JTF2 Action Figures?

[John McGillivray]

JTF-2: They've got dolls
Chris Wattie, National Post
Published: Friday, April 21, 2006

The commandos of Canada's elite Joint Task Force 2 (JTF-2) have achieved a milestone in the world of special forces units: they have their own action figures.
A Kingston-area military modeller has commissioned a pair of 12-inch, hand-made and detailed toy soldiers dressed in typical commando uniforms, the first time a Canadian army unit has been the model for its own action figure.
"The guys think it's kind of neat," said Lieutenant (Navy) Walter Moniz, the spokesman for the secretive special forces unit.
"But beyond that I don't think they give it much thought ... This is the sort of thing we've come to expect: As the unit's history and reputation builds, it's going to attract this kind of attention," Lieut. Moniz said.
The two figures were produced from scratch for a collectors' convention to be held in Kingston, Ont., this summer and organizer Scott Dommitt said they will be raffled off, with the proceeds going to the War Amps charity.
"We wanted to do something special and we wanted it to be Canadian," he said in an interview from his Amherstville, Ont., hobby business. "There's that mystique about special forces."
The two figures, which Mr. Dommitt calls "prototypes," were made by a British modeller, William Pryce-Thomas, and donated for the Great Canadian Action Figure Convention set for this Aug. 19 and 20.
The toy soldiers depict members of JTF-2 "as they would have appeared early in the Afghanistan conflict," he said.
Mr. Dommitt acknowledged, however, that getting the necessary information to create the two intricately detailed models was an uphill struggle. JTF-2 is notoriously secretive and gives out virtually no information about its commandos and their equipment, even to other soldiers.
"There wasn't a lot to go on. We had to work from the few little pictures that are out there," he said. "But the end result is wonderful. When I first saw them, I was just flabbergasted."
Lieut. Moniz said the full-sized JTF-2 soldiers are aware of the new action figures, but was quick to add: "The unit had no involvement in producing them."

Source

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/n...7d1177&k=84498