Biting my tongue on any, "The Question is, how do I find him?" cracks.

A Steve Ditko page from the Question back-up in Modern Comics Blue Beetle #1. With a little luck, by the time I post this, I've got my DCUC Question figure from Big Bad Toy Store.

Although, if I'd held out a day or two, I would've ordered the Secret Wars Nightcrawler/Punk Storm two-pack, or at least tried to, since it appears to be out of stock already. (It may be back, so check it if you're interested!) Then again...and how to put this? It's not from Mattel, so I figure I have a chance of seeing it in stores. Maybe I'll run across the Question on the racks in the next week or so, and then I'll feel dumb...but I doubt it.

(Incidentally, I would bet that I'll buy more than one of those Nightcrawlers, so it's extremely likely I'll have a spare Storm to trade. We'll see...)

Some toy related discussion after the break!

Also, by the time I post this, the post-game analysis of the other Tuesday, a.k.a. Trap Jaw Day, should be in the books. There will be doubtless tons more discussion on other sites, but my understanding is that the new Masters of the Universe Battle Cat, and Trap Jaw, both sold out in something like twenty minutes. Mattel is doing a lot of things right, but distribution does not seem to be one of them.

For example: locally, one Target is clogged with the remnants of DCUC Wave 7: Big Barda, Captain Cold, blue Aquaman, possibly the whole wave with the possible exceptions of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold. And two, maybe three Silver Banshees from the Target Exclusive Public Enemies wave. Finishing Brimstone around here looks like a tough one, since I've yet to see the second part of that batch.

(Thanks to It'sAllTrue's DCUC Guide, since I sure as hell don't remember what figure was in what wave.)

There are three Wal-Marts in my neck of the woods: the one nearest me, has no DCUC, and hasn't for some time. Of course. The next nearest did get at least one shipment of Wave 11, but the Question, Cyborg Superman, and Deadman were all long gone by the time I saw it, and they have not been restocked to date, after about a month. That Wal-Mart also has a full peg of four Cyborgs--the Sonic Arm version that was originally a KB exclusive back in 2008. To its credit, there may only be one Captain Cold on the pegs there.

The third, and most inconvenient for me to get to, was the only one to get the Imperiex exclusive wave, and is full of Foragers, a few Beast Boys, and a surprising amount of Power Girl. I'm still surprised by that one: I was quite happy to get her, and thought she would fly off the racks. I'm hoping to see some clearance there sometime, since that one's pretty full.

The Comic Book Shop did get DCUC for some time, but I think they ended up overstocked on Captain Cold and some of the rest of Wave 7. In the clearance of their mall store, you could, right now, get four Captain Colds for under ten bucks. Maybe more, if you ask nicely...they may or may not get future waves at this point, but seem to be moving the DC Direct Green Lantern stuff just fine anyway.

And Toys R Us and Fred Meyer both have had Waves 8 and 9, but don't seem to be restocking them: Fred Meyer, however, still has figures for under ten bucks. Need to get Commander Steel--like Guardian, knowing his history in the comics makes me laugh--and maybe Mr. Terrific. And there's probably a Captain Cold on every other peg at those stores, too.

Man, I'm worried Captain Cold is going to be like Banshee from the first wave of Hasbro Marvel Legends: an ugly, ugly figure that's everywhere, clogging the pegs and preventing any restock. In a recent sidebar on Blackest Night in Toyfare, writer Geoff Johns said he was looking forward to seeing a new Captain Cold figure. Please throw one at him if you see him at a show. I know where you can get some. Cheap. OK, don't really throw them, but Captain Cold's also had two DC Direct figures, so he should be good for a long while, right?

Ah, I'm beat and watching Lost, so this has gone on long enough. A Question strip will be forthcoming soon...