I think I'd had a preorder on Big Bad Toy Store for "Nintendo 2-4inch Figure Collector Case with Bowser Figure" for roughly three years. Maybe more, I dunno. There was never a picture of it on the site, nor one that I could find online.  And every month the expected arrival date would be pushed forward.  But I held on to hope, you know?  My collection of Super Mario mini-figurines reeeeeeeeeeally needed a Bowser.  Yeah, I had double Paragoombas and double Koopa Troopas and such, but these were tiny guys, up against the much larger Mario, Luigi, and their frankly insane number of Yoshis.  Pitted against each other, you feel really sorry for the bad guys, and that's not what bad guys are for!

No, they needed a huge centerpiece, a center of power.  But as far as I could tell, the line was likely dead.  There'd been no sign of the fourth wave or even the "Figure Collector Case with Bowser" that I'd had on preorder since the beginning of time.  Newer Mario figures had begun to show up, but this was a newer, smaller scale.  A Bowser in a box-set had shown up in this scale, but, man, it would be a pointless Bowser.  A pointless, tiny Bowser that would fulfill none of my collection's requirements other than it being a Bowser.  Bowser needs to be appropriately huge.  Mario shouldn't be able to look over the top of his head.  You shouldn't feel sorry for him as he's about to be beaten up soundly by the legions of pastel Yoshis.  Princess Toadstool shouldn't look like she weighs more than him.  And so I passed, and have continued to pass on him for probably many years.

So Wednesday Graham and I were out looking for Prime Wave 3 but stumbled upon this.  There was just one giant carded Bowser sitting on the shelf next to the rest of the Mario/Sonic/whatevers in a Toys"R"Us.  There was no sign of the rest of a new wave or of other Bowsers.  Just a single giant carded Bowser, waiting for me, as if an angel had placed him there for me to find.

First I wondered what the hell was wrong with it that it hadn't sold.  I mean, this was what everyone in the universe should by all rights desire. It's like finding Allison Mack sitting there on the shelf, untouched.  Was this Allison Mack secretly a dude?  There was a pockmark in the shoulder, and the snout looked a little incohesive, but it was by all rights exactly what I had waited for for half a decade and had basically given up all reasonable hope for.  That thing was coming home with me.

It was $15.  When I got home, I canceled my preorder.  I also checked online to see if this Bowser was something that existed elsewhere in the world other than in my mind.  And it does.  So, phew.

Man, fuck a Dixie Kong.

Every three months or so, I remember to check the Internet to see if that third wave of 2-inch Super Mario Bros mini figurines exists yet.  Last week, this amazingly birthed sweet fruit!  For both wave 3, which had already begun to show up in stores, plus listings for wave 4.  Years ago, when this all started, we were told that there were four planned waves, so maybe this is it?

And, hahahaha, there's no Bowser.  There is, as Amber lamented in her typically over-the-top fashion in yesterday's TNI strip (which I can't link right now because I'm writing this before I leave for Webcomic Rampage last Thursday night, hope I didn't die!) some Dixie Kong.  Great!  Dixie Kong!  Wonderful.  Also in wave 3 is Donkey Kong, which is fine and expected and boring, and in wave 4 is yet another Donkey Kong and a Diddy Kong.  Man, they are really backloading this series with fucking Donkey Kong guys!  Wave 3 is also home to Princess Toadstool, Toad, Fire Mario, and another Yoshi.

(You can totally tell how oldschool I am by how I don't call Princess Toadstool "Peach."  I am an old man.)

But, seriously, it's a wave of all good guys!  Well, Donkey Kong used to be a villain, and that's basically how I'll categorize him, but, let's face it, he's a good guy.  Both wave 1 and 2 had two generic bad guys in them, and I was really looking forward to more.  They were my favorite part of the first two waves.  Instead, woooooo, Dixie Kong.

I'll end up buying Donkey Kong, Peach, and Toad.  I've found DK and Toad, after a few Gamestop haunts, but Peach still eludes me.  If the past is any indication, I'll have roughly a year and a half to pick her up at any Target in the area.

Wave 4 promises a non-Para Goomba and Boo, so at least that will be a return to form.  But screw you, Wave 3!  And screw you, Dixie Kong! You know, I was wrong, before: Wave 3 does have a villain, and it's you!

First things first:  The Robin statue's preorder price of $34.95 ($5 off the full price of $39.95) is only in effect until next Wednesday, November 10!  Get her early and get her cheaper!

Those Super Mario PVC figurines that both Amber and I enjoy changed corporate hands, like, years ago, and finally the new company put out some new product that I care about.  It's still not a new tooling or something, and it's, well, Yoshi repaints, but it's new!  It's neeeeeewww!

So I found this "limited edition" three-pack of Yoshis at Toys "R" Us the other day.  Randomly.  So if you need more Yoshis, I point you in their direction.

Man, what my Super Mario display really needed was more heroes versus more villains, certainly.  Oh well.