Skylander Day was a success

We headed out early to make sure we were going to get a Sidekick. We have them all but wanted to get one for our cousins that just got Skylanders Swap Force for Christmas.
Mom and Tucker went to a play at the library with the Cub Scouts. I took Grant to a merit badge clinic with the Boy Scouts. So that left me with Evan and Lindy for two hours. <evil Ha Ha Ha> Oh the fun we could have.
First stop: GameStop. Interesting side note: The particular store we went to only had one employee scheduled for the first hour the store was open. There was a long line with lots of technical questions, it wasn't all Skylander stuff either. As soon as we walked in the door Evan saw series 2 Bash and he let everyone in the store know with a very loud scream. A quick look around soon told us that the Swappers we were after would not be found here. GameStop was doing a special of by $20 of Skylanders and get a free "mini" Skylander. Yeah, they lost some credibility on that one. Hello! They are Sidekicks. To get above the line of $20 I gave in and bought Lightcore Flashwing. We picked out Barkley as our sidekick and plan to send it to our cousins as they recently started into the Skylander world.
Next we headed to Toys R Us. They had a deal of buy 3 guys for $35 dollars (on figures priced 14.99 and above). So that pretty much left Giants and Swappers. And we have all the (standard) Giants. Everyone knows who we were looking for: Spy Rise, Rubble Rouser and Stink Bomb.
The first 2 were easy finds sitting on the shelf with the rest of the Skylanders. Also in the aisle with us were two other families. One boy was trying to pick out a Swapper for his birthday. He didn't want Rubble Rouser and I could tell he was an amateur because he wasn't looking deeper on the racks. I stepped in front of him and nabbed Spy Rise that was hiding behind someone on the front row. Oh well! It turns out he was after Stink Bomb. And so was the boy from the second family. He wanted the deal of 3 for $35 but couldn't find Stink Bomb either.
So there we are, three families staring at the shelf, all looking for the same guy that wasn't there. I have done this enough to know that staring at the shelf doesn't help the figure appear. I grabbed the Arkeyan Crossbow battle pack and made a quick exit.  This is where it gets interesting. In looking for the best line to check out from I glanced around the front of the store. My eye caught something I hadn't seen before, a very small section of Skylanders hanging out in the iPod/Tablet area. I took off immediately to see the selection. I moved so fast (because I was excited) that I left my two little ones by themselves to figure out where I was going. The packages were high which made it easier to see behind the ones in the front. It only took a second but I found him, STINK BOMB! There was only one and for a split second I thought about giving it away to one of the other kids looking for it. I don't think Evan would have taken too kindly to that as he was hugging the box and saying, "My Stink Bomby!" After quieting him down we uneventfully checked out.
Next to Toys R Us is another GameStop. I was feeling generous and wanted to get 'free' sidekicks we went in. I made the observation that normally their prices for Skylanders are higher than today (10.99 vs 9.99) so to exceed $20 I would have to get more than two regular guys. Two at 9.99 just wasn't going to cut it. We would have to get another lightcore or Swapper. After seeing the customer in front of us fail at talking the employee into letting 2 @ 9.99 qualify, I didn't want to waste my time or breath. We called it a day and left.

Our haul for the day:

• Series 2 Bash (finally)
• Lightcore Flashwing
• Arkeyan Crossbow with Grim Creeper and Thorn Horn Camo
• Stink Bomb
• Spy Rise
• Rubble Rouser

Skylander Saturday at GameStop - January 11

So is tomorrow the day to get Wave 3? Let's hope so. GameStop is having a special Skylander Day starting at 10AM - most stores open at that time.
The have 4 special offers going on.
1. The first 25 Skylanders customers get a FREE SWAP Force poster (not the pale skinned, pimple faced teens that play Call of Duty all night in the basement). The poster showing in the email is new to me. It has some Wave 3 guys in it.
2. Spend $20 and get a free Sidekick from last years Frito-Lay promotion. They call them Skylanders Mini, like there are iPod or iPad or something. weird.
3. Get $20 off a SWAP Force starter pack. Really? Who still needs a starter pack? Well at least this is GameStop and you can pick up the Dark Edition starter pack.
4. 50% off select SWAP Force accessories.

Don't for get to join their Skylanders Adventure Club. For every 6 characters you buy you get a FREE Skylander. The other stuff you should already get if you are a regular GameStop customer.

But here is the reason to get excited about Wave 3. On their site they now show Stink Bomb, Spy Rise and Rubble Rouser... with release dates of January 11. That is great marketing if true. Get me in the store then spring on me that you have new guys to buy. "Well, of course I'll take them all." But it really would be more effective if they just came out and said, "Wave 3 characters will be available during our Skylanders Day this Saturday."

Let's do this thing!