Nonetheless, Toys'R'Us and their month long "exclusive" window to sell Dragon's Peak technically began today. I know some of you had stores that sold it on 3/21 and the fact of the matter is they shouldn't. Think of it is Madden releasing nation wide...it almost always goes down on a Tuesday. Any store that were to sell copies Sunday or Monday can get in some pretty serious trouble...So if you got it, your TRU is pretty negligent, lacks management that comprehends how things are supposed to be, and in all honesty the bottom line is you got very lucky.
Several of you HAD Dragon's Peak on 3/21 only to have it taken back or held when the store told you they couldn't sell (pretty big mistake, but at least they caught it). Some of them handled it well by letting you put your name on it and promising to hold it for you on Sunday.
The rest of us just had to wait...
Well, I went in today and despite my hope that Dragon's Peak would be stocked deep on 8 pegs with boxes waiting in the back I came up empty. I'm in a relatively small market so as opposed to thinking 250 people stormed thru purchasing Dragon's Peak, I'm just thinking they probably had like 20 of them. When I asked an employee if they had any she seemed to think so, went over to the Skylanders section with me, and said she guesses they sold out.
Keep in mind my store enforces the 1 per customer AND they supposedly sold them on 3/21. That means that since Wednesday they got in Dragon's Peak in a decent quantity. That should suffice to support my theory that DP will be stocked in abundance. I can not see TRU being dumb enough to not have mandated "X" units to satisfy demand for their exclusive window. I mean once GameStop, Walmart, and Target all have it and are selling it for $5 less who is really going to beat down the doors at TRU to pay more?
I did see two Dragon's Peaks behind the counter with names on them...I have no idea how that works...If I could just call at opening and say "Hold me one" I would have...seems like if someone is there cash in hand, they should make the sale.
Sadly my store had NO other adventure packs, no legendary three packs, and in all honesty no triple packs (which basically made 80% of the sales circular pointless). I had really hoped to walk in and find Wave 4 Triple Packs left over from people who opted for the Dragon's Peak AP...something just isn't adding up in that scenario.
What we did have was a lot of singles from the early characters: Drobot, Stump Smash, Prism Break, and then a few newcomers like Whirlwind and Drill Sergeant (which still ticks me off):
Also of note is the INSANE NUMBER of Legendary Trigger Happy packs in the store. A brand new "aisle" display was stocked deep with them...it also looks like the bottom would hold triple packs or adventure packs:
So, it looks like activision literally shipped a new display unit (just picture a box covering the display and stapled to the pallet), but can not make Empire of Ice, Lightning Rod, Zook, and even the 30 Day TRU Exclusive Dragon's Peak in large enough quantities to satisfy demand...way to go guys, keep the priorities in line!
The other thing noteworthy is that I have still NEVER SEEN Empire of Ice or Cynder single packs in any of my local stores, and you all know how often I look. I really think Empire of Ice is the toughest AP to find.
The good news is I ordered Dragon's Peak online from TRU, they have the nuttiest estimated delivery date of 3/30-4/8. So if I can't land it locally, there is one on the way...I felt like I had to do that as insurance over yet another blunder between Activision and TRU. I am fine paying shipping (saves me time and fuel), and more importantly I won't be left with my only option being a scalper (which means I wouldn't have it...I'll never pay more than retail for anything like this).
I'm sure about the time I get it delivered I'll walk in and find 40 Dragon's Peak APs just sitting around, but such is life.
I'm really hoping to land Lightning Rod and would just assume do it via the Triple Pack.
Hope some of ya'll had a better time than I did.
The place where u found the L-Trigger Happywas that in the electronic section or somewhere else?
ReplyDeleteMy store has the main display right at the edge of the video games section (basically video games, dvds, then Skylanders). There were several racks of LTH there and then that little pallet display was just in line with the Skylanders display.
DeleteWent to Davenport IA TRU yesterday at opening. Had many Dragon's Peak APs (20 or more) and lots of Legendary Trigger Happy. No other APs. Only one or two different triple packs in low quantity (no Legendary). They had one of those cardboard aisle displays well stocked one side with DP AP and the other containing lots of singles. Didn't see Cynder, Lightning Rod or Zook.
ReplyDeleteSo I was able to acquire Stump Smash (finally), along with the DP AP. I already ordered Dragon's Peak from TRU.com so I'll probably return that to the store. Took advantage of the 50% off sale a couple weeks ago to grab the 3DS starter pack for the figures. Now just missing Empire of Ice, Lightning Rod and Zook.
Very nice. I think DP will be much easier to come by than LR or Zook. I haven't landed them either. Good call on the 3DS Starter Pack. Ignitor single will be hard to get too.
DeleteIdk if it is still up, but Amazon had Empire of Ice for $19.99 last night...I FINALLY got it ordered for a friend. I have still not seen it or Cynder locally either.
Good luck on LR and Zook!
I checked Amazon.com earlier tonight and Empire of Ice was out of stock. A few minutes ago I got a text message & email from Wiialerts.com indicating it was in stock and have just finished placing an order for Empire of Ice. They seem to have the other Adventure Packs as well (except for Dragon's Peak).
ReplyDeleteNice, I've got one coming too...tried since Jan to land one for my friend. Mine will be here Monday...tonight when I ran around I found one locally for the very first time...go figure.
DeleteI found a Dragon's Peak at my local TRU yesterday (3/27/12). But it wasn't around the Skylanders. It was hidden behind Barbies. Good thing I was with my cousin or else I would have never found one. Now this leads me to thinking that people are hiding the Skylanders around the stores and then returning to buy them. There's also a large ammount of LTHs here too.
ReplyDeleteI've seen that. The Gold Flameslinger I got was stashed with the Dino-Rang Triple Pack behind the PC Starter set, lol. I just make a habit to check. Going all that way to stash something is pretty bad, but worth checking if you have the time. Very cool you found it...I bet it was someone who bought one, and stashed the other for a cohort, lol.
DeleteWalmart, kmart, and best buy all seem to be getting huge shipments today... just picked up empire of ice at kmart and the TRU by my place of employment has TONS of dragon peaks...
ReplyDeleteI miss K-Mart, had two back in the day, they both left town back like 2000 or so here :( I have yet to see a Wave 4 locally, and shockingly my TRU hasn't had any Dragon's Peak APs since the 3/25 launch which I find odd. I figured it would be stocked all the time in their exclusibe window...Glad you got EoI though, I think it is the hardest to find by far.
DeleteI was watching a video the other day call skylanders 101-Whirlwind and the guy that does reviews games and at the end of the video he takes about how whirlwind is a target exclusive. Then said it meant stop being a target exclusive.
ReplyDeleteIn the US Whirlwind was to be a Target exclusive and Drill Sergeant a Walmart/Sam's exclusive. I still have the "Only at Target" Whirlwind pictures. I am personally still upset about that as I tried for months to get Drill Sergeant and finally did...then a few weeks later he is everywhere and in a Triple Pack with Double Trouble. What miffs me the most is that they now sell singles of both everywhere (GameStop, TRU, etc). I have never seen any thing from Activision where it was said to be "timed" like we have with Dragon's Peak. And with the Legendaries we know they understand "exclusive." It is blatant misrepresentation of the product and deceptive marketing...I went into detail on it awhile back.
Delete