Battle of Crete: German Paratrooper

[DavidGQ]

Love it and ordered. Running out of space soon on all SS PFs. Wonder what is next? WW II is the best for making these PFs.

 

[Blackthornone]

<-----hates German WWII soldiers.

Wouldn't you agree that SS was rather thoughtless in choosing a German soldier as their first statue and especially so, by saying that the German soldiers were heroes, as indicated on the item description on the product page? I really think they need to reword that description in the case of the Axis powers soldiers, especially the Germans.
I guess they thought that by making a German with a green uniform that most people wouldn't realize that it was a German soldier, at first glance, anyway. Of course, then they see the insignia on the helmet. I guess Sideshow doesn't cater to Jewish customers much. You can imagine what THEY would think of this. It's a phenomenally well done statue, but to make a German first and call him a hero, makes me wonder what Sideshow's priorities are.

 

[IrishJedi]

Some German soldiers were "heroes"... to the Krauts.

 

[King Darkness]

Wouldn't you agree that SS was rather thoughtless in choosing a German soldier as their first statue and especially so, by saying that the German soldiers were heroes, as indicated on the item description on the product page? I really think they need to reword that description in the case of the Axis powers soldiers, especially the Germans.
I guess they thought that by making a German with a green uniform that most people wouldn't realize that it was a German soldier, at first glance, anyway. Of course, then they see the insignia on the helmet. I guess Sideshow doesn't cater to Jewish customers much. You can imagine what THEY would think of this. It's a phenomenally well done statue, but to make a German first and call him a hero, makes me wonder what Sideshow's priorities are.

Not every German solider was a Nazi.

 

[Webb]

Not every German solider was a Nazi.

Valkyrie...

 

[jonny88]

Wouldn't you agree that SS was rather thoughtless in choosing a German soldier as their first statue and especially so, by saying that the German soldiers were heroes, as indicated on the item description on the product page? I really think they need to reword that description in the case of the Axis powers soldiers, especially the Germans.
I guess they thought that by making a German with a green uniform that most people wouldn't realize that it was a German soldier, at first glance, anyway. Of course, then they see the insignia on the helmet. I guess Sideshow doesn't cater to Jewish customers much. You can imagine what THEY would think of this. It's a phenomenally well done statue, but to make a German first and call him a hero, makes me wonder what Sideshow's priorities are.

the regular German soldiers such as this guy were not murderers. yes some did some bad things but war was different back then. the German veterans are considered heroes by Germany. remember most regular German soldiers where just caught up and drafted into Hitlers madness, like any other soldier from another country who had to end up fighting, they had no choice but to fight. by the end of the war the regular German soldiers had no idea what was really going on behind closed doors. when they took a town over and then moved on they did not know the SS that had stayed behind where the ones rounding up and killing Jews. German soldiers on the front lines did not even know about the death camps until after the war. they were told to fight by there country and if they refused they were killed. so there is nothing wrong with this piece.

it is the SS soldier PF that would stir up emotions because they were Hitlers private army, to carry out Hitlers real agenda, riding the world of Jews and committing murder every where they went. that is what the SS was designed for. there's nothing wrong with this piece. l will try and get it. are they heroes in my mind, no. they had to fight and wanted to do there country proud, but by the end they new what Hitler was making them do was wrong, they had no choice. heroes no, but l do have respect for them. they went threw hell like any other soldier.

 

[devilof76]

Yeah. They were only following orders.

Don't care. Have no sympathy. Have no respect.

This reminds me of the German officer in Inglourious Basterds who got his head knocked out of the park. Right before it happens, he's asked if the Iron Cross was awarded him for killing jews. He says it's for bravery, and then proceeds to show how brave he can be.

Don't care. No sympathy. No respect. Put it out of the pahk.

 

[averone]

Wouldn't you agree that SS was rather thoughtless in choosing a German soldier as their first statue and especially so, by saying that the German soldiers were heroes, as indicated on the item description on the product page? I really think they need to reword that description in the case of the Axis powers soldiers, especially the Germans.
I guess they thought that by making a German with a green uniform that most people wouldn't realize that it was a German soldier, at first glance, anyway. Of course, then they see the insignia on the helmet. I guess Sideshow doesn't cater to Jewish customers much. You can imagine what THEY would think of this. It's a phenomenally well done statue, but to make a German first and call him a hero, makes me wonder what Sideshow's priorities are.

The German soldier was a professional solider. Its the SS that I am sure is not going to be made by Sideshow. For these to be outstanding they have to be accurate to the last detail.
Were they heros? Not maybe to you and me. But they gained the respect of even the allies with their bravery and skill.

 

[-Super Hans-]

"German Paratrooper Premium Format Figure is an outstanding addition to any display, a true tribute to the heroes of World War II."

I think thats just generic text that they will use for the whole of this series TBH .

 

[Blackthornone]

I think thats just generic text that they will use for the whole of this series TBH .

I figured that that was the case, but when the German one is the FIRST one, that makes it a bit iffy. If they introduced an Allied soldier first, and then made the German one the third one and neglected to change it out of laziness or whatever, it would be slightly different, but it still should be changed to something like, commemorating an epic time in human history, or, representing the combatants in the greatest war inn the history of mankind, something like that. Anything to avoid suggesting that the German agenda was heroic. They should reserve the hero description only for those figures that most people consider to be heroes, to avoid the unpleasantness of unnecessarily offending people.


As far as the German soldiers being heroes to anyone, let me remind you that heroism is about putting others first, and serving a noble cause. Where does THAT fit in to the German WW2 military agenda? Invading other countries? genocide? The Germans DID advance technology to a great degree, as they had the first jet fighters, the best submarines, and their rocket scientists basically founded the U.S. rocket technology, without which, the U.S. space program would never have happened. However, The German soldier just followed orders, and just following orders DOESN'T by itself make a soldier a hero, no matter how dangerous those orders are. It just makes that soldier OBEDIENT. Sometimes being heroic means defying orders.

 

[devilof76]

I never took it to mean that they considered the German agenda to be heroic; just the soldiers themselves. It doesn't matter what side men are on in a war of that scope. Acts of heroism and acts of treachery will happen on all sides, regardless of how any particular act advances the cause of universal good in the greater theater.

What I don't buy is that any German soldier with half a brain lacked a concept of the diminutive moral stature of the Third Reich, or that they had no choice in the matter. Germany's borders were open for a long time after Hitler came to power. There were very few who left. Further, the treatment endured by the Jews in Germany prior to the camps was disgusting, and a clear expression of hatred for them. Anyone who did not know what kind of regime they were supporting was either in denial or stupid.

 

[Blackthornone]

I never took it to mean that they considered the German agenda to be heroic; just the soldiers themselves. It doesn't matter what side men are on in a war of that scope. Acts of heroism and acts of treachery will happen on all sides, regardless of how any particular act advances the cause of universal good in the greater theater.

What I don't buy is that any German soldier with half a brain lacked a concept of the diminutive moral stature of the Third Reich, or that they had no choice in the matter. Germany's borders were open for a long time after Hitler came to power. There were very few who left. Further, the treatment endured by the Jews in Germany prior to the camps was disgusting, and a clear expression of hatred for them. Anyone who did not know what kind of regime they were supporting was either in denial or stupid.

True. There WERE German soldiers who defied orders and helped people escape the concentration camps. THOSE Soldiers were heroic, for putting others first and standing up for justice

 

[devilof76]

Those were the most truly heroic, but there is heroism in achieving great feats for your own side, even when you are fighting for the wrong side. The problem is that any value the heroism possessed is negated by the fact that you put your heroism in service of mass murderers.

Also, I think your definition of heroic is extremely narrow. Putting others first was a cardinal German value, and was paramount in the Reich. "Du bist nichts; die volk ist alles." Or something like that. Think about how much of the European contempt for the Jews was rooted in what they saw as Jewish greed.

 

[jonny88]

I never took it to mean that they considered the German agenda to be heroic; just the soldiers themselves. It doesn't matter what side men are on in a war of that scope. Acts of heroism and acts of treachery will happen on all sides, regardless of how any particular act advances the cause of universal good in the greater theater.

What I don't buy is that any German soldier with half a brain lacked a concept of the diminutive moral stature of the Third Reich, or that they had no choice in the matter. Germany's borders were open for a long time after Hitler came to power. There were very few who left. Further, the treatment endured by the Jews in Germany prior to the camps was disgusting, and a clear expression of hatred for them. Anyone who did not know what kind of regime they were supporting was either in denial or stupid.

your right the boarders were open for a long time. but remember all of Germany loved Hitler. Hitler was actually a great leader. when he took power in 1933 Germany was in a great depression. there was like an 75% unemployment. he turned all that around and made Germany into a great respected country, and everyone had jobs.

in one of my documentaries there was a letter written by a man who said he was scavenging for food when Hitler first came to power, and 4 years or so later he said he was now eating in fine restaurant and drinking wine. Hitler then built up his armies claiming he is looking forward to 100 years of peace with the rest of the world. so all the young men thought, what the hell lets join the service, so they did. then in 1939 Hitler put his master plan into effect, and they were sent to fight. again if they refused they would be shot. many of German soldiers thought that the first action they saw in Poland was to much of a price. they did not have a clue what was coming next. then young men were drafted to fight and so on. and your saying that Germans were in denial or stupid because of the regime they supported. they never new of the camps, and the crimes that where committed. the camps were kept as secret as possible. the regular front line German soldiers did not know about the camps, neither did the Germans. the German army was fighting for the 3rd Reich yes, but they did not know how sick the people they were fighting for were. remember Hitler was a master at propaganda.

 

[devilof76]

Propaganda which they swallowed whole.

People who need leaders are culpable for where they are led. If the leader takes them over a cliff, is the leader responsible for their death? Or are they responsible for having abandoned their own minds and wills, effectively leaving themselves defenseless when faced with the decision to jump or not?

The German people knew their Jewish neighbors were vanishing. Did they think they were all on vacation or something? They should have also known that Hitler's prosperity was a fraud, but they had so much invested in the socialist dream that when things started to appear better, they never questioned the fact that no socialist economy can function without victims.

Germany's culture was corrupt, intellectually and morally. Maybe they weren't aware that the savior they were waiting for would necessarily be the monster they all cheered when he arrived, but ignorance is no excuse. There is no dichotomy of theory and practice, and the failure to see where ideals will lead is not a valid argument for the Germans' innocence.

 

[AngryEwok]

There's a lot of revisionist history out there on Nazi Germany. We have a family member who was a member of the Hitler Youth and saw combat in the Afrika Korps. The fact is, the German people were very much aware of the efforts to 1) remove the Jew, 2) prevent "The Blood" from being further tainted, and of course to 3) restore the Reich - that being all peoples of Aryan descent.

All of this crap about Germans being unaware of the Holocaust and unwilling to fight for their country is a load of crap. The Germans, by and large, thought they were the good guys and the enemy was a mongrel.

The dirty little secret is that a good many Germans still believe that there is a descendant from a supreme race of supermen originated from the Indo-regions and that they are the purest of its descendants.

 

[DinoLast]

Erm, back to the PF. I think that it's very nice for those who collect Military stuff, but I guess you going to need loads of room to get a collection going at 1/4 scale. Sideshow might have been better off choosing to make well known leaders like Montgomery,Rommel and Patton for PF's.

 

[AngryEwok]

Erm, back to the PF.

Would not have been my first choice to kick-off a 1/4 WW2 line, or even a 1/4 for the Nazis. I would have gone with an American landing at Normandy, or maybe a frost-bitten American during the Buldge. For the Nazis, I guess I would have gone with something a little less bland looking. The Germans had some really sweet uniforms, really colorful and unique camo patterns (oak, peadot, blurred edge, etc) - this guy (Fallshirmjager? More like failshirmjager...) is just brown and kind of boring looking.

 

[dead pat]

Would not have been my first choice to kick-off a 1/4 WW2 line, or even a 1/4 for the Nazis. I would have gone with an American landing at Normandy, or maybe a frost-bitten American during the Buldge. For the Nazis, I guess I would have gone with something a little less bland looking. The Germans had some really sweet uniforms, really colorful and unique camo patterns (oak, peadot, blurred edge, etc) - this guy (Fallshirmjager? More like failshirmjager...) is just brown and kind of boring looking.

all those you mention are s.s. camo patterns.luftwaffe and wermacht units were not likely to wear s.s. anything as soviet repercussions on s.s.units was usually quite harsh and involved a well placed bullet.the luft and wermacht did use a camo pattern called splinter and another called marsh

 

[thenammagazine]

Would not have been my first choice to kick-off a 1/4 WW2 line, or even a 1/4 for the Nazis. I would have gone with an American landing at Normandy, or maybe a frost-bitten American during the Buldge. For the Nazis, I guess I would have gone with something a little less bland looking. The Germans had some really sweet uniforms, really colorful and unique camo patterns (oak, peadot, blurred edge, etc) - this guy (Fallshirmjager? More like failshirmjager...) is just brown and kind of boring looking.

He's not a NAZI.

My only major complaint is that WWII has been done to death. It would've been nice to see Sideshow take point and pick a more modern war instead of playing it safe and sticking with the trendiest of genres.