July's Interview SPARKLEBUDGIE.

Name ? Brian Gould

Online name ?sparklebudgie. Why? It's an amalgamation of my nickname Budgie and sparkle is what I called my wife when we first met. When we opened an eBay account in June 2003 we needed a username and Sparklebudgie was born.

Location ?Evesham Worcestershire UK.

First vam/joe/mam or 1/6 figure ? Well I never had an Action man of my own, my father couldn't get his head around me wanting to play with "dolls!"
I do have a distant memory of owning a boxed knock off figure, I think it was a Mintex figure, it wasn't good but i guess it was cheap. Luckily one of my best mates had a big garden and a plethora of Vam and vehicles. Many, many happy days were spent recreating battle scenes in the long summer holidays.

Favourite figure now ? Any of my restored Action Men.

Most desired item ? I don't hanker after anything in particular but I do love to find beat up old soldiers that I can restore to there former glory.

What will you do with your collection as you get older ? I have no idea! I guess they will just get passed on to my lads if they still want them.

Do you set yourself a budget ? Not really as I don't spend that much on them. The most expensive Action Man I have bought was the recent Geyperman figures from Hobbycraft. I normally buy up cheap damaged items from Ebay.

Worst vam/joe/mam or 1/6 figure ? Nothing that I really dislike but post 2000 mam can be a bit suspect.

Views on 40th reproductions ? Well I love the uniforms, but the figures leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. The first thing you need to do is replace the neck hook with a longer one to release the tension otherwise it will pull the thigh pins out. As for the 40th Blue Pants, well hmm not good and those eyes!

Worst item of vam/joe/mam or 1/6 range ? Possibly the 40th figure quality.

Best thing about collecting vam/joe/mam or 1/6 figures ? Well for me it's reliving lost childhood. I also have great pleasure telling my Dad how many Action Men I have now!

Do you think your collection will be collectible in the future ? Yes definitely, well Action man will be, but most of mine are restored so won't really have a value.
I also think that MaM will become more collectible as well.

If you did not collect vam/joe/mam or 1/6, what would you collect ? Coins please and maybe old bikes, for restoration of course.

Why do you like ammo ? It reminds me of the old UAMHQ when it was at its best, no probably even better. The balance for all Vam and Mam is great. Looking forward to meeting all of you at the next Action Man day show.

Great interview Brian, love the work you do on those figures that everyone else has given up on!

Hey brian great interview you ole flocker

Great to know more about you

great interview Brian !! I love the fact that you are out there restoring falling vam ! I also think you do not realise how good your collection is mate ! you have some stunning pieces in your collection mate  

Your right you know Dal its Brians work that persuaded me to get into flocking and he was dead right there is nothing more satisfying than bringing a man back from the brink ans you all know

I just cant have a man down

And i do love a good Flock no and then      

   

Nice one, Brian!

Great interview Brian.
Looking forward to meeting you in person too!

Great interview Brian. I agree you have a super collection and I wish I food restore VAM like you do. When you sa restoring bikes do you mean motorbikes? I've restored a fair few British bikes in my time.....

'Brian' is such a nice name.
Great interview.

great interview .........

Cracking interview S.B.

Great Interview Brian. I Love your restorations, you do some nice work on them to get them back to their former glory. I totally agree with you about AMMO been like unamhq only better, I missed the old UNAMHQ when it shut down and I am stoked about chance to find and join AMMO. Loved the interview it was agreat read.

Nice insight Brian, excellent read mate

Sir Sid

Great read Brian!