish or Belgian SS. Can't recall what the Langemarck Division was.

Everything about him looks great which bodes well for HumanWave.

Look forward to seeing some figures (Polish, Swiss?!?!) that haven't been touched yet by other manufacturers.

Way to go MKb42h

[MKb42h]

He's Flemish. I should have some new pictures up in a week or so. I've never played Quake. I did play RTS and flight simulator games.

Thanks,

Curtis