How to Raise the Flag on Iwo Jima (a Few Thousand Times)

The new BMC Toys production is complete and about to be loaded on a boat. Current estimate for availability is very early September. Production took a few extra days to complete, and one of the reasons why is all the assembly work that's required for the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima. Here's the flag and figures still on the sprue (this is also the first look at the new Olive Drab color variant):

All those pieces get trimmed and sorted:

Stickers are applied by hand to the flags (these are the traditional Sage-Green color variant):

The figures and flag are assembled on the rock base:

A hot iron melts the posts underneath the base to keep the figures in place:

The assembled unit is packaged in a blister package and ready for final packaging:

Here's another Iwo Jima Marine figure that requires a bit of assembly and hot iron to finish: