Saturday, December 3, 2011

¡mi Ernesto está en la manera!

English is the only language I speak fluently.  I am proficient in medical terminology as a job requirement, but I do not speak Latin or Greek fluently.  I took two Spanish courses many moons ago during my teenage years.  Most of what I learned back in the day in handsome, straight-laced, Mr. Howard's Spanish class has long been forgotten. 

My 5-year-old grandson is in a dual language program where he is taught in English for a full day and in Spanish on alternate days.  Learning a language that differs from a primary one is easier to accomplish at a young age.  It is true that babies and young children are like sponges and can grasp and retain information far better than teen-aged children.   As a teenager, I took Spanish because it was required.  It was either Spanish or French.  In my mind, Spanish was the easier A.

Grandson is not here this morning for me to solicit help in translating the phrase, "My Ernesto is on the way!"  Therefore, I used Yahoo!'s Babelfish translator for the title of this blog.  I hope Babelfish's translation is accurate.  Feel free to correct me if it is not.

Photographs courtesy of eBay seller, Ozan (of Serious Toys) 

As I posted in a comment this morning to Vanessa of Fashion Dolls at Van's Doll Treasures, I conducted one final search yesterday for "Hispanic action figure" and found my Ernesto waiting for me on eBay.  With the seller's permission, two of the images used in the auction are shown above.  Described merely as Hasbro Modern US Army Hispanic Articulated Nude Figure, I asked Seller to share any additional information.  Unfortunately, other than what was included in the title and description, nothing else could be offered.

I again turned to Google.com's search engine in an attempt to glean additional information about this particular figure.  I was unable to locate him, but I did discover that in 2001 Hasbro released the first GI Joe with a Hispanic name in honor of Roy P. Benavidez, a US Medal of Honor recipient for his service and valor in 1968 during the Vietnam war. 

From the newspaper image of the GI Joe created in 2001 in honor of Mr. Benavidez I cannot determine if my Ernesto (formerly visualized into existence as "a deep-tan complexioned, dark-haired, dark-eyed, handsome, muscular... action figure," is the same figure.  Based on Seller's profile (sellers "of loose one sixth scale gear and uniforms... to our customers who are kit bashers and figure customizers") Ernesto could also be a hybrid, assembled using bits and pieces of other figures. 

What I do know is the history of Hasbro's first Hispanic-named action figure, that Hasbro and other manufacturers have created few other Hispanic figures, and that ¡mi Ernesto está en la manera! (My Ernesto is on the way!)

dbg

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12 comments:

  1. Wow! I purchase him a long time ago but didn't know all of this about him. I thought he was a light AA guy. Thanks for the info!

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  2. No, the faces are not the same. Your Ernesto is Hasbro's Carlos - you can see him in the left column, near the end of these 2 columns of heads. I say this because I have that Joe.

    The action figure in the article has a more personalized look.

    But your Ernesto / my Carlos is one fine dude. Cute!

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  3. Thanks for helping me ID the head mold used for my Ernesto, D7ana. I have bookmarked this site. This site helped me identify my Army National Guard Joe as Jerry.

    You referred to Ernesto as "Carlos." However, based on the images at Mastercollector.com, he is actually "Juan."

    Is "Carlos" the head sculpt used for the Roy P. Benavidez-inspired Joe?

    Thanks again for sharing your Joe knowledge.

    dbg

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  4. Que papi chulo!

    "esta de transito" or "esta de paso" (is in transit) would be more idiomatic.

    Thanks for all the information about Hispanic Joes.

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  5. Thank you Limbedolls. I knew someone would know the proper way to express my excitement in Spanish!

    dbg

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  6. Yes! I think I do have the Juan and now that I think about it, that was what he was called.

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  7. My pleasure to share the Joe links ;-D

    Squints ... oh, yes. My bad ... your guy is Juan. My guy is Carlos. They resemble each other, but there is a definite difference. Guess I was seeing my guy everywhere lol.

    No, the Roy P. Benavidez-inspired Joe is not Carlos. He is a special issue action figure: GI Joe, Roy P. Benavidez Commemorative Edition – Released August 31, 2001 (First Hispanic to be honored.)

    Congratulations on having your special Roy/Joe.

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  8. Thanks for the clarification, D7ana. I wasn't clear on whether the Roy P. Benavidez Joe was actually named for him or if it was inspired by him and given another Hispanic name (which would not make much sense), but often things are nonsensical in doll-manufacturing world. The commemorative Roy P. Benavidez Joe is indeed special and comes with a special secondary-market price. Yikes!

    Thanks for the additional congrats on my upcoming possession of Juan (Ernesto).

    dbg

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  9. Congrats on your Ernesto! He reminds me of Miguel, Dominican Republican I briefly dated. I was trying to get fluent in Spanish while dating him, but I didn't stay around long enough. Ernesto is a cutie pie. Thanks D7ana for the reference. That was good to see. I was able to identiify my Christopher. Sylvia's husband.

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  10. Thanks again Vanessa. Your Miguel was a hot daddy (lol!). Why didn't you stick around long enough?????


    dbg

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  11. As one of your spanish followers, I would say " Mi ernesto está en camino!" Great shopping in ebay.

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  12. Thank you, Bego.

    My Ernesto arrived yesterday. He is gorgeous/handsome... a little short, but I love him anyway. I think the ladies (dolls) love him too.

    dbg

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