Thats my Word!

DELTA FORCE TASK FORCE RANGER ACTION FIGURES Black Hawk Down

2011-12-10T04:14:00.000-08:00

I just made a trade with a local collector for a couple of action figures, not just any old action figures though. These were from one of my favorite action/war movies of all time Black Hawk Down. The movie was a depiction of "Operation Gothic serpent" the battle of Mogadishu & taken from actual events written in Mark Bowden's book. The story chronicles the action of US ARMY Rangers & Delta force in Somalia in 1993. Operation Gothic Serpent was a military operation conducted by special operations forces of the United States with the primary mission of capturing warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid

The action figures i traded for were from DML(Dragon Models Limited). One of the first action figure company's to obtain the official license for the movie Black Hawk Down. The figures were a DELTA force operator,and Ranger Chalk leader. I just finished upgrading the Delta trooper,here are some reference pics.

So without further adieu here is my upgraded DML DELTA Force trooper.

I got rid of the over sized ammo pouches that came on the figure & replaced with Soldier Story gear. Added the appropriate goggles and weapon as close to what they had available in 1993 as possible.

With no less than two(2) new action figure company's producing new 1/6 scale figures based on the movie Black Hawk Down,the bar has been significantly raised for 2012. The attention to detail on new figures these days is amazing, I may have to break and pick one of these guys up to go in my collection. First up is the DAM TOYS offering formerly known as VTS toys. figure available JAN 2012.

Next we have the ART Figures offering. Figure should also be available in JAN as well

William Fichtner stars as SFC Jeff Sanderson (which is based on real Delta Force operator SFC Paul Howe). Art Figures 1:6 scale Delta Force - SFC 12-inch Figure is based on William Fichtner as SFC Jeff Sanderson.
With so many new figures & company's manufacturing,its gonna be pretty crazy this year. If there is a slowdown in the economy,I'm sure not seeing it in this hobby! ENJOY!

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE MOVIE & CUSTOM FIGURE

2011-12-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

I can remember watching the original episodes with my father when i was a kid. I thought it was mad cool that the brother on the show was the "tech expert". I saw the Hollywood movies,but only like the second one directed by John Woo. With the fourth one upon us this December,i once again have hope Tom & company can turn out a flick i will enjoy. So far so good,but I've said that before....

In anticipation for the upcoming movie,i had to bust out & dust off my CUSTOM action figure. I bashed this figure almost 2 and a half years ago. I chose Ethan Hunt's gear from the 3rd film,even though i really dislike the story on that one. I'm working on a figure from the second movie (My favorite),but it's hard to find a head sculpt of Tom when his hair was really long. Here's the figure:

That's Chow Yun Fat from the John Woo film 'Hard Boiled" next to Tom from Mission Impossible 3. I know Chow Yun has nothing to do directly with the "Mission" franchise,but He worked with director John Woo who directed MI 2!. See how i did that?

Here was the inspiration for my custom Hard Boiled movie figure,since we're on the topic. Oh yeah,the gun play in that movie is INCREDIBLE!

So as a Mission impossible fan,i hope they get it right this December. I have no choice but to check it out-especially if there is supposedly a 5min "Dark Knight Rising" preview...Are you freakin kidding me?
Thanks for checking! Got a big health update coming here this week. Fighting that CANCER!

That's my Word! MOVIES! TRANSFORMERS & ROBOTS!

2011-06-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

I've always been fond of Robots. I was hooked from the time i received my first one,the Topper King Ding. At about the 2 minute mark in this video,you can see what i woke up too one Christmas morning as a youngster!

From there i watched Gigantor everyday when i got home from school. I was hooked!

Transformers hold a special place with me. I was too old to play with the toys, but would watch the episodes on tv when i was in the Navy. It meant alot at the time,because i had just reported for duty to my NAVY squadron & didn't know to many people. Since the majority of my shipmates were already out to sea & on their way back,i got to stay on land & do Barracks maintenance. I would be off at 3.00 go back have a snack, & watch Transformers cartoons. What was also cool was that Transformers can cater not only to kids,anime geeks, & robot nerds but also the guys who like "big boy toys" like CAR nuts or enthusiasts . Believe me if i hit the number i would have cars like Jay Leno or Wyclef Jean!

Fast forward to now,with the 3rd & final part of the Transformers trilogy just around the corner,the hype is starting to build. Remember folks until the first Transformer's live action film,there was no definitive giant robot movie. I can remember Robot Jox & even watched the first Power Rangers movie with my kids just to see how they would manage the Zord fight with Ivan Ooze at the end. Anyway here is my final slide show for the new Transformers Dark of the Moon movie,beats by Quazedelic & myself. ENJOY!

Here's the original one i did. It's got almost a million hits! Thing is,this was just a simple slide show that anyone could have done. But somehow they were drawn to my production. I had different music,but got reprimanded by you tube because i didn't own the rights to that particular song. So i had to change it to one of the available tracks offered by you tube (mine was way better). But i was allowed to keep the hits. so ENJOY!

Finally here's a sample of my Transformers collection that i have put together over the years,ENJOY!

I leave you with a trailer from the upcoming TRANSFORMERS Dark of the MOON movie opening June 29. Hopefully third times the charm & they get it right this time. Lookin' real good so far! Peace!

That's my Word! Books "The Ice Man"

2011-05-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite book subjects is: True crime & Military history. I've read everything from the Art of War to Killing Pablo to Murder Machine (Roy De Meo's Gambino crew). I have to say,I've never read anything or heard of a character quite like Richard Kuklinski. This stone cold killer did freelance work and jobs for the notorious Gambino's as well as other crime family's. He claims to also have participated in the Legendary Carmine Galante hit,the job on Big Paul Castellano in NY at Sparks Steak house in 85 as well as helping Jimmy Hoffa disappear. The thing that got me,was the inventive ways he killed & claimed to have dispatched over 200 people,yet didn't get caught for over 20 years! Richard learned how to perfect poison from another contract killer called "Mister Softee" who actually drove a legit ice cream truck and served children while he stalked his victims! Mr Softee aka Robert Pronge used Cyanide spray & booby traps to dispatch his victims.

This story hits close to home,because i was born and raised in Paterson NJ in the 60's to late 80's. I remember living down the street (East 26st) from an older kid name Joey Butterfuoco,who's dad got our new (stolen) car returned the next day by making a phone call! Or the Italian dude with the brown caddy who dropped off the illegal fire works to the Spanish cat by school 13,who we always bought from. I can see why my mom said "Edwin stay out of bars,pool halls & dice/card games"when i was growing up. Richard Kuklinski actually visited Paterson on a regular basis for awhile for business & high stakes gambling,go figure. Thank GOD i was too young to cross paths with this guy,but Mr Softee...that's another story!

As of this post there are 2 movie projects in the works. One is featured in the teaser poster above & another "ICEMAN" starring/produced by academy award winner Micky Rourke. I have my fingers crossed that the movies will be good,they certainly have a lot to work with. Bottom line is,the Book version by author Philip Carlo is the BEST book I've read this year,maby so far! For more info,there are a few documentaries containing interviews with Richard Kuklinski. I will include one here: http://youtu.be/B9_aUJtlYI0 Enjoy!
Thanks for checking & read this book if you get the chance,you won't be disappointed. Till next time PEACE!

Thats my Word! Video Games & Gaming

2011-04-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Video games like movies & music can invoke nostalgic feelings of where you were or what you were doing at a specific time in your life. For instance: I remember going to Darryl & Martin's house on 27th street to play Intellivision football,or the battles we used to have at Blimpies across the street from Paterson NJ city hall in the 80's. How about Donkey Kong on Colecovision,007/Rogue Squadron/Mario cart on N64 or chilling in Whistler B.C. with my peeps playing the Tony Hawk Pro Skater DEMO back in the day,to name a few great memories! Nowadays on any video game site you have hundreds of thousands of people claiming to be the most knowledgeable,have the best opinions,or just claiming to be experts. But where is their credibility? Credentials? Before i start to blog about a subject,best believe i would show proof of my background knowledge on that subject. So here is one of my favorite video game franchises from my personal collection.

Socom US Navy SEALS has a special place in my collection. Not only was it one of the first PS2 games to go online,it was part of the NAVY which i served in for 9 years. Although i was not actually a Navy SEAL,i did do Carrier ops (workups) with west coast SEALS off Coronado California. So i was ecstatic about a Navy game being developed and was on it from day one! I even bought the Final Fantasy bundle JUST for the PS2 Network adapter! Fast forward to 2011 and a new SOCOM game release. This new SOCOM (4) is more of a reboot/overhaul of the series. It plays like MAG 3rd person (remember that third person mode in Call of Duty Modern Warfare?). It also has elements of GRAW (Ghost Recon Advance War fighter) & Uncharted 2 Drakes Fortune. I beta tested the new SOCOM 4. Here is video footage of my game play:

This is not a review of SOCOM 4,its more of a "heads up" of what is to come. I will do a review once i have played the game for some time. Also currently playing the new Mortal Kombat. Bottom line? When i blog about a subject you can best believe I'll give you an unbiased opinion. Not to mention the years of gaming and just plain experience under my belt. This year (2011) sees a lot of great games & CLASSIC series releasing & I'll get early access (BETA) to upcoming games as well. So stay tuned as we gear up and get ready for a great Year in gaming! "Let the GAMING begin!"

That's My Word! "Hobbies"

2011-03-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Kitbash definiton: Kitbashing or model bashing is a practice whereby a new scale model is created by taking pieces out of commercial kits. These pieces may be added to a custom project or to another kit. For professional modelmakers, kitbashing is popular to create concept models for detailing movie special effects. For the hobbyist, kitbashing saves time that would be spent scratch building an entire model. Hobbyists may kitbash to create a model of a subject (realor imaginary) for which there is not a commercial kit.

I do 1/6 scale or 12 inch modeling/figures. I spent 9 years in the US Navy on an Aircraft Carrier(Mechanic VA 52),Conducted Carrier ops with west coast SEALS (aboard CVN 70) & toured the Western Pacific (Westpac) twice! This gives myself & others a little edge in the military arena when it comes to "Attention to Detail". These figures were put together from scratch,right down to the nude body & headsculpts(Loading toys). Lieutenant Simon"Ghost" Riley is an English character in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He is the second in command of Task Force 141, and is seen wearing dark sunglasses and a skull patterned balaclava. Also from Modern Warfare 2 we have:John"Soap" MacTavish the Scottish main character and primary protagonist in the Modern Warfare games. Soap is outfitted from the FAVELA mission.

Metal Gear is one of my all time favorite games,so i had to put together a couple of figures. For Snake Eater Vietnam/Cold war Snake: Custom head from ebay,clothes,Stinger launcher from 21st century, Body & wetsuit from BBI. Weapons,Harness (stabo rigg) & boots-Dragon models ltd. Metal Gear Solid Snake began as a used Konami figure purchased from a friend (Cloud General). I removed the Head & gear then replaced the body with a BBI and added another pair of gray BDU pants over his origional. Solid Snake's harness is from Hot Toys Chris Redfeild figure & Socom pistol were both purchased from Urban Samurai Hobbies(USH). I also collect commercial figure releases as well as Robots like Transformers(tfw2005) & Hiphop related/Vintage toys. Big thanks to USH & the incredible,inspirational OSW(onesixthwarriors.com). Stay tuned for more to come! Thanks for checkin,PEACE!

One time for your mind! Here we go,here we go!

2011-03-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

The Ease is now down with the blog. Stay tuned for HIPHOP flava commentary on everything from toys to music, movies to current events! Thanks for checking & stay tuned!