Movie Heroes

In the cinema industry after WW2 you knew where you were with most war films. There were the good guys and the bad guys (often zee Germans!). Not always, but most of the time. But nearly all the time there was near pant wetting excitement.

Who is the real secret agent?

It was easy - you knew when to hide behind the sofa, who not to trust and who to route for in a firefight. Of course its all changed today. Modern war films have more subtle heroes and often no real victors.. things have to be more realistic. We like this too. But lets park more contemporary classics like "Apolcalypse Now", "Green Zone", "The Hurt Locker", and even "Das Boot".

Lost track of who the good guys are?

What are your old school favourites? Everyone has a core of "must have" war films. Our library is a big one, but at the top of the pile.. in no order..

The Dambusters (1955)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
The Wild Geese (1978)
Battle of Britain (1969)
Zulu (1964)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Ice Cold in Alex (1958)
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
The Great Escape (1963)

A few wild cards from our collection too..

I was Monty's Double (1958)
The Silent Enemy (1958)
Operation Crossbow (1965)
The Riddle of the Sands (1979)
Kelly's Heroes (1970)

At Mission HQ we are not idolising war, but we like a good war movie and "proper" heroes. Our t-shirts celebrate this, something that post WW2 cinema is bristling with! Why not treat yourself to one today?

The power of nostalgia

Yippetey Dip!

Last week we had an original copy of the 1974 Action Man catalogue out on the planning desk at Mission Hero HQ. One of our more senior officers was totally gobsmacked to see this again for the first time since he was a boy. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, and its great fun to rediscover things from some of your most distant memories. We are talking about the time when the lucky kids owned a Raleigh Chopper and had a big box stuffed with Action Man accessories. Space Hoppers were optional, but skateboards with lime green wheels were compulsory!

A quick look at eBay and you will discover that you are not alone - the original Action Men are highly prized by collectors of a certain age, and now cost a small fortune. Even the 40th anniversary sets are reaching sky high prices. So good luck if you are in the market for the original Colditz sentry box or possibly the "special equipment" pod (with the fuses of the TNT still in original condition of course!)...

Accessing nostalgia does not have to be an expensive hobby though - most of us remember some of those war story comic books from the 1970's, perhaps the most famous one being "Warlord".

Some of the captions might be frowned on today!

You can pick these up for just a couple of pounds if you are not too worried about the condition. Great in your library or even as artwork on the wall of your HQ! Perhaps you were even a Warlord Secret Agent? Some of us still carry our brown plastic agents wallet with that special dog tag…

Most were eaten by small boys!

Its quite hard to find this kind of material as t-shirt designs, especially in adult sizes, and thats where we come in. Half the fun of true nostalgia is sharing your memories of those special times with others of the same age. You can do this by treating yourself to one of the fine t-shirts in the Mission Hero shop. The designs and colours are perfect for a personal trip down memory lane. Bravo!

I'm a celebrity, get me a Mission Hero T-Shirt!

James May prepares for take off with Fighter Pilot "Alfie Atkins"

Tally-ho, yippety-dip and zing zang! 

Here at Mission Hero HQ we love it when we spot well known people enjoying our brand. Our t-shirts and their characters appeal to a very broad group of people, but especially those that celebrate the best of being British and remember our past. Perhaps in an age where mass brands and fashions come and go, they provide a unique talking point and a way to stand out from the crowd.

James May is perhaps the perfect example of a Mission Hero ambassador. Like most of Britain we sit down in Mission Hero HQ on Sunday evenings to enjoy the latest episode of "Top Gear" or "Man Lab". James is well known for his flying antics, but also recently for suggesting producing a series of television programmes on poets from the Great War - using their words to bring the reality of combat to life. We think its a great idea and hope it goes into production soon. Have a look at his blog 

"Sniper One" Dan Mills showing off  his "Geronimo George" t-shirt

In the unlikely event that you haven't heard of Dan, you really should read his amazing book about his experiences in Iraq in 2004 with the Princes of Wales's Royal Regiment - "Sniper One". Have a look at Dan's official page on Facebook 

The most well read book in our HQ!

So why not dare to stand out from the crowd and join James and Dan in wearing one of our amazing t-shirts with pride? 

Attention!

General Browning inspects the troops, 1942 Source: Wikipedia

Baaaa!

Welcome to the new Mission Hero blog!

Our work is more than just creating brilliant t-shirts. We want to share our thoughts on military history and make remembering the past as interesting and relevant for our recruits of all ages. We hope that this blog will let the Officers in our HQ pass on their insights and ideas to you. We also hope it is place where you can ask questions and share your views.

Don't forget that we can also be found on Twitter and Facebook - so if you follow us we can keep you automitically updated of new posts on this blog. If you are a new recruit to Mission Hero the first thing you should do (once of course you have settled into your billet!) is to report to the Sergeant Major and "enlist" to get access to our secret area. Here you can find more information on our characters and exclusive artwork.

Stand Easy! Barf, barf..