DID

DID (Dragon in Dreams) is a Hong Kong maker founded by Howard Cheung, and it has spent years building the soldiers of history at twelve inches. Its own catalogue is organised by war: WWII Axis, WWII Allied, WWI, Napoleonic and Modern Military, with a Legend category, dioramas and the smaller 1/12 Palm Hero range beside them.

The German army of the Second World War is the deepest seam: infantry officers, NCOs, a mortarman, a standard-bearer, a machine gunner, a medic, a mine-clearing pioneer and a U-boat seaman, each with a first name and a uniform researched down to the insignia. Real people join them. The Luftwaffe ace Erich Hartmann and Otto Ernst Remer of July 1944 stand in the German ranks, and Napoleon Bonaparte leads the Napoleonic range. The Afrika Korps brings the desert war, and the Allied side runs to the British SAS.

DID also has a habit of naming film soldiers by first name or rank alone. Squadron Leader Tom is Tom Hardy's Farrier from Dunkirk. Colonel James is Chuck Norris's Braddock from Missing in Action. Medic Wade is Giovanni Ribisi's medic from Saving Private Ryan, and Steiner is James Coburn's sergeant from Cross of Iron. Viktor Reznov of Call of Duty: World at War gets to keep his own name.

Outside the battlefield, DID has made limited-edition figures of world leaders, among them Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Joseph Stalin and, in 2017, a twelve-inch Donald Trump with two heads and a podium. The Military shelf is still the core, though, and DID figures are judged the way military collectors judge everything: the right kit for the unit, the right year for the camouflage, and a face that looks like a person.