Super Weekend.....

.....420 minutes.....
.....8 shops.....
.....2 shopping malls.....
.....1 action figure.....

I think this is the craziest thing I've done on a trip to get a toy yet! It all started Thursday afternoon, before work I was slightly early, so I decided to do some "window shopping".

I found that Jusco 1U had some Batman figures that aren't commonly found in the market. Now - I still have RM 50 vouchers I received last year for 0 MCs. I've been saving this vouchers for something - like a nice pen or something. RM 50 can't really get you much these days. It so happened that these Batman figures were RM 49.90 each.

There were some other toys that I've been tempted to get. Still I managed to restrain myself and managed to get on the bus for work.

The following day - I was early again. This time, I decided to check out Toys R Us and I found another Batman figure that isn't commonly found. They are from the new "The Batman" animated series. I've seen the movie "The Batman Vs Dracula" and I liked it.

Triple Shot Batman

There were 2 of them left, one with some glue issues around the plastic part of the cape and the 2nd had some smudges of paint on his face. As I was rushing, I decided to hide the 1st one behind some other toys. I was planning to come back and get it. The cape could easily be glued back on.

Today - I decided to check out to see if other places had this figure. I had some Tower Records vouchers that were going to expire so I thought "why not go to MidValley - they have a Toys R Us and a Tower Records there". Picked R up from his tuition class and headed down to MidValley.

When I got to Toys R Us MV, I didn't find any "The Batman" figures there. In fact, this place didn't have much of anything!

The latest stuff I saw there were Superman Returns line and maybe some Justice League stuff. I decided to check out Jusco and Metrojaya at MidValley but they didn't have what I was looking for.

It's an insult to actually call yourselves Toys R Us when places like Jusco or even Metrojaya has a better selection! In the end, I left Toys R Us MV empty handed but with a promise that I will never go back there again - unless they can do something about it.

Stopped by Tower Records after that and somehow got "persuaded" to spend my vouchers on Transformers: Galaxy Force VCDs. A set of 8 discs (containing 24 episodes) for about RM 50.00. With my vouchers, I only had to fork out about RM 20 for the set.

Next stop, 1Utama. Dinner was on top of the to-do-list as it was almost 7pm. I was already starving as I didn't have much to eat for breakfast or lunch. Again, it was a visit to Fish & Co. (why always this place?!?!). So far, the food hasn't let me down, portions are big and the service was top notch. They're also always obliging and generous to requests for extra tartar sauce. You can beat that and that's what keeps me going back. Well done Fish & Co.!!!!!

Checked out Ultimate Toys for a look-see (more stuff I'm tempted to get!). Stopped by MPH bookstore to check out some comic tradepaperbacks. A short stop at Parkson and then to Jusco 1U again. I was tempted once more to get the RM 49.90 Batman figure - but there were 2 other toys on my list as well.

Finally, made our way back to Toys R Us again. When I got to the shelf where I hid the figure, it was gone! I looked through the pegs and I found the one with the smudged paint on the face. I started looking around (so this is what Michael Crawford calls "Peg Patrol" over at his site www.mwctoys.com). I started searching the shelves to see if it was hidden elsewhere and I found stuff hidden by other people! No luck looking for my "Triple Shot Batman" though.

There I was, standing with the last "Triple Shot Batman" within a 50km radius (OK - that might be exaggerating because I didn't check out Toys R Us Bangsar and Toys R Us Subang Parade). But after what greeted me at TRU MidValley - I wasn't taking the chance!

As I was saying, I was left with the last "Triple Shot Batman" and it was almost 10pm - closing time. In the end, I decided to buy the damned thing. Maybe a little DIY with some poster paints can fix the paint on the face.

I think after this episode, I totally agree with what some people say - if you see something that you like, just buy it! Wallet and pockets permitting, of course.

Triple Shot Batman without(l) and with(r) armor and launcher

Now - what about that RM 50 voucher. The RM 49.90 Batman figure perhaps?

Managed to catch the 1st disc (first 3 episodes) of the Transformers: Galaxy Force. First thing we noticed - the damned thing was in Japanese!!!!! (And if the name sounds familiar, eagle-eyed readers will remember this from posts awhile back. This is the Optimus Prime who is a futuristic fire truck)

We had somehow forgotten to check the info on the sleeve and didn't realize it was in Japanese. Thank god for English subtitles. The dialogue - exaggerated like most Japanese anime. Kind of weird as the voices are very human-like - not like the G1 Transformers I remembered where most of them had some sort of robotic-tone to their voices.

Supreme Commander Galaxy Convoy (yes - that's what all the Cybertrons, or Autobots in Jap, address him by) insisted at the start of the series that when the Autobots migrate to Earth, they had to do their best to blend in with the humans and not raise suspicion.

I don't see how they can accomplish that when all of them scream "Transform!!!!!" everytime they transform from vehicle to robot and vice versa. Optimus..... I mean Supreme Commander Galaxy Convoy is guilty of this crime as well since he's got his vehicle mode, his normal mode and when he transforms in to his "SUPER MODE!!!!!!!!!!"

Galaxy Convoy normal mode (l) and SUPER MODE(r)

And yes - I did miss out on a chance to get the Galaxy Convoy pictured above due to hesitation. I don't see them on sale anywhere now - except on eBay.