I left for work early today, and to my surprise, there was no traffic to slow me up. I was so far ahead of my usual pace that I figured I had plenty of time to stop at a Ross that I usually just drive right past. It's right off the freeway, but I almost never have the time.
I went in, and, for the first time ever, found GI Joe Classified figures on the shelves there for a drastically reduced price. I couldn't believe it. The first one I saw was Stalker. A funny name now, but back in the day a stalker was a hunter, not some dude who harasses a starlet in a creepy way. He was one of the main GI Joe characters in the first mini-series.
That's him coming down wearing the jetpack in the show intro. He was one of my favorites from the early days. He was one of the very first 11 figures that they released in the line back in 1982. His part in the cartoons diminished greatly by the next year, because they had new toys to push, so their characters came to the forefront instead. I still loved him, though.
What that means, is that when his Classified figure came out, I bought it right away to ensure that I actually got it, because I've never seen Classified figures at Ross, and almost never seen them on clearance at all. So, yeah, I paid full price, and already had Stalker, even though I could now get him for dirt cheap. Damn.
However, there was still joy in Mudville. Also on the shelf was a figure named Tomax Paoli. I didn't have that figure. He was one of the Crimson Guard commanders. He and his twin brother Xamot led the Crimson Guard.
They also had this weird thing where they were mirror image twins, and if you punched one in the face, the other one would feel the pain. That was something that Rish Outfield loved, and would rave about how great an idea it was. I was much less of a comic book fan growing up than him, so this idea seemed silly to me. I preferred the realism and grittiness that GI Joe comics usually had...before the dark times, before the Cobra-La.
Because of our differing opinions of that gimmick, Rish had already bought Tomax and Xamot, but I had not. Yet, here was Tomax, and he was very cheap. I had to get it.
I looked on the shelf for the twin. You never know. This Ross had already gone above and beyond with its bounty it offered, but what if they actually had both?
Well, I found a second Stalker...who I already had, and then...hallelujah, could it be? There was Xamot Paoli, tucked back in there waiting for me as well.
I already have a squad of Crimson Guards. I blogged about them a while back.
Now I can expand that group, adding in the commanders with them as well. After all, they were so cheap, I couldn't turn them down.
$5.99! Can you believe it? They want to charge $12 for Fortnite figures at Ross, but somehow the GI Joes go for half of that. I sure can't complain. I had to brag about my find, so I texted pictures to Rish. His response?
I could commiserate, after all, Stalker was on the shelf for that same price, but I'd paid $22.99.
Anyway, I bought me some Crimson Guard commanders to put with my squad.
Now I'd like to see many more of the regular Crimson Guards showing up at Ross, so I can build the squad up even larger. That would be cool.
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