Marauder "Gun Runners" Series 6

Looking back over my past reviews of the excellent Marauder "Gun Runners" offerings, it is tough to believe that they have been around for so long, but at the same time even tougher to remember a time before they existed.

Yes, G.I. Joe fans, there was actually a period of time prior to the existence of Marauder "Gun Runners" when you had to make due only with the weapons that Hasbro made. Thank goodness those dark ages are past and we can now pick and choose from not just scores of assault rifles, machine guns, pistols, shotguns, and more, but we can also customize them to the hilt with removable scopes, tactical grips, under-carraige grenade launchers, and more. The Gun Runners got into the whole customizable and modular weapons scene a couple of years ago and really haven't looked back. It started with removable clips, and has now exploded to the point where they offer a fully modular sniper rifle and they have ports on nearly all of their assault rifles for additional components. In weapons this small, it amazes me that they make it work so well.

Keeping in mind, of course, that dealing with accessories of this size and the modular nature of the additional pieces might require some glue to keep them firm and tight and ready for your Joe figures to use. While I didn't experience any glaring issues with pieces and parts just falling off in Series 6, if you plan on moving them from grip to grip or from figure to figure, you'll want to glue some of the modular pieces into the weapon itself, just to keep it all together. The great thing is, the guns are cheap enough to stock up and gear up however you want.

Now, on to the specifics of Series 6...

"Modular" AKM Assault Rifle

I am far from a weapons expert, but I do know what I like, and for the most part, I enjoy fairly basic, straight forward, cool looking assault rifles. That really is the main driving force of my weapon selections. Sure, there is room for heavy weapons specialists, grenadiers, etc... but by and large for the bulk of my fighting force, I just need a nicely sized, potent looking attack rifle, and the modular AKM Assault Rifle suits that desire perfectly.

Built upon the familiar Kalashnikov weapon style, this modular AKM has plenty of option ports to soup this gun up using any number of the modular grips, sights, or suppressors that Marauder "Gun Runners" has available. This gives endless flexibility to this weapon, allowing weaponsmith's to outfit their Cobra Troopers with any number of combinations.

I'm happy to report that the removable magazine works extremely well, too. Marauder introduced this functionality a few waves ago, and it has improved steadily since. The magazine stays lodged within the weapon very cleanly, without jostling around, yet is still easily removable. The best of both worlds. A terrific basic weapon that is customizable to a number of different designs.

Grab the basic weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners" and pick up the nicely accessorized version right here.

"Modular" FOS Assault Rifle

The FOS Assault rifle seems to take the M4 carbine design and build upon it a little bit. As I've said, I'm no gun expert, but to my layman's eye, this looks extremely similar to Marauder's original M4 template, only slightly larger, more detailed, and a shorter barrel. It has a different handgrip and magazine style as well.

On its own, the weapon is an impressive one, with a solid shape, nicely contoured handle, and a removable clip that stays locked in quite nicely. There are plenty of options as well for expandability underneath the stock, on top of the weapon, and with the silencer possibility as well. According to a Facebook post by Marauder John, there are 1,000,000 potential combinations of weapon and additional accessories! Crazy.

There have been some complaints that the weapon is a bit oversized, and it does seem to lean on the large side. That's not a deal breaker in my mind, especially with larger figures within the G.I. Joe line. Considering the wide range of scale craziness throughout the weapons of the Joe line as well, I'm sure the sizing issues of this particular weapon are not a crisis for many collectors out there. As it stands, this is a great, powerhouse weapon that can serve many different purposes.

Grab the basic weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners" and the nicely accessorized version right here.

AA12 Automatic Shotgun

The automatic shotgun has been a mainstay in the G.I. Joe line for many years now, but to my recollection, they've never tackled anything resembling the AA12, which is the real world equivilent of an automatic shotgun. With a removable ammunition drum and a great, realistic design, the AA12 is a powerhouse.

G.I. Joe fans most likely remember the AA12 as being the weapon that Duke uses in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra during the attack on the PITT. It's a great, somewhat futuristic weapon that I think fits into the G.I. Joe theme perfectly.

The handle is shaped a bit uniquely, which can provide challenges for certain figures to hold it, but for the most part I didn't have many issues. There are also a trio of ports underneath the front stock to hold other additional accessories as well. A nicely stocked and powerful weapon, for sure.

Grab this weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners".

QBZ Type 95

An extremely distinctive looking weapon, the QBZ Type 95 is a Chinese Assault rifle in a bullpup configuration, and has an amazingly cool unique look. This was a weapon that had a modified version included with the Paris Pursuit Baroness from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

There is no removable clip on this gun, though there is room for expansion with Marauder's familiar customizable accessories. The handle is nicely angled and well contoured to fit figure's hands, even though the curved magazine can get in the way of holding the weapon perfectly.

It's a great size, an awesome looking design, and a great example of a unique weapon that hasn't precisely been done by Hasbro to date. Great offering.

Grab the weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners".

"Modular" Vector Machine Gun

A very small and somewhat futuristic submachine gun, the Vector was initially released with the Pursuit of Cobra Wave 2 Dusty, but is a terrific looking compact weapon that I will eagerly buy a bunch of. It's a great low range security weapon, easily carried, yet capable of rapid fire assault.

The barrel will accomodate a silencer like many other guns in the Marauder arsenal, and there are spots on the top for sights or scopes. I love the Vector, and Marauder,"Gun Runner's" version is incredibly well detailed and easy for figures to hold. Fantastic.

Grab this weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners".

Desert Eagle Automatic Pistol

G18 Automatic Pistol

The pistol offerings in Series 6 are the Desert Eagle and the G18, both of which might be considered somewhat overdue. The Desert Eagle pistol is famous for being an exceptionally powerful hand cannon and by all accounts Marauder does the weapon justice. The unique shape of the barrel, the thick handle...this is a distinctive looking weapon that is translated quite nicely to plastic.

I remember seeing some version of the G18 automatic pistol with the film Broken Arrow (I believe) and I thought it seemed like a very strange combination. A pistol that fires like a submachine gun? Very strange. For the first time in G.I. Joe's history, this weapon is translated into plastic form. The unique shaped grip and the extended clip look a little strange I must admit, but are hallmarks of the original weapon and translated nicely.

Grab the G18 here and the Desert Eagle here from Marauder "Gun Runners".

Flamethrower

Marauder has made a living of taking different science fiction elements and working them into a weapons assortment, and they continue that concept here, taking the very familiar flamethrower design from Aliens, and tweaking it just enough to work in the G.I. Joe arena. The very distinctive barrel shape and removable fuel canister are both hallmarks of the Aliens weapon, and even though it's not an exact duplicate, it works quite nicely.

The best thing about the influences Marauder chooses to use, though, is that they are just really cool looking weapons. Those of us who aren't necessarily married to weapons from a specific film or film-based universe can still enjoy really cool looking weapons. The under-mounted cannister offers a lot of flexiblity for the weapon, not tying it to a fuel backpack, and the dramatic angles throughout the weapon just look great.

Grab the weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners".

M200 Sniper Rifle

Hoo buddy. With Marauder "Gun Runners" experimenting in modular weapons for the past few years, one has to wonder whether or not Hasbro doing the same thing was influenced by them. In the G.I. Joe: Pursuit of Cobra toyline, Hasbro released a sniper rifle like this one with Low Light, but considering how hard that figure is to find, I relish the chance to own as many of these as a I want. The removable silencer, bipod, and scope are all awesome, modular additions to this weapon and behave exactly like you would expect them to.

The silencer fits remarkably smooth, as does the bipod and scope, with very little give and almost no fear of falling off, though as Marauder recommends, if you find a configuration you like, a little drop of glue is not a bad idea to keep everything all together.

The M200 is one hell of a nasty looking weapon, and the fact that you can pick up as many as you might want for a couple bucks is a great service to the fandom.

Grab the weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners".

"Modular" Parts and Pieces

As we've come to expect from Marauder "Gun Runners", Series 6 comes with a plethora of customizable parts and pieces. According to the Marauder website, the various accessories with Series 6 are Modular "Contoured" grip accessory, Modular "Ridged" grip accessory, Modular AGTS Grenade Launcher accessory, Modular Tactical Flashlight, Modular Holo scope, Modular PEQ site, Modular Socom Scope, Modular Tactical scope, Modular Grip with Flashlight, Modular Bipod accessory, Modular Silencer,  MG34 Ammo Drum, and Ninja Throwing Star. In many cases it is quite clear which accessory is which, but to get the best idea of what you're buying, you'll want to hit up MarauderInc.com and pick up the gear you're looking for. I am including a ton of customized weapon images at the end of the review, so you get an idea of how they all look, but there are so many different options, it's tough for me to discuss every single one.

I will say I am exceptionally impressed by the various grips and how they integrate with the different weapons. From the straight-up ridgid grip or contoured grip to the tactical grip with the flashlight, it's incredible how much difference can be made simply by plugging the grip into the front stock of a given rifle.

As a huge suppressed weapons fan, too, I really enjoy the silencer and I'm pretty amazed at how many different weapons the silencer fits and how much cooler it makes them look.

The scopes always offer plenty of flexiblity as well, and the throwing stars are amazing. To answer the question, yes they do fit in Storm Shadow's fingers!

As Marauder "Gun Runners" themselves would tell you again, if you find a certain configuration that you like with a weapon, and you plan on taking guns out of figure's hands, putting them back in, and moving them around, you'll seriously want to consider just a tiny bit of glue to hold the configurations together. Don't get me wrong, it's not like pieces and parts are flying out all over the place, but just a bit of glue makes a world of difference, and turns a modular weapon into a firmly attached, permanent one. The guns and accessories are so cheap, it's very inexpensive to build your own arsenal using the assault rifles and various attachments.

Again, I'll include lots of pictures of customized weapons at the end of the review.

MP40 Machine Gun

 

M240 Bravo Machine Gun

Upon first glance, I made the erroneous assumption that this was also a very old school and long outclassed weapon, but that's not entirely true. To be sure, the M240 first debuted in the 80's, but is apparently a very reliable weapon, and while you likely won't see this exact model in use today, different variations of it are still kept in arsenals due to it's reliable operations. A large and heavy weapon, this particular model uses the ammo box instead of being belt-fed which is a nice feature. As one might expect, the bipod and ammo box are removable, and the weapon is exceedingly well detailed.

This is a heavy machine gun that would look quite nice in any classic G.I. Joe display, considering the era that the weapon is from. I also love the fact that it has spots on top for scopes or sights, just to add a bit of customizability to it. The handle fits classic Joe fans very nicely.

One interesting aspect of this gun is that the handle seems small for the newer figures, but manages to fit the classic figures especially well. I'm not sure if that was on purpose or not, but I'm happy to see it. The o-ring will never be forgotten!

Grab the weapon here from Marauder "Gun Runners".

RECAP

It's tough to give an overall score for any given series of Marauder "Gun Runner" weapons. While a weapon like the MP40 would get a low grade from me, because I'm not all that excited about World War II era guns, it probably holds a ton of appeal for a lot of other folks out there.

I was extremely excited about the updated AKM template rifle, and the various different options it gives collectors for weapon display and outfitting their armies. The FOS is a decent gun, though somewhat oversized, especially if you want to use it for the older figures.

I am in love with the QBZ and the Vector is fantastic as well. If I have any complaints about the weapons themselves, I might recommend throwing in open trigger guards from time to time. I understand that fans and Marauder themselves really like the real world accuracy of the closed trigger guards, but unless the figure has a clearly separated trigger finger, I find that an enclosed trigger guard is kind of a pain. That is a minor complaint, but one I have maintained since day one.

Marauder's additional accessories are always extremely carefully thought out and amazingly well executed for a relatively small operation. I continue to be blown away by the sheer quality of the offerings, the accessibility of the company, and the absolutely flawless customer service they provide to pretty much anyone they deal with.

I cannot think of a single company or entity attached to toy collecting that I could recommend higher than the folks at Marauder "Gun Runners". They are toy enthusiasts, they solicit and eagerly accept customer feedback, and they maintain the utmost level of communications and customer service. Even if you don't find something in this assortment that you like, hit up MarauderInc.com and I can assure you that you'll find something to appreciate there. Whether it's other different weapons or diorama accessories, Marauder has something for everyone.

Trust me. Buy their stuff. You won't be disappointed.

Hit up Marauder "Gun Runners" to see all of Series 6 with some excellent offerings and awesome weapon combinations.

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