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New Chap Mei/True Heroes U-53 (HH-53) Helicopter

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 6:38 pm
by tmanthegreat
Has anyone else seen the new Chap Mei/True Heroes U-53 Helicopter playset at Toys R Us?
I was in my local store the other day and they had one, which I decided to purchase as it just seemed really cool. This is probably the closest we are going to come to a 1/18 scale HH-53 Sea Stallion.

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While not entirely realistic and toy-like, the helicopter is a perfect fit for the GI Joe crowd and it has a lot of custom potential. I removed all the Sentinel 1 stickers, added some custom GI Joe decals from Cobrastickers/Toyhax that I had on hand, and painted the wing tanks black.

The HH-53 is a lot like the True Heroes C-130 in that it is a massive, functional toy that borders on both realism and fantasy. There are lots of working features: opening cockpit, extending gun platform on the port-side door, working winch, detailed cargo bay with folding ramp, crew chief seath with control panel, opening equipment bay, spring-loaded chin-mounted missile launcher, that massive main rotor, plus interior/exterior light and sound features. It also comes with a rescue basket and jeep vehicle that can go in the cargo bay (I've chosen to put a GI Joe motorcycle in the bay instead).

As you can see in the pictures below, the Chap Mei U-53 is massive - it dwarfs the GI Joe Tomahawk helicopter and the Chap Mei Chinook. The toy's size is on par with the larger BBI helicopters, like the Apache. Quite frankly, I'm glad to see Chap Mei make a realistically-scaled aircraft as they could have easily decided to downscale and make something like that crappy BBI Hind from a couple years back...

Here are some photos of the Chap Mei U-53 (HH-53) helicopter:

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Cockpit detail or lack thereof:
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Side gun platform and winch details:
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Crew chief/gunner seat and control panel:
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Cargo compartment & ramp, with a GI Joe motorcycle:
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Cargo compartment interior detailing:
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Opening equipment bay hatch:
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Light & sound features:
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Size comparison with BBI Apache Helicopter:
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Size comparison with a GI Joe Tomahawk Helicopter:
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Size comparison with a Chap Mei/True Heroes Chinook Helicopter:
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Again, this Chap Mei helicopter is really a perfect fit for the GI Joe crowd and I got it to go with my GI Joe collection, not the realistic 1/18. It is far from perfect, and I knew it wasn't going to be, but still the helicopter is a fun addition to my collection 8)

Re: New Chap Mei/True Heroes U-53 (HH-53) Helicopter

Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 12:52 pm
by p51
Interesting! Closest I've seen to a CH-53 toy. It's nice to see the Stallion get some toy love, but I wish it was more a more accurate toy company! Maybe one day....

Re: New Chap Mei/True Heroes U-53 (HH-53) Helicopter

Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:15 pm
by tmanthegreat
p51 wrote:Interesting! Closest I've seen to a CH-53 toy. It's nice to see the Stallion get some toy love, but I wish it was more a more accurate toy company! Maybe one day....
Yeah, I wish it was a more accurate toy company as well, just like the True Heroes C-130. But I'll take what I can get at this point and this HH-53, the True Heroes C-130, and the Chinook are great toys and awesome vehicles for the GI Joe type figures.

Re: New Chap Mei/True Heroes U-53 (HH-53) Helicopter

Posted: Fri Oct 20, 2017 5:50 pm
by slogan
It would be nice to see a customizer 'improve' one of these.

Re: New Chap Mei/True Heroes U-53 (HH-53) Helicopter

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 9:29 am
by aferguson
I saw this at a local tru a little while ago and was temped but I know the initial enthusiasm with chap mei stuff fades quickly and then it becomes "what the heck did I get this for?". This is a big bird though....if there was some way to lengthen the tail boom it would be a lot more scale and look more realistic too.

However, I have to hand it to chap mei....they have made some pretty cool big toys over the years. I'm sure kids worldwide are delighted by them.

Re: New Chap Mei/True Heroes U-53 (HH-53) Helicopter

Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2022 6:57 pm
by pickelhaube
Looks like a good base that could be approved upon.