It pains me that I’m reduced to this, but I must ask you, dear readers, for some assistance.

As you know, I’m an avid collector of DC Universe Classics. And as you may also know, there is a wave exclusive to Wal-mart currently in stores. I had a deal arranged to get a set, but it fell through.

You can’t order the wave online, unless you’re willing to pay outrageous eBay scalper prices. And for some reason, there simply are none in Massachusetts. I’ve visited seven different Wal-marts in the past week and found no sign of them. I did find one Sonic Arm Cyborg at Kay-Bee Toys, which I’m happy to trade, if anyone’s interested.

So I’m putting the word out: if you live near a Wal-mart and come across this wave, would you be willing to pick up a set for me? I’m willing to pay cost, shipping + a bit extra for your effort, or alternatively, I’ll make you an excellent deal from my trade page.

The figures include: Amazo, the Riddler, Black Lightning, the Atom, and Eradicator. You can see packaged photos here.

You may be asking yourself, Poe, why don’t you just wait and see if they show up in Boston? Perhaps they’ll be like Legendary Comic Book Heroes and will swamp the pegs in no time. Well, I have two reasons: one, I’m impatient. But more importantly, I want to be able to offer you timely reviews of what is arguably the main focus of this toy line. It’s really all for you, dear readers. (Do you buy that?)

But I have a point to make beyond my pathetic begging. Yes, Mattel’s distribution issues are rampant, and this is a great example of that. And yes, exclusive waves are noxious when they trickle out like this in the Internet age (perhaps there’s an argument to be made in favor of street dates?). But one way to combat problems like these are to work together. Are there any JLU fans out there who can’t find any of the Target-exclusive JLU figures because there are no Targets near them, but are buried in Wal-marts with DCUC5? Are there any G.I. Joe collectors who could have DCUC5 if they wanted them, but really just want a Target exclusive Joe vehicle?

Let’s not let the scalpers on eBay take our money when we could be helping ourselves.

Anyway, if you can help me with DCUC5, please email me and let me know!