Ok, so what do Sherwin-Williams, JoeCanuck, YoJoe, and an MLB player all have in common?
They all played a role in me acquiring my Flagg.
One day last May, I was on JoeCanuck chatting with Dodge822. After a long chat about his Dodge pickup truck and an appearance by THE Mike, who gave us an '11 CJC sneak peek, we were about to sign off. Dodge asked if I was still looking for a Flagg, and how close I was to Indiana. My answers were yes, and not very. Dodge sent me a link to a posting on YoJoe for me to check out. Turns out a fellow on YoJoe was desperate to get rid of his almost-complete Flagg. The price was nice, but the problem was he absolutely did NOT want to ship it, and who could blame him?
I should note here that that very same day, I had received a nice quarterly bonus check from Sherwin-Williams. So, I had the cash. The question was, how would I get the Flagg from Indiana to Texas? Staring at the map, I noticed the state next to Indiana...Ohio. The state Cincinnati is in. It just so happens that one of my best friends in the world is also a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds...Logan Ondrusek, #66. Doing a quick Google Maps search between the Flagg owner's hometown and Cincy, I discovered they were about 2 hours away. I called Logan, told him the situation, and asked if there were any way in Hell that if the guy had the thing and was willing to meet him somewhere, if Logan would go pick it up. Keep in mind, that during baseball season true days off are few and far between for players. Many days when they don't have games, they're traveling to or from another city. Days off when they are at home are even more rare, but the Reds had one coming up. Logan, being the wonderful guy that he is and knowing how much I wanted the Flagg, agreed to get it for me somewhat reluctantly.
Then, from Logan: "Wait a second dude, why doesn't the guy just ship it to you?"
Me: "Well, it comes apart, but it's kind of too big to ship."
Logan: "Too big? How big is this thing?"
Me: "Uh, when it's fully assembled, it's 7 1/2 feet long."
Logan: "Jesus CHRIST! That's longer than I am! (Logan is 6'8".) HOW BIG OF A DAMN AIRCRAFT CARRIER DOES A FOUR INCH GI JOE FIGURE NEED!?!? SERIOUSLY!?!?"
Me: "Well, OBVIOUSLY seven and a half feet!"
After an anxious night, I contacted the seller the next morning. Yes, he still had it. Yes, he still desperately needed to get rid of it. No, he was not a Reds fan (damn). Yes, he would meet Logan somewhere.
I quickly arranged payment. When the Reds had their next off day, Logan graciously met the seller and picked up my Flagg for me, and complained to me over the phone about how much room it took up the whole way back to Cincy. We have a long-standing football rivalry and Logan told me that if I talked any smack about his Cowboys for the rest of baseball season, the Flagg would change from an aircraft carrier to a submarine. Courtesy of the Ohio River. I managed to hold my tongue.
Well, I had paid for my Flagg, and it had been picked up. The problem now was waiting. I wasn't making a trip to Cincy any time soon, and Logan certainly couldn't pack the Flagg along when the Reds made road trips to Houston, so I had to play the waiting game. For the rest of baseball season. Baseball has a REALLY long season, too.
Finally, the season ended, and Logan made his way back to Texas, still threatening to dump the Flagg in a river or on a roadside the whole way, and complaining again about how much room it took up.
A few short days later, I had my Flagg, and a heck of a story to tell about it.
