Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Target Revises Scanners

While on my travels today, I am going through different cities and made a fun discovery for toy fans-- Target now has updated price scanners. There are two models you may have seen-- one with a tiny LCD screen, and another with a larger screen and number buttons 0-9. The latter allows you to punch in various codes to check the stockroom.

A new third version has shown up, and here's the kicker-- the screen is positively huge, and it lets you search for things. Like, I can punch in "Transformers" and it will show me every DPCI with Transformers stuck to it. No joke. I was trying to find the as-of-yet unseen Transformers Combiner gift sets, but was not able to do so-- but you will be able to find Hasbro Wolverine toys and some other stuff I haven't yet seen talked up much.

So this holiday season, be on the lookout for this. Given how much data is leaked via DPCI, like new names and new secret products, I can't imagine a greater gift to the toy collector and rabid consumer this holiday season. Thanks, Target, for reminding me why you get more foot traffic from me than other plastic retailers. (And "thanks" for having those very expensive exclusives showing up today.)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Fire

LA is presently on fire. This is one reason I'm looking forward to going out of town for a few days. I just got 16bit.com and GalacticHunter.com update for the night, and it isn't even midnight yet. Aside from the fact that I feel and smell awful due to the burning, I'm pretty happy about this.

My various buzzings-around online have resulted in something interesting-- it's entirely possible there will be two Target-exclusive Black Friday or post-Black Friday Transformers 25th Anniversary sets. (Knowing Target, this means they'll be out by the first week of December.) That, or they're 2009 items, but it's looking like it's a 2008 rush job. Being a sucker, I'll likely get them if the price is right (it's 4 $7 toys and a $10 toy per box, so I'd shell out $30 without too much complaining. But in this market, that's unlikely.)

But yeah, we went out and about today because it was unpleasant at home, so going out didn't seem like too big a hazard. For November, the 90-ish weather isn't entirely unexpected but the overall feel in the air right now is not unlike staying up for two straight days while someone dumps sand in your eyes. And that's before you stop to consider the parade of misery that's going on just miles up the road.

As you can see, my priorities are in the right place with blog postings about toys meant for small children and the horrors of losing one's home in a fire. I don't personally know anyone who has been evacuated but I know a couple of people that are likely in miserable places, and so far they seem to be OK. It really is astonishing how awful it seems to get at least one or two times a year here with just the fires alone.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Star Wars Ecliptic Evader TIE Fighter



The latest video I made for work. Oh, those rascally giants, always knocking things over...