The Level-3 GPNVG-18 Night Vision Goggles got the full attention of the airsoft community from the movie "Zero Dark Thirty". Initially seen as strange looking goggles that puts the real meaning of "having four eyes" right now, it's a product being considered by airsoft players who are heavy into creating impressions or loadouts as based on either real world units, or even fictitious ones. And since the real Level-3 GPNVG-18 is expensive, restricted, and not for export, it's almost like wishing for a winning lottery ticket just to have this.

Thus, the next best thing is to have some dummy GPNVG-18 just to have that impression. Initially announced by Spartan Airsoft as they are coming out with two versions: the "Economic" (Economy) version which costs US$40.00; and the "Deluxe" Version which has a built-in green LED to mimic the green glow of a night vision goggle, impressionists got excited with the news. It’s a gimmick really, but can be useful for photo sessions as movie props. For US Navy SEAL impressionists or wannabes, it's a prop that's useful for that next US Navy SEAL loadout project.

Spartan Airsoft had the lead on this dummy GPNVG-18 but then out of the blue, FMA came out with their own as announced on EB Airsoft. It costs US$53.12 as seen at the EB Airsoft online store, which means it looks more expensive, but consider that this already includes shipping costs whilst the Spartan Airsoft's price does not include it yet.

Information has been sent to us comparing both these dummies. Overall, as based on videos and photos, it seems that the Spartan Airsoft has the overall advantage in design and quality whilst the only the advantage of FMA is being the first to market, but it in hasty, haphazard way.

In terms of scaling, neither can be said to be the exact scale as the real deal GPNVG-18, though the FMA version is much bigger than the Spartan Airsoft version and here is a photo taken by Rei Lau comparing  both.

And here's a photo from Spartan Airsoft comparing their version to the real deal as seen at the TNVC website which looks close to it but not really that close. Since the design of the dummy NVG goggle was based on whatever photo or image availability, Spartan Airsoft cannot actually claim exact scale. Still if the FMA version is bigger, then weight becomes an issue too, depending on the plastic material used.

Public Enemy: Spartan Airsoft NVG-18 Field Test. Already posted previously, one can go about doing target shooting (which can also mean you can skirmish with it) with the Spartan Airsoft dummy, even in low light conditions:

KhoalityAirsoft: FMA GPNVG-18 Dummy (Standard Ver.) First look. Here's what the owner of the FMA GPNVG-18 dummy says:

Just received the FMA GPNVG-18 (PVG-18) dummy NVG goggles. Took them out of the box to see how they look. This product is for aesthetics only; it does not provide night vision, nor can you even see through these properly. The GPNVG-18 inverts your vision so that everything is upside down due to the lenses they use, but otherwise if someone figured out a way to correct the lenses, they would be a thousand times better!

With this initial information, if you really want to have the dummy, the smart money's on the Spartan Airsoft version. As for me, I am not interested in both, as I usually don’t buy stuff if there's no practical use for it.

Caution: If you'll wear either product on your eyes, please ensure that you have the proper eyewear protection worn.There was no mention if the lenses used in the dummies are impact-resistant.