Sportsmen Figure Op Shop Find, Conversion Possibilities and some childhood memories

 
   MY CHILDHOOD SPORTING MEMORIES (Skip if you don't have a sense of humor)

 First of all, here is a disclaimer: I have never been interested in watching or participating in competitive sports. When I was very young, I was given a cheap rubber football, took it to the school oval where someone promptly took it and ran with it before kicking it to someone else. Eventually, I realized that this was part of the game but why did I have to run after people to try to get MY ball back?

  My dad and my maternal grandfather had both played Australian 'footy'. My dad's mum had her loungeroom painted in her Richmond team's colors of yellow and black. This was not a tradition I was to follow, although I did like tigers (the team animal).

  My other memory was my dad taking me to a country football match. I wasn't much taller than the spectators' knees, couldn't see much and was bored out of my mind. My dad, who was a garbologist, helpfully suggested I go around and collect the beer bottles. He would add them to his collection for recycling money. 

  So, merrily, I weaved in and out of those legs, industriously collecting beer bottles. I had a few tucked under my arms and proudly headed back to Dad. Suddenly there was a loud shout behind me of, 'Oi you!'

  Here's the thing; there was a catch. I don't think Dad had specified (or I had not listened properly) to bring back the EMPTY bottles. SO, here I had FULL or half full big bottles of grog! Dad was, I think, very embarrassed and apologetic to the unhappy boozers. In any case he never took me to another sporting event, or much else for that matter!

  In any case I was fairly much a loner and not drawn to teams or large groups. Ironically, in later years, I became a distance swimmer and became a great deal fitter than most of my childhood peers who once played team sports but were now couch potatoes cheering their teams, as they stuffed their faces with chips and beer, from their lounge chairs.

 THE FIGURES

  When I see sport figurines I don't see footballers, etc., but conversion material for my miniature armies.

The 11, hard plastic, figures include soccer or rugby players and basketballers, nets and some strange gizmos. The figure sprawled on the ground would make a good casualty figure. The basketballers are irritatingly tall, but they could be used for statues.

  As the figures wear shorts they are useful to convert into Highlanders, 'natives', ancients and Renaissance types in tights and so on, something, incidentally, which can be done with 8th Army figures. the poses lend themselves to either combat or non-combat activities.

   I don't know how the miniature game worked and don't much care. However, the plastic sticks could be used for flag poles, weapons or paint stirrers. There are also some split balls with spiky bits sticking out, useful for some kind of weaponry. The nets, not shown here, could be used to cover windows and cabins on my space ork vehicles or general post-apocalyptic vehicles.