Haven Tales

Chapter 24: Into Action.... Figures

  "Ya know Mikki, I've been thinking about something" BJ said as he and his wife were snuggling.
"What is it honey" she asked.
"What if I started to collect action figures" BJ replied.
"Go for it. There's nothing that says teenagers can't collect them" Mikki said.
"Wait. Seriously? You don't think it's a waste of money" BJ said.
"Nope. I think it's a cool idea" Mikki replied.
"Sweet. A new store just opened up. We'll check there in the morning" BJ said as he started to fall asleep.
The next day was Saturday and BJ and Mikki had already woke up and ate breakfast.
"So...... Do you know anyone who knows a thing or two on action figure collecting" BJ asked.
Before Mikki could answer, Fred walked into the living room.
"Morning kids" he said.
"Ummmm.... Dad? Shouldn't you be at work" Mikki asked.
"You know I have Saturdays off, right sweetie" Fred replied.
"Oh right. I forgot" Mikki said.
"Anyways, I used to be a huge collector of action figures as a kid" Fred said as he explained everything to BJ and Mikki.
"Really? What did you collect, Mr. R" BJ asked.
"A little of everything. But my favorite series to collect were Masters of the Universe, Ghostbusters, Thundercats, Voltron and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Fred answered.
"Oh nice. I used to collect TMNT figures myself" BJ replied.
"Well now you'll be starting fresh" Mikki said.
"That's right. Even though we're just teens who got married at age 16, we sure seem like we've been together forever" BJ said.
After taking their showers and getting dressed, they all got into Fred's car and drove off to the Epic Action Toy Shop.
"Alrighty gang. We're here" Fred said as he parked the car.
Upon getting in, they were blown away by just how big the store was.
"Dang. This place is huge" BJ said as they walked around.
Just then, the store owner came up to him.
"Hi there. I'm Hannah. I run this store. How can I help you" she asked.
"Oh we're just browsing" BJ answered.
"Okay. If you need any help, I'm here every single day" Hannah said.
As they looked around, they bumped into Spencer.
"Hey Spencer. What's up" Mikki asked.
"Oh hi Mikki. I'm just checking out the amazing Power Rangers section of this amazing store" Spencer answered.
"Have you found anything cool" BJ asked.
"I found a really cool figure of the Red Ranger from Power Rangers Time Force" Spencer replied.
"Nice. Mikki, Mr. Rogers and I are here so I can start a fresh action figure collection" BJ said.
"Cool. I hope it turns out good" Spencer said.
"Thanks" BJ replied.
"Anytime, my friend" Spencer said as they walked over to the video game figure section.
"Holy cow. Look at all the video game related action figures" Mikki said as they looked.
"Yeah. It really takes me back to my childhood in the late 80's and early 90's" Fred replied.
"Okay. To start with the gaming side of things, I'll go with some Jazwares Mega Man figures" BJ said.
"Which ones" Fred asked.
"Just the Retro Rotos of Elec Man, Guts Man, Shadow Man and Mega Man himself" BJ answered.
"Excellent choices. Now let's go and check out the section based on one of my most cherished childhood shows, Voltron" Fred replied.
Once they got to the Voltron section, Fred looked for the best versions of the figures for BJ to add to his collection.
"Ah ha. The Playmates toys Voltron figures are perfect modern versions of the iconic defender and the pilots" he said as he picked out the figures and handed them to his son in law.
"Okay. What's next" BJ asked.
"Up next we're headed to the MOTU section" Fred answered.
"What's MOTU" Mikki asked.
"It's short for Masters of the Universe" Fred replied.
"Oh okay. Let's go" Mikki said as they went to the next section right next to the Voltron one.
"Now I forgot to mention that playsets are a must for a collection. It gives you a nice little base of operations for the figures to be in" Fred said.
"And what playsets did MOTU have" BJ asked.
"There were quite a few. But the one that is required to be in any collection is Castle Grayskull" Fred answered.
"Makes sense to me" BJ replied.
After picking out a few figures from Masters of the Universe section, they went to the Thundercats area.
And after that, they went right to the section based on Fred's favorite childhood show: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
"Now this is the best section of the entire store" Fred said as they looked through all the different incarnations of the TMNT series from 1988 up to 2016.
"Yeah. What playsets are required for TMNT? I mean we have Castle Grayskull for Masters of the Universe and The Cats' Lair for Thundercats. So what is required for Ninja Turtles" Mikki asked.
"The answer to your question happens to be two playsets I still love to this very day. The Sewer Lair and the Technodrome" Fred answered.
"That makes sense. Especially the Sewer Lair" BJ replied.
"You said it, honey" Mikki said.
After paying for everything, they returned to the mansion and Mikki's mom a major question.
"Just where do you think you're gonna put all that stuff" Wanda asked.
"It's simple. I added and finished a waterproof basement to this house to act as a collection room in case BJ started collecting action figures.
"As long as you guys are happy, I don't care what you do" Wanda replied.
While setting up the shelves, Mikki confessed something to the guys.
"I've never actually seen the original TMNT series from 1987" she said.
"You missed out on a great series. Sure it's cheesy. But that's how most cartoons were back in the 80's" Fred replied.
"Luckily I've got all the seasons on DVD" BJ said.
"Cool. Maybe we could binge the whole series one day" Mikki replied.
"Yeah. That would be great" BJ said as they put up the last shelf.
Once they finished setting up each area, BJ invited everyone to come down to the basement to check it out.
"Whoa. This is pretty cool" Jenna said.
"It sure seems like it, darling" ALT added.
"Seems like everything is neat and organized" Ayanna said.
"Thank you. Thank you all" BJ said as everyone commented on his collection.
"You're welcome" they all said.
Later that day, BJ, Mikki and even Fred decided to binge the entire 1987 TMNT cartoon.
"This is gonna be great" Fred said as BJ put in the first disc in his XBOX 360.