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Toy Wonders New Arrivals

March 12, 2010

Greetings!

A few shipments arrived this week. If you log into your account at www.toywonders.com, before clicking on any of the links below, approved wholesale accounts will see wholesale pricing.

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DIECAST Collectible Model Cars And More

Item#	Description	Stock Status
L2090BK	Mattel Hot Wheels Batman - TV Series Batman's Batmobile (1966, 1:18 scale diecast model, Black) L2090	Special Price Limited 1 week offer while supplies last.
L7130	Mattel Elite Batman - TV Series Elite Batmobile (1966, 1:18 scale diecast model, Black) L7130	Special Price Limited 1 week offer while supplies last.
L7131	Mattel Super Elite Batman - TV Series Elite Batmobile (1966, 1:18 scale diecast model, Black) L7131	Special Price Limited 1 week offer while supplies last.
1578	Sun Star - Mercury Cougar Racing #98 Dan Gurney (1967, 1:18 scale diecast model, Red) 1578	Restock
3613G	Sun Star USA - Ford Mustang Sportsroof Hard Top (1971, 1:18 scale diecast model, Gray Gold) 3613G	New
4712	Sun Star Platinum - Lincoln Continental MK III Hard Top (1958, 1:18 scale diecast model, Seneca Blue) 4712	New
3120W	Sun Star Classic Rally - Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16V Race Car J.Kankkunen/ J.Piironen #2 (Winner Lombard RAC Rally 1991, 1:18 scale diecast model, White) 3119	New
4445	Sun Star Classic Rally - Ford Escort Mk II Race Car H.Mikkola/A. Hertz #1 (Winner Lombard RAC Rally 1979, 1:18 scale diecast model, Blue) 4445	New
4471	Sun Star Modern Rally - Citroen Xsara WRC P.Solberg/P.Mills #11 (3rd Cyprus Rally 2009, 1:18 scale diecast model, Black & Silver) 4471	Restock
2905	Sun Star - Routemaster Bus RM 686 - WLT 686 Vernon's Pools (1958, 1:24, Blue) 2905	Restock
2922	Sun Star - Routemaster Bus - RT36 - FXT 211 (1955, 1:24, Green) 2922	New
1870	Sun Star - Ford Model T Pickup Soft Top (1925, 1:24, Black) 1870	Restock
90437PD	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Chevy Bel Air Hard Top (1957, 1:24, Asstd.) 90437PD	New
90437QT	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Chevy Bel Air Hard Top (1957, 1:24, Asstd.) 90437QT	New
90487KN	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Ford F-100 Pickup (1956, 1:24, Asstd.) 90487KN	Restock
90487PD	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Ford F-100 Pickup (1956, 1:24, Asstd.) 90487PD	New
91844IN	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Shelby GT-500KR Hard Top (2008, 1:24, Asstd.) 91844IN	Restock
91844JY	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Shelby GT-500KR Hard Top (2008, 1:24, Asstd.) 91844JY	Restock
92354AB	Jada Toys Bigtime Kustoms - Nissan 350Z Hard Top (2003, 1:24, Asstd.) 92354AB	Restock
96086	Jada Toys Showroom Floor - Cadillac Hard Top (1963, 1:24, Asstd.) 96086	New
90341	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Shelby GT-500 Hard Top (1967, 1:24, Asstd.) 90341	Restock
90435	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Chevy Bel Air Hard Top (1957, 1:24, Asstd.) 90435	New
91843	Jada Toys Bigtime Muscle - Shelby GT-500KR Hard Top (2008, 1:24, Asstd.) 91843	Restock
92353	Jada Toys Dub City - Nissan 350Z Hard Top (2003, 1:24, Asstd.) 92353	Restock
96085	Jada Toys Showroom Floor - Chevy Impala Hard Top (1960, 1:24, Asstd.) 96085	New
7967DO	RC2 ERTL JoyRide - The Dukes of Hazzard Dodge Charger Hard Top (1969, 1:25, Orange) 7967DO	Restock

Motorhead Miniatures Figures

Item#	Description	Stock Status
278W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Nancy (1:18, White) 278	Restock
139R	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Ashley (1:24, Red/ Black) 139R	Restock
140W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Ashley (1:24, White/ Blue) 140W	Restock
257YL	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Kaitlyn (1:24, Yellow/ Red) 257YL	Restock
258W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Kaitlyn (1:24, White/ Blue) 258W	Restock
283OR	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Nancy (1:24, Orange) 283OR	Restock
284BK	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Nancy (1:24, Black) 284BK	Restock
312W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Fast Woman Rene (1:24, White) 312W	Restock
380W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Doll Paulette (1:18, White) 380	Restock
131YL	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Girl Joyce (1:18, Yellow/ Red) 131	Restock
150W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Girl Mimi (1:18, White) 150	Restock
168W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Girl Zena (1:18, White) 168	Restock
232BU	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Girl Darlene (1:18, Blue) 232	Restock
335PK	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Girl Bonnie (1:18, Pink) 335	Restock
145BK	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Duke (1:18, Black) 145	Restock
160W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Bobby (1:18, White) 160	Restock
161BK	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Bobby (1:18, Black) 161	Restock
215WB	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Marty (1:18, White/ Black) 215	Restock
208BU	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Tommy (1:18, Blue) 208	Restock
193W	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Bobby (1:24, White/ Blue) 193W	Restock
194BK	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Bobby (1:24, Black/ Blue) 194BK	Restock
212BBU	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Guy Tommy (1:24, Blue) 212BBU	Restock
244BU	Motorhead Miniatures Figurine - Single Girl Betty (1:24, Blue) 244BU	Restock

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Thank you

Lu Su
Toy Wonders, Inc.
www.toywonders.com
201-229-1700

God and the Art of Toy and Diecast Marketing
The Flight of Inner Morals to Outside Influences (part 3 of 3)
By Lu Su

Some key points in the last two articles.

1) For the theist, what is moral and immoral is set by God (and not by man).
2) Because God does not change, what is morally right and wrong does not change.
3) It is morally wrong to murder defenseless women and children.
4) It is morally wrong to do nothing when you are aware of great evil and can affect change.

If you attuned to the news, you will sometimes catch a quick blurb on CIA involvement in a missile attack targeting Al-Qaeda or Taliban terrorists. But the information is always sketchy and details are scarce.But lately the words "CIA" and "predator drones" are being used in the same sentence.

The RQ-1 Predator drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle used for reconnaissance and offensive operations. Its flight range is approximately 400 nautical miles to a target. I can then loiter overhead for 14 hours and then return to its base. It's powered by a single propeller and controlled remotely from almost anywhere. Not only can the drone take pictures, but it can provide a real time video feed (as well as flight control) back to the folks in Langley. Each predator drone is capable of carrying two Hellfire missiles.

Hellfire is an air-to-air or an air-to-ground missile. The Air-to-Ground (AGM)-114 provides precision striking power against tanks, structures, bunkers and helicopters. The Hellfire missile is capable of defeating any known tank in the world today. The Hellfire missile is also capable of defeating any known or unknown human in the world today.

In 1976 an executive order, signed by President Gerald R. Ford, banned American intelligence forces from engaging in assassination. Remember the laws we pass as a nation often reflect its citizen's morals. The moral being that it is better not to : assassinate than to assassinate. At one time we had thought that even though we do not agree with a person's ideology or the way they are running their own government, it would be wrong to assassinate them. But I think it was Fear that has made us do an 180 degree turn on this. An outside influence called 911, has appeared to change our morals regarding assassination. As the number of missile attacks increase in Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen, I noticed our government and media no longer uses that word "targeted assassination" any more.

I believe the strongest argument used in overturning President Ford's executive order is that policy (no targeted assassinations) should ONLY apply when we are at peace. But the thing is the executive order did not specify just in times of peace; and if we are at peace with other nations, would there be a need for such an executive order? But I think the outside influence of fear and maybe a boost from Tom Clancy's fictional character Jack Ryan, has made many Americans thinking that targeted assassinations is okay. I think the reasoning is that when we are at war (and we have declared war on terrorism), then American armed forces and its intelligence officers should work together in defeating the enemy; one big stepping stone in reaching such a goal is to eliminate/assassinate the enemy's leaders.

Without a doubt, this is an excellent, flawless, and convincing argument. I'm not questioning the reasoning or the argument. But the point I would like to make is that the application of this reasoning (theory) can prove problematic. It's like saying that every American should be have equal access to excellent health care; few would dispute that, but it's the application that makes it problematic very quickly.

What is making me a bit uncomfortable is that I know what is morally right or wrong does NOT change with circumstance or outside influences. And if targeted assassination/elimination is morally right in times of war, then it seems to me that I would also need to accept that targeted assassination of our leaders (in times of war and from persons that have declared war on us) is also morally right. I don't know, something doesn't seem to sit right here. Then you have the age old question on whether it is morally right to do what you know is morally wrong in order to stop a moral wrong? I don't know. Convincing yourself that it is "Morally right to commit a morally wrong action" doesn't sit right for me either.

Prior to the Bush administration (and to the best of my knowledge), predator drone were used strictly for reconnaissance (information gathering). But it appears that after 911, we've found new applications; we now strap on these Hellfire missiles to them and dropping them on people we don't like.

"On August 5th [2009], officials at the Central Intelligence Agency, in Langley, Virginia, watched a live video feed relaying close up footage of one of the most wanted terrorists in Pakistan. Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, could be seen reclining on the rooftop of his father-in-law’s house, in Zanghara, a hamlet in South Waziristan. It was a hot summer night, and he was joined outside by his wife and his uncle, a medic; at one point, the remarkably crisp images showed that Mehsud, who suffered from diabetes and a kidney ailment, was receiving an intravenous drip.

The video was being captured by the infrared camera of a Predator drone, a remotely controlled, unmanned plane that had been hovering, undetected, two miles or so above the house. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Malik, using his hands to make a picture frame, explained that the Predator’s targeters could see Mehsud’s entire body, not just the top of his head. “It was a perfect picture,” Malik, who watched the videotape later, said. “We used to see James Bond movies where he talked into his shoe or his watch. We thought it was a fairy tale. But this was fact!” The image remained just as stable when the C.I.A. remotely launched two Hellfire missiles from the Predator. Authorities watched the fiery blast in real time. After the dust cloud dissipated, all that remained of Mehsud was a detached torso. Eleven others died: his wife, his father-in-law, his mother-in-law, a lieutenant, and seven bodyguards." -The New Yorker

Let's pretend that instead of blowing up Mehsud's wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law and medic, we captured them and brought them to a court of law. What charges would they face? Would they have been found guilty of some crime that warranted execution? Does being related to Mehsud automatically make you guilty by association? I believe the Nazi's used the same reasoning for Jews didn't they? When we declare war on terrorism, does our war on terror automatically extend to their relatives too? Mehsud wife died in this incident. She was actually Mehsud second wife (Islam permits this). Prior to both their deaths, they had been married for about nine months. Mehsud's first wife bore him 4 daughters. It was no secret how he longed for a son and many believe for that reason Mehsud took on another wife. Does it matter that Mehsud's second wife might have been pregnant with a son that he so desperately wanted? Is it or is it not morally wrong to kill defenseless women and children? Is there a goal so desirable that the killing of defenseless women and children can be justified? Note that this was not the first use of Hellfire missiles during the current administration.

"The first two C.I.A. air strikes of the Obama Administration took place on the morning of January 23rd—the President’s third day in office. Within hours, it was clear that the morning’s bombings, in Pakistan, had killed an estimated twenty people. In one strike, four Arabs, all likely affiliated with Al-Qaeda, died. But in the second strike a drone targeted the wrong house, hitting the residence of a pro-government tribal leader six miles outside the town of Wana, in South Waziristan. The blast killed the tribal leader’s entire family, including three children, one of them five years old. In keeping with U.S. policy, there was no official acknowledgment of either strike."

What I find interesting about the article is that it said, "a drone targeted the wrong house". I wonder if someday soon we will hear the defendant say, "I didn't do it, my gun targeted the wrong person." In the last three years, we've eliminated/assassinated more than 20 Al-Qaeda commanders including top militant leader Baitullah Mehsud with these predator drones. But we have accomplished this at the cost of killing more than 800 civilians. So we have a kill ratio of 1 to 40. For every 1 terrorist will kill, we kill 40 civilians. Remind me, what is the definition of terrorist?

In the above picture, I count 2 men and a total of 26 women and children. Had these men been Taliban or Al-Qaeda leaders or operatives, would we be justified in shooting a Hellfire missile into this crowd? After all, the hit ratio would be far higher than what we are achieving now (1 dead terrorist at the cost of only 13 innocent civilians). When there are civilians near the targeted men you want to eliminate/assassinate, how many civilians need to be present before you draw the line and say, "No, we are not going to pull the trigger here?" If 40 to 1 is an acceptable ratio, what if we find a whole group of them walled up in a city? Could this warrant dropping a small nuclear warhead on that city?

I find it amazing that with all the technology and contacts we have today, we have been unable to located one man: Osama Bin Laden. Also with the 50 million dollar bounty on his head, so far no insider has been willing to give us a tip on his whereabouts. Obviously, we must be looking in wrong places. Hopefully Osama Bin Laden isn't living in disguise in my neighborhood when our government accepts the death of 40 civilians worth it.

I'm sure many of you caught the Avatar movie. I thought Sigourne Weaver had a fantastic quote that can sort of relate to our foreign policy as it relates to the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

Selfridge: Isn't that the whole point of your little puppet show? You walk like them, you talk like them. We build them a school, teach them English, but after how many years the relations with the indigenous are only getting worse.

Dr. Grace Augustine: Yeah, well that tends to happen when you use machine guns on them.

For those who are unfamiliar with the capabilities of predator drones, below is video footage of a Hellfire missile hitting a target. This footage was taken in Iraq. Many email viewer programs will automatically deactivate video links for your protection. If you do not see a video play button below, you can click on the "Having trouble viewing this page" link above and this same article with the video will be available off our server.

 

Did you notice that one of the bad guys had jumped out of the original car under surveillance and got into another car? For some reason our intelligence officer wanted the man firing the mortar rounds dead -more so than the lookout/driver. So we suddenly targeted a new vehicle. But did you notice that it was totally inconsequential who else might have been in the vehicle that got blown up. Did it occur to anyone that perhaps the person driving the second vehicle was a woman who had just picked up 4 kids from school? Maybe one child was still in a car seat. The Nazi's in justifying their horrific murders probably just said, "They were just Jews that got in the way". I hope we Americans don't just say, "They were just Iraqis that got in the way". I would have aborted the mission, but that's just me.

 

Sources:

The US Navy Fact File, February 20, 2009
"The Predator War", The New Yorker; October 26, 2009.
"Dire Consequences of Drone Strikes", A Pakistan News, February 22, 2010
"U.S. mulls $50 million bin Laden bounty", CNN.com, January 24, 2005