Operation Enduring Freedom 4 - "Ted"

Dragon also released this US Army Delta Force Night Ops operator "Ted" who's supposed to have been in Tora Bora during Operation Enduring Freedom in November 2001. He is wearing the 3-colour desert camouflage field cap and BDU, Body Armour, assault vest, and equipped with AN-PVS-7B night vision, thermal sight, Motorola walkie-talkie radio, signal flare, web belt with ammo pouch, M67 fragmentation grenades, drop-down holster, water canteen, LC-2 first-aid kit, M4 combat knife with sheath, utility pouch, Mk23 US SOCOM .45 pistol with suppressor, M4 Carbine RIS (Rail Integrated System) with ACOG(Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight), AN/PEQ-2 laser pointer, attached maglite, Eagle backpack and boots.

Ted with AN-PVS-7B night vision

After Dragon released David Beckham and Roy Keane, this head sculpt looked like Rio Ferdinand but also resembles Nestor Carbonell who played Gotham City Mayor Robert Garcia in the movie of the year "The Dark Knight". I remembered Nestor Carbonell best as Batmanuel on the short-lived live action sitcom, The Tick.

IMHO one of the best field caps produced - not oversized nor floppy and the flap of the cap is just right

Ted's M4 Carbine RIS (Rail Integrated System) with ACOG(Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight), AN/PEQ-2 laser pointer, maglite and suppressor.

Ted is also armed with the Mk23 US SOCOM .45 pistol with suppressor

Operation Enduring Freedom 3 - "Jones"

Long before Hot Toys released their CIA operative, there was Dragon's CIA Covert Ops Agent "Jones", released in 2002 and supposedly operating in Qala-i-Jangi in November 2001. He has his sunglasses, green hooded sweat shirt, 3-colour desert camouflage trousers, web belt with utility pouch, Smith & Wesson 1006 pistol in holster, Woodlands camouflage butt pack, M9 bayonet in scabbard, Camelbak water carrier, watch, TACBE radio, Kalashnikov AK–47 with Surefire tactical light and double magazine, and Adidas shoes.

Head sculpt resembles that of David Beckham, world famous footballer. This was probably one of the first sculpts done of him coz now it seems that there are quite a few floating around in the market, with Hot Toys also responsible for at least one head sculpt.

Looks much better with his shades on

And how he looked when the Rebecca Loos story came out - LOL!!

Kalashnikov AK-47, the most widely used assault rifle in the world. More AK-type rifles have been produced than any other assault rifle because of its easy handling, ruggedness and ability to withstand all sorts of punishment and still keep on firing. Jones has added a Surefire tact light for the pitch black darkness of Afghanistan's night.


Besides the AK, he is armed with a Smith and Wesson pistol (I liked that Dragon didn't just throw in a Beretta or Browning just because they have tons of those) and a TACBE (TACtical BEacon) radio, which was a dual-purpose device. Pull one tab out and it transmits a beacon which  is picked up by any aircraft. Pull out another tab and it becomes a normal radio which allowed communication between the radio operator and aircraft overhead e.g. AWACS. The Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) is an aircraft system designed to carry out surveillance, and C2BM (command and control, battle management) functions. Modern AWAC systems can detect aircraft from up to 400 km (250 miles) away, well out of range of most surface-to-air missiles.



Check out Soldier Story's impressive CIA SAD Night Ops

Operation Enduring Freedom 2 - "Dean"

In 2002, Dragon released this US Army Special Forces "Dean" figure operating in Kabul, Afghanistan in November 2001. He wears a black knit cap, goggles, black leather and wool jacket, woodlands camouflage assault vest with utility pouches containing his Motorola Walkie-talkie radio and Mk13 signal flare, desert camouflage trousers, web belt with ammo pouches plus two M67 fragmentation grenades, drop-down holster with his Beretta 92F pistol, water canteen, first-aid pouch, M9 bayonet in scabbard, drop-down woodlands camo pouch with AN/PVS-7 NVG and is armed with the SOPMOD(Special Ops Perculiar Modification) M4A1 Carbine fitted w/ AN/PEQ2 laser designator and M68 Aimpoint plus the Barrett M82 .50inch sniper rifle.


The head sculpt resembles that of Liev Schreiber who played CIA operative John Clark in the 2002 film "The Sum of All Fears", which was very loosely based on Tom Clancy's 1991 novel of the same title.

Dean has a HUGE backpack coz he knows he's going to be out in the field for a while.

His SOPMOD (Special Ops Perculiar Modification) M4A1 assault rifle. The tapes are so that he knows the direction the barrel is pointing and where his magazines are and be able to load them correctly into the rifle in the pitch darkness without compromising his position.

His Barrett M82 .50inch sniper rifle

Operation Enduring Freedom 1 - "Colin"

After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the United States of America declared war on terrorism and the first target in the War On Terror was Afghanistan because it had been the training ground for terrorists where the Taliban and Al Qaeda waged war while hiding in fortified caves. And so began Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7, 2001. The US-led Coalition, their greatest ally being Great Britain, would force most of the Taliban to flee to Pakistan, thus removing the Taliban from power and seriously crippling al-Qaeda and associated militants in both Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan. Since the invasion, hundreds of schools and mosques have been constructed, millions of dollars in aid have been distributed, and the occurrence of violence has been greatly reduced. The brave soldiers are still there today, maintaining the peace and keeping terrorism at bay.

Both Dragon and BBI put out quite a number of figures related to the Afghan offensive and we collectors were only too happy to have them. Still hankering for more, I bashed this Special Forces operator and am quite pleased with the end result.





With the knit cap and goggles, he looks like ex-Manchester United player Roy Keane