Stormtroopers of Death (aka S.O.D.) is a satirical thrash metal band featuring Anthrax members Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, ex-Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker, and M.O.D.’s Billy Milano. They focused on intentionally over the top and offensive lyrics that brought them both notoriety and controversy. Though they never intended for anyone to take the lyrics seriously. The idea came as Scott Ian would sketch out a comic-like villain of a skull in an army helmet known as Sargent D. The sketches would feature slogans, and eventually lyrics that would become the basis for the bands songs, with Sgt. D becoming the bands mascot.
NECA is releasing an action figure of Sargent D, based on artwork from the bands first album “Speak English or Die”. The 8″ scale clothed figure includes a removable helmet and a rifle. Our friends at NECA have sent over the figure for review. After the jump, check out my thoughts and photo gallery.
Pre-Order Link: Entertainment Earth • Big Bad Toy Store (currently sold out)
Stormtroopers of Death – Sargent D 8″ Scale Figure by NECA
Pros
- Great looking overall figure
- Head sculpt is dead on to the artwork
- Paint work is solid
- Tailored outfit works really well here
- Includes a great G.I. Joe style backdrop
- Makes for a good horror figure
Cons
- Not using the 3.0 body style
Overall
The Sgt. D figure comes packed in a collector friendly window box. Most of the packaging design is based on the album art for “Speak English or Die”, with a nice nod to G.I. Joe with the back of the packaging. The figure sits in a plastic tray, and can easily be placed back in the box for storage or display. The figure has a rifle, a removable helmet, and a nice backdrop included.
I’ve never been really familiar with S.O.D. or with Sargent D. Anthrax wasn’t a band I was into in the 80’s and 90’s, so S.O.D. flew under my radar. My real introduction to both the band and Sargent D was through research for the review of this figure. I won’t be able to speak so much to the importance of Sargent D’s metal icon status or the importance of the mascot getting his own figure. But, seeing metal blogs get hyped for the figure (and seeing it sold out at BBTS) showed me there was a definite audience.
For me, the main draw of Sargent D is that it feels very much like a horror figure. Specifically, he reminds me of Big Ben from one of my all-time favorite horror films; House. The figure features a nicely tailored cloth army fatigues outfit. The edges on the outfit are all torn and ragged, and the tailoring never feels overly bulky. It’s roomy enough to allow for full articulation, but is more form fitting than older clothed figures. The sculpt work here is excellent, with Sgt. D’s head sculpt looking almost identical to the album art. The cigar and smoke effect are a nice touch as well. Paint work is nice, with multiple contrasting paint washes to emphasize the sketched artwork look of the character. Articulation is solid, but it looks to be using NECA’s 2.0 body type, instead of the 3.0, which has more articulation and better ankles. It didn’t cause any problems here, but the extra range of motion would have been nice. One of my favorite additions is the backdrop, which is based on classic G.I. Joe “explosion” card art. I could see a lot of G.I. Joe Classified fans wanting to use that for their own photo shoots.
The figure was a fun one to shoot overall. It can easily fit in with your clothed music mascot collector (such as Eddie or The Fiend), or just as easily with a horror collection. It’s a good looking figure, and there were no quality control issues. Check out a selection of photos below, and the full gallery after that.