Completeness: Lost and Watchmen Kubricks
In the hopes of completing my Lost Kubrick set, last weekend I visited a few locations of a certain clothing store chain that I knew carried them. From my experience in visiting that store in the past, I knew that the various blind box toys they sold tended to be opened by curious people, and I thought I might luck out in finding what I needed among those that were already inspected. I was only missing Jack, which being the most common figure I was pretty sure I would have no trouble finding, and Desmond, the second rarest figure and a chase.
My search didn't start off too promisingly. At the first location that I visited there weren't any Lost Kubricks that I could find; but I didn't bother to ask about it. At the second store I fared better and found them on sale for $1.99 each, down from the somewhat high original price of $10. All but 2 I found scattered about had been opened previously, and some had been resealed with "Magic" tape, the semi-transparent matte kind that can be removed and replaced easily. Luck must have been with me because I found 2 Jack figures and 1 Desmond figure among those that were already opened! =D Success! (^___^) At first I was going to get only 1 Jack, but then I decided I might as well get both. That way I could have 2 complete sets of regular figures, and it's always nice to have extras just in case.
Yeah! Yea! Yay! (^___^)
After purchasing the 3 figures I still went on to a third location. I got a little sidetracked looking at the clothes for some reason; I guess since had already found what I'd been looking for, I became easily distracted. (^^;) There was also a hat that I had seen at the one of the other stores that had been calling to me. ;) I almost forgot my initial purpose while I debated whether or not to get this or that piece of clothing; I had a ticket for that afternoon to see the Ionesco play, Exit the King, on Broadway (it starring Geoffrey Rush and having gotten good reviews made it a must-see for me), so I didn't exactly have much time to dillydally. When I finally got around to the Lost Kubricks, I found that they were only on sale for $4.99. At the other store they rung up as $4.99, and the cashier had to manually change it to $1.99. Though I didn't look closely at every one, it looked like all of the boxes there had been opened previously. They had been completely covered with clear packing tape, with little triangles at the corners where the tape folded. Kubricks are not that much bigger than little Lego figures, so you can imagine the width of the box is much smaller than the width of packing tape. I guess a collector who cares about having the original box-does anyone care?-it being covered all over with that kind of tape wouldn't be a good thing. I don't think you'd be able to remove it without damaging the box, but then I don't think most collectors, or most people, would want to buy a resealed one. The contents might have been damaged or missing something.
In any case, among those boxes I did find a sole box that was not resealed that way, but instead taped back closed with a lightly adhesive blank price sticker. I took a peek and found a Ben figure inside! (O_O) Considering the rarity, I decided to buy it (and that oh-so-cute hat). I might be able to trade the figure for something later. I'm glad I was able to complete my set and at a bargain; the prices I've seen lately for Desmond are pretty steep. I saw that there is an auction ending soon for a complete Lost Kubrick set along with a Jack and Be@rbrick 2-pack and a 400% Dharma Be@rbrick. I'm suspicious that the Ben figure in that auction is missing the walking stick accessory that it's supposed to come with, since it's not mentioned in the description, and you can't see it in the photos, either. The accessories that come with the other figures are all prominently displayed, and I remember in the past that there was someone selling the Ben Kubricks without the walking stick. Hmm...
In related collecting news, I pre-ordered the Watchmen Kubricks. It seems that outside Japan they're not being sold individually or in boxes of 24, but in 2 sets of 3. One set has The Comedian, the second Nite Owl, and Ozymandias. The other has Dr. Manhattan in his thong, Rorschach, and the second Silk Spectre; 1 out of 4 sets will have Dr. Manhattan in a suit. I prefer the suit, but then I think I might end up wanting both versions for completeness. The pre-order price for each set of 3 is about $18, which is not bad. At HLJ a box of 24 blind box figures costs ¥22,392.
I saw the Watchmen movie in IMAX at one of those newly converted theaters, where they extended the screen and did other things. The experience is just not the same as seeing a movie in a theater made specifically for IMAX with a huge, engulfing screen and where the best seats are all the way in the back row. =( I like real IMAX. As for the movie, it was one of those instances where I liked the trailer better. (^^;) I had read the graphic novel before seeing the film, and I have to say that I like Rorschach's turning point better in the comic. What happened in the original story when he waited outside the house "proved" something to him, and I missed that in the movie. I also preferred how the big event at the end was originally written. I happened to read somewhere beforehand that there wasn't going to be a you-know-what, which I didn't mind, but I guess I didn't like the new scapegoat.