Holiday shopping is one of the few times I actually end up browsing through a store for more than just the essentials like groceries. Other than bookstores, I have a very low threshold for shopping, so this is one of the few times spend more than ten minutes there.

And the strange thing about shopping for relatives in India, is that I always end up finding something or the other I want myself! Take this little action figure, for instance. It was only AED 15 (a little over $4), and for the price it was quite well made. It's a cheap and cheerful toy, surprisingly detailed, and one in a whole glut of products that covered everything from zombie pirate playsets to dinosaurs and giant gun-wielding policemen. On the other shelf were Transformers toys that cost over $100, and they weren't actually any good.

But while it's a nice little figure on its own, I was sold on it when I noticed a hole in the pack for a finger, and a well-camouflaged purple button on the figure's belt. I had to press it...

How cool is that?

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Picked these up at the Japanese dollar store. I succumbed to their cuteness and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

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