darkSpyro

A RARE variant? That would really suck.

I don't think it will be rare if everyone will have a chance at carrying her.

Stand-alone in-game variants have until now all been store exclusives:

Legendaries: Toys R Us
Granite Crusher: Target
Royal Double Trouble: Gamestop (store exclusive AND game bundle)
Molten Hot Dog: Wal-Mart
Jade Flashwing: Target

The only in-game variants available at multiple stores were bundled with games/systems:

Dark Spyro
Punch Pop Fizz
Gnarly Tree Rex

The chances of Scarlet Ninjini being a store exclusive seem higher than it being available everywhere by itself, but we'll see. Then there's Polar Whirlwind... >.<

I find it odd that they refunded my money so fast. I didn't ask for a refund. I expected them to tell me to wait another week or so.

Quote: lesty

I don't think she's going to be an exclusive. I'll know more by the end Thursday, hopefully. But if I had to guess, it looks she'll be carried by all the major retailers.

That's...really appalling. I'd even rather take her being an exclusive for some Activision flagship store that I never heard of (because it probably doesn't exist) over it not being an exclusive. That is just going to be a major pain.

I'm not pleased with this rumor.

middle of May.

lesty do you know when Polar Whirlwind will come to the US?

Quote: lesty

From what I know, she'll be only available for a very limited time, similar to other color variants, but she should be available at more than one retailer.
If you still are looking for her, I would head to your local Target in the middle of May.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.......

HOW rare? If it's White Flocked rare, I'll just resort to Amazon.de.

Ordered my Scarlet Ninjini on March 15, finally got her this past Monday.

Did anyone order an extra?

Considered it, but I figured I'd let everyone else get a chance. Got mine a few days ago btw, it's an amazingly beautiful piece.

Quote: Matteomax

Quote: lesty

From what I know, she'll be only available for a very limited time, similar to other color variants, but she should be available at more than one retailer.
If you still are looking for her, I would head to your local Target in the middle of May.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.......

HOW rare? If it's White Flocked rare, I'll just resort to Amazon.de.

Oh no... Nothing like a chase variant. You'll be able to find her, but probably just in that time period. Middle to late May. I assume other retailers will have quantities too. No clue about polar whirlwind.

Ordered her on the 4th of March, she shipped on the 14th, she arrived on the 22nd, delivery date was expected to be 21st, she came via USPS, here in SW Florida, sorry for the delay of info, hope this helps.

i think i got the actual last one they had in stock ordered on the 28th, shipped on the 30th and its expecting to be here by saturday from the estimate. If it doesn't show up then I'm going to give them a week after that atleast as it really depends how long it takes for things to get through. Its coming by royal mail so I'll assume the usps will handle it after.

It sounds about right in how they're doing things too according to how lesty is saying things. Scarlet would come first and polar is probably for june to help wrap things up. Sort of how they did wham shell at the end in just sort of that way.

Quote: lesty

From what I know, she'll be only available for a very limited time, similar to other color variants, but she should be available at more than one retailer.
If you still are looking for her, I would head to your local Target in the middle of May.

Extremely unfortunate and ridiculous. This won't be fun at all.
I'll just keep an eye-out on amazon.de, they'll probably restock soon enough.

Oh boy...

To me this "available in all stores for a limited time" thing makes no sense... The only All Stores variants I know of are the ones bundled with systems/starter packs: Dark Spyro, Gnarly, Punch... Since Scarlet was already an Amazon exclusive, it still makes sense to me that she'll still be an Amazon exclusive, just with the rest. Especially since the only other Amazon exclusive I can think of is Gold Flameslinger, a chase variant.

I see the positive in the fact that she may be available at multiple outlets even though it will only be for a short time. Of course I have the time to drive around and look for these things so it's really no biggie for me but I can definitely see why some people feel this will be a big hassle.

Well I had given up and they refunded my money. Yesterday I got 2 scarlet ninjinis in the mail. My delivery date was suppose to be march 25. Haha. Thanks germany for the free skylanders since your to stupid to track your own packages.

Quote: DrillSarge

Well I had given up and they refunded my money. Yesterday I got 2 scarlet ninjinis in the mail. My delivery date was suppose to be march 25. Haha. Thanks germany for the free skylanders since your to stupid to track your own packages.

So you're saying there still a chance of getting my order? Here's hoping....

I am giving up and I emailed them this AM about my order. Let's see what they do. I started a chat, but the guy saw that I was typing in English and sent some long pre-prepared statement about English speaking ways to contact them and then disco'd me. Nice Germany.

edit: I got the refund email pretty quickly... Hmmm... I guess I could re-order if they every come back into stock again. :-\

edit2: Just to be clear - I never asked for a refund. I just told them that the item had not arrived yet. That is it. They took the ball and ran it to the refund goal line all by themselves. I think that is what is happening to a lot of people on this thread. If SN does arrive eventually, I am not going to feel too bad after the pounding I have taken from TRU & GS on prices and shipping costs over the past 6 months...

-VM

Quote: DrillSarge

Well I had given up and they refunded my money. Yesterday I got 2 scarlet ninjinis in the mail. My delivery date was suppose to be march 25. Haha. Thanks germany for the free skylanders since your to stupid to track your own packages.

My estimated delivery date was also March 25th (has not arrived yet) ... so I guess there is still hope.
Amazon.de did refund my purchase price after I contacted them by email last night.
I'm not going to hold my breath, but at least there is a slight chance that I could end up with both a refund and a (badly delayed) Scarlet Ninjini, like DrillSarge did.

The one thing I learned from this experience (I had never ordered anything from a European retailer before) is that Amazon.com (the USA version) will not support or provide customer service for its international partner websites ... at all. I guess it was naive of me to presume that Amazon would stand behind other websites that bear the Amazon name/brand.

You guys really don't know how customs work. Have patience. They will come. Don't call up Amazon.de demanding a refund, because when they come, it only makes you a thief for taking products you didn't pay for, when customs sometimes likes to hold up products for how ever long they do.

I wasn't worried at all, but this is not my first time importing by a longshot. I used to do it during the Saturn days, when games like X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, and Darkstalkers 3 came out in Japan, but not the US. I imported FFVIII and IX on PS1 and beat those before they came to America. I imported a Japanese Dreamcast and House of the Dead 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 1 and 2, and Sonic Adventure before they released here, and I also bought a Japanese PS2 to play FFX ahead of its release here.

You guys just have to understand customs. They can - and will - hold it as long as they want. It's not Amazon.de's fault. Be patient, don't be a thief, if you call, get your money back, and still get your product.

Now, if they cancel on you, because they know you won't be getting your product, that's one thing, but getting stuff for free is stealing, if that's not what Amazon.de intended.

EDIT: WAIT! Let me rephrase that before the resident drama starters chime in, because they have nothing better to do.

If Amazon was throwing their Scarlets in the trash and you knew this, then by all means, do whatever it takes to keep them. No reason for Toys For Bobs hard labor to go to waste... literally. However, I don't think it was Amazon's intent to give people free Scarlets.

Completely agree with GameMaster78. The majority of those people getting refunds from Amazon.de for "lost" packages will still end up getting their packages sooner or later.

In response to GameMaster,

I can not speak for the others in my situation, but I will say the following:
I did not call up Amazon.de demanding a refund. I contacted Amazon.de to inform them that I had not yet received my purchase, and that it is now 10 days after the "Estimated Delivery Date" purported by Amazon.de. They then offered voluntarily a full refund ... I demanded nothing.
While I do not thoroughly understand the inner workings of the US Customs agency, I will say that it's very reasonable for me, as a consumer, to expect that Amazon would factor the possibility of a customs "hold" into their estimates for Delivery Dates. Amazon.de clearly shows on their website that estimated delivery time for exports to the USA is up to 12 days. Therefore, if delivery takes longer than 12 days, the consumer does have a legitimate gripe, and is well within his/her rights to contact Amazon's customer service with a complaint. Whether you approve of that or not is your business, GameMaster, and frankly, irrelevant. But I'm not going to stand by and be labeled a "thief".

From what I have read in this thread majority of people are having to sign for the delivery. There is no tracking for the packages (to know where they are in their route), however, the signature for the package can be sent to shipper to confirm delivery of the item.

EDIT: My bad. I was thinking of the polar whirlwinds that required signatures. The scarlet ninjini did not require signature.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

In response to GameMaster,

I can not speak for the others in my situation, but I will say the following:
I did not call up Amazon.de demanding a refund. I contacted Amazon.de to inform them that I had not yet received my purchase, and that it is now 10 days after the "Estimated Delivery Date" purported by Amazon.de. They then offered voluntarily a full refund ... I demanded nothing.
While I do not thoroughly understand the inner workings of the US Customs agency, I will say that it's very reasonable for me, as a consumer, to expect that Amazon would factor the possibility of a customs "hold" into their estimates for Delivery Dates. Amazon.de clearly shows on their website that estimated delivery time for exports to the USA is up to 12 days. Therefore, if delivery takes longer than 12 days, the consumer does have a legitimate gripe, and is well within his/her rights to contact Amazon's customer service with a complaint. Whether you approve of that or not is your business, GameMaster, and frankly, irrelevant. But I'm not going to stand by and be labeled a "thief".

It all boils down to impatience, no matter how you slice it. I have had to wait months for packages from overseas before. Thing is, I had patience. I knew they were coming. However, the perfect waiting time before starting to hound those who sold you a product from overseas, is about 1 1/2 months. By that time, it's reasonable to think something "MIGHT" have happened.

I never had any reason to doubt my package would arrive. As for tracking, everyone on this board should even be lucky we got tracking. When most of us importers, import, we get jack and **** in way of tracking. That was icing on the cake, but even then, no one should have expected it to be perfect, because technically, once it's in the US mailstream, it's out of foreign hands. They know just about as much as us once it leaves their hands. So, no one should place the blame on Amazon.de for even giving tracking, because when I imported two copies of Xenoblade in 2011 (before I knew it was coming to the US), I - and others who imported - knew nothing other than it's coming.

One person didn't receive their Xenoblade for 2 months after it shipped. That's not Game.co.uk's fault, it's US customs, for holding the package. They have that right, and we don't have the right to gripe in fits of self-entitlement - in my opinon. Any tracking provided is thoughtful on their end, but even it should only be beneficial until it enters the US mailstream.

This is all my take, but I take us humans who find ways to cheat the system, very seriously. Even when I gained 2 Volcanic Vaults from Best Buy, by not putting them in the box after I had returned the games due to faulty Gill Grunts, Best Buy told me to keep them because they'd just go in the trash after the close of business that day. I'm not letting TFB's hard work go into the trash, just because Best Buy already paid, got their money, and will be reimbursed by the vendor.

Just saying. I would take the refunded money and put it toward a charity or something. Something to show it's no longer yours, for a product you bought, instead of pocketing the money while getting free stuff to boot.

People here just need to be patient. Don't go getting refunds. Your products will arrive if they shipped. If Amazon cancelled before they shipped, they obviously know why they had to. Just my take.

EDIT: And if people want to know what happened to those 2 vaults I got from Best Buy, 1 went to my neighbor across the street, for free. The second went to a friend of mine's son, whose Dad is now in jail a third time, who had hocked his son's Wii and DS before that. He and his mother have next to nothing, but a TV, PS3, and a bookshelf full of books. I not only gave him a free copy of the PS3 version of Giants, but I gave him the second Vault from Best Buy, as well as a sealed Wham Shell, Legendary Trigger Happy, and Legendary 3-Pack from the first game.

Same here. I never asked for a refund. I emailed them asking where my item was and they said that they can't locate it andv there is nothing they can do. They gave me a refund. I even asked them to keep it abs just nail then when they get more but they said they had no idea when or if they would get more and they could not do it. It's not stealing. Nobody is a thief. If they had told me to wait that it was for sure coming that's what I would've done. However, getting 2 free scarlet ninjinis bc a company is incompetent is not my fault. They wanted it this way or they would provide better service.

Though I have to say on those that are getting refunds, etc it's going to make amazon for one either stop stocking them, or two they aren't going to allow importing of the figures if you try to order from their site. It's possible because of this they could change that. I would say give them at most two weeks from the time period of estimated delivery and if it still hasn't come in by then, that is when you should take a refund. To me I'm pretty patient as well as others have already pointed that customs can take some time to get things through. From how much most have spent on figures you should be a little patient there. How it looks I don't think they will stock more in for awhile.

What I don't understand is why some of us got tracking numbers and some didn't. All they have to do is track their packages. It's simple.

NOBODY got tracking numbers... Who do you think got tracking numbers? Outside of people in Germany and possibly Europe that is... From what I've seen, everybody in North America only had one option for delivery: Royal Mail, which I understand as being standard mail, so the package can't be tracked, so we didn't get tracking numbers. It seems like the majority of the people posting are from North America, hence most of the people posting don't have tracking numbers to use to track their packages.

Quote: DrillSarge

What I don't understand is why some of us got tracking numbers and some didn't. All they have to do is track their packages. It's simple.

Because to get a tracking number you have to use a shipping method that uses them. And either it will be crazy slow or crazy expensive. People that ordered enough to break their threshold for better shipping got an option to use DHL/USPS instead of just Royal Mail/USPS. Gamemaster is one that got that option and used it. However, he ordered as soon as they came up and didn't receive it until a good two weeks after most people.

The faster route (for the most part) was standard shipping without tracking. If they would have sent it with tracking it could easily add another $25 to the bill. Amazon balances the cost versus chance of losing the parcel/having to refund in their offerings. Having high priced shipping kills their prices and eliminates their market advantage.

And regardless, customs is customs. I don't care if you overnight Fedex it, if customs picks your package out randomly for a more thorough inspection it will take much longer to arrive.

Trust me, customs in China is worse.

Quote: GameMaster78

It all boils down to impatience, no matter how you slice it.

I must respectfully disagree.
Impatience may be part of the issue here, but I am, in general, a patient person, so I reject your analysis. That's not your fault; you don't know me.

In my opinion, it does not boil down to impatience. Rather, it boils down to expectations.
If a retailer takes the time to estimate its average/typical delivery time to a foreign country (in this case, 8 to 12 business days, per Amazon.de's posted policies on their website) and also slaps a bold-font "Expected Delivery Date" (which was set as 7 days (March 25th) after the purported ship date (March 18th) on my Order page at their own website ... then THEY set their OWN standard, and then failed to meet that self-selected standard. If Amazon had, up-front before I submitted payment, stated that delivery time varies wildly and that the Expected Delivery Date would be April 15th (just selecting that date hypothetically), then there would have been NO problem. If the package arrived before April 15th, then I'd be stoked, and if it didn't arrive until April 15th, well then, that's what I should have expected. However, as I said, Amazon set themselves up to fail here. They failed to meet their own standards that they set, and then compensated me of their own free will.

I didn't request the refund. I didn't even formally complain. That's simply how Amazon chose to respond. That doesn't make me a "thief", and I still resent the fact that you chose that term.

Quote: Matteomax

Trust me, customs in China is worse.

They were waiting for a bribe.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Quote: GameMaster78

It all boils down to impatience, no matter how you slice it.

I must respectfully disagree.
Impatience may be part of the issue here, but I am, in general, a patient person, so I reject your analysis. That's not your fault; you don't know me.

In my opinion, it does not boil down to impatience. Rather, it boils down to expectations.
If a retailer takes the time to estimate its average/typical delivery time to a foreign country (in this case, 8 to 12 business days, per Amazon.de's posted policies on their website) and also slaps a bold-font "Expected Delivery Date" (which was set as 7 days (March 25th) after the purported ship date (March 18th) on my Order page at their own website ... then THEY set their OWN standard, and then failed to meet that self-selected standard. If Amazon had, up-front before I submitted payment, stated that delivery time varies wildly and that the Expected Delivery Date would be April 15th (just selecting that date hypothetically), then there would have been NO problem. If the package arrived before April 15th, then I'd be stoked, and if it didn't arrive until April 15th, well then, that's what I should have expected. However, as I said, Amazon set themselves up to fail here. They failed to meet their own standards that they set, and then compensated me of their own free will.

I didn't request the refund. I didn't even formally complain. That's simply how Amazon chose to respond. That doesn't make me a "thief", and I still resent the fact that you chose that term.

I think you understand customs work, and I also agree that you should expect a level of standard from Amazon--especially if they are communicating the date. However--as others have indicated--patience is importance when dealing with international. I have some dark spyros and GITD fright riders coming from Denmark--and I'm not going to sweat it until it's at least a month. Still--understand your frustration here.

And GameMaster--BahamutBreaker isn't going to steal anything...he's gone out of his way in helping the locals here.

Quote: niceguy1

NOBODY got tracking numbers... Who do you think got tracking numbers? Outside of people in Germany and possibly Europe that is... From what I've seen, everybody in North America only had one option for delivery: Royal Mail, which I understand as being standard mail, so the package can't be tracked, so we didn't get tracking numbers. It seems like the majority of the people posting are from North America, hence most of the people posting don't have tracking numbers to use to track their packages.

What I am saying is no one generally does get tracking numbers. Some of us did with Scarlet, so that's a bonus. Those who didn't should just wait it out for about 1 1/2 months. Amazon's been doing this for years. Customs have been doing their customs things for ages.

Just wait it out. Don't go getting refunds if your products shipped. They will come.

If the customer inquired about the location of the package and Amazon.de, of its own accord, gives a refund, then that's on Amazon, not the customer. I've had domestic packages take a long time (over a month) to be delivered. I emailed the retailer and they told me it can take awhile because of the shipping option. That retailer didn't offer a refund. It may just be Amazon.de's business practice to grant the refund. Of course, some will take advantage, but I'm sure there are people, who aren't on this board, that have been surprised when offered a refund from an inquiry about package location. I don't see them as a thief or impatient.

What I don't understand is why some of us got tracking numbers and some didn't. All they have to do is track their packages. It's simple.

Quote: DrillSarge

What I don't understand is why some of us got tracking numbers and some didn't. All they have to do is track their packages. It's simple.

See above. Different shipping methods. Larger orders were eligible for other shipping options.

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: lesty

From what I know, she'll be only available for a very limited time, similar to other color variants, but she should be available at more than one retailer.
If you still are looking for her, I would head to your local Target in the middle of May.

Extremely unfortunate and ridiculous. This won't be fun at all.
I'll just keep an eye-out on amazon.de, they'll probably restock soon enough.

Why is it ridculous? Just go to Target May 18th and you'll have a good chance at getting one. I think she'll be in lower volumes than Jade Flashwing for sure....but still..she should be found unless you act fast. That's all.

The 18th of May? Sweet that will be the perfect gift for my sons bday that day. I will be there bright and early.

I'll make sure that I'll get a Scarlet Ninjini early before Target opens up

Now the moment of truth. Does Polar come out down here? When and where.

Quote: lesty

Quote: Hexin_Wishes

Quote: lesty

From what I know, she'll be only available for a very limited time, similar to other color variants, but she should be available at more than one retailer.
If you still are looking for her, I would head to your local Target in the middle of May.

Extremely unfortunate and ridiculous. This won't be fun at all.
I'll just keep an eye-out on amazon.de, they'll probably restock soon enough.

Why is it ridculous? Just go to Target May 18th and you'll have a good chance at getting one. I think she'll be in lower volumes than Jade Flashwing for sure....but still..she should be found unless you act fast. That's all.

Because my dear lesty, store variants are actually a pain to get. Less of a pain then regulars so imagine a variant handled as a regular.

Yeah, you would think NYC would stock them well but, aside from TRU, all store variants were an enormous pain and the regular hunt required me to frantically call every store in the area. FYI, when I got molten hot dog there were none at Walmart. And Jade Flashwing? Only about twelve. Literally. Behind the counter. With ONE being nice looking and the rest being weird messed up ones.

I really think Giants will be it for me in terms of Skylanders go. It's becoming a circus act to get them and, at this point, I am not really excited for Swap Force.

If I see variants for Sunburn and Ghost Roaster, I'll think about it (because they're the last few of my team I'd be willing to double dip) but the other 'landers revealed look like unappealing and I won't be supporting non-store exclusive variants. This is bull. I should have ordered it from Germany if this was going to happen.

Quote: lesty

Why is it ridculous? Just go to Target May 18th and you'll have a good chance at getting one. I think she'll be in lower volumes than Jade Flashwing for sure....but still..she should be found unless you act fast. That's all.

?????? This is the first I've heard of a date or store for Scarlet Ninjini, do you have a source on this? (I believe I've read that you work at Target, but I mean something we can see, like a flyer)

Quote: niceguy1

Quote: lesty

Why is it ridculous? Just go to Target May 18th and you'll have a good chance at getting one. I think she'll be in lower volumes than Jade Flashwing for sure....but still..she should be found unless you act fast. That's all.

?????? This is the first I've heard of a date or store for Scarlet Ninjini, do you have a source on this? (I believe I've read that you work at Target, but I mean something we can see, like a flyer)

I'm pretty sure he works at the corporate offices since he's in Minneapolis... I also work in media and it is not only illegal to release flyers or ads before they're supposed to run, but one can lose their job over it... I'm sure you would have never asked him that if you knew what it entailed, but I just wanted to make you aware that it's prolly not worth the consequences (if traced back to him) for someone with a job like that... and if I'm wrong, or he's not worried about it, please share away!! lol

My won't light up.

^ You can get a replacement.

Quote: Matteomax

^ You can get a replacement.

Not from Activision themselves. In-Game Variants except Legendarys and Punch PopFizz and Dark Spyro are not listed there.

Looks like mine won't be here today which amazon said for estimation it would be. Though it originally had an estimate of April 11-16 I think that one was a bit more accurate. I didn't expect it to be here today simply because it's only been 5 business days since it was shipped. (It shipped last saturday on the 30th) There is still atleast 3-5 more of their real estimate before it gets here. The 15th I would expect actually for its arrival at this point. Anything before would be nice of course.