Purchasing a Wii - A Trip Report with a Few Surprises

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Pre-Game:

I called the the Toys U Us store on Wednesday and ask if they will have any Wiis available on Friday morning. Girl who answered the phone said yes. I asked how many and she said she did not have a count, however they did have 27 on launch day.

I stop by the that night on my way home from work for a little reconnaissance. The girl at the electronics counter confirms they will have Wiis on Friday. I see a cabinet full of Zelda games so I purchase one.

Toys R Us opens at 5AM on Friday. I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and went to bed at 9:30PM. The alarm was set for 3AM.

Game Day - Part I

The alarm goes off. The temperature outside is 34 degrees. I wake up my daughter. We bundle up and head out. We arrive at the Toys R Us at 3:41AM. There are 7 people already in line. We decide to stay in the car until another car pulls up.

At 3:50AM another car approaches so we get out and wait in line. Of the 8 people in line only 5 were there for the Wii [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Three OOT types were there since midnight. They looked very cold so I gave one of them a couple packages of 'hot hands' that I always keep in my jacket pocket (good karma).

TRU employees start arriving at a steady stream beginning at 4:00AM. The excitement is building. By 4:45AM there are at least 50-75 people in line.

The store manager comes out for a smoke about 4:50AM. I ask him how many Wiis they have for sale. He says, "None." I say (or think to myself since my daughter is with me) "WTF!"

We decide to wait 8 minutes to get positive confirmation. The doors open and sure enough as we get to the electronics counter we are told they have none [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I felt bad for the guys who had been there since midnight.

We are dejected, however......

The Back-up Plan

My daughter was at the mall across the street from the Toys R Us on Wednesday and the the Game Stop there said they would have 9 Wiis for sale at 6:00AM Friday.

We run back to the car and get to the mall. I drop my daughter off at the first entrance (5:08AM) and she runs to to Game Stop while I park the car. She calls me 2 minutes later saying that she is 6th in line.

I join my daughter in line. Three of the guys from TRU (the midnighters) were right behind us.

About 5:30AM, the Game Stop employees appear. I approach the security door and ask how many Wiis they have for sale. The manager says, "10".

WOOT!!!

The Surprise

At 5:45AM the manager comes out and asked who is here for the Wii. A bunch of hands go up. He says they only have 10 and hands out Wii tickets to the first 10 in line. My daughter was very happy to hold our ticket.

He then asks who was there for a Playstation3. Only one hand went up in front of me. I asked him how many they had and he said 2 so my hand went up real fast (think calling an AI with the nuts fast).

So the store opens and we buy a Wii, 2 extra Wiimotes (last 2 -- no nunchuks) and a PS3.

By 7:00 we were playing Wii Sports. I defeated my wife and dauhter in our inaugral game of tennis.

The PS3 will find its way onto eBay later today.


Cliff Notes: Went to get a Wii at Toys R Us. They were out. Went to Game Stop and scored a Wii and PS3.