Tuesday, March 11, 2008

GSG 9 "Ulrich" by Dragon

The GSG 9 (Grenzschutzgruppe 9 which means Border Guards, Group 9) is Germany's counter-terrorism unit. Formed after the tragic Munich massacre of 1972 (it took place at the 1972 Olympic Games held in Munich where the German Police's poor handling led to the deaths of eleven Israeli athletes at the hands of Black September, the Palestinian terrorist movement), GSG 9 is now deployed in cases of hostage taking, kidnapping, terrorism and extortion. Initially when GSG 9 was formed, many German politicians opposed its formation fearing this would rekindle memories of the SS. The decision was taken to form the unit from police forces as opposed to the military as is the model in other countries on the grounds that German Federal law expressly forbids the use of the military forces against the civilian population, whereas if the special forces were composed of police personnel, this was within the law.

Dragon released "Ulrich" as the first of the GSG 9 series and he came with a 1/6 ladder which comprised two parts so that it could be extended when joined.






GSG 9 Ulrich on his "customised" bike




The GSG 9's lack of accessories (including Medicom's GSG 9) proved to be unpopular with many collectors who preferred to deck their figures like a Christmas tree, like the jingle "Deck the halls with boughs of holly"... Deck the dolls with tons of accessories, Fa la la la la, la la la la - LOL!!

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