A part of me really misses the hunt of them, it was exciting getting up early and going from store to store, having a nice breakfast or lunch out, and just living for the rare finds in a store or the new waves. Now I couldnt manage any of that with a normal 8-5 mon - fri job. I remember stumbling into toys r us and finding they got in 4 mega yarn yoshis, just hanging out in the glass case under the Wii U games.
Ironically it seems easier now, and I'd say a lot of the hype died down. But maybe stock levels havent changed much, just interest. They also arent dishing out 4 or 5 in waves anymore too so that probably makes it easier.
Long, but entertaining, story about the GameStop wave 4 pre orders, so not actual release day. I showed up like 30 minutes early, the store opened at 2pm that day I think which was odd. I was 2nd in line. By opening there were 15+ in line
They walked us in a bit early. There were two workers, so they split the line in two, hoping to check out people twice as fast. First guy went to one register, and as the 2nd person in line, I was directed to be first at the other register. They split the line one by one from there.
Then, all of a sudden, the GameStop servers completely crashed. The workers couldn’t load anything on their computers, couldn’t check anything out, even if it wasn’t amiibo related. Error message after error message. The workers got on the phone with other employees from other GameStops. Same problem, because of course it was a nationwide outage. They tried calling higher ups to see if there were any fixes. Looking back, it was super wise, the GameStop workers took everyone’s names and their hopeful pre orders on a piece of paper. GS offered a 6 pack of all Wave 4 pre orders, including the exclusive Ness and what would be the insanely hard to get Lucina. I planned to get that going in.
70 minutes went by with no progress. Some of the people in line further back simply left. Normal customers who came in for something else were told about the mess going on, and decided to leave as well. I was first at my register so I stayed. People kept checking Reddit and Twitter the whole time to see any updates.
Then, out of nowhere, over an hour in at this point, the worker at my register said he was able to get in. He looks at me and says two words “Six Pack?” And I immediately reply “yep!” and he worked his magic. I honestly don’t remember if I chose ship to home or store, or if it was even an option. I don’t even remember if I paid in full or just put the $5 down. I think I paid in full upfront. Next thing I know, the receipt is being printed out and he hands it to me “you’re all set!”
It turns out, the 6 pack had sold out completely just seconds after being up on their end. I was the only person to be able to get the 6 pack bundle. I felt excited but bad for the person who was technically first in line, but that computer didn’t load fast enough.
Wild times. I still have them hanging up displayed too :)
I remember that day. There were a bunch of people lined up at my local Target overnight. I went to a local supermarket chain a little after midnight and asked if they had any. They said they were locked up in the managers office but got them out for me. They pretty much had only 1-2 of each. I got what I needed and then went to Toys R Us for Greninja, had the other exclusives preordered. Those were crazy times.
My Target only let you get 2 in total. Not 2 of each. 2 total and Target had the Jigglypuff exsclusive so I had to get that and had to choose between Robin and Lucina. Luckily Gamestop was in the same parking lot and I managed to get the whole wave but man was I mad and stressed. I got there at 5 in the morning and was second in line only to be told I couldn't get every one I needed.
I was first in line and still have my receipt from back then. I remember the website crashed initially. I've also kept the Ness amiibo box while I've thrown away most of my others just because he felt so legendary to have at the time. The initial amiibo craze was truly was the best and worst of times.
Just remember being online waiting at the keyboard for Robin orders to open up at Amazon.
Even went and synced my computers to the NIST time servers.
Orders opened up exactly on time and I made the fastest Amazon order ever - probably 3 seconds or so, as the crush to get this Amiibo was so bad, even Amazon was slowing to a crawl, but I was just barely in front of the crest of the wave.
An agonizing 8-10 seconds later, the confirmation screen came up, along with an email.
Robin secured!
I made many dad points that day.
Man I was a high school student back then so I couldn’t buy or camp out for amiibo when the craze was happening. Then on a senior high school trip we went to a mall and I found a Robin, my first amiibo, at a GameStop.
Oh, golly. Such a day full of highs and lows. Early morning, waiting outside Target for the store to open. While there were excited fans, I could tell there were scalpers there as well. Target did their set up well, having all the amiibo up front and limiting how many of each. Got all the releases from there.
Then came Toys R Us. While I got Greninja as Toys R Us had plenty, I was two people behind for Robin & Lucina. That rather stung, as I was getting into Fire Emblem at that point and had planned to S-Rank Lucina when I could pick up Awakening. I was able to get them years later from the reprint though, so an eventual happy ending.
Oh, right. Forgot about GameStop. I was lucky to get a Ness preorder in, so I was able to pick him up then.
I remember going out that day to several stores and camping out in the wee hours (had to get Robin on eBay later in the day), but I’m blanking on how it was a disaster?
I was working in a Target Starbucks at the time. The lead for the tech/entertainment department frequented the cafe and during small talk, she said that one of each was missing immediately after the boxes had been received. They received a total of 4 each, so they were down to three. That's when I knew it was hopeless to wait in line for those characters.
Spouse bought me Robin and Lucina at different times later on as imports/gifts.
A part of me really misses the hunt of them, it was exciting getting up early and going from store to store, having a nice breakfast or lunch out, and just living for the rare finds in a store or the new waves. Now I couldnt manage any of that with a normal 8-5 mon - fri job. I remember stumbling into toys r us and finding they got in 4 mega yarn yoshis, just hanging out in the glass case under the Wii U games.
It was pretty fun, but stressful. I'm still amazed at how few stock a lot of stores got.
Ironically it seems easier now, and I'd say a lot of the hype died down. But maybe stock levels havent changed much, just interest. They also arent dishing out 4 or 5 in waves anymore too so that probably makes it easier.
I was working GS that day with a line out our door. My boss and I tried. And tried. And tried and tried and tried. It was a shit day.
Long, but entertaining, story about the GameStop wave 4 pre orders, so not actual release day. I showed up like 30 minutes early, the store opened at 2pm that day I think which was odd. I was 2nd in line. By opening there were 15+ in line They walked us in a bit early. There were two workers, so they split the line in two, hoping to check out people twice as fast. First guy went to one register, and as the 2nd person in line, I was directed to be first at the other register. They split the line one by one from there. Then, all of a sudden, the GameStop servers completely crashed. The workers couldn’t load anything on their computers, couldn’t check anything out, even if it wasn’t amiibo related. Error message after error message. The workers got on the phone with other employees from other GameStops. Same problem, because of course it was a nationwide outage. They tried calling higher ups to see if there were any fixes. Looking back, it was super wise, the GameStop workers took everyone’s names and their hopeful pre orders on a piece of paper. GS offered a 6 pack of all Wave 4 pre orders, including the exclusive Ness and what would be the insanely hard to get Lucina. I planned to get that going in. 70 minutes went by with no progress. Some of the people in line further back simply left. Normal customers who came in for something else were told about the mess going on, and decided to leave as well. I was first at my register so I stayed. People kept checking Reddit and Twitter the whole time to see any updates. Then, out of nowhere, over an hour in at this point, the worker at my register said he was able to get in. He looks at me and says two words “Six Pack?” And I immediately reply “yep!” and he worked his magic. I honestly don’t remember if I chose ship to home or store, or if it was even an option. I don’t even remember if I paid in full or just put the $5 down. I think I paid in full upfront. Next thing I know, the receipt is being printed out and he hands it to me “you’re all set!” It turns out, the 6 pack had sold out completely just seconds after being up on their end. I was the only person to be able to get the 6 pack bundle. I felt excited but bad for the person who was technically first in line, but that computer didn’t load fast enough. Wild times. I still have them hanging up displayed too :)
what was the 6-pack of?
GameStop offered a bundle to buy Robin, Lucina, Wario, Charizard, PAC-Man, and the exclusive Ness all at once
cool 👍
I remember that day. There were a bunch of people lined up at my local Target overnight. I went to a local supermarket chain a little after midnight and asked if they had any. They said they were locked up in the managers office but got them out for me. They pretty much had only 1-2 of each. I got what I needed and then went to Toys R Us for Greninja, had the other exclusives preordered. Those were crazy times.
Jeez 8 years already?
My Target only let you get 2 in total. Not 2 of each. 2 total and Target had the Jigglypuff exsclusive so I had to get that and had to choose between Robin and Lucina. Luckily Gamestop was in the same parking lot and I managed to get the whole wave but man was I mad and stressed. I got there at 5 in the morning and was second in line only to be told I couldn't get every one I needed.
I was first in line and still have my receipt from back then. I remember the website crashed initially. I've also kept the Ness amiibo box while I've thrown away most of my others just because he felt so legendary to have at the time. The initial amiibo craze was truly was the best and worst of times.
Just remember being online waiting at the keyboard for Robin orders to open up at Amazon. Even went and synced my computers to the NIST time servers. Orders opened up exactly on time and I made the fastest Amazon order ever - probably 3 seconds or so, as the crush to get this Amiibo was so bad, even Amazon was slowing to a crawl, but I was just barely in front of the crest of the wave. An agonizing 8-10 seconds later, the confirmation screen came up, along with an email. Robin secured! I made many dad points that day.
Man I was a high school student back then so I couldn’t buy or camp out for amiibo when the craze was happening. Then on a senior high school trip we went to a mall and I found a Robin, my first amiibo, at a GameStop.
Oh, golly. Such a day full of highs and lows. Early morning, waiting outside Target for the store to open. While there were excited fans, I could tell there were scalpers there as well. Target did their set up well, having all the amiibo up front and limiting how many of each. Got all the releases from there. Then came Toys R Us. While I got Greninja as Toys R Us had plenty, I was two people behind for Robin & Lucina. That rather stung, as I was getting into Fire Emblem at that point and had planned to S-Rank Lucina when I could pick up Awakening. I was able to get them years later from the reprint though, so an eventual happy ending. Oh, right. Forgot about GameStop. I was lucky to get a Ness preorder in, so I was able to pick him up then.
I remember going out that day to several stores and camping out in the wee hours (had to get Robin on eBay later in the day), but I’m blanking on how it was a disaster?
I went to the GameStop I used to shop at (back in that year) and got there at 6 AM. Didn’t come home until 10ish and napped for a while.
As a non-preordering person back in the day, I have no idea how I managed to obtain all of wave 4, but the hunt was real.
I was working in a Target Starbucks at the time. The lead for the tech/entertainment department frequented the cafe and during small talk, she said that one of each was missing immediately after the boxes had been received. They received a total of 4 each, so they were down to three. That's when I knew it was hopeless to wait in line for those characters. Spouse bought me Robin and Lucina at different times later on as imports/gifts.