J.Norad Reviews: Intoyz 1:6 PSG-1

 Adding to my collection of "Sniper rifles in cases", I bought an INTOYZ PSG-1 (2000, ~$15 shipped)  Been debating getting one for a while. First thoughts when I received the item was the sheer size of the carded item.

Thing is huge. 

Way larger than I expected the card to be. If you're planning on buying one online, this will explain the shipping costs. 

Out of the Box

The case is rather unspectacular. It at best resembles a Black Monolith pencil case from the 1990s with a remnant of a shop rack hangar tab on the top. The hinges are great, however, as they use metal pins. Gives a sense of confidence in repeated use with those.

 Opening up the case, we get two magazines (one in the rifle already), a folding bipod, and five spare bullets. The set comes with five spent casings, but there's no way to store them conveniently in the case.

 The spent casings are nice for dioramas, but you'll end up stashing them in a small zip baggie and storing them in a case where you can't lose them.


Details

INTOYZ has a lot of nice little details on their model. First, is the safety selector lever.

The lever has two detents to rest at, so they don't keep moving. They seem to have a hard stop as well, so you can't swivel them 360°. Also nice to have the selector markings. 

 This model has a spring loaded cocking lever so you can fiddle with it at your leisure. Not something you'd really need, but it adds to the overall level of detail. Some people tend to try moving the cocking lever on 1:6 scale guns, or maybe that's just me.

 The rifle comes with a folding bipod. It can slide along the bottom front grip of the rifle, and neatly folds up. I didn't find it too sturdy when folded down. The legs tended to bow out and the left one has become slightly loose, and tends to pop out. Something to keep in mind if you intend on using the bipod as a load bearing structure and not as a decorative item.

 Here you can see the full extent you can move the bipod back. Also visible is the safety selector markings on the right side.

 The magazine has molded bullets, but they seem smaller than the loose cartridges. not a big deal as you won't be looking at these too often side by side. They're molded well, complete with the rim.

Annoyances
 This model is pretty good. However, I have one complaint about the case. There's no ideal way to store the extra bullets in the case, as provided.

 Closed up and latched, the bullets will shift around a bit, which is expected. However, the slightest crack will result in bullets all inside the case. Fine if they haven't shifted around like the above image, but they'll tend to migrate into the bipod area and into the rifle region. I think they should have used the space for holding the second magazine and not have one in the magazine well. I'm probably going to do that since I don't like the idea of losing tiny pieces. Into the bag of loose ammo casings they go!

The main reason I picked up the PSG-1 was for my Yamato Solid Snake. I was pleased to  find that the grip slid into his stiff hands with relative ease. Snake's hands are absurdly stiff and difficult to get some rifle grips in there. The PSG-1 slid in like Snake's hands were designed for it.

 Unfortunately, his other hand isn't.

 I tried using the bipod for a prone shot, but the bipod wasn't good for supporting the rifle as it was being pushed downwards by the arms of Snake. Not a lot of figures can do this position (Snake can't do it too well), but if you do find one, the bipod should give you less problems.

Overall
I was pleased with the construction and general build quality. There are only four PSG-1 models I'm aware of on the market in 1:6 scale. One being from Hot Toys' Resident Evil line, the second being the Yamato version from the Sniper Wolf doll, and the other being ZACCA's World Weapon Collection. Hot Toys' PSG-1 is perhaps the easiest to obtain loose, with ZACCA being the rarest. However, in terms of overall detail, the INTOYZ model may be the best if you like all the little mechanical details. Molding quality and paint, I would probably guess Hot Toys' has a leg up in little molding details. However, I didn't see the right side safety indicator markings on some product images of their PSG-1.

If you don't care about the case and just want the rifle, you're better off getting a loose Hot Toys' rifle. The bipod may be too fidgety and the remaining details may be too delicate for rough play. It's a lot cheaper if you're on a budget to get a loose rifle.

On a side note, INTOYZ also makes a MSG-90 which can be bought for approximately the same price as the PSG-1. As far as I know, no one else makes a MSG-90 model in 1:6 scale.