[wordup] bin Laden outsells Bush!

[Adam Shand]

This is pure comedy.  Be sure to check out the actual URL for the
pictures.

Via: null at spack.org <null at spack.org>
From: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=27283

WAR ON TERROR
Posted: April 18, 2002
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs

Bin Laden beats 'Bush' in doll fight
Osama action figure outselling presidential character

As the war on terror continues around the world, Osama bin Laden is now
winning – at least in the realm of action figures.

A Connecticut company marketing dolls featuring likenesses of the
terrorist, President Bush, Rudy Giuliani, and Tony Blair says bin Laden
has recently taken a clear lead in sales.

"Osama is outselling everyone else combined! That's America for you,"
said Emil Vicale, president of Herobuilders.com. "Up until last week, it
was a tie between the presidential figure and bin Laden."

With the exception of bin Laden, Vicale is reluctant to label the action
figures with the names of their real-life counterparts due to what he
terms "legalities." Nonetheless, sales of the lookalikes are in the
thousands since making their debut on the Internet March 13.

An industrial designer by trade, Vicale was inspired to market dolls in
the aftermath of Sept. 11 when 90 percent of requests coming in were for
action figures.

Bin Laden was not even among the original group of three creations: "Our
Hero" [Bush], "The Rock" [Giuliani], and "The Ally" [Blair]. He was
added later when consumers sought to have a villain to go along with the
heroes.

Vicale can only speculate why Americans are purchasing the bin Laden
character more than the heroes.

"Maybe they want to blow him up," he told WorldNetDaily. "You should see
my own bin Laden doll. He doesn't look like he originally did – he's now
missing an arm and a leg."

While the presidential figure is a close second to Osama, he's far ahead
of the Rudy resembler which has sold only a few. In fact, the plastic
prime minister figure resembling Blair has yet to sell a single doll.

Photos of each figurine are displayed on the website, but several from
the original gallery have been taken down after negative feedback from
some parents. One depicted the presidential character pointing a gun
directly at the head of a kneeling bin Laden. The other showed "Bush"
aiming a gun and holding a dagger in front of a surrendering Osama.

"We're not a child site," said Vicale. "Kids don't use credit cards."

He says the portrayals were merely visions of himself acting out what
he'd like to see done with the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Nevertheless, he says he removed those photos since children have access
to the site.

One of the more provocative images still posted shows bin Laden dressed
up in a pink tutu carrying a purse. While Herobuilders doesn't sell the
doll with those accessories, Vicale points out the figures are the same
size as other popular dolls sold in stores, and clothes from one will
fit the other.

The action figures market for $26.95, and it takes Herobuilders just
seven days to design and create a new personality. Vicale is hoping
companies and individuals order personalized dolls modeled after
themselves.

While most action figures on the market are derived from the world of
fiction, Vicale thinks his dolls can positively impact children because
they're based on real people.

"Now they can have an action figure that's not an ordinary guy. These
are real American heroes," he said. "G.I. Joes are just a generic dude."

The realm of dolls has on occasion meshed with real-life events. One
case in point is the 2000 presidential campaign by Barbie . Though her
entry did gain some early publicity due to similarities with the Gore
platform, she failed to gather any momentum by the primaries.

Vicale is looking to mix the worlds even more, creating more political
figures based on current events. But after seeing a soaked Al Gore
deliver a speech last weekend at the Florida Democratic Conference,
Vicale was quick to say he would not be making a Gore doll.

"Absolutely not. I don't think anyone would buy him. And how do you get
him to sweat?"