I had just passed the Blues Brothers Jake and Elwood in their trademark sunglasses and black suits singing their hearts out when I rounded the curve in the room at the auction house and saw another daring figure.
His face was skeletal white and he wore green Army fatigues plus a helmet with netting, and carried a rifle aimed for battle. His clothes were ripped at the arms and legs, revealing parts of his bony 6-foot skeleton. This Army guy wasn’t real; he appeared to be made of the same material as the Blues Brothers – plaster.
He was a very disconcerting sight standing front and center in a room full of antique furniture at the auction house. At least he wasn’t alone; he had the Blues Brothers to keep him from feeling so out of place. I had seen other life-size replicas of the Brothers two years ago at this same auction house. They were seated in chairs on top of a table. This time, they were standing as they sang and moved to their own silent tunes.
While the Blues Brothers came to have a good time, the skeleton soldier came to fight. They were a bold contrast to each other, but I could imagine them all occupying a vaulted place in a man cave. Heck, I probably could station the commando on my porch to scare away burglars, much as an attack dog would.
I could find no maker or artist’s name on this soldier (I didn’t look for a dog tag), so he shall remain anonymous.
In my mind, I kept calling him a commando, but I suspect that he could also have been an infantryman. A commando, according to several sites, was a soldier with special skills. In this country, they are Special Operations, a secret band of soldiers from each of the country’s military units, trained to retrieve and/or attack or get in and out of tight spaces and circumstances, and much much more. Like the U.S Navy Seals who hunted down and killed Osama Bin Laden in his hiding place in Pakistan in 2011.
Since the statue at auction carried a roll on his shoulder, I can only assume that he was fashioned after a soldier in the field.
Googling, I found a figure that looked just like him – and described as a “skeleton soldier” – that was being sold as Halloween décor for $790. I wasn’t around when the one sold at auction, but I doubt that he sold for so high a price price.
What do you think of him? Halloween or man cave?
