Those Dirty Swappers Are At It Again!

It's only been a few weeks since I did the post for my first figure of the year (/figure swapping rant), but I've already come across another swapped figure.  And this time, it's pretty wacky.  I can't believe this one was even successfully returned, but then again I care about these things.

Here is a Geonosian Pilot (from Star Wars) swapped out with a Cobra Trooper (from G.I. Joe).

Some swappers go to a lot of trouble to make a figure look like it's in the package it was supposed to be in.  I've even heard of people repainting the figures they swap to better sell the illusion.  This swapper didn't even bother sticking to the same brand!  I don't know who I'm more annoyed with: The swapper who went to all this "effort", or the Winners employee who thought this was legit.  I mean, I get that not everyone knows the difference between Star Wars and G.I. Joe (as sad as that is), but the figure isn't even close to the guy pictured on the card.

In my spotlight on the swapped Roth-del Masona figure, I pointed out that the swapper at least took some steps to hide what was going on.  A sticker over the face on the card art, the name conveniently scratched out, an accessory left in...  This guy did none of that.  I suppose not every toy line has a picture of the included figure's character on the card, but there are obviously accessories missing from this package.  The figure's head has also fallen off.  It's just a ball joint so it merely has to be popped back on, but what kind of store employee would accept a returned figure with a head that's fallen off?  I suppose the swapper could have used this as the excuse to return the figure, but someone still put it back out on the shelves.

Image courtesy of Rebelscum.com

And just like the swapper with the Roth-del Masona figure, this idiot also used a harder to find figure for their swapping fodder.  This Geonosian Pilot figure was only ever available as a pack-in with the Geonosian Starfighter, released as part of the first Clone Wars line in 2003.  There have been a decent amount of Geonosian figures over the years, but this is the one-and-only pilot.  The Geonosian Starfighter is a pretty odd looking (and therefore pretty sweet) vehicle, but I'm not a vehicle guy.  In the end I'm all about the figures, and since I missed out the Geonosian Pilot back when he originally came out, I got him now.  That's one less swapped toy on the shelves, one more figure I never had before now, and it only cost me $3.  That's way less than the starfighter would have cost back in the day.

I like the Geonosians.  I don't know if they jumped out at me right away, but they've grown on me.  They're fairly unique among the other aliens seen in the Star Wars movies, and they helped bring zombies into the Star Wars universe.  So that's a plus.  The figure itself is pretty cool too.  This is the only Geonosian with a mask, and it somehow makes a weird looking character even weirder.  The mask gives it a creepy, Hannibal Lecter appearance.  I know it's a flight mask, but it could also double as a restraint to stop this creature from biting your face off (the cord - which I assume plugged into to something in the starfighter - could also serve as a leash).

The Geonosian Pilot never came with any accessories (besides the starfighter), so I guess I'm fine without getting any accessories here.  Still, the swapper could have left one gun to help sell the illusion, thus leaving me with a Geonosian packing a machine gun.

Roth-del Masona was repacked on a card without a bio, but it was still a Star Wars card, so it's all good.  On the other hand, this Geonosian seems to have been recruited by Cobra.  I didn't get his Cobra filecard though.  I got the Cobra Trooper's filecard.  I don't want to know about the Cobra Trooper.  I didn't get the Cobra Trooper!  I want to know about Cobra's Geonosian Pilot!  Well, sometimes to get what you want, you just have to go out and make it yourself.

That's better!  Now one brand's cannon fodder is another brand's cannon fodder and the world keeps on turning.

Coincidentally, this creature sneaking into the G.I. Joe line even seems to have have a "G.I." on his armor.  Maybe this is more legit than I thought!  He's a Geojoesian!  Well, look at the time...

So now I have two warriors from apposing sides of the Battle of Geonosis; each one a victim of figure swapping, and both purchased in the same month.  These swappers seem to be focusing on a very specific time in the Star Wars saga, but that's okay.  There's a lot of characters from the Battle of Geonosis that I still need figures of!