Stuff to See!
Just Like That, I Was Seven Years Old Again
Dickens beat me to the punch, and Ecclesiastes long before that, but these were the best of times, and these were the worst of times.
Just yesterday I was forlorn about the unjust price hike on my favorite malt liquor.
And then, out of nowhere, I see a replica of the ORIGINAL Ultra Magnus Transformer figure in a local Toys 'R Us (aka Tru lies).
Mesmerized by the sight of my second favorite Transformer character, and at the hefty $40 price tag, it takes me a minute or so to scan the shelf whereupon this beauty (actually, the Ultra Magnus figure was pretty crappy, but I love the character) rested.....
When I went back 18 years...there it was. A sales sticker indicating a reissued, original, Optimus Prime figure (also 40 bucks).
Optimus Prime, as you may or may not know, is one of my very few heroes, childhood or otherwise, in this modern world. My all-time favorite cartoon character, and up in the top five of my favorite characters of any kind, Optimus Prime stands for much more than a figure for good (TM). He is strong, wise, intelligent, kind, compassionate, resolute, wily, honest, tough, moral, and charismatic. He's not perfect, but I could do a lot worse for a role model in my life (especially considering many other things which were going on around me).
And, strangely enough, considering the consumer culture which flourished in the mid 1980's, he also came across as a Christ figure, sacrificing himself (twice) for those whom he loved, and returning from death (once) at a time of his world's greatest need. Although the Transformers cartoon was almost barbaric in the level of violence it contained, there were a number of characters who rose above the mayhem, and at the forefront of them all stood Optimus Prime.
However, seeing evidence of this thing, one of the few items for which I maintain a 'buy first, ask questions later' attitude, I immediately forsook my random travels and embarked on a quest to FIND this thing, this Optimus Prime. I nearly ran from the Toys 'R Us store in my zeal.
Supposing, of course, that I'd be likely to find this beastie in another store in the same chain, I went from Glen Burnie Mall (where I sighted traces of my quarry), to another TRU in Columbia, MD. Only to find a reissued Hot Rod (renamed Rodimus Major, for some reason which, though explained, fell flat to me). I scuttled away, with Hot Rod in tow (some gain having had to been made, although to the loss of 20 bucks), to the next stop, another TRU store (route 40 west). And there, my friends, there I found my idol.
Not to mention Hot Rod, and Ultra Magnus, which, if nothing else, demonstrates that hindsight is 20/20, and that fate, if it exists in anything approaching the conventional understanding of it, is seldom scrutable by mere mortals like myself.
At this point, I should mention that I already possessed my SECOND Optimus Prime, which stands sentinel over my LIME Imac, minus plastic fists, plastic rifle, and Roller (a trooper, that one). I had also possessed, at one time, 2 Ultra Magnus models (one with rubber wheels, one with plastic), as well as a Targetmaster Hot Rod figure (all of which I somehow lost, traded, or destroyed in teenage rage). So this massive (and foolish) expenditure, which renders me unable to purchase food for at least two weeks, is merely recouping what once was lost, and even more foolishly granting me a 2nd Optimus Prime figure (maybe I'll take one to work with me on Monday).
But I feel like today, for the first time since I don't know when, I have accomplished a meaningful, lifetime goal. I have found a complete Optimus Prime!!!
A Time to Choose
OR
EVIL
