News at 11

猫 シ Corp. : NEWS AT 11

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

– Amendment I to the United States Constitution

Denigrating the news industry has been a popular pastime in many quarters, but I still have the utmost respect for the journalism profession (even if specific media people and news outlets make me shake my head on a regular basis).

I have my own views on opinion disguised as news, the 24-hour news cycle, national media outlets (including social media), their c-level overlords, and how they gain access to the news they report to us, but I won't bore you with them.

Instead, if you like, you can watch a clip from the Patriot Act which is more entertaining (if you're not using headphones be warned that Hasan has a bit of a potty-mouth).

Anyway, on to more pertinent issues. In the 1/72 world, there are four sets of modern news crews that I own and am aware of.

The first figures are from the News Crew set from MJ Figures (not to be confused with MJ Miniatures).

There are a female reporter, photographer, and security contractor in the set as well, but I seem to have misplaced them somewhere.

The next three sets are from Elhiem, and they're pretty much the same figures in different outfits.

The first pair are the Afghan/Al Jez TV crew (AFC03), then the TV crew in casual shirt and trousers (OBJ10), and finally the TV crew in body armour (OBJ11).

The Afghan news guys are dressed in Pashtun clothing for some reason, but whatever. Most Middle Eastern news crews I've seen in war zones look more like the TV crew in body armor, and their regular TV news people also wear modern dress.

Several news vans are also available for your 1/72 reporters.

The first van is a 1/73 Mercedes TV News Truck by Matchbox. The one I have is in Sky News livery.

The camera can be raised out of the truck, but only rotates when it is in the lowered position. The satellite antenna isn't entirely convincing, but it can rotate in either the raised or lowered position.

The next two vans are Hot Wheels Custom '77 Dodge Vans similar to the one I wrote about in my van post. I bought these in particular because they represent the local So Cal region.

The Action News 68 El Segundo van is a reference to the year that the first Hot Wheels car was released, and the city where Mattel is headquartered. It has a clear roof which I'm guessing is supposed to showcase the interior of the van.

The KVWN 4 San Diego van is from the movie Anchorman. A 70s style satellite dish antenna is mounted on the roof.

Last is an overhead comparison of the three different roof styles for the Hot Wheels '77 Dodge Vans along with the Matchbox van.