Not just toys, Action Figures!

When I was born, my dad was working overseas. Story goes that my mother didn't trust my brothers' driving skills, so she drove herself to the delivery room of KK hospital!

A few years later, my dad came home and asked "who is that boy standing by the door"? Turns out, it was me.

I grew up in the company of 4 other sisters who were by no means "gu niang". My eldest sister used to arm-wrestle with the boys in RI, and would kick their asses mercilessly! My standard retort to any bully was "Wait til I tell my eldest sister! You die!"

But that didn't mean I didn't play with toys. Designing clothes for paper dolls with my sisters during my childhood days was good practice in churning out our creative juices! But I never really played with barbie dolls, or any other kind of doll, unless it was a voodoo doll.

Maximuzz, on the other hand, has a greater collection of toys than anyone I know put together (except for the Devil, Gan, who actually paints the Gundam ones)!

Some folks decorate the entrance to their home with Van Gogh paintings, others with Renoir sculptures, perhaps the odd waterfall for good feng shui. But Maximuzz's pad is the first which is well-guarded with 7 special forces commandos discreetly tucked away in a corner, so you won't see them til it's too late, then they'll have to kill ya! Oh, did I also mention that I live there too?

So, what's the difference between "Dolls" and 'Action Figures"? The web is a wonderful thing!

I clicked on http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=action%20figure and discovered a very simple rule :


But then, it doesn't stop there! The url goes on to qualify that according to Michael Crawford, an action figure is a toy designed to allow children to emulate adult actions e.g. GI Joe defending the free world against terrorists, Transformers destroying space robots to conquer the world etc. hence "action" figures.

But then there are action figures targetted at children, and there are those targetted at adults! It depends on the subject matter. I know Maximuzz's action figure collection is no laughing matter. Check out Gary Gordon for example.


He was featured in Black Hawk Down. You may recall that in the movie, the Battle of Mogadishu was fought between US forces against Somalian guerilla fighters on 3 and 4 October 1993 in the Sea district of Mogadishu, Somalia. One scene, at a crash site, two Delta Force snipers, Sgt First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sgt Gary Gordon, were inserted by helicopter (at their own request; permission was denied twice by Command but granted when they persisted and made a third request) to protect the wounded pilot from the approaching mob. Both soldiers were later killed by the mob when the site was overrun by Somali militiamen, and for their actions, they each posthumously received the Medal of Honor.


I wasn't much a fan of war movies. Growing up, I would watch Little House on the Prairie religiously and thought that Donny and Marie were the best singers in the world. The only war TV series was Combat, but then I'd much prefer Battlestar Galatica. I even named my rabbit "Starbuck"!

And then I met Maximuzz...and his hard-earned collection of action figures! He takes much pride in adorning them with all sorts of uniforms and weapons!

Oh....here's one that I can identify with! A diver! Recognised the fins, but where's the mask and snorkel? Rebreathers, as they are called, are considered to be advanced SCUBA gear, originally developed and typically used by the military, especially the U.S. Navy SEALs. They've since broken into the leisure diving industry and I know a few divers who wouldn't bank on anything else!

Ok, who's Navy Seals Team 6? All I know from this website (http://www.specialforces.net/Seal_Team_6/Default.htm) is that the Navy's DEVGRU group, better known as "Seal Team Six", was made famous by their original commander, Richard Marcinko. Who are they? What do they do? Well, it's all classified. All they said is that they are responsible for counterterrorist operations in the maritime environment.

The British SAS or Special Air Service is is widely regarded as one of the finest and best trained special forces units in the world. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Air_Service, their functions are to :-
- Gather intelligence behind enemy lines.
- Destroy targets far behind enemy lines.
- Protect senior British dignitaries.
- Execute CRW operations to assist police units such as S019 .
- Operate without official British Government involvement.
- Train special forces of other nationalities.
- Perform counter-terrorism operations at home and abroad
Sounds like an incredibly tall order!


And then, there's the Australian SAS, a special forces regiment modelled on the original British SAS. Read more about them on : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Air_Service_(Australia)

Trivia : Did you know there's a website where you can order special forces gear such as the gasmask that Kent's wearing?
http://www.specialforces.com/store/catalog/category_26_Tactical_Gear_page_1.html
According to the website :-

"In the military there are special elite groups of highly trained, extremely intelligent and physically athletic men, with extraordinary skills and knowledge who perform secret missions and special operations that most people would consider unthinkable.

From parachuting behind enemy lines undetected and infiltrating into countries where peace is threatened, then performing swift strikes in stealth, these men risk their lives constantly to protect and preserve our precious freedom."

So, Major Dave Thomas, the founder of Special Forces Gear, is one of those men who have developed and modified equipment actually used by and for the Special Forces fighting forces, for the civilian in need for these superior designs and improvement on their utility, comfort and appearance. And the action figure manufacturers have done the same for these action figures, only in a much much smaller scale! Absolutely amazing!


Now, for the real thing....you can get more info on the Special Forces by clicking onto : http://www.specialoperations.com/ - think the Singapore Special Forces is also listed there : http://www.specialoperations.com/Foreign/Singapore/

Go check out the blog featured on that website : http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/ - Michael Yon, a 41-year old former Army Green Beret who traveled to Iraq last year and whose blog about his experience there is attracting a lot of attention!

So, you see, they're not just toys, but Action Figures! But then, they're not just Action Figures, but men who risk life and limb protecting and preserving our freedom!

Wonder if our joining the Total Defence ExploRally next weekend will bring me a step closer to understanding what it means to be defending one's country....and freedom? Will letchya know several blogs later!