Skylanders Update 2-23-2012 and Street Pass "Inaction"

Well, I made my weekly pilgrimage into town tonight.

I use to run around more often, but the local stores were either raided by the pirates of ebay, or just don't have stock (cough, have employees holding stuff back to hock themselves, cough).  Since I've got everything I am not as vigilant...I would like to find an Empire of Ice for a friend, but I think it will have to be ordered online.

I have to say it is pretty strange that Toys'R'Us in my area has NEVER had Empire of Ice.  In addition to me not seeing it, I ask (usually 2 employees) every time I'm in and have never known of it to be in the store.  Tonight there wasn't anyone too nice or that into Skylanders, but the answer of "I have no way of knowing that" basically meant I was better off just leaving than asking them to check...the store really wasn't crowded tonight.  I believe most people raid things in the morning and afternoon, which for me isn't an option because I'm at work.

I'm sure most of you know activision and tru are "buddy-buddy" and plan to continue "exclusives" with Giants this fall and even have the 30 day window on Dragon's Peak.  I have to wonder, since I've never seen Empire of Ice at my local tru: A): Does someone in the back just hold onto them for "friends" or to hock online, or B): Has activision just not shipped them any?

Toys'R'Us was way behind GameStop, Walmart, and Target in terms of listing it online...And honestly, people on the east coast were buying Empire of Ice about 6 weeks ago (January 12th if I remember right).  It seems very odd to me...which is why I'm again asking if anyone has bought or seen Empire of Ice at their Toys'R'Us and if so, what state or region of the country do you live in?

That aside, what YOU probably care about is what they had...

Well there were NO Legendary Triple Packs, NO Pirate Seas APs, and NO Darklight Crypt APs like there were last week.  For the first time at this store I saw the Whirlwind+Double Trouble+Drill Sergeant Triple Pack.  They also had the Stealth Elf Triple Pack and Stump Smash Triple Pack (I took a picture, but apparently my phone decided not to store it...sorry).

As far as singles there was Chop Chop, Drill Sergeant, and Flame Slinger....oh, and Whirlwind:

Target had absolutely nothing, but did have a nice selection of Starter Packs for a change:

It was cold, especially with the 50 mph N wind so I didn't even try Walmart or Gamestop.

And on a side note, I ran all over town with my 3DS and got ZERO Street Pass tags.  I'm not exactly trying to social network my way into anything, but I would like to have a nice arsenal to help with Find Mii.  Alas, a guy can dream.  You do always wonder if there is some really awesome chick your age with a 3DS trying to do the same thing, haha.  If I do get any tags it will likely be from the 6-12 year old bracket...

Prices on the Legendary Triple Pack have dropped from $200+ just a few weeks ago to about $50 online.  The prices for singles has come down a lot too.  I think activision is finally shipping out enough to subdue the market a bit...which is good...I don't want anyone having to pay more than retail for any figure in particular.  Cynder still seems to be the toughest to find.

I have still never seen a Cynder or Empire of Ice at a local store for what it is worth.

I'll have a few more updates to post tonight or early this weekend related to gameplay etc.