This past weekend, I was in a 'Whole Foods' supermarket, when I noticed they had 3 varieties of fresh figs for sale: Mission, Brown Turkey, and a yellow variety (I don't recall the name). All from California (I live in VA).

I had never tasted a fresh fig - only dried - so I bought a container of the Mission figs. It was an 8oz container, and there were about 8 in the box (to get an idea for size). I couldn't wait to get home before eating one, so I tried several in the parking lot.  Sadly, I was disappointed. The figs were dark and soft, but there was no juice, they were hardly sweet at all, and it left a faint 'green' aftertaste. Not unpleasant, but not 'wonderful' either.

Should I even be surprised? I mean, would this be like trying to compare a store-bought tomato to a home-grown tomato? (i.e. No Comparison!)

I love growing things, so this won't deter me at all from growing figs. But I think I'll reserve judgement on fresh taste until I've had one from my own tree...

Figs are meant to be eaten fresh ripe off the tree,

Even at home it does the same thing. I picked and ate some straight off the tree. Left some for my daughter and they sat there for a few hours. Tasted amost bland when I got to them later.

Matt, the figs were picked before they were ripe. People who never had figs for the first time usually end up hating figs until they get their hands on some ripe fresh ones.

Dominick, either they weren't ripe yet, or  you have an inferior strain. I have some of those inferior strains, and that is why I only propagate my NL variant.