The clearance waiting game

So, a few weeks back I convinced myself into wanting 4 current Walmart exclusives that, at first, I was pretty uninterested in.

They've got 2 two-packs of ROTF scout repaints. One set has Beachcomber (a blue Dune Runner) and Deadlift (a black & orange Dirt Boss), and the other has Slapdash (an orange Detour/Dead End) and Trenchmouth [a(nother) red Knock Out].

Truth be told, I'm really still not interested in either Slapdash or Deadlift. Slapdash's mold is pretty good (I really like Detour), but it's really hard for me to swallow it being an autobot, since it's so monstrous, even if the colors and alt mode make it a great G1 Wheelie homage. Deadlift is an homage to a Gobots forklift with the retarded name of "Spoons" (as evinced by the alphanumeric code that the two toys share). The colors are ok, and I've kind of bought into his bio (basically, he's the guy who lifts the bodies of the dead Decepticons into the smelting pools for parts reuse). Even so, he's still not something I'd probably buy if he was a single-packed release.

Beachcomber and Trenchmouth, however, are actually kind of cool. Beachcomber, for starters, is kind of one of those no-brainer repaints - Dune Runner looks something like a dune buggy, and Beachcomber was the original TF dune buggy, plus the head mold (with its visor) isn't a bad match. And after skipping out on Energon Beachcomber a few years back (who's really expensive on the aftermarket, by the way), I'd kind of like a multiversal equivalent to hang out with my Universe Legends Beachcomber.

Trenchmouth is desirable for much more oblique reasons. Firstly, as I noted, he's a repaint of ROTF Knock Out. Besides being a great mold, Knock Out is also pretty much ROTF Wasp/inator (despite being an Autobot). Now, the first repaint of Knock Out was also a red Decepticon - Reverb. And while most thought Reverb was an homage to a Gobot motorcycle (and he really does look like Dart), it turns out he's actually an homage to that other BW hymenopteran, Inferno the fire ant. This is pretty cool, as it shows that Hasbro wanted to use the mold to homage not just one, but two insectoid BW Predacons. Well, it would be pretty cool, except that Reverb's overall look kind of sucks. Then Trenchmouth comes along - here's another red Decepticon repaint of Knock Out! In other words, he manages to look better than Reverb while still filling the same basic aesthetic niche. Sure, some of the specific Inferno callouts aren't there - there's no "97" racing numbers or "Colony Racing" logo, nor the teal accents, but overall it still works, while also adding one of the better looking cyberglyphics tattoos from the movie. So, when I boil it all down, I want Trenchmouth because I'd like Knock Out/Wasp to have an evil counterpart who's also based on another BW Predacon (Inferno, who, at least visually/structurally, also resembled Waspinator quite a bit) without the sucky look of Reverb.

Of course, they can't make it easy on me and put Beachcomber and Trenchmouth/Inferno in the same package. No, they're both put in with the two I don't really want. So, to avoid paying ~$32 for 2 toys I want and 2 I don't, I'm waiting to see if these two sets go on clearance, as I've seen they have elsewhere, for only $5 a pop. That would mean that'd I'd pay only $10 for 4 toys - rendering the 2 I don't want free and one of the 2 I do want heavily discounted, as one scout toy on its own costs $8.

While they haven't hit clearance anywhere that I've seen them yet, I checked again today with the wife, and she specifically tried to memorize the names of the 2 sets. I might be getting them for Easter of something.