darkSpyro

You know, something I noticed here, concerning pre-orders since there was a lot of conversation as to the benefits of it. We are a few days away from release of Hot Dog, one of the most desired Newlanders, and the last regular one to come out for Giants. There hasn't been a quarter of the excitement that Wave 2 or 3 brought. My theory is that it all feels sort of inevitable, the really interested have had their pre-orders in a month, we may not know for sure if it is the 9th or the 11th, but we do know it is coming this week, and we feel confident we won't have to get up early or stand in line to get one.

Does this really work in Activision's favor? Sure they will sell a bunch regardless, but if we didn't know which store would get it in first or when to expect it the Internet would be ablaze in talking about Hot Dog and sightings. Yeah, it may not work out better for us, but it sure would generate a lot more excitement for the game. Can you imagine if we could pre-order everything, and know exactly when it would be in the store and we could go get it at our leisure? Would Skylanders really have taken off like it did without "the Hunt"? Would people have noticed if they weren't hard to find?

Don't get me wrong, as a collector, I like knowing when I can get it and don't have to hunt. But, I also like the feeling of finding and getting a hard to find figure. Showing up at TRU early and digging through the boxes picking out a Series 2 Lightning Rod or Lightcore Shroomboom. Showing up at Target 5 minutes after they unpacked a new triple pack. Would a collection be as satisfying with the knowledge that you could walk into TRU at any time and reproduce it with enough money on hand? Would Wham Shell be so desired if he wasn't the last for Series 1 and in short supply?

I wouldn't mind the hunt, if people can pay for the gas for my gas guzzler. I don't think I should grab a hybrid car, just so I can feel safe about gas usage when hunting for toys.

I like the convienance of knowing I can bypass loser scalpers, liars (store employees who lie over the phone), and using gas for something I may or may not find.

I mean, I have a friend who enjoys hunting for TF's. If he doesn't mind paying for the oil industry billionaires to fix their yachts, sure, go for it. Blow all that money on gas for fun and hopes. I'd rather sit around and know when I can for sure find something and save gas, which leads to spending on better things like games, taking my kids out, going out on a date, buying a new Skylander or two, or even groceries.

I just don't fall into this going on a hunt crowd. I've tried it before and never had any success. Maybe that's why. Who knows? I don't try and think about it too much. I just know I'd rather know when I can go and get these things, and it's still competition in my city, as this is a city full of scalpers. Then it becomes a competition of who gets in line first.

Again, I know people personally, who rid of Skylanders after the first characters became hard to find, plus there were a lot of stories on the Facebook page - including a guy who took pics of him throwing his Skylanders away - where frustrated people just jumped out of the franchise and swore never to support it again.

The fan in me wants to call them a liar, because I don't want to believe anything ill on my current favorite franchise. However, that'd be me being a blind fanboy, to call them a liar, when they could be telling the truth. So, it's all in the eye of the beholder. Some like convienance, while others like the hunt. I like convienance in my state, where a friend of mine in Wisconsin seeminly finds what he wants when he wants, when it comes to Skylanders. If I had it that easy, sure, hunting might be fun. However, we all don't live in the same city/state, so where it might be easier for some, it might be downright impossible for others.

Based on where I live, hunting is a pile of poo. Sign me up for convienant Skylander buying anyday.

I think that without the hunt, Skylanders wouldn't have really taken off like it did. Part of what makes the lines like these (and other collectable figures) is the ability to go out and hunt for what you're looking for. It sometimes gets hard, but in the end it kind of makes it all worth it when you find what you want on the store pegs. This happened to me a few days ago when my weeks long hunt for S2 Bash finally ended.

I think though, something like preordering a figure also helps. With a lot of people putting money down to get the product, the company can also gauge how much of an interest there is in it. If there's not a lot of people putting money down on it, then they can see that there's not a lot of people looking for it.

I guess it helps people since there are plenty of people who don't want to go out and hunt/don't have the time or money to go out looking as well. I think the best thing they could do in the future if some store decided to take preorders over here (i think some store does it in the UK?) they should have it in limited numbers. Then people can preorder or they can go out hunting so it works for both groups of people.

but with the price of gas and going out each and every day to locate a character and come home empty handed doesnt do justice for what you pay for a piece of plastic and time you spent that you wont get back. some people would like to get all the characters so they can move on and not worry about finishing their collection. some people such as myself put money to the side to cover the characters left to get. some are tight on money and blowing on gas for nothing doesnt help. just my 2 cents

crazyace

I kind of have mix emotions about this one.... I love the hunt...but here is where I come from. I didnt know about the original game until it was out for awhile... It was about 2 weeks before dragons peak came out. My son had always looked at the displays at walmart and bestbuy, but I never really paid attention to it. Once I finally looked at it online, and watched some vids, I thought it looked great. Then I got the game and the hunt began. What made it great was that most but not all the characters where out. So finding them was half the fun. I was one of those an hour before dragons peak was released that sunday at TRU with my son and got the first one off the shelf, which was fun too. By this time, we had all the ones that had been released at that point in time except for a very hard to find in my area voodood. But in time, I became a 37 club member. I didnt buy any online because hunting for them was half the fun. Most of the time it was just when we were out... I rarely went out of my way to just go looking for skylanders, but if we were going to a bestbuy, tru, target, walmart, etc.... that was the first thing we looked at when we got there. If I knew someone new just came out, my son and I would go make a round to a few stores to see if we would be lucky.... then oneday we got the last one and the wait for Giants was on.

Giants release was different. I was at TRU like everyone else on day one. Got all the Giants (large ones) including Hothead, flashwing, and sprocket. They released everything at my TRU on day one (didnt wait till the next day, probably didnt know they were suppose to) When I told others around me that Hothead, sprok and flash werent suppose to be out yet, they went fast. I didnt get into any reposes this time around or lightcores, so I am really only interested in new guys.... SO its made the hunt not so great since I have everyone new they released on day one. I preordered hotdog so that wont be fun either... but I may hunt for the last remaining Giants just because its fun to finally find the one you are looking for. Anyone can get in online... but hunting brings and extra element to it. Besides my son has been saving his money (hes 7) and has enough for the three new giants when they are released... I think it would be best to let him find them.... Let the hunt begin....

Yeah, Vort, seems like you had it easy.

Here, I will use wave 3 of the first game's figures as an example.

Right when all Gamestops got them in, I called around all day long. Most told me scalpers got them (they apparently know who their resellers are in each store) got them right when they opened.

I called one in a mall, and luckily they had them. I asked them, "can you hold them for me?" He said, "No. With how popular they are, we're choosing not to hold them." So, I was at work. I had to make up a lie just to leave early, and when I left, I raced 13 miles at about 75-80 MPH just to get Cynder and Double Trouble. I was so paranoid, that I was driving very unsafely. I would keep looking everywhere, making sure cops weren't around, I sped through a work zone, and the whole deal was very frustrating.

Sure, people could tell me, "well, you could have been patient and just bought them somewhere else," but that's not the case with the first game. When each new wave came out, you had a limited time to get them, before new waves replaced old stock... at least in MY city/state. Things can be different elsewhere, but not here.

Also, in my city/state, I know at least 3 of the 8-10 Walmarts have employees who took the newest figures for themself to resell. Best Buy nearest me had a Cox Cable rep who would go in the back (I guess Cox reps can) and would get the newest figures to resell, with the help of another employee who is now no longer with Best Buy. One of my local Gamestop employees, told me he checks all boxes before they go out on the floor, and grabs the newest figures, for resell. I said, "I should turn you in for that, because you're not giving customers a chance." He said, "Go for it. The district and regional managers are drinking buddies. It's your word against mine."

Point is, where I live, it's never easy. Sure, I saw 16 Hot Heads 2 days ago at a local Walmart. That's the first time I've seen that many Hot Heads in one spot, and he's been out for almost 3 months. I always have to line up about 4 am, when TRU does their ticket events, and even then, people show up an hour later and wait until stores open at 10.

I live in a very red state. I can't stress it enough. EVERYONE here is always up to fill up baskets, because toys make great money they tell me. If it isn't Hot Wheels, it's Ben 10, and NERF, but now it's also Skylanders.

When TRU opened at 6 am on the 21st, for the release of wave 3a, there were 7 people outside at 5, and I got there at 4:30, and was standing outside for 1 1/2 hours, in 37 degree weather, with a strong northerly wind gusting from 30-45 mph. It's flat out stupid to have to do that, just to get new figures.

Getting Skylanders has been the most inconvienant thing I have done in the history of my time on this planet. I can't stress that enough. Sometimes, I have wanted to swear off Skylanders for it. One day, I may get smart, who knows. Now, with the release of Thumpback and Eye-Brawl looming, I am frustrated again, at the notion that I could or could not get them as soon as they release. Then, if I don't, I have to spam refresh - or check that Zoolert crap - 2 pages of 4 different websites, in hopes to get in on a preorder for them (Amazon) or instock ones (Walmart, Best Buy, and Gamestop). Most of the time, the stuff ends up going in and out of stock in the middle of the night here, which doesn't help either.

Like I said, very dumb, and very frustrating, for what I've gone through in order to get Skylanders.

Quote: GameMaster78

I wouldn't mind the hunt, if people can pay for the gas for my gas guzzler. I don't think I should grab a hybrid car, just so I can feel safe about gas usage when hunting for toys.

I'm not saying I disagree with what you as a whole, but as far as this comment is concerned it falls into the category of "not Activision's problem". That is a requirement you place upon yourself, and what you are willing to do to reach your goal. Activison doesn't require you to have a full collection, or to pay scalper prices on chase variants, which you also did to yourself.

I wouldn't place much faith on a guy posting a video of himself tossing Skylanders into the trash. Like I mentioned, I've seen videos of people showing themselves pressing Cancel Account in World of Warcraft over Mage nerfs/Patch Problems/etc., yet search them out a couple months later and most of them are still there. That's a show.

I did say the hunt is fun, when I am successful that is. But, it is frustrating at times. But, this isn't about what works for us. I'm not quite the collector you are, although my sons and I do have a very nice one. Pre-ordering Hot Dog works out great for me, I don't have to get up early (and having the wife roll her eyes at me again ), I don't have to take off at lunch from work, I don't have to scan forums for sightings. In the end, I believe the hunt is what drives this craze, in a way. We are talking about this game long after we would normally be talking about a new game. The new God of War comes out in March, there will be tons of excitement for that - but a month later it will be old news. I bet you we will still be talking about Skylanders though.

Had you polished off your wall back in October, would you really still be on the forums a three months later daily talking about releases? Had the shelves not been empty last January, would people really have said "Hey this thing is really popular, maybe I should check it out"? And would you really throw your hands up and stop as long as it doesn't get too ridiculous? Activision is toeing the line between excitement and turning people off.

Yeah, I would still be here, actually. We can't forget that a new game WILL be announced at Toy Fair this year. It's going to be an annual thing now.

Even if the collection was finished, I would still be here everyday, and I would probably be doing two things -

1: An indepth analysis of each character, with video
2: Video playthroughs to add to my Skylanders Youtube Channel, which currently only has one video (Dragon's Peak glitch).

When I first finished my collection of Skylanders (back in early summer), I didn't leave, and I had the whole collection then. I wouldn't leave now, and I don't think anyone else here would, just because a collection is done, as then you can talk about what each Skylander is worth in terms of moves and how viable they are ingame.

But, while some people may troll others with videos of people quitting an MMO, only to really have their characters, when it comes to people doing things in real life, most of the time, it's real. I mean, I don't think this is staged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMHaiMzgCNA

Now you know by the way he struck that dude, that had to have hurt. While there may be peeps trolling on Youtube or through pics, things can also be real. I haven't seen that person post on Skylanders Facebook page ever since.

Gamemaster, I get you on the Red State thing. I think you said earlier you were in Oklahoma, as a coincidence I just this weekend saw one of those Tea Party nutcases from Oklahoma that got elected to Congress. He went on and on about "getting government out of the way of private business". The example he used was having to get Fish and Game and EPA sign off to run a pipeline for his business. Heaven forbid we not let business rampage the environment in the quest for the almighty dollar. They don't want to saddle our grandchildren with debt, but they are just fine with leaving them a trashed planet. People can live with debt, they cannot live without food and drinkable water - but he was fine with delaying any action on that. Very much a ME and MY bottom line first attitude. Not to turn this into a political debate or anything, it was just interesting in perspective to your situation. And it is the same attitude that drives someone to fill up a shopping cart and deny toys to kids - unless they have parents willing to pay through the teeth. My state is also pretty Red too, as I mentioned earlier. Scalpers do exist, but aren't as crazy here.

I do have to say though, I don't think you have a wrong opinion. I think it is an interesting discussion though on what works and does not.

Sure those video *can* be real. I've just seen enough to realize it is about 1 in 10 that are real, if that many. People like to believe their own personal temper tantrum can sway the sails of giant corporations with millions of customers. You can make a difference if you do as you say, but it never pays to think it is your own actions that tip the scales - it is the actions of the group as whole that do that.

You might be thinking of this Lurch looking dude named James Lankford. This is a great city to live in, and I have never seen gas go above 3.50 here ever and we are basically recession proof, but sometimes people can be nice one moment and help each other, or do whatever it takes to make sure they make some extra profit on top of the jobs they already have.

This city/state is all about free market, which sucks. There is a 60 year old guy who draws retirement money, but that's never enough. He scalps toys with the help of his wife, kids, and grandkids (they have a creppy little system). He isn't the only one. There's another guy who looks to be in his 40's, who goes around with his mother, and he loads of baskets full of anything that's worth money. How this dude ever learned that things like NERF and Ben 10 of all things, is beyond me, but he does.

It's one of the bad qualities of this state. When a disaster happens, people here are quick to throw money at one another. However, when no disaster has taken place, almost everyone here scalps, even grandchildren to a scalper, who are about as young as my 10 year old son, if not younger.

But still, I just hated that dreadful day back when wave 3 Skylanders came out in January of 2012. Just so I could enjoy Cynder, as well as my daughter who really wanted her, I had to endanger the lives of others and myself, all because Gamestop wanted to be turds about holding something for someone, just because of the popularity of something. That allows the scalpers here a chance to get to it before me, where they could have been nice enough to hold it for me, a fan, and my daughter, a huge Cynder fan.

It was that, or wait months before prices lowered on places like Amazon, or when they would finally ship in March from Walmart.com. Gamestop.com barely ever had Cynder instock until at least the start of summer 2012, and my nearest Target has this dork named Steven working there, who liked to pretend certain Skylanders didn't come in, but hides them on a pallet to take in the back room where he buys them on his lunch break apparently.

My friend, who posts on Gamefaqs, seems to never have trouble finding the newest waves in his city/state. He was able to go later in the day after TRU opened at 6 am, and get wave 3, while mine sold out as soon as the store opened at 6 am, where 7 people were running to the checkout line, after we didn't see them on the shelf, as if it were Black Friday all over again. Luckily, my son and his friends just got to the boxes first, which is sad I feel the need to take my son out at 4:30 am just to help me get these.

Well, to be TOTALLY honest, you are contributing to it when you buy them four and five at a time with your son and their friends ... You aren't profiting, but you are creating additional rarity. I saw the photo of your day 2 Wave 2 score. If I was behind you in line, I wouldn't have been happy.

I was there with three others on Wave 3 for Giants. We went through, got the ones we wanted, and checked out. Of course they didn't last long after that, but I would be very frustrated if it were a race situation. My TRU doesn't cater to that though, fortunately. When they have new stuff, they let us in the Out door, have them sorted in baskets (or still in the box), enforce limits when they don't have many, follow the order of the line and people that try to skip in the other door get told to get in line. They do not do free for all.

Actually, now that I think about it, I'm kind of glad I Thumpback, Eye Brawl, and such weren't released on the 23rd. I live in a pretty red state, so I normally don't have much trouble finding new stuff. It sells out sometimes, of course, but the store managers are usually pretty scrupulous about not allowing scalpers to take everything, but I spent Christmas visiting relatives in Maryland, a very blue state, and the entitlement occupy-nutcase mentality of those states means that scalpers take EVERYTHING as soon as it comes out. It's awful. I was visiting up there last January, and it fell right on the wave 3 release. Within hours you couldn't find anything because of the rampant scalping. Those people feel like they are owed by everyone else, so if they take toys from little children, eh who cares. They deserve it, screw everyone else. Fortunately for me, there were still some left in stores when I got home, but that royally sucked.

That's the main reason they should just do hard releases and pre-orders, like with the Scorpion Striker, to prevent people who live in states like that from getting completely shafted by scalpers who show up as soon as the stores open and take everything.

^ My area, Brick, has scalpers, while Monmouth has NONE. I found a Clear Stealth Elf and an LC Shroomboom there.

Thanks derek for taking a totally inaccurate description and wringing it around to fit your personal political perspective. But, the I've got mine, screw everyone else point of view does squarely fit on the red side of the aisle - despite your protests. Entitlements are fine only if they are MY entitlements by that point of view. You don't see many grumpy old guys watching O'Reilly demanding that their Medicare be cut. In fact many of the scalpers, not unlike those Wall Street baron heroes that were boldly standing against those Occupy "nutcases" that they deserved their bailout and the profits as a result of that charity, believe they are "entitled" to being able to buy every Skylander on the shelf, and how dare the store put limits on them. I have heard someone say this. Scalping is vulture capitalism in its most raw form.

Those kids need to go out there and work for their their Skylanders! How dare they get in the way of my business opportunity and want to be able to buy one of the forty seven Thumpbacks in my cart! They should have gotten here before I did! It's their own fault!

The hunt is good for those who can but it's not for everyone.

Well, Def, the way I ended up with all of those wave 2 was totally legit, and it was quite cool, I can't lie.

I was the first in line at 5 am that morning. The store opened at 9 am that day. I brought my son's friends with me (2 of them), with the idea I was only going to get 1 Flashwing, 1 Sprocket, and 1 Hot Head. I was fine with this, as I didn't think TRU had exclusives rights to wave 2 for whatever period of time.

So, by 8:30 am, my mother joined in to help me get Lightcore Jet-Vac. So, it was 4 of us. About 10 minutes before the store opened, 3 more people lined up.

The manager comes out and hands us all a ticket. I was first, my son's friends Joey and Drake were 2 and 3, my mother was 4. I told Joey to grab me a Flashwing, and Drake a Sprocket, while I grabbed Hot Head. My mother grabbed Lightcore Jet-Vac for me. Before we went in, the manager (who knows me) said, "the new figures are in a basket right inside the front door. Based on your number, you will grab one character at a time, and if you need more, you will get behind the last person in line and wait your turn again." So, we all did that calmly.

I grabbed Hot Head, Joey grabbed Flashwing, Drake grabbed Sprocket, my mother grabbed Double Trouble, I watched as I walked to the back of the line, the 5th person grabbed a Hot Head, 6th grabbed a Hot Head, and 7th grabbed a Hot Head. All Hot Heads were gone (they only got 4). You can see that in my pic, actually. You will only see 1 Hot Head. I got to go again, and I grabbed Series 2 Double Trouble and Joey and Drake didn't have anymore of my money to get figures, so they jumped out of line, making it just 5 of us. My mother grabbed Series 2 Stump Smash, the 3rd person grabbed a LC Jet-Vac, so did the 4th and 5th people, which left no LC Jet-Vacs left. It was my turn again, and I grabbed a Series 2 Gill Grunt. My mother jumped out of line, as she was done helping me. The now 2nd person grabbed a Flashwing, 3rd grabbed a Flashwing, and the 4th grabbed a Sprocket. When it was my turn again, there was somehow 3-4 of each wave 2 figure left, minus Hot Head and LC Jet-Vac. This is the funny part. I don't know if those people who were grabbing wave 2 stuff, even knew it was new, because each person didn't even take the chance to get 1 of each of the new figures. Instead, they - I assume - rushed for the feature shop wall (the big wall of landers when Giants launched) and started looking for more new stuff? I couldn't make sense of it. Anyhow, I stood by the basket for 5 minutes, because the manager told me "if no one else wants these figures after about five minutes, I'll let it go to you." After 5 minutes, he yelled "Does anyone else want the new figures in this basket? Anyone? Anyone? Oooookay, I'm giving them to David (me) here." There was 4 Flashwings, 4 Sprockets, 4 Flameslingers, and 3 or 2 (depending on what I had in my hand already) of the rest of the Series 2 wave 2 stuff. He said, "Here, take the basket." I didn't hesistate, at the same time, no one else cared and moved onto the wave 1 stuff hanging on the wall.

It was a good day indeed. I guess - or assume - those people got what they wanted, because they didn't even think twice about the basket I had, which had what you see in that pic of my wave 2 haul. I sometimes keep thinking if they thought that wall had more of wave 2 and they just wanted to find it that way, or what. Who knows.

But no, when it's a ticketed item, they won't favor me, despite knowing me. I have to play by the rules then, and I am fine by that. Then, though, it's just worrying about scalpers trying to have their grandchildren push you out of the way and run, just because they know adults won't push back. That, and it sucks standing in a line for 5-6 hours.

As for getting the rest of my LC Jet-Vacs and Hot Heads. Every Gamestop in my city got wave 2 that following Friday. I got my 2 other Hot Heads (at this time I wasn't getting a 4th set for my kids) from two different Gamestops (quite the drive). I got my 2 Jet-vacs from the same stores as well. My kids Hot Head came from Best Buy, which had them online for order that same weekend, and Amazon.com got in LC Jet-Vac that weekend, which is how they got their LC Jet-Vac.

Still remember that week well.

yeah i was one of them in line with gamemaster78 on the 21st cold as hell and windy

Quote: defpally

Thanks derek for taking a totally inaccurate description and wringing it around to fit your personal political perspective. But, the I've got mine, screw everyone else point of view does squarely fit on the red side of the aisle - despite your protests. Entitlements are fine only if they are MY entitlements by that point of view. You don't see many grumpy old guys watching O'Reilly demanding that their Medicare be cut. In fact many of the scalpers, not unlike those Wall Street baron heroes that were boldly standing against those Occupy "nutcases" that they deserved their bailout and the profits as a result of that charity, believe they are "entitled" to being able to buy every Skylander on the shelf, and how dare the store put limits on them. I have heard someone say this. Scalping is vulture capitalism in its most raw form.

Those kids need to go out there and work for their their Skylanders! How dare they get in the way of my business opportunity and want to be able to buy one of the forty seven Thumpbacks in my cart! They should have gotten here before I did! It's their own fault!

The only inaccuracy here is yours. I would've though you'd have learned by now, since the last time you tried this kind of thing on me, it blew up in your face. Sorry if reality doesn't fit in with your left-wing screw-everyone else mentality, but that's the way it is. Oh yes, how dare those evil Tea Party "nutcases" just ask for the government to stop wasting money on nearly million dollar GSA parties and golfing with celebrities in Marta's vineyard. Obviously you can't stand the though of all those retirees and small business owners keeping that money instead. No, you rather support the "brave" occupy wall street thugs who destroy restaurants and coffee shops, as well as commit other crimes I won't even detail here because children might read this. And I didn't see very many of those occupy crooks who love Chris Matthews so much when he talk about "the evil rich" willing to give up their iPads and Macbooks, or anything else from their comfortable lifestyles their mommies and daddies pay for, to help the downtrodden they so profess to care about. In fact, when the truly needy came into the occupy camps to see if they could also get some food, the self-entitled little punks kicked them out. And, of course, all those self-entitled punks deserve more, and other people should pay for it! It even extends to Skylanders. Scalping like that is just one more facet of the selfish entitlement mentality. No one should be able to stop you from selling those 47 Thumpbacks in your cart! You are entitled to that money! You are owed! Those kids owe you, and if they want a toy they can pay you through the nose for it, and those store managers better not put a limit on what you can take! Oh wait, down here in the red state you show so much hate for, they did. That right there says it all.

It also amazes me that YOU bring up politics, and then pitch a fit when you someone sets the record straight.

Alright, that's the last post I'm making on this. This is not the forum for political discussion. You can rant on to your hearts content, but I am done.

Quote: crazyace

yeah i was one of them in line with gamemaster78 on the 21st cold as hell and windy

I didn't mind the wait on the 22nd of October, because we were still having nice weather that day. Didn't even need a jacket as lows were still 60+ back in late October. It's still just a pain to have to wake up that early, when I barely get enough sleep as is due to raising 3 kids, just to get new figures in fear of a sellout, while not knowing when they will next restock.

This last one, though. I remember actually having to get back in the car, because it was so cold. Then, I remember when the first cars started pulling up, me and the kids jumped back out of the car, followed by you out of your car, lol.

As a note, I live in a blue state and the Skylanders situation here isn't bad. It's generally your average "who gets there first" type of situation, not this whole "scalpers got the whole box at 8am". Then again, I live in fabulous New York where we're better than all of you. *hair flip*

Anyways, IMO, the hunt is annoying and, to be frank, I don't even remember it most of the time so it adds nothing to the Skylanders experience. I'd rather pre-order links.

Quote: SSj3 Derek

The only inaccuracy here is yours. I would've though you'd have learned by now, since the last time you tried this kind of thing on me, it blew up in your face. Sorry if reality doesn't fit in with your left-wing screw-everyone else mentality, but that's the way it is. Oh yes, how dare those evil Tea Party "nutcases" just ask for the government to stop wasting money on nearly million dollar GSA parties and golfing with celebrities in Marta's vineyard. Obviously you can't stand the though of all those retirees and small business owners keeping that money instead. No, you rather support the "brave" occupy wall street thugs who destroy restaurants and coffee shops, as well as commit other crimes I won't even detail here because children might read this. And I didn't see very many of those occupy crooks who love Chris Matthews so much when he talk about "the evil rich" willing to give up their iPads and Macbooks, or anything else from their comfortable lifestyles their mommies and daddies pay for, to help the downtrodden they so profess to care about. In fact, when the truly needy came into the occupy camps to see if they could also get some food, the self-entitled little punks kicked them out. And, of course, all those self-entitled punks deserve more, and other people should pay for it! It even extends to Skylanders. Scalping like that is just one more facet of the selfish entitlement mentality. No one should be able to stop you from selling those 47 Thumpbacks in your cart! You are entitled to that money! You are owed! Those kids owe you, and if they want a toy they can pay you through the nose for it, and those store managers better not put a limit on what you can take! Oh wait, down here in the red state you show so much hate for, they did. That right there says it all.

Actually, it didn't blow up in my face. You finally ended up answering the question you were avoiding giving a direct answer to - and the answer was exactly what everyone expected. You had no more specific information than anyone else. Your Fox News bias betrays you, do all of us "liberals" fall neatly into rich hatin', occupy lovin', entitled buckets to you? Have you ever watched Chris Matthews? Like a whole show? He rips liberals a new one up and down, when deserved. Don't you realize that they call liberals "bleeding heart" because they don't have a "screw everyone else" mentality?

And those "truly needy" that got kicked out? You probably didn't hear about it, but that was staged for the cameras. Didn't you know that James O'Keefe and the like spent a great deal of time trolling the crowd to cherry pick some video? Get a large group of people involved and there will ALWAYS be a few unsavory types. Shall I generalize the Tea Party protests in Washington by the few that were screaming racist phrases at the black caucus members? What, is it not ok for me to paint with such a broad brush as you?

And if you really listened to Occupy, they weren't demanding hand outs. They were demanding opportunity. They were demanding that the deck not be stacked any more in favor of the already extremely well off. The biggest demand was for job opportunities. They believed that since the government provided them with three quarters of a billion dollars in bailout they should be doing more with the money that the economy provided them than lining their own pockets. If you watched Fox you might have just thought they were sitting on the streets waiting for the banks to start throwing money to them out of the windows.

So you believe the left owns "entitlements"? What about oil subsidies? Farm subsidies? Corporate tax loopholes? And many more. All owned by the right, and defended to the death. And like I said, scalping is raw capitalism, and that is the right's thing. They love them some unfettered capitalism. Survival of the fittest. Supply and demand pricing rules the day. Only the most ignorant would deny that.

And by the way, I didn't show "hate" for a Red State. I was critical of the mentality of a Congressman from a deeply Red State while talking to someone from that state describing his experiences. How you would take that leap is beyond me. It must be that "if you aren't with us completely, you are the ENEMY" mentality. And yes, I do think the Tea Party is dumb. Any group that thinks the debt ceiling has anything to do with the deficit just needs to go take an economics class. The time to reign in spending is budget time, not when the bill comes due. Or do you believe that not paying your credit card bills is good financial planning - and ruining your credit is good incentive to save?

Quote: SSj3 Derek

It also amazes me that YOU bring up politics, and then pitch a fit when you someone sets the record straight.

Alright, that's the last post I'm making on this. This is not the forum for political discussion. You can rant on to your hearts content, but I am done.

You didn't set it straight, you took it on a sharp right turn into bizarro world.

And we will miss you from the discussion, the flounce is always the sign of a winning argument. It is always great fun when people suddenly become concerned about the sanctity of a forum being off topic when they were the ones to derail it in the first place. Usually after they realize that the person they came in to "correct" might not be your average leftie that sulks off at the least sign of resistance. You could have just said "eh, I don't really agree with that point" and moved on. Did you have a comment on how the hunt for Skylanders is a good thing or a bad thing anywhere in your rant at all? Or was your entire point to jump in and talk politics? At least my post was in direct response to another's observation and I have been contributing the the topic.

I very much dislike the congressmen and the governor of this state. It's all about me-me-me, instead of helping those in need. They voted out Obamacare here, so when it takes effect, I can't get in on it, because this state can "opt out" of it. Before I can seek any kind of medical attention due to anything BIG that might come up, I HAVE to sell a movie to be able to afford good healthcare, because the greedy people of this state think everyone should be like them.

That, and we have bad scalping issues here, on lots of things.

Actually, you can get in on Obamacare. All the states can do is opt out of setting it up exchanges for themselves. They can take it over and run it in the best interests of their own state or they can not do it and allow the federal government to run it for them. How a group that thinks state rights rule all and the federal government can't do anything right believes that is a good plan is beyond me.

So many long posts O_<

Well, it would be cool if I could still get in on the healthcare expansion.

Sorry but I just have to say, I find it kind of silly that some are trying to make the scalping of Skylanders a political thing. Firstly because it seems completely off topic and out of place on these forums and second because I'm positive a person's political leanings has nothing to do with whether or not they are willing to scalp a toy. Also it's hard to feel sorry for someone saying they cannot afford healthcare when you see the amount of money they have poured into a toy collection.

As far as the hunt goes, because I live in a small town I prefer beig able to pre-order because the stores here very rarely have a good stock available. It seems like they are not as much of a priority for restocking as some stores in major cities may be. Also I live almost two hours from the nearest TRU so it would be nice if I could have a guarantee that I would get what I needed if I made the trip.

Quote: Zzyzyx

Sorry but I just have to say, I find it kind of silly that some are trying to make the scalping of Skylanders a political thing. Firstly because it seems completely off topic and out of place on these forums and second because I'm positive a person's political leanings has nothing to do with whether or not they are willing to scalp a toy. Also it's hard to feel sorry for someone saying they cannot afford healthcare when you see the amount of money they have poured into a toy collection.

As far as the hunt goes, because I live in a small town I prefer beig able to pre-order because the stores here very rarely have a good stock available. It seems like they are not as much of a priority for restocking as some stores in major cities may be. Also I live almost two hours from the nearest TRU so it would be nice if I could have a guarantee that I would get what I needed if I made the trip.

Eh, it started as more of the mindset of the scalper and went from there. Discussions are more interesting when they flow somewhat, you never know when an interesting point might come up you haven't thought of. Sure, sometimes they go too far astray. Really whether or not you waste money on toys should be irrelevant to whether you deserve healthcare. No one deserves to suffer and/or die from lack of healthcare in a first world country such as the US. We are better than that.

Back to the point:

I have sympathy for those that aren't in large areas in regards to Skylanders hunting. At least there are online options. Even in large areas sometimes online is still the best option. I'm near a really nice TRU, but I still got my Wham Shell, Warnado and Camo from Gamestop online because it was much easier to find. It is still hit or miss, I got lucky on those - but if you check the forums regularly, kind other users tend to post tip offs when they become available.

Well, even though I live in Oklahoma City, it's still a big city stat stretches about 30 miles in all 8 directions. We have 16 local Gamestops, 14 Walmarts, 8 Targets, 3 Toys R Us, and 7 Best Buy stores. It still is a pain though, as most stores usually lie to you over the phone here, or employees are out for themselves, or you have a lot of scalpers. It's the free market logic that gets talked about and praised so much in this state. It makes me sick to be honest.

We are a pretty big city, even though someone commented on my photo here -



By saying, "Nice dirt roads," when I showed that pic to someone who I used to play Final Fantasy XI with (he quit, I still play).

Everyone's under the assumption that OKC is a flyover state filled with buck-toothed rednecks who drive brokedown trucks and hunt roadkill for supper.

Actually, our city is quite large for a small market city, and it's big enough to support an NBA team, naturally.

I miss that Camaro, by the way. I got rid of it, thinking I was going to get the 2008 Camaro, so I took a 99 Cavalier until I had enough money to get one. Things changed, and I settled on this -



Which is fine, but it's one of the issues I am facing now. It drinks gas like no other. That, and the neutral switch (security) went bad, which costed me 200 bucks to fix and is in the shop currently, but done, waiting for me to pick it up tomorrow. That was sometimes making my car not start, and I would have to leave it in parking lots at times. So, one problem out of the way, but the gas problem won't cease, until those greedy oil tycoons start dropping the price back to what it was in 1999.

In anycase, it's still frustrating to know that things could end up as they were last year around this time, when it comes to Skylanders. We have 2 Giants coming out apparently, and we're not sure how or when. The other issue, if it isn't scalpers or lying employees, is when each store receives their stock, and they could hold onto it until the shelves are empty again of current stock, and that's on a store to store basis. So, you never know when they will be out.

Quote: defpally

Really whether or not you waste money on toys should be irrelevant to whether you deserve healthcare. No one deserves to suffer and/or die from lack of healthcare in a first world country such as the US. We are better than that.

I don't think people should suffer and die, and there are certainly those who are truly needing and deserving of help, but at some point you have to take responsibilty for yourself as an adult. I don't believe it's fair for money to be taken from someone who works hard to provide for his family, like my husband, to potentially be given to someone who could have afforded it themselves if they had just cut costs a little elsewhere. But I'm sure that's just where our opinions differ =)


Quote: defpally

I have sympathy for those that aren't in large areas in regards to Skylanders hunting. At least there are online options. Even in large areas sometimes online is still the best option. I'm near a really nice TRU, but I still got my Wham Shell, Warnado and Camo from Gamestop online because it was much easier to find. It is still hit or miss, I got lucky on those - but if you check the forums regularly, kind other users tend to post tip offs when they become available.

This forum has helped immensely in that regard. For S:SA the online availability thread was the reason I was able to find and purchase a majority of the figures. Giants has definitely been easier this time around in so far as I have actually been able to find and purchase the new figures in the stores in my area.

Quote: Zzyzyx

I don't think people should suffer and die, and there are certainly those who are truly needing and deserving of help, but at some point you have to take responsibilty for yourself as an adult. I don't believe it's fair for money to be taken from someone who works hard to provide for his family, like my husband, to potentially be given to someone who could have afforded it themselves if they had just cut costs a little elsewhere. But I'm sure that's just where our opinions differ =)

This forum has helped immensely in that regard. For S:SA the online availability thread was the reason I was able to find and purchase a majority of the figures. Giants has definitely been easier this time around in so far as I have actually been able to find and purchase the new figures in the stores in my area.

Sure, and most people feel like that (psst, even us "liberals"). Most people have both compassion and the mindset that people that are capable should support themselves. That's why I made the point that just as derek painted "liberals" as OWS loving people that want hand outs you could just as easily say all "conservatives" are represented by a few racists at Tea Party rallies. Neither one is accurate at all. My real condemnation was toward a single Congressman in a deeply red state I saw that said some really dumb things.

But, I'm going to let you in on a little Gamestop secret to help your future hunting online. Add the figures you want to your Wishlist. That way you can go to that page and check availability of what you need in one pass. And, sometimes during the day when they get things in, as orders are made an item will come in and out of stock as they get an accurate count - and sometimes it will open up to the Wishlist people before the page for the item itself updates. That's how I got Wham Shell. I missed the initial rush, but as some duplicate and problem orders got cancelled it let me add it to my cart while the item page itself still showed "Out of Stock". The item page never came back in stock that day, but people were getting it from the Wishlist as late as mid-afternoon.

See, Gamestop already seems to be playing games, or just lack knowledge. This is why I hate the hunt, but at the same time, this is why I hate that Gamestop is the one who got the exclusive.

So, friend of mine from Gamestop called me, because I had asked earlier if they were going to be there before the 9th, to meet the date.

This is everything that's happened with this Battle Pack so far -

1: Tentative date of the 1st.
2: Delayed until the 3rd.
3: Delayed until the 9th.
4: Add says the 11th.
5: Stores still say the 9th.
6: Gamestop.com changes date from 9th, to 10th.
7: Gamestop computers now remove any knowledge of the item, thus no date can be found.
8: Gamestop employee says no email this week about expecting it.
9: Gamestop employee says it could come anyday, and if it did, they can sell it once they get it, since it was removed from their systems.
10: Gamestop employee thinks this is due to "error in manufacturing."
11: Gamestop employee said at one time, the date had been moved to the 15th.

See how much of a mess it is to get Skylanders? It's like even when people can reserve these things, the powers that be can't even get it right, be it Gamestop or whoever is shipping them to Gamestop.

So, yeah, I wouldn't bother calling Gamestop asking for a date, because they don't have a date anymore. The listing was pulled from their computers. Why can't getting Skylanders just be easy, instead of frustrating?

Wow that's a lot of confusing twists just to get a hold of a Hotdog. That is ridiculous and so unnecessary for the battle pack's release.

It's bad for business if you ask me. It's getting stupid. Gamestop keeps advertising a month before anywhere else. It's going to end up being February before other places get it, or just after 2 weeks of Gamestop having exclusivity over it. In anycase, it's a jangled mess already.

If the potential reward of an action exceeds the potential risk and is of any importance to the individual in question, they'll usually do it. It's not political, it's sociological. I live in Texas, the reddest of the red, but also in one of the most liberal cities in the state. Yet, despite being in both communities at once, I've never had a problem finding Skylanders at all. Why? Because there aren't that handful of people, whose political identities we'll never know or even need to know, who rush to scalp Skylanders at five in the morning. Scalping is phenomenological (based on the cumulative life experience of each individual who does it) and not ethnographic (based on political or geographic region). I mean, it's taking place at this very moment in countries that don't even have anything resembling our two limited political platforms, so how can we ever base it on something so... local? Clearly there is something more universal at work than red vs. blue.

I do have one political thing to say, though. Any party that would outright deny or campaign against the existence of science really is a party made of nutjobs. Sorry, Tea Partiers.

Looks like somebody got there Scorpion Striker Battle Packs. Hot Dog

SkylanderPrime....the person selling these is "Claiming" that he has them in stock, but the reality is it is coming out only via Gamestop. I wouldn't go rushing to buy it as you would be better suited to wait for more people reporting it as available here. I can go post an ebay ad saying I have it with the expectation that I WILL have it by on dock date. These people are just trying to jump the gun so they can make a sale before 100 other people do the same thing. Then they'll ship it when it actually arrives. I haven't seen people screaming and posting pics of em yet...so my assumption is they haven't been sold early in any stores yet. All we can really do is go to the stores and ask or call daily.

Don't believe the hype.

Quote: GameMaster78

See, Gamestop already seems to be playing games, or just lack knowledge. This is why I hate the hunt, but at the same time, this is why I hate that Gamestop is the one who got the exclusive.

So, friend of mine from Gamestop called me, because I had asked earlier if they were going to be there before the 9th, to meet the date.

This is everything that's happened with this Battle Pack so far -

1: Tentative date of the 1st.
2: Delayed until the 3rd.
3: Delayed until the 9th.
4: Add says the 11th.
5: Stores still say the 9th.
6: Gamestop.com changes date from 9th, to 10th.
7: Gamestop computers now remove any knowledge of the item, thus no date can be found.
8: Gamestop employee says no email this week about expecting it.
9: Gamestop employee says it could come anyday, and if it did, they can sell it once they get it, since it was removed from their systems.
10: Gamestop employee thinks this is due to "error in manufacturing."
11: Gamestop employee said at one time, the date had been moved to the 15th.

See how much of a mess it is to get Skylanders? It's like even when people can reserve these things, the powers that be can't even get it right, be it Gamestop or whoever is shipping them to Gamestop.

So, yeah, I wouldn't bother calling Gamestop asking for a date, because they don't have a date anymore. The listing was pulled from their computers. Why can't getting Skylanders just be easy, instead of frustrating?

Mess! If it's not in their system anymore they better still recognize the pre-orders when it does come out.

Quote: xerokills

SkylanderPrime....the person selling these is "Claiming" that he has them in stock, but the reality is it is coming out only via Gamestop. I wouldn't go rushing to buy it as you would be better suited to wait for more people reporting it as available here. I can go post an ebay ad saying I have it with the expectation that I WILL have it by on dock date. These people are just trying to jump the gun so they can make a sale before 100 other people do the same thing. Then they'll ship it when it actually arrives. I haven't seen people screaming and posting pics of em yet...so my assumption is they haven't been sold early in any stores yet. All we can really do is go to the stores and ask or call daily.

Don't believe the hype.

Oh I wouldn't buy it...I have ready pre-ordered mine. I would never pay twice as much for the Hot Dog figure that the Scorpion Striker costs. Maybe the person has it "in hand" or not, but either way the person is trying to gouge somebody with those prices. Ridiculous!!!!

Quote: SkylanderPrime

Looks like somebody got there Scorpion Striker Battle Packs. Hot Dog

Awesome, he is charging $51.78. That is a $27 "fee" for going to Gamestop and removing Zap and the Scorpion Striker from the package (to be sold separately, of course, for their own markup).

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

Here's what my GameStop said. They are supposed to receive them BY the 11th. It has been removed from the system so that they can sell it whenever they get them in. She checked my preorder specifically. Still there. She will be calling me when they get them in.

Essentially there's no longer a release date and its just whenever they get shipped. She insisted by the 11th. All we can do now is wait.

Quoting myself from the other thread on the giants board.

Gamestops got an email today, saying to expect the pack no later than Friday. This means it could or could not be in tomorrow, Thursday, or Friday. No later than Friday. The date has been removed, because they don't know which of those three days it is coming.

Most likely different for different regions. Some may get it tomorrow. Some the next day. Some Friday. Sounds like a shipping error or something unexpected.

Edit
Another interesting thought, shouldn't we see an update to the mobile games by now? Battlegrounds still has hot dog as coming soon and he's not even listed on lost islands. Will they just work when added to the games ya think?

Did the political crap in this thread get removed? It appears so. If so, thank goodness to whoever did that. It was horrible.

Also: can you remove the ridiculous pictures of GameMaster78's vehicles that demonstrate the horrible circumstances he has to endure while pursuing seventeen of each figure? Jesus.

Quote: PlayableMoogle

Did the political crap in this thread get removed? It appears so. If so, thank goodness to whoever did that. It was horrible.

Also: can you remove the ridiculous pictures of GameMaster78's vehicles that demonstrate the horrible circumstances he has to endure while pursuing seventeen of each figure? Jesus.

Quote of the day! You sir are a winner!

Seriously. You think that the ridiculousness has reached its peak. And then he shocks everybody. I humor myself everyday imagining what this guys life really looks like and then he fills me in on parts of it and I don't have to imagine. And what he says is so much funnier than what I pictured.

Keep it up!

The part where his mom gets in line with a 34 year old GameMaster78 at toys r us around 8am is priceless. I see a movie in the works.

And GM78 is the screenwriter.

BOOM!! Time for some cake!

Thanks for flaming! Everything you said was on topic and helpful too!

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

Most likely different for different regions. Some may get it tomorrow. Some the next day. Some Friday. Sounds like a shipping error or something unexpected.

Edit
Another interesting thought, shouldn't we see an update to the mobile games by now? Battlegrounds still has hot dog as coming soon and he's not even listed on lost islands. Will they just work when added to the games ya think?

I always figured you could just put the characters on the Bluetooth portal and they would unlock, despite the fact they might say "coming soon?"

I've seen it do that on Spyro's Universe. It would gather data from something like the Magical Items, when registered while said items still say coming soon.

Who knows. If they come out this week, we will just have to see if we can unlock them on games that still shows them as coming soon. Then again, they could have an update ready for it by the end of the week.

I still think the whole thing is a mess. They can't even give this item a proper street date like video games and accessories, despite the fact this is technically an accessory.

I will go look when I get home, but I never took the time to unlock Legendary Stealth Elf on Battlegrounds and I think she showed up as coming soon too. I'm pretty sure she'd unlock if I put her on the portal. I'll find out tonight.

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

Thanks for flaming! Everything you said was on topic and helpful too!

If you're pointing to gamecocksc17's and my posts, they're about as on-topic as many of the other posts in this thread.