Weapon set advice

I think the quality and accuracy of DiD weapons are excellent. They are metal like the bbi weapons but seem lighter and less clunky, also wood furniture on rifles is real wood (again light weight). All the examples I have or have seen have working bolts, removable magazines, etc. They work smoothly and the fit of the magazines are secure (they won't fall out on their own). I think the metal individual rounds of ammo and belts of ammo for mg's is particularly well done.

Ultimate Soldier (or TUS or 21C) vary in quality and accuracy according to the period they were manufactured. The very earliest were not as good, over sized and sometimes quite crude. This is understandable since they are made with play in mind not anal retentive collectors. There are some exceptions, maybe a middle period, when the quality started getting very good. If you wanted to improve the TUS weapon all you needed to do was replace the sling, maybe do some cutting, adjusting or repositioning of attachment points and repaint. Today the weapons are even better, much better detail and scale correctness and you will even find working parts on a lot of the current line. The WW2 sets of Axis, Japanese, Russian, and British weapons are particularly good and contain weapons not produced by any other manufacturer. The recent Thompson SMG set is of that same quality and a real boon to anyone who likes that weapon. The recent modern sets of AK's, Pigs, shotguns, and "Street Heat I & II" are all very good with lots of good stuff for bashing baddies, sci-fi or military.

As far as comparing them to DML, that would be better done on an individual weapon level. Each manufacturers M1 Garand Rifle for example could be compared in a side-by-side detailed review. Someone on this forum may have already done that with the M1 or some other weapon. That's an involved process that, for me, doesn't just involve the comparison between the toys but also checking each against references to the actual 1:1 weapon. Since I don't have the inclination to do that, sorry, suffice it to say that most of the weapons produced by DiD and TUS either match or is some cases surpass DML. This can be very subjective, so you will find some people who only like DML for one reason or another. I like them all, there are good and bad, but the good far outweighs the bad when it comes to these three companies.

I rediscovered 1:6 scale military figures with 21st Century back in 1997 (by golly, have I been collecting for 10 years, it's really been that long?). Their 1st generation Vietnam carded sets were just as Furious Genius just described - crude and somewhat off-scale, with "playability" or what you can call the toy factor in mind. However, when the Modern series came out, I was hooked. The uniforms, weapons and gear were, and still are IMHO awesome. They are quite easy to improve: most only need a better sling and some weathering/painting. And that was back in the day when you could get a carded uniform set for $9.99, even the rare ones like modern Russian paras (once I cleaned out the rack at my local TRU).

I must say I do not own any DiD weapons, been strictly a modern collector, but I do have some of the metal bbi ones. The AKM with folding stock is quiet neat, especially with the removable M203 g/l (I can't remember which figure it came it, it may have been Carlos) but they are definitely quite heavy.

I still think that Dragon's M4's are the best out there, as far as detail and the balance between playability and realism. They are however dated at this point, not providing such accessories as EoTech sights, Surefire lights etc. Hence I have found myself buying loose bbi and Toy Soldier ones. I do not own any Hot Toys weapons: I've read here several times about the concept of "HT scale" and their limited playability, plus their cost is prohibitive for me.

Just my $0.02. Hope it helps...