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# This Year’s Hottest Toy: Iraq-Syria LEGO Playset
December 23 2015
Written by Peter Van Buren.
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NO BABES IN TOYLAND-Every Christmas sees one toy emerge as the most-wanted, gotta have gift — remember Tickle Me Elmo, and Beanie Babies from years past? Well, 2015’s big hit has emerged: The Iraq-Syria LEGO Playset. (*Quick note:* *The set retails for $3 trillion. Weapons of mass destruction not included.)*
The set retails for three trillion dollars, though the price may have doubled by the time this is published. Included in the standard set are enough LEGOS to build replicas of Mosul and Fallujah, allowing a child to refight those battles over and over. Figures include Sunni militias, Islamic State fighters, Shia militias, one figure representing the actual Iraqi Army, American special forces with and without boots, Iranians, Kurds, Turks, Russians, Syrians (moderate and radical, though they cannot be told apart), British, French and Italian troops, shady Saudi financiers and Hezbollah soldiers.
The basic set also includes a starter pack of refugee figures, though most people will want to opt for the bonus pack, if only to get access to the limited edition dead children refugee figures.
Not included: any weapons of mass destruction.
While the Iraq-Syria LEGO Playset will provide any child with decades of fun, even more adventures can be played out by buying the Turkish Expansion Pack.
And parents, please note: Even after careful construction with the best of intention, the playset tends to simply fall apart.
*(Peter Van Buren spent a year in Iraq as a State Department Foreign Service Officer serving as Team Leader for two Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). Now in Washington, he writes about Iraq and the Middle East at his blog, [We Meant Well](http://www.wemeantwell.com/). His new book is [We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805094369/ref=nosim/?tag=commondreams-20)*
*(The American Empire Project, Metropolitan Books).* Image: Screenshot/Youtube. *Prepped for* CityWatch *by Linda Abrams.*
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 104
Pub: Dec 25, 2015
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