Saturdays have become my chance to showcase artists who appear to have "skulls on the brain", no pun intended. Today's skull lover hails from the U.S., but sends us his submissions all the way from FOB Wilson in Khandahar, Afghanistan. PFC Rupert Valero has sent us some outstanding action figures and other skulls with his email: "I started assemblage toys here while I am deployed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army. I love skulls and incorporated some on some of my assemblage toys.
"As a former oil rig engineer, I'm big on 6" super-articulated, well engineered action figures. I never really saw skulls as more than a brain pan. Then when the recession hit, big oil went down and I needed a job and the Army seemed the next step."
"As an artilleryman, I did my basic training at Ft. Benning with the infantry. They are big on skulls and war. Being here in Afghanistan in the thick of things, getting shot at, having to take lives for freedom's sake- I can see why the infantry is big on skulls as a symbol of selfless courage and knowing death could be around the corner, or literally your next foot step. I ran across your site and it just clicked in me. I'm hooked."
And I have to belive that next to their weapons, this is a soldier's best friend...
Rupert has tons of more assemblage toys to check out on his flickr stream here as well as more pics from FOB Wilson. The reuse of common items in your characters will definitely strike a chord with our collection of upcyclers that visit our site, Rupert.
As much as we all agree that skulls can be reminders of death, and to live each day fully, we certainly hope that your tour of duty results in zero deaths on either side and a peaceful resolve comes to everyone involved. Thanks for your awesome submission, Rupert, but more importantly thank you and all of the troops over there for risking your lives to making a commitment to freedom. Godspeed to you all!
p.s. You can buy Rupert's action figures on his blog HERE.
"As a former oil rig engineer, I'm big on 6" super-articulated, well engineered action figures. I never really saw skulls as more than a brain pan. Then when the recession hit, big oil went down and I needed a job and the Army seemed the next step."
"As an artilleryman, I did my basic training at Ft. Benning with the infantry. They are big on skulls and war. Being here in Afghanistan in the thick of things, getting shot at, having to take lives for freedom's sake- I can see why the infantry is big on skulls as a symbol of selfless courage and knowing death could be around the corner, or literally your next foot step. I ran across your site and it just clicked in me. I'm hooked."
And I have to belive that next to their weapons, this is a soldier's best friend...
Rupert has tons of more assemblage toys to check out on his flickr stream here as well as more pics from FOB Wilson. The reuse of common items in your characters will definitely strike a chord with our collection of upcyclers that visit our site, Rupert.
As much as we all agree that skulls can be reminders of death, and to live each day fully, we certainly hope that your tour of duty results in zero deaths on either side and a peaceful resolve comes to everyone involved. Thanks for your awesome submission, Rupert, but more importantly thank you and all of the troops over there for risking your lives to making a commitment to freedom. Godspeed to you all!
p.s. You can buy Rupert's action figures on his blog HERE.
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