JoeCanuck

So since today was my day off I decided to do a little Joe shopping.  I hit up just about every store in town as you will soon see.

Three Wal-Marts (one Super, two regular)
Two HEB Pluses
TRU
Target

The Super Wal-Mart and one regular WM had all the same guys you see over and over again...Destro, Zartan, Neo-Viper, Wave 1 Baronness, Duke, etc.  I was especially annoyed with the Super WM as they had one VERY tiny little section for ROC Joes, but the aisle opposite of them...the entire aisle...was Transformers.  C'mon, Hasbro, couldn't you work out a deal to do half-and-half?  The other Wal-Mart didn't have jack diddly, though to be fair it looked like they were in the middle of a minor rearrange/remodel.  But I had high hopes for it because it's a crappy old WM in a crappy part of town...but I found a lot of good 25th stuff there back in the day (Wraith, Mutt & JY, Croc Master, etc).  Oh well.

TRU had the same stuff it had the other day.  Buncha BBQs and Fireflys, with the rest wave one stuff. 

The two HEB Pluses (HEB is a Texas grocery chain.  Their Plus stores are absolutely gargantuan and very nice.  Best way to describe them is a very nice Super WM or Target minus the clothes section) had only first wave stuff, though one did have both the Joe and Cobra 5-packs on clearance for $20.

Which brings me to Target.  Target has a large ROC section in the main toy aisle and TWO endcaps with ROC stuff.  It was all the same stuff too...until I noticed the new exclusive Eel w/Wave Crusher, CLAW w/Air-Viper Commando (purple repainted 25th AVAC) and the Air-Assault Glider w/Grand Slam.

I picked up the Eel & Wave Crusher.  I started to pick up all three but I'm on a limited Joe budget until I get my bonus check, and I'm holding aside funds in case I find an Agent Helix or a Pit Commando.

When I get said bonus check I'll be going back to Target to pick up the new PIT and the other exclusive figures, so if anyone wants them lemme know.

Those would be the next level in management.

So, pdaat, are you an assistant manager like myself?  An occupation that could also probably be better described as B**ch-Viper?  I have to mind the store while my Boss-Viper goes out on "sales calls" (playing golf, going to lunch, or riding around with our sales reps meeting with customers).  And whenever something goes wrong and I'm not around, guess who gets the blame?

I got this crazy idea for a new thread...we all know that Cobra forces consist of various types of Vipers.  Their names are usually descriptive of their military specialty (ex. Alley Vipers are urban combat, Strato-Vipers fly the Night Ravens) etc.  So what kind of Viper would you be, given your current profession?

olyeller01 is a Paint-Viper.

Cobra, being the international terrorist organization that it is, has significant infrastructure and investment in both buildings and vehicles.  Paint-Vipers ensure that all of those buildings and all of those vehicles stay protected with the latest in paint and coatings technology, ensuring that Cobra's investment in material will last - at least until the next SkyStriker bombing run.

Paint-Vipers use airless paint sprayer technology to finely atomize the paint.  The 3000+ PSI stream that the sprayer puts out can also double as a weapon in a pinch.

Being the villainous and international organization that it is, Cobra only uses paints and coatings from ICI.  This is in direct contrast to GI Joe, which has an exclusive government contract with Sherwin-Williams  :wink:

Holy #$#!

That is one impressive collection, man!

Hmph, no wonder I can't find any EELs or Cobra Divers.  This guy bought them all!

There I thought my collection was massive.  Even counting all the stuff I have in storage back home, I don't have !#%$ on you!

By the way, I really dig your username.  Do you in fact have a fast Ford, or do you just like them?

See, this is what I love.

I find it so interesting the kind of discussion that can take place on boards like this, and how it reveals the different mindsets from different parts of the world.

Things are different in Canada from the way they are here, obviously.  I would be very interested to know the crime rate statistics/etc.  Most of you probably feel safe when you go out somewhere at night.  By the same token, I'm sure there are places, especially in the large cities, that should be avoided like the plague.

My comment about Mexico's gun control laws not working, and then scramble's note about the "people killed" statistics and the variables is right and brings up a point:  you guys (fortunately) don't have gangs from the North Pole trying to run millions of kgs of drugs through your country to the US!  The Mexican gangs that run them and the Colombian gangs that produce them stand to make or lose literally millions of dollars if they can get their product into the US.  With that amount of money at stake, those gangs will do whatever they have to to make sure they are well armed.

Scramble's other note about the friend in Kentucky brings up a personal point for me.  A few weeks ago, I walked out of the bank after getting change for my store, and LITERALLY seconds later, someone walked in, pulled a gun and robbed it.  Fortunately no one was hurt (and I wasn't in there!), but I know it sure made me wish I had a weapon on me.  If I had been in there & armed, maybe I would have pulled my gun and gotten shot myself...but at least I would have had that option!  There's so many crazy people out there these days, and there was nothing to stop that guy from just shooting everyone in the bank if he wanted to.

But yeah, I'm sure he got the gun he used to rob that bank by legal means   

And Martin, really I was just wondering if there was a bunch of Sherwin-Williams stores in Canada.  All the places you named are the enemy. 

I wanted to start a new thread so my offer didn't get lost in the shuffle.  I was contacted by a fellow board member today interested in the TRU-exclusive BBQ and Firefly.  Considering the large amount of these figures available at my TRU, if any of you wants them, just contact me.  I'm not looking to make any money or anything, so as long as you reimburse me for just the retail price ($7.99 each plus tax) plus whatever it'll cost to ship it to you, I'd be happy to do that for you guys.  I can only imagine how much it must suck to not get or have easy access to all the exclusives.

I'm also interested in trading for (like everyone else) the PIT Commando, Agent Helix, or other ROC figures that I don't have yet.  Or perhaps anything else you guys might have to trade.  Just let me know!  I'll extend this offer for future exclusives, too!