There seems to be a concerted effort to attempt to keep this covered up throughout model railway social media.
That's it. That's the post.
Whether it's because it's a 1 for 1 recolor of the mainline Stalker, or they just made too many of them, I've seen this one for sale as low as $10. Curiously, the mainline Stalker is also readily available at clearance prices. I don't get it, because it's a better figure than many of the ones going for scalpers' prices.
Apologies for this lengthy post, but I'm out of my depth and I could use some advice.
My mom lives in a house that's approaching 50 years old, and I've always known the plumbing would eventually need to be replaced because all the lines are galvanized. Last week a toilet started leaking around the base when flushed. I figured it just needed a new seal, so my mom called an accredited, "family-owned" plumbing service with an A+ rating with the BBB (for what that's worth). They were late, and they didn't even look at the toilet before they went straight for the water tank and told us the pressure was too high (120 psi), then told us we needed to have them replace the pressure reducing valve, otherwise they wouldn't guarantee the work they did on the toilet.
They replaced the seal on the toilet that day, and then two days later one of them came back to install the PRV. Two and a half hours into the job, I asked if everything was ok, and he told me that he had installed the PRV, and that the water pressure was now 70 psi, but there was now a blockage in the lines he could not locate or clear out (I looked up their advertised services since then on their website, and they do in fact claim to have exploratory cameras and hydro jets, so I'm at a loss why he didn't suggest that). He wouldn't even consider trying a snake when I suggested it. At any rate, there was absolutely no water pressure, despite his "repair." He then said we needed to have ALL the plumbing replaced immediately (actually, a week later, which is the soonest they can work us in).
They required a deposit. I hope that's not a red flag. I signed up for a monthly-billed "member services" plan in order to get a discount on the new lines, which will involve tearing up the yard and potentially sawing through walls, and now the house is without water pressure for an entire week. All we wanted was a leaking toilet fixed.
The vast majority of online reviews for the company are gushing 5-star reviews, and they appear to be authentic, but I question how many of those might be fake, because most of the 1 and 2-star reviews say the same thing over and over again: They came in to do a job, found something else that needed to be fixed, then found something else that needed to be fixed, and so on. Upsell, upsell, upsell, and a simple repair turns into a nightmare. We live in an age where someone is constantly trying to scam us, and I'm starting to wonder if they may have purposefully made things worse just to get more work out of this home, and whether I'm being taken for a ride here.
I need to know what questions to ask these plumbers when they arrive to start the job. I'd also like to know if what I've described here is as commonplace as their 1-star reviews seem to indicate, and whether this is commonplace throughout the plumbing industry. Is this an obvious high-pressure sales scam, or is this what happens when you live in a house built before the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act was established? I accept the lines are old, and I accept they're not going to last forever, but I also know I've gone from a leaking toilet to no water in a span of 72 hours.
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate your expertise and advice.
I did not like the Mainline Scarlett that much, and the Origins Scarlett was fine but deviated considerably from her classic design. This one checks every box!
It has a built-in heater, and maybe the LEDS would encourage SOME algae growth. Scrolling down the page, it says it's frequently sold with an air pump and a Sea Monkeys starter kit, but wouldn't 0.42 gallons mandate something like four starter kits?
Any firsthand accounts of this particular setup?
I had a Sea Monkeys set when I was a kid, and raised them for over a decade until I went off to college. I haven't really given them much thought since, but the almighty algorithm saw fit to send me here. Subs like this are what the internet was supposed to be for, so good on you!
My only issue with this figure is that she won't bend at the waist and hips enough to actually sit in a vehicle. Not sure if it's just my specimen, or a problem with the design. I don't remember having that issue with the mainline version.
This was another of the first Walmart exclusive retros that was packaged in a paper-thin blister card that was absolutely destroyed by Walmart fulfillment during packing and shipment. The figure is much better than the first Classified Gung Ho, and the accessories are infinitely better than the Dollar Tree-quality accessories that came with 07, but the hard plastic strap on the included weapon makes it very difficult to put in his hand, so I opted instead for the rocket launcher from the Action Force Declassified gear pack (which ironically was created to make the first Gung Ho actually look like Gung Ho).
I especially like how he doesn't have a shotgun holster glued to his ass, so he can actually sit down in vehicles.
He takes up a lot of room on display because of his hose (giggity).
The flimsy blister card he comes on (along with Walmart's even-worse-than-usual packaging and shipping) left much to be desired on receipt, but this is one of my favorite figures.
I also appreciate the included weapon not being gummy and warped, but I still upgraded it with Valaverse.
Is it "From the Ashes?" That's the only thing I have in my collection other than the Greyhawk Adventures book, the "Wars" wargame, and the City of Greyhawk boxed set (which AFAIK just covers the city), and a bunch of adventures. Am I missing anything? (I'm aware of some World of Greyhawk sets from the early 80s, but those are clearly 1e).
They went the extra mile to make this one look like its vintage O-ring counterpart.