He’s a lean, mean terrorist smashing machine. The Osama bin Laden-killing “Rambama” action figure is rolling off the assembly table at Herobuilders.com, an Oxford company that has specialized in making action figures out of high public profile personalities for a decade.
Emil Vicale, president of the company, said the action figure sells for $34.95 plus shipping. Orders have been coming in as fast as a commando on a night raid. The figure went on sale Wednesday.
It sports urban camouflage pants, combat boots and a T‑shirt with a grinning skull design with the numeral six to represent the Navy SEALS who killed bin Laden. It also includes “the weapon of choice, the M1-A4,” according to the company’s website.
The idea came in a flash.
“It was that Sunday night, we were just trying to figure out what to do,” Vicale said of the night of May 1, when Seal Team 6 raided bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. It was a moment Americans had waited nearly 10 years for, following the Sept. 11 terrorist.
“It was amazing they finally got him,” Vicale said.
And like a true action figure capitalist, he figured out a way to capitalize on the public’s fascination with this new image of President Barack Obama.
“Right now it’s turnaround time, we’re getting a lot of orders,” Vicale said.
It is not his first trip down the road to instant marketing.
In business since 2002, Vicale has the action figure bodies made in advance in China, along with some basic items of clothing. He then makes up the hand-painted heads and other custom parts like weapons at an “undisclosed factory location” in Oxford.
The company often gets a few days press from its creations. Past action figures include Sarah Palin and the Balloon Boy Dad.
The Obama action figure has been mentioned everywhere from the Los Angeles Times to the Daily Mail in England.
There’s no telling how long the demand will last though, Vicale said.
“Once they’re out of people’s minds, they’re gone. It’s hard to tell,” Vicale said.
