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To All,
I saw this on my usual surfing this afternoon:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461647,00.html
A Lego-style figurine resembling an Islamic terrorist strapped with explosives
and made by a small American company has caused an uproar among Muslims and
non-Muslims alike.
The controversial miniature figure, created by Seattle-based Will Chapman as
part of his BrickArms military fighters line, is a bearded militant with a
face-covering hood, a tiny toy assault rifle, a little grenade launcher and
plastic bombs that can be attached to an explosives belt.
The character is called "Bandit — Mr. White" and sells for $14.
The jarring toy has outraged the British Muslim organization known as the
Ramadhan Foundation, which called the figurine "absolutely disgusting,"
according to Sky News.
The foundation's chief executive, Mohammed Shafiq, complained that the toy is
"glorifying terrorism."
Click here for photos.
"I don't think there's any difference between someone that shouts hatred through
a megaphone and someone that creates a doll that glorifies terrorists," he told
Sky.
"As a parent myself, I'm going to teach my children respect for the law and
respect for each and every community. These are the lessons parents should be
giving to their children — not lessons about weapons and violence."
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Terrorist Toy Chapman, a father of three who operates the company from the
Seattle suburb of Redmond, Wash., bristles at the notion that he is celebrating
terrorism.
"We do not sell an 'Osama bin Laden' miniature figure," he wrote in an e-mail to
FOXNews.com. "We sell a generic bad guy minifigure with a Ninja scarf head wrap,
the same minifigure that we have been selling for over a year now, with no
associated 'outrage.'
"It does not represent anything; it is simply a bandit — a bad guy for the good
guys to battle. Attempt to assign it a 'personality' only serves to create
controversy that does not exist."
On his Web site, he explains that his 9-year-old son gave him the idea for the
toy line, which includes 31 different Lego-style weapons and a variety of
military figurines.
He told FOXNews.com that BrickArms is a "family-owned and family-run business."
"We started in 2006, when one of our sons expressed an interest in military
history and weaponry of the WW2 era," he wrote. "He wanted to recreate scenes
from history, with his LEGO bricks and figures, so he and I designed the first
of many of our BrickArms miniature toy weapon replicas."
Other figurines in the line are World War II fighters, U.S. Marines and even a
Nazi SS officer.
LEGO issued a statement Thursday saying that the company isn't associated with
the BrickArms toys.
"BrickArms is not licensed by LEGO Group to customize LEGO figures and has no
links to the LEGO brand," the statement said.
"The LEGO Group is committed to developing toys which enrich childhood by
encouraging imaginative and creative play — and does not endorse products that
do not fit with this philosophy."
I cannot convey how silly some people are, but what else is new?
Keep up the excellent work, Will, I will be enjoying my order. :)
Sincerely,
Scott Sanburn
--
President, Michiana-LUG / LTC
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