Thursday, April 8, 2010

Playhouse D-Boy Operation Spy (Somalia, 1993) Review I

This is the Playhouse 1:6 scale 12-inch D-Boy Battle Of Mogadishu (Somalia) 1993 Operation Spy in Bakara Market military action figure based loosely on the character "Hoot" from the film "BLACKHAWK DOWN (2001)". The box is nice, not like the conventional soft card type but feels more like a hard cover book with magnets at the side panel.

The back of the box carries a short description: "During the Battle of Mogadishu, Delta operators were divided into several smaller teams, most of which were carried on benches attached from SOAR MH-6 Little Bird helicopters, and landed either on top of or next to the target building. In order to clear the structure of all personnel whom they encountered, and to do so quickly and with overwhelming force, these teams were delivered in more than one area and entering the building at nearly the same time. One of these teams that captured Mohamed Farrah Aidid's lieutenants was led by SFC Norm Hooten which landed next to the target building. From there, his team worked its way inside and linked up with the other teams, like the one led by SFC Paul Howe (which landed on the top of the target building). In addition, his and other teams played a key role in defending the crash site of Super Six One (the SOAR MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter piloted by CW3 Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott)."

Playhouse 1:6 scale 12-inch D-Boy Battle Of Mogadishu (Somalia) 1993 Operation Spy in Bakara Market military action figure (supposedly Limited Edition of 1003 pieces) boxed set comes with: “HOOT” Headsculpt, S1 body with new muscular arms, Photo journalist's vest (khaki), Plaid pants (green & blue), Aidid Onesie t-shirt (gray), plain T-shirt (gray), Underpants (white), Leather belt (brown), BH 445 camera bag (khaki), O-JULIET sunglasses (TI) with retainer, Leather lace-up premium boots, Military G.I. watch (silver), M6 camera, M9 pistol, Fiction novel (Book)


Basic figure out of the box. Norman "Hoot" Hooten is a former U.S. Army Delta operator who served in Somalia in 1993. In the 2001 film "Black Hawk Down", he was portrayed by Eric Bana. He was a member of the Delta squadron that was deployed to Somalia as part of Task Force Ranger in August 1993.

In the film, Sergeant First Class Norm "Hoot" Gibson, Delta Force operator (based on Norm "Hoot" Hooten and John "Mace" Macejunas and played by Eric Bana) is seen doing a little bit of spying and surveillance in civvies before getting on his bike and pedaling out to meet his team at the helicopter pick-up point.

1/6 scale D-boy Norman "Hoot" Hooten head sculpt by Playhouse



The amazing 1:6 scale Leather lace-up premium boots by Playhouse, which will be mostly covered by the plaid pants. Comes with socks too.

The new Playhouse 12-inch S1 body with muscular arms. Here "Hoot" looks like a b-boy (or break-boy). The white Underpants (briefs) are padded, like the ones worn by 1:6 Bruce Willis by Subway back in 2008 (pictures HERE)

A close-up view of the muscular arms

Playhouse 1:6 scale 12-inch D-Boy "Hoot" wearing "WANTED: Somali Savage"Aidid Onesie t-shirt and plaid pants with brown leather belt, same belt as the one that came with the earlier released Playhouse 1:6 scale GSG-9 (low profile version) SF figure (reviewed HERE)


"The Battle of Mogadishu" is an actual book by Matt Eversmann and Dan Schilling, along with Tim Wilkinson, Mike Kurth, Raleigh Cash, and John Belman, published in 2004. All the writers were Army Rangers and Air Force spec ops personnel in the task force involved in the Battle of Mogadishu. The book is separated into sections which are narrated by the soldiers themselves. The book gives a view into what the soldiers were thinking during the battle and gives accounts from various places as well.

Playhouse has reproduced said book in 1/6 scale as well. But only the cover, the inside pages are blank, of course.

Playhouse 1/6 scale O-JULIET sunglasses, otherwise known as Oakley Polarized JULIET Sunglasses

Close-up of Military G.I. watch (silver)

The very well produced miniature Photo Journalist's vest (khaki) in 1/6 scale. It has hidden side pockets as well as a working zip back pocket on the inside of the vest. The original vest was produced by Hot Toys back in 2003 for their NSW DEVGRU (Naval Special Warfare Development Group) operator figure, back in the days when Hot Toys was still making military figures (picture HERE)

More of this Playhouse 1:6 scale 12-inch D-Boy Battle Of Mogadishu (Somalia) 1993 Operation Spy in Bakara Market military action figure in the next post.

3 comments:

Covenant said...

Looks like Clive Owens not Eric Bana.

The arms and fingers don't look too good either.

Tony said...

hi alex,

how are the arms in terms of material, articulation and joint tightness? like HT's?

alex teo said...

At least he looks like somebody heh heh. I didn't get this figure because he had a 100% likeness of Eric Bana. I liked the non-military look about him and was eyeing the package as a whole with all the outfit and gear that came with it. I wasn't disappointed ;)

hey tony, the arms and fingers work fine, and is nice and tight but not really of Hot Toys quality. I wouldn't let him go out wearing sleeveless clothing. Anything below the elbow is still pretty okay CHEERS