Here's another review of a favorite vehicle of mine which I got in Hongkong...
Presenting the PLA (People's Liberation Army) BlackHawk...
The PLA Blackhawk Helicopter is made from M&C toys. A China based toy factory under Puzzle Animation Studios, (who incidentally is also the maker of the Power Team Elite toy series) This here you see is their own Chinese version.
The packaging is large, crisp, and cool with lots of twisties to keep the contents in place but also easily damaged due to its thin clear plastic and carton casing. The card art at the back is visually awesome because it shows not only the BlackHawk helicopter in action but also the many amazing features of the vehicle.
The PLA Blawkhawk is from the same mold as that of the PTE/TRU Heroes Blackhawk. The helicopter itself is made of sturdy hard plastic, functionally detailed, yet actually a little off scale. It's painted in dark green camo which is weird cause this was supposed to be a BLACKHAWK, right?
The front cockpit is quite detailed with various knobs, switches, and gauges and has two opening doors that can swing freely outward and can close very firmly. The windshields and windows are of clear thick plastic and are glued tight and well.
The front side windows are fixed just like that of the PTE Blackhawk. The doors on both sides meanwhile can slide open but only up to a certain degree.
There are 4 bucket seats inside the BlackHawk that face opposite each other. Due to the small size of the Blackhawk, it is very cramped with poor leg room for Joes.
Now here is what separates the PLA Blackhawk from both the PTE/TRU...
The working winch, hook, and stretcher...
As seen here, the stretcher is made of durable plastic that can be hooked to the "rotarized" winch (with string) located above the left side door. The winch also has a lock-on button to keep the stretcher fixed and in place for search and rescue operations
More nice touches seen with this vehicle are the front and back landing gears with free rolling wheels, the fold-able rotors (great for storage), and the red beacon light at the back of the fuselage.
The boxset also includes 4 pcs. of 3 3/4 inch PLA Chinese Soldiers painted in dark green camo. Their articulation are multiple and better than those of their PTE counterpart with added swivel and ball joints on the waist, hips, legs, and even hands. The face paint applications are superb especially with the slanted eyes and light skin tone depicting real Chinese descent. The other accessories found within this playset are 2 crates w/ removable lids, 2 oil drums, and 2 jerry cans same as that of the PTE Blackhawk.
Again the reasons as to why I love the PLA Blackhawk more...
The removable helmets, tactical vests, and assault rifles...
All are made of soft pliable rubber. The helmets are neatly painted like their dark green camo uniforms and fits snugly, the tactical vests are colored black with detailed pouches and straps, while the 3 assault weapons though slightly smaller for Joes are uniquely patterned with the real life QBZ China 95 assault bull-pup rifles...
What's not to love with these rifles...which can be modified into a sniper rifle, grenade launcher, or even attached with a bayonet as depicted in the above photo.
These figures, because of their "jungle" color scheme are cool enough to use as cannon fodders as well as great for army builders too. They also look quite sharp when fitted with various 3 3/4 inch weapons and accessories...
Here are some shots of the PLA Blawkhawk w/ Firefly and my ahem! Jungle Cobra Trooper Recruits hehehe...my wife made those balclava masks for me
Well, that wraps up this review. Thanks for looking again!
