Well, then I went to Toys R Us this past Saturday.
So, there I was, just seeing what's out there, when I came across one of those big cardboard point-of-purchase bins. I said to myself, Don't do it, Reis. Just keep on walkin'. But the urge was too strong. I thought back on Googum's comments in the last post about using the Lego Minifigure bag-squeeze method to see if I could possibly feel Cap's shield. I told myself, if I find a Cap, the hardest one to find, I'll go ahead and collect these.
Unfortunately, there were only five bags left in the bin. Looks like these little guys are pretty popular. Which didn't bode well, because this bin looked really picked over.
But I did my best, with the help of the side of the display, which showed all of the available figures, to feel through the bags. I went through all five. No rounded shield shape. No Captain America. But I did find a bag that I was sure contained Hawkeye, Thor and the Hulk and for $3, I just couldn't pass it up. So right there I was going back on my vow. But I'm so glad I did...
How awesome is that Hulk?!
Just as I was about to continue my toy shopping, I decided to double check inside the cardboard display bin, just in case there was one last pack of these. I looked inside and sure enough, half-wedged under the top closing flap of the box was one last pack. I pried it out, hoping that this was one yest unmolested by any scalpers that may have come before me.
I pinched it and squeezed it and did my best to see if I could find anything even remotely feeling like a round shield. And as my thumb slid across the first figure in the pack, I couldn't believe what I was feeling! Was that a shield? I kept feeling it over and over, just to make sure. I looked at the figures displayed on the side of the box to see if there was any other plastic protuberance on another figure for which what I was feeling could be confused.
No. I'm sure of it. That was Captain America's shield.
It was all I had in me to keep from running to the checkout, paying for both packs on the spot and opening the one with Cap in it right then and there. but I had more shopping to do.
But as soon as I got out to the car, I tore the small bag open and sure enough, look what came tumbling out...
EXCELSIOR! The elusive Captain America is mine!
When I got home, I took stock of my Avengers Chibis collection and was stunned with the realization that I have only bought three packs of these toys and haven't gotten one double. I am only three figures away from a complete set.
Quite frankly, I don't usually have this kind of collecting luck. One look at my piles of Lego Minifigure doubles (and triples, and in a couple of case, quadruples) illustrates that. But for some reason, the collecting gods are looking out for me as far as the Avengers Chibis are concerned. And I humbly thank them for it.
Now to get the last three figures. Watch me spend $1000 trying to get the Bruce Banner figure or something.
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! (On my desk!)
