Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

'Kidnapped' action figure is latest must-have toy (Osama Boosts Toy Industry--Profits Surge)
Stars and Stripes ^ | 5 Feb 2005 | Ward Sanderson

Posted on 02/04/2005 5:08:05 PM PST by Cornpone

Special Ops Cody isn’t a regular GI, and he’s no ordinary Joe. Special Ops Cody is a star.

The $39 action figure apparently kidnapped in an insurgent hoax to drum up American alarm has done well for himself: He’s selling on eBay anywhere from around $100 to more than $230, and he’s even scarce to be found downrange.

A blurred photo posted on a Web site Tuesday by a group called the Mujahedeen Brigades was alleged to be military man John Adam, whom Iraqi insurgents pledged to behead if coalition-held prisoners weren’t released. The U.S. military, however, denied that a soldier was missing.

Then Liam Cusack, marketing coordinator of Dragon Models USA, recognized that determined jaw and vacant eyes as those of his Cody, a toy the company manufactured for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service for sale at bases in the Middle East.

Cusack has been besieged by reporters ever since. Television crews showed up at his offices in the city of Industry, Calif. Crazed customers called him, too, wanting a Cody of their own.

“We have at least a dozen lines, and they were going all day long,” Cusack said. “And we’ve had millions of hits on our Web site.”

The masses may be disappointed. Cusack said the African-American version of the toy, which was seen in the photo, was made exclusively for military exchanges. Dragon doesn’t sell directly to the public, and Cody was a limited edition hero.

“Our point is, once we quit making them, they’re gone,” Cusack said. “That’s it.”

The toys on eBay, then, likely came from the desert.

“I don’t think there was any available here, unless people got them there and shipped them here,” he said.

According to AAFES headquarters in Dallas, the exchange shipped 3,864 of the toys overseas in winter 2003, and deployed another 2,292 last September. Most were shipped to Iraq and Kuwait. But only about 20 percent of those are the African-American version.

According to the exchange, Cody is scarce in the field as well. An AAFES spokesman, Maj. David Accetta, was able to find one, and only one, Caucasian Cody at the Camp Liberty store outside Baghdad. According to Dan Tompkins, the vice president of AAFES operations in Iraq, it isn’t clear whether the platoons of Cody figures were bought because of the hostage crisis or simply because of an earlier Christmas rush.

If there are any Cody troops in the field, they will not be brought back to base but allowed to remain expeditionary.

“We will not pull them off the shelves,” said Debbie Byerly, an AAFES spokeswoman in Germany.

But she doubted there’d be any left.

“I’d buy one if I could,” Byerly said.

Cody has also incited spoof. A site run by a group called Jihad Watch posted a picture of a princess-looking doll and the headline, “GI hostage’s mother pleads for son’s life.” A blogger posted a photo of another Dragon model, Col. Danny McKnight, ready to deploy to save Cody’s life. Another blogger posted a photo of a plastic, paint-faced KISS bassist Gene Simmons held hostage at the point of a toy rifle.

The Daily Farce site scooped the world, showing a pregnant Barbie in angst over the fate of the soon-to-be-father in fatigues.

Were Barbie really to give birth to a Dragon military toy, how long would she have to wait?

Cusack said it can take anywhere from 90 days to a year to research, develop and finally debut a new toy.

“The U.S. military only makes a certain amount of weapons, so now we have most of the tooling time cut down.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: actionfigure; cody; iraq; johnadam; kidnap; terror; toys
Ooops.
1 posted on 02/04/2005 5:08:05 PM PST by Cornpone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Cornpone

Ummm...didn't Free Republic get credit for exposing the fraud?


2 posted on 02/04/2005 5:13:38 PM PST by rlmorel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cornpone

Wow, I just went to Dragon Models website... they have some neat action figures! George S. Patton! and Rommel! WoW! cool...


3 posted on 02/04/2005 5:43:16 PM PST by Echo Talon (http://echotalon.blogspot.com/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cornpone

This was all just a conspiracy to drum up business for another evil western corporation!


4 posted on 02/04/2005 5:56:33 PM PST by vpintheak (Liberal = The antithesis of Freedom and Patriotism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: vpintheak

Karl Rove is a genius.


5 posted on 02/04/2005 6:38:11 PM PST by Salamander (I'm not getting older. I'm just getting bitter.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: add925

seen this?


6 posted on 02/04/2005 8:29:35 PM PST by King Prout (Remember John Adam!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: King Prout

"Shhh....I got them right where I want them!"


7 posted on 02/04/2005 8:32:16 PM PST by add925 (The Left = Xenophobes in Denial)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: add925

omgroflmao!

super job on color matching!


8 posted on 02/04/2005 8:34:32 PM PST by King Prout (Remember John Adam!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: King Prout
eBay is going mad!

Special Ops Cody (African American)
Current bid: US $100.00
Time left: 13 hours
3-day listing, Ends Feb-05-05 09:50:16 PST
Start time: Feb-02-05 09:50:16 PST
History: 11 bids (US $49.99 starting bid)

"When I get outta this box, I'm gonna kick some a$$!"

9 posted on 02/04/2005 8:53:57 PM PST by add925 (The Left = Xenophobes in Denial)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Cornpone
“Our point is, once we quit making them, they’re gone,” Cusack said. “That’s it.”

Gotta respect that, he could have cashed in.

10 posted on 02/04/2005 9:41:09 PM PST by The Real J Fate
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cornpone
The $39 action figure apparently kidnapped in an insurgent hoax to drum up American alarm has done well for himself: He’s selling on eBay anywhere from around $100 to more than $230, and he’s even scarce to be found downrange.

WTH? $39 action figure? Glad I'm not in the market for toys.
11 posted on 02/04/2005 11:17:28 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Ted "Kids, I Sunk the Honey" Kennedy is just a drunk who's never held a job (or had to).)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson