Ashiko has an interesting history, because of his distribution. Hasbro has a habit of only releasing the final wave of something (in this case the final wave of Pursuit of Cobra Alpha vehicles) in Asia and Canada. At that point the only thing any U.S. fans can do is buy them from Canada at an inflated price, or buy them off of the internet at an equally inflated price. That is, until Ashiko started showing up recently at Ross stores.
Ross is a department store where big box retailers will send their unsold goods to die (or be bought at a cheaper amount). This is also something G.I. Joe fans are used to, since the Cobra Attack and Defense 7 packs, as well as the G.I. Joe Resolute 7 packs showed up at Ross stores as well. I took a trip to a local Ross and sure enough found Ashiko with Cycle Armor. I had wanted this figure ever since I saw the prototype. It seemed like such a great concept and felt very reminiscent of the Centurions which I loved as a kid. Keep reading to see if that excited stayed after opening him up!
