Finally!! My friggin' Guardian Heroclix!

In the early morning hours today, the temperature began to dip to -26 "feels like -38" in Ottawa.  Yet I almost ran to the mailbox in pajama pants when I saw that the Guardian Heroclix I ordered was showing as "delivered" on the US Postal Service website.

Getting my hands on this thing has been a chore. I first ordered it in early November (on e-bay).  The person I purchased it from shipped it in no time, so I was pleased to see that.  I was tracking the package on the US Post site.  Everything seemed to be going fine.  Until it got jammed up somewhere.  It didn't move for over a month.

While seeing if I could order it from somewhere in Canada instead, I inadvertently ordered a second one from the States.  And then noticed that I did so from the same dude I bought the first one from.  Bloody hell.

Then the morning after my second purchase, I checked on my first more out of habit than anything.  Damned thing had apparently been released from the holding facility in which it was stuck and was on its way after all.  Bah.  Oh well, I guess at least I would get both rather than have one lost somewhere.

Not yet!  I looked closer and my first purchase has apparently ended up in Brazil.  In light of the temperature here though, I can kind of understand why it would do such a thing instinctively.

But my second one did make it, as promised by US Post!  I plucked it out of the mailbox this morning and I quite like it!

Except...

The front looks pretty great, at least compared to the original version of this game piece (shown on the Collectibles page above).  Here it is, blown up significantly.

Sure, there are slight paint flaws along his right arm.  But the actual piece is only about two inches tall so it's actually not very noticeable. On the flip side, the yellow eyes don't stand out very much on the actual figurine.

The problem is on the back.

Uhm...What the hell is that?  They'd done a pretty good job with the maple leaf in the front of the piece, how could they butcher it so badly on the back?  Gack!

If my first Guardian ever comes home from Brazil, I'll compare the two.  And as far as having two in the collection, I can paint a small red stripe on the above one's mask and pretend he's Mac's clone from volume two of Alpha Flight, and that the other one is Mac returned from being blasted into space by Department H. 

There.  Problem solved.