My local stores have been desolate. The Drobots and Prism Breaks adorning the racks were even getting picked up. When I ran to town, Target had....NOTHING.
Walmart had this sign:
Note the "exclusive" sticker...just like Whirlwind and Drill Sergeant Single Packs used to wear. They really need to be reprimanded for this shady tactic.
Not vesting too much time in that, Toys'R'Us finally had some new stuff. And I see why. You can't read it well in the picture, but all those "handmade" signs that look like an employee was tasked with printing from Microsoft Paint read, "All Skylanders, Limit 1 per Customer." I guess they FINALLY got the clue that the ladies who come in the store and buy up all the Skylanders probably don't have 250 nieces and nephews. I'm sure if not for that policy change the racks would have been desolate.
But alas, a welcome sight...one which newcomers often doubted me on:
Not only are there racks of Dark Light Crypt and Pirate Seas (which have been out since Day 1 btw), there are FOUR ROWS STOCKED DEEP OF THE LEGENDARY TRIPLE PACKS.
I didn't even bother to buy one (I got 3 back on the first release, again primarly based on their "exclusive" status...and realax, one was for me to use, one was for a gift, and the other was just to keep boxed in case they were ever worth something). This game is going to be so expensive to "complete" I didn't feel like shelling out another $25...especially when I got the same triple pack for $19.99 back in October.
But, nonetheless the stock returned...
The real kicker though is this...
My local Toys'R'Us has still not gotten ANY Wave 3 Skylanders or Empire of Ice. I have a few employees I trust and 2 that I trust and know are familiar with the game etc. It blows my mind how activision is handling this...I assure you they are simply structuring shipments and what not to do their best to keep they hype going all the way until Wham-Shell precedes Skylanders Giants.
The entire process is actually starting to take away from the game. I don't mind having a hard time tracking down Silver/Gold/Blue Skylanders...but when casual players feel like they need to shell out $50 to some scalper nested in the coves of ebay I start to get a sour taste in my mouth.
Playing the game helps a bit, and I am hoping more stores adopt the "1 per customer" rule to prevent these pirates from influencing so many of us to resort to buying their plundered loot.
I really enjoy the game, and am looking forward to wrapping it up, but the prospect of chasing tail and burning hours of time and cash on gas to put around town for the next wave of releases doesn't really interest me as much as it once did. It was fun for awhile, but the same antics grow old quick when you begin to view them as more of a patter of choice than chance.
I still plan to pick up all 37 Skylanders, but I sure as heck won't give more than retail for any of them. I don't have that kind of money or time. Maybe by the time Giants comes out I will have regained the enthusiasm behind it all, but that remains to be seen...a large part of it will have to do with the "frenzy" and how it pans out.
Nonetheless, I've been busy...I just got 3 New Polls opened up on the blog and I hope to play Pirate Seas and Dark Light Crypt on my "new" Save File to see how the progress looks...I'll then record Chapter 22 and call it good until new Skylanders or Dragon's Peak is available. I might progress with getting some favorites up on their Heroic Challenges, or simply start recording a new game.
See you on the flipside...
When is your next vid
ReplyDeleteAnd do u know if it is one per each costumer like that at every toys r us because Its taking a hard time to find them.
DeleteI might record Ch 22 this week. I plan to do Pirate Seas tonight and then Darklight Crypt tomorrow night (on the new save file...I recorded them on the glitched file). I have Terrafin up to 26 on Heroics and would like to do the same for Ghost Roaster.
DeleteIn all honesty, I'd like to get a lot of the Skylander up that high before battling Kaos, but I know it would tick ple off, lol. I may just do a handful, record a few upgrades, and then see how I fare against him...The plan would then be to move toward 26 on all the Skylanders and try out different upgrade paths etc, then re-record the battle with a better prepared force.
And I am glad to hear it is not just my local store...I still keep getting people telling me about horror stories at Walmart etc.
I wonder why you keep harping on Activision going back on their word about the Whirlwind and Drill Sergeant exclusives. The signage I've seen at Walmart indicates that single pack Drill Sergeant was only exclusive through 12-31-11.
ReplyDeleteSkylanders are hard to come by around here (Davenport IA and Moline IL). I checked both TRUs, a Walmart, a Target and a Best Buy and only found a few Wave 1 or 2 single packs. Hoping to find one of these Legendary Packs soon. Yesterday I managed to order Cynder from amazon.com for $8 (assuming it actually ships).
Congrats on getting Cynder for a good price! Also, thanks for the update in your area...that is about how it is here, although we had quite a few Legendary Triple Packs here recently. With the re-release, online prices have come down from $200+ to $47 or so last I looked. Just hold out for your local TRU to get stock and you can take one home for $24.99, lol.
ReplyDeleteI have NEVER seen anything about Drill Sergeant or Whirlwind being "timed" exclusives. I have pictures of signs from both Walmart and Target, as well as online screen caps where they are clearly advertised as "Only At." There was NEVER a date, time, or mention of "limited time exclusive" with anything I have seen. My local Target, as of last week, still had the sign that has been up since October when the game came out about Whirlwind being a "Target" exclusive.
If you tried back in October or November to get either character from Gamestop they would have told you, "No chance...they are available ONLY at x or y."
Volcanic Vault was labelled the same way as a "Best Buy Exclusive" and it remained only at Best Buy.
Similarly, the "Legendary Skylanders" are a Toys'R'Us exclusive, and you do not see them on the shelf at Target or Walmart. You can not selectively choose to know the definition and implications of a term like "exclusive" in some cases and then apply a different meaning in others.
Like I've said, I do not hold activision accountable for black market or individuals selling Skylanders after the fact.
What they did with Drill Sergeant and Whirlwind was deceptive and a misrepresentation of the product.
I am fine with "timed exclusives" like we will see with Dragon's Peak (available 30 days exclusively at Toys'R'Us), but that has been made clear in advance...that was not the case with Drill Sergeant and Whirlwind.
I'm pretty sure activision supplies the in store display set-ups and as I've said, there has never been any "date" or "for a limited time" displayed with Drill Sergeant or Whirlwind at any of my local stores, nor online. They can crank it out now, but that would be after the fact and therefore irrelevant.
There are a lot of people who had a nightmare of a time trying to track down one or the other. I could live with the Triple Pack being made available everywhere, but doing so with the Single Packs is where the line is completely spit on by activision. I'm not the only one who spent a ton of time trying to get one of them only to find 2 months later that I could order it from Gamestop.
I am out time and fuel costs for my effort.
There are many who paid $40-$80 or more online to get them...and that pricing was based on the exclusive advertisements from activision dictating the market and thought process of those who decided to buy online since they could never get them locally.
It is just a bad business practice and I think there should be reprimands for such action. I have all the pictures to back up my stance, and I have never seen anything from activision to say otherwise...and again, something they print out today doesn't make amends or justify this underhanded tactic. It wouldn't fly for any one else and plenty of businesses are held accountable to this same law.
Heh, thanks for the additional comments. I'll see if I can get a pic of that signage at that Walmart.
DeleteToday, I managed to get a couple Legendary Triple Packs from TRU. Got there right when it opened along with a rush of 3 or 4 others. Everyone else seemed to be interested in the Double Trouble single pack.
I, for one, am glad that Double Trouble was offered in a Triple Pack with Drill Sergeant and Whirlwind because that saved me a lot of grief trying to round those up from Walmart and Target.
Empire of Ice still eludes me, as has Cynder until recently. Ironically, I've somehow managed to NOT find Stealth Elf at all in single or triple packs. And except for the first time I started purchasing these (when it seemed rather overwhelming), I yet have to encounter Stump Smash in the stores.
No prob...that would be cool, my local Walmarts just had the "exclusive" sign.
DeleteCongrats on landing the LTP...tonight my TRU was out of those, Pirate Seas, and Dark Light Crypt that were in stock last week.
I agree, the triple pack is great...esp if you can get it at Walmart/Gamestop and save even more money, lol. I wouldn't be as mad about it if they just did that...releasing the singles to TRU and Gamestop and then the othe store is what really ticks me off and constitutes the clear violation imo. The triple pack is shady at best, but they could probably snake around it to my satisfaction since it was never labelled as "exclusive" or "only at." Plus, I've always said if you buy Skylanders go for the Triples to save money, lol.
You know, my TRU has never had Empire of Ice...I can't figure it out. They had a few singles and the triple with Stump Smash and the one with Stealth Elf (go figure, lol). Hopefully you can land her soon..she is great AND it sounds like you need a life element or two!
Let me know if you ever find Empire of Ice at your TRU or Legendary Trigger Happy etc.
Is it werid that my Dino-rang has silver boomerangs?
ReplyDeleteI mean golden boomerangs.
ReplyDeleteNope, his are Golden as is...silver when he is solid silver. If you did wind up with a regular Dino-Rang with silver boomerangs than it would be a "custom" or you caught a really odd fluke from the factory, lol.
DeleteWhen can u get Dragons Peak at Toys r us?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteThey claim around Easter. I believe they have a 30 day window to sell it exclusively...meaning you can't run to Target/GameStop/Walmart and pick it up.
DeleteThe way the local store stocks, I might wind up not getting it in the first 30 days anyway...then I'd just save money getting it elsewhere, lol.