lol, I've just been editing the shots of mine literally a couple of minutes ago. I don't know how many years I'd wanted one, was back before they had adjustable hop, but even when the A1 came out I held off as it was a pure 'want' since I had 2 of the 226s already which are all you'd need in a skirmishing sidearm. After waiting so many years though I'd saved enough to say 'fair enough' on the buy and I have to say it's one of TMs best lookers imho. Between Die Hard and The Matrix (just for starters) and tons of games I think it's one of the most iconic handguns there is is for anyone between about 25 and 50 probably, but I rarely see them anywhere on forums/socials or at games for whatever reason. Which is weird when I think back as I had to setup a stock alert at F-S as they don't seem to be in stock anywhere that much, at least from what I've seen myself.
Then again I suppose it's neither super modern nor historic and there's very little if anything you can do to change them, plus the A1 isn't actually the famous variant looks wise, but to me it has 99% of the aesthetic I love, it's got plenty of gas capacity and just the little bit of rail adds a lot of functionality vs the smooth dust cover. Like for me having the Blackhawk omnivores it totally eliminates an entire holster purchase, plus the obvious easy light mounting.
Whether the metal ones like the WE are any good I don't know, they're probably a more appealing purchase for many but I'd pit the stock TM performance against the lower priced metal versions with a fair bit of confidence. My personal experience has been that the slightly increased at-home-handling satisfaction of the metal vs plastic vanishes rapidly in the face of actual getting in game. Personally I've lost count of the number of pistols I've seen doing the death putt-putt, just venting the whole mag or only shooting 10m; but everyone's experience will naturally vary.
Just crossing my fingers for an A4 version now as that'd be different enough to warrant a purchase while also sharing the mags. Probably slim odds though, haven't seen much in the way of sneak peeks on upcoming pistols the past couple of years.
