JoeCanuck

So much for EB Games having the website ready to go yesterday.  It's under maintenance.  Same for Toys R Us. 

I wanted to check out EB online to see what stores have a retro Zap in stock.  I should have bought it when I had the chance. 

Forgot to mention I have seen reports of minor QC issues with the HAL.   

Mostly around Grand Slam, but also with the support struts.   

For Grand Slam it seems to be more about carelessness of the factory packing the figure.   I have seen him packed upside down in the box  and someone reported his Grand Slam was missing his helmet.   So it probably isn't a quality of the figure thing, just carelessness with packing the figure.

As for the struts, people have been complaining they don't support the HAL well unless in certain positions.   It looks like it is a design issue to allow the struts to move into different positions for firing and transport.   To make them move the way they needed to the connection point seems to be smoother so allow that smooth movement, but at the expense of a ratchet joint style strength in firing position.

Well their site is back up (EBGames).

It was still not working yesterday but just checked now and it is working.

However it is slow and after the front page any other page was slow to load.   To the point where I just left the site because it was slow.   At first glance it doesn't look like much has changed outside of some cosmetic looks on the site.   Guess I'll have to wait a few days to see if it gets better.

The one next my hometown, Whitby, closed on August 19.  Spirit Halloeen moved in.  Sigh.  At least my kids got to experience TRU a few times before it went tits up.  I still remember going there as a kid in 1986.  I got the HAVAC and my brother got the Thunder Machine that year.   

Thinking back, that TRU store was the last one tied to my childhood. The others that I can recall are Consumers Distributing, Zellers, K-Mart, Woolco, Sears, Eatons, The Bay, and Bi-Way.  All gone.         

This is what EB Games mentioned on August 21:

August 21: Online pre-orders and pickup reservations pause
August 24: Website goes into maintenance mode
August 29: Early store closures, all stores close at 5:00PM (EST)
August 30 & 31: All stores closed for the day
September 1: Stores resume regular opening hours & the new website goes Live!

This explains why they closed at 5 PM on Saturday when I visited the store in Ajax (I glossed over the email they sent, orginally).  At least I managed to get three retro figures (Wild Bill, Grunt, and Techno Viper) and Classifed Airtight I needed.  Wasn't cheap: I had the kids with me as well.  They had their own toy hunts.  lol   

 

Is EBGames.ca ever going to come back online?  Makes me nervous about doing pre-orders with them.

Yes.

This is a massive upgrade to their entire system (website, inventory, POS, etc).

I guess the new owner felt it was a good time to finally bite the bullet and just get it over with.   It is such a big upgrade that the website is down for a couple more days and they are actually closing all stores for 2 days.   Either today and tomorrow, or Sept. 1st & 2nd.

So yeah for now it isn't a good idea to do preorders, even though they say everything you preorder in store should be fine.   I would wait until they reopen everything.   My only concern is what they are doing with the Edge program.  It is supposed to be ending and they say not to worry your points/status will transfer over to whatever the new system will be but I am doubtful.

Is EBGames.ca ever going to come back online?  Makes me nervous about doing pre-orders with them.

Amazon just had a bunch of stuff marked down and I was able to get 5 more figures I needed, and thanks to the discount and existing gift card balance I only paid $112 after tax for all 5 figures.

Manage to snag:  Grim Viper, Major Bludd (more recent version with the red highlights), Retro Cover Girl, Retro Zap and Retro female CG.

I'm still a good bit behind on releases, but I'm hoping to catch up closer to the end of the year.

So I finally have checked in after being away for a little while.   Thanks for keeping the lights on Pete and everyone else who still keeps posting.


Filled in a few holes from the recent Pulse Power Days sale and the SDCC exclusives.

Managed to snag an AWE Striker and the Joe Defense Sentry Post thingie.   Then I got the Shiprwreck/Deming exclusive and the Fatal Fluffy.   

Overall I'm glad I waited on the AWE and Defense Post so I got them cheaper than their original price.   The SDCC stuff I would have liked to wait but I always let FOMO get the better of me for SDCC stuff.

I'm also glad EBGames is now partnered with Pulse for some of the Pulse exclusive stuff so I went in on the Triple T, HAL and VAMP MK2.  Then add in the Crimson SNAKE from Amazon and it is already going to be an expensive fall.

I liked the Joefest exclusives (green and blue GITD teams).

The new Fatal Fluffies 3-pack is also a nice addition and I'm surprised they didn't overcharge for it, but actually charged less than what it would cost for them individually ($50US).  Overall I think Super7 has really been doing a great job on the O-ring figures.   Just a shame about the prices.

Though I am sorely tempted by the new Visionaires ReAction+ figures.   Those look fantastic  and a close recreation of the originals (but with much need updates/improvements).