Heath Ledger Wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar

Heath Andrew Ledger

4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008

Heath Ledger posthumously won the Academy Award for actor in a supporting role for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight. Well deserved!! His work includes nineteen films, most notably 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), Monster's Ball (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Brokeback Mountain (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008).

Heath had already won the Golden Globe earlier this year (link here)

And Hot Toys Newsletter salutes Heath Ledger's Oscar win with a third Joker - Police Officer Joker - coming soon to a retail store near you

Spooks in Afghanistan

Spooks, spies - whatever you call them, you can bet your sweet behind that they are there in Afghanistan as well, alongside the US soldiers and NATO troops, doing their part to try and win the war against terror.

Dragon US Army Special Forces "Dean" with Liev Schreiber's likeness (Liev Schreiber recently seen in "Defiance" alongside Daniel Craig as his brother Tuvia)

Hot Toys Central Intelligence Agency Special Activities Division (CIA SAD) operative, also known as the Black Ops guys

The MAN himself - Mr Richard "Dick" Marcinko (Rogue Warrior - go read his books - gotta love the refreshing language), creator of Red Cell

Dragon CIA operative "Jones" with David Beckham's likeness

"Mustapha" from the Northern Alliance forces

The first Hot Toys NSW DEVGRU (Naval Special Warfare Development Group) operator, released in 2003

Kitbash US Navy SEAL "Viggo"

33,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan

Besides the 17,000 US troops who are headed for Afghanistan to join the 20,000 American soldiers already there, Afghanistan also has 33,000 troops from other NATO nations attempting to stabilise the country. Among the NATO nations, there are the Australians, British and Germans.

Hot Toys British Army Blues and Royals Regiment Lieutenant and BBI Australian 1st Squadron SASR (Special Air Service Regiment) Desert Ops "SGT Barney", "Miller" is at the back

German Special Forces Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK) "Schumacher"

Dragon Royal Marines Commando "Roger" in front and Hot Toys British Army Blues and Royals Regiment 1/6 scale Tank Commander at the back

USMC 1st MSOB by Soldier Story - Preview

Perhaps these guys will also be in Afghanistan (part of the 17,000 US troops heading there - see previous post) - USMC 1st MSOB (Marine Special Operations Battalion) wearing tan CIRAS vest and M4 with Magpul PMAGS. Check out the lights on the M4 - a first in 1/6 scale by Soldier Story.






Set includes: Marine FROG Shirt, MCCU Pants with Belt, MCCU Helmet Cover, CIRAS Land Version Vest, MLCS Shooter Kit Belt, MLCS Admin Pouch, MLCS Direct Action Triple M4 Mag Pouch, MLCS Double Pistol Pouch x 2, MBITR Radio Pouch, MLCS Hydration Cover & Tube, Recon Dump Pouch, MLCS Frag Grenades Pouch x 2, MLCS Waist Bag, Utili-Shingle Stackable Pocket, Combat Casualty Response Kit, PS150 Gloves, CIRAS Sling, Tactical Retention Lanyard, USMC Boots, Flag Patch x 2, MICH 2000 Helmet, NVG Mount, Tan ESS Goggles, SORDIN Headset, MBITR Radio, CQC Pistol Holster, CQC MagPouch x 2, M4 Rifle, M4 Mag x 3+1, M1911 MARSOC Pistol, M1911 Pistol Mag x 3+1, MK3A2 Hand Granade x 2, M18 Smoke Grenades x 2 (Red & Green), Plastic Cuffs x 2, CB(CG)Buckle, EMT Shears, Watch, Hands X 1 Pair and S2 Body

17,000 headed for Afghanistan

This was reported in the local papers on February 19, 2009 - US President Barack Obama has authorized the Pentagon to send an extra 17,000 troops to Afghanistan as the situation has worsened but the war against the Taleban is "still winnable". The troops will increase the US presence by more than 40%, bringing the total number of troops to 37,000 from the current 20,000. These include a Marine expeditionary brigade of some 8,000 troops, an Army brigade of 4,000 soldiers and a further 5,000 support troops. They were originally scheduled to go to Iraq where there are currently 146,000 troops.

They would join those who are already deployed there

Dragon US Army Delta Force Night Ops operator "Ted"  

Dragon USMC 26th MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) "Hugh"

Dragon USMC Force Recon "Perry"

BBI's "SGT Jerry Ellis"

GI Joe US Air Force Forward Air Controller (FAC) by Hasbro with transmitting radio with headset and Special Operations Forces Laser Acquisition Marker (SOFLAM) with tripod and battery

Special Operations operator "Colin"

We wish them well and thank them for their efforts in helping to rid the world of terrorists.

There're also 33,000 NATO troops deployed in Afghanistan (check out my link here)

AVG "Flying Tiger" P-40 Pilot "Ben Cole"

In the movie "Pearl Harbor (2001)", First Lieutenant Rafe McCawley (played by Ben Affleck, most recently seen in "He's Just Not That Into You") is told that he has been accepted to go to Britain and join Eagle Squadron, which is a squadron of volunteer American pilots serving with the Royal Air Force in the fight against the Germans. We all know the movie is a dramatic re-imagining of the attack on Pearl Harbor, produced by the team of Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer, and also starred Josh Hartnett as Danny Walker, Rafe's best pal.

Dragon released a 1/6 scale 12-inch US Army Air Force P-40 Pilot “Lt George Taylor” in 2001 (my review here) with some resemblance to Josh Hartnett and a World War II American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tiger" P-40 pilot "Ben Cole" with actor Ben Affleck's likeness.

"Ben Cole" came with Type A-8 flight helmet with brown leather ear cups, B-7 flight goggles, Garrison cap, A-2 leather flight jacket with Nationalist Chinese flag and Blood Chit, Leather shoulder holster with Browning HP automatic pistol, “chino” khaki shirt and trousers, waist belt, White scarf with Generalissimo Chiang kai-shek’s "stamp" presented in 1941, S-2 parachute with “bayonet” type harness fittings, and service shoes.

Ben Cole with garrison cap/Overseas Cap with National Chinese "Sun" insignia and Bausch & Lomb shades

Note the insignia on his collars and Flying Tiger's insignia of a winged tiger flying through a large "V" (for "Victory") above his right breast pocket with aviator's wings above his left pocket

Ben Cole without his sunglasses (not very Ben Affleck without it)

Ben's white scarf with "red stamp" of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (strangely, Dragon chose to stitch the "stamp" instead - more work and ended up being inaccurate)

His Browning HP automatic pistol in leather shoulder holster


Clockwise from left: Type A-8 flight helmet with brown leather ear cups, B-7 flight goggles, A-2 leather flight jacket, overseas cap and sunglasses, and S-2 parachute with “bayonet” type harness fittings


The inside lining of Ben's A-2 leather jacket has a Nationalist Chinese flag on one side and American flag on the other with words asking for assistance: "This foreign person has come to China to help in the war effort. Soldiers and civilians, one and all, should rescue, protect and provide him medical care."

Ben Col with his very NICE 1/6 scale A-2 leather flight jacket

His jacket has his "Ben Cole" name tag and 14th Air Force patch with "Flying Tiger"


A variation of the standard AVG Flying Tigers blood chit on the back of his leather flight jacket. This one features both an American and a Chinese flag, as well as the CBI (China-Burma-India) Command insignia.


Unless you are Jennifer Garner, he's just not that into you!! - LOL

Already covered another World War II AVG "Flying Tiger" pilot "Pappy" in a previous post, together with a bit more on their history (link here).

Also covered B-17 "Memphis Belle" pilot and waist gunner here and Dragon USAAF B-17 Bomber Captain "Skip" here as well as group shots of World War II USAAF Air Crew

T for two? Hot Toys T-600 and T-700

Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Terminator Salvation 1/6 scale T-600 and T-700 - the drool never stops. GREAT times for collectors :) where's the bad times people are talking about? It's all GOOD here ;p




Hot Toys T-700 Endoskeleton

Hot Toys T-600 Endoskeleton with backpack ammo and GE M134 Minigun - COOL!!

T-700 close-up pictures and specs: Skynet’s foot soldier - T700 collectible figure is approximately 31 cm/12 inches tall with over 25 points of articulations plus fully articulated fingers and toes with light-up eyes (cell button battery operated/ battery included) and movie scene featured figure base with nameplate - no mention of any weapon WTF?!




Hot Toys - MMS 93 - Terminator Salvation: Endoskeleton T-600 collectible figure. The massive killing machine-T-600 is approximately 35 cm/14 inches tall, has over 25 points of articulations plus fully articulated fingers, comes with light- up eyes (cell button battery operated/ battery included). Accessories will include Gatling gun ammo pack with harness
and a movie scene featured figure base with nameplate







Earlier post on Terminator Salvation T700 Diorama - Terminator Factory

Now bring on John Connor (here's my kitbash version of Christian Bale as John Connor in Terminator Salvation)