I went into Wal-Mart for my lunch break, since my son is begging me to find him a golden-head Destro (I already got one for me....).

Comic packs!!!! NEW comic packs! On the shelf!!

I got the Wild Weasel/Ace pack, the battle-damaged Snake-Eyes/SS pack, the CG/Scarface pack, AND the Tomax/Xamot pack!!

Woo-hoo!!

(And for the first time ever, a checkout clerk asked me if I wasn't too old for GI Joes. I said, "Never!")

Of course, the first thing I did was pull out the comics and read them. These half-issues are DEFINITELY for old school fans of the Marvel series as they do just what they've said they do - fill in the gaps. It's kind of like deleted scenes on a DVD set. The origin of Dr. Mindbender was kind of funny, though, and I'm wondering about this computer-savvy kid Adam...

More on the figures later. They want me to actually WORK here for some reason...

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Which store did you go to? El Dorado? Dixie Farm Road? Dang--must start hunting! Great score, Tim!

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Augh! Woodlands' Wallyworlds had nothing yesterday morning nor Monday, so I bypassed them today. Now I have to go hunt again! Augh!

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The stores in the Chicago Burbs are just getting the single packs of Gung-HO and the like. As far as comic packs, we got first wave and some of the Dreadnoks. I have seen truckloads of Stalkers and those figs.

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Dang! And I just found Wave 2 today.

I really want to know if Ace/Wild Weasel is worth buying. Please inform us soon

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Dixie Farm Rd, for you Houstonians.

Quick comments on the figures:

Have they finally listened to us on the rubber bands? The only rubber bands used in packaging here actually held guns next to the legs of the figures. There was no distortion of the hand. In some cases, more creative use was made of the packaging to hold the guns in place.

Battle-damaged Snake-Eyes - The sculpted ripped-cloth arms are actually pretty cool. Why does his satchel charge have a Cobra logo on it??

Storm Shadow - The hood/cape and the dark maroon colors are actually very impressive. I like this look a lot. The yellow arrow on the bow is ridiculous, though. This look is really that of Zartan in the flashback where he killed the Hard Master, but that's not who it's supposed to be from the enclosed comic. So why is Storm Shadow carrying a compound bow with sound amplification gear??

Wild Weasel - This figure is AWESOME. I love it. Very clear homage to the original and all-in-all an excellent job. The left leg is bowed a little bit, though.

Ace - Somewhat disappointing. He's all right, but there's nothing impressive about him. And he comes with no accessories except his helmet. A pistol would have been nice.

Crimson Guard - The Fred-head is perfect. The helmet is only a tiny bit larger than the one on the single-pack figure. The rifle choice is very odd, but is cool in and of itself.

Scarface - Nice scars. He has hair! Otherwise, he's just the same Cobra Officer we're used to.

Tomax & Xamot - VERY cool figures. Interesting gun choice, and the green is a little odd for a weapon. They also each have pistol and knife sculpted on each leg... that are not removable. Their shoulder "shields" ARE removable, though. The crotch is better than the first wave of 25th, but not as good as the "fixed" ones.

Fun times!

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NEW FILECARDS!!!!!

Seriously, the Tomax/Xamot filecards are brand new! Very cool stuff, well-written. I wonder if Larry did them? In addition, they reveal the twins' heretofore unknown last name! It's , if you can't wait to know.

The Scarface, Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow cards all appear to be new, as well, referring to specific details in the comics they come with.

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Care to post any more spoilers from the new 1/2 comics for those of us who won't have wave 2 or 3 anytime soon? Not plot summaries really but maybe, oh I dunno, more trivia bits like the Twins' name...

And is the #21.5 issue also silent or is there dialogue contained within those pages?

It's silent. And it reads really weird. You really need to read it side-by-side with the original Silent Interlude and flip from one to another. It really is like deleted scenes. It doesn't reveal much, except why Destro didn't see Scarlett escape on his monitor screens (SS distracted him fiddling with the chess set), etc.

The Tomax/Xamot one is decent.

Ironically, A Day in the Life of Springfield is the best one.

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Lance is going to Sputnik himself when he hears that Dr. Mindbender's origin is now in print

I can't wait to get these. For the figures AND the comics.

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I know! I kept thinking of him while reading it.

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Nice score! I'm probably going to want these just for the comics.

Wow. I just got sold on the Crimson Twins pack and the Fred/Scarface pack.

I'm still on the fence with Ace/Weasel and likely won't get the Snakes/Storm Shadow one even though I like the sounds of the comic.

WOW! I just discovered Wild Weasel's goggles come off his helmet!

He has eyes underneath. Who knew?

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I gotta find the Ace & WW pack!