D-Day Special- Photoblog June 2016

June 6, 2016 marks the 72nd anniversary of the Allied invasion of France, better known as D-Day. One of the most significant invasions in military history, it would mark the beginning of nearly a year of intense bloody fighting in Europe leading to the defeat of Nazi Germany and her allies. While I am well aware of the contributions and actions of all Allied nations, I have chosen to focus on US forces simply because these are the figures I have in my collection. Nothing more complex than that.

First, we have a retro-vintage style GI Joe (really, Action Man) dressed as a US Army infantry sergeant from mid-1944. One small but unavoidable error is the unit patch on his shoulder. This is from the Kiska Task Force that fought in Alaska's Aleutian Islands nearly a year earlier. This unit wasn't involved in the D Day invasion, as far as I know but the insignia was already on the jacket when I bought it!

This is about as close to a typical grunt rifleman as I could get with the parts I had on hand. Everything here aside from the base figure is from Cotswold's Elite Brigade and Gearbox lines. I borrowed the pants and boots/leggings from a Cotswold Ranger, so eventually, this guy will be pantsless and shoeless again. I swapped the hard hands with reproduction Action Man action hands, Palitoy's original version of what became known as Kung Fu Grip. These repro-vintage Action Man figures have so far proven to be among my favorites of the new/old style Joes.

Now for a few action shots which turned out pretty cool but reminded me of why I don't get down in the dirt and play anymore.

While this entry is running long, there's still more to come. Please stay tuned!