Gimme my toy!

Yes, my name is Bunny and I have an addiction that goes by the name of "Japanese toys". Perhaps some of you also suffer from this affliction. Or perhaps some of you have visited the 'Baka no Fune'(idiot ship) on my desk at work and have noticed that the Sanji & Zoro figurines have bite marks on them.

And I can't stop adding to the menagerie.

So, as with all Pokemon fans, I had been greatly anticipating March 14. It was the day that HeartGold/SoulSilver would be released in the US. Gamestop was offering a special promotion where, if you reserved the game, you would be given a spiffy Pokemon figurine with your purchased.

And, oh, how I desperately wanted one.

I headed down to Gamestop and reserved a copy of each during the first week of March. The sign on the door told me that if I reserved my game that I would get a figurine. And the guy who took my reservation told me that I would get one too.

So, despite that fact that the majority of people in line were but infants when the first Pokemon Gold/Silver was released, I was beaming like a cheshire cat as I entered into the hallowed grounds at 11 this morning.

Until they told us that, if you reserved our games after February that you weren't going to get a figurine.

*eyetwitch*

Now, maybe telling an eight year old kid that there was no Lugia for him will work, but it sure as hell wasn't going to work with me. I want my Lugia figurine! And if there's one thing I've learned living in the US is that, if you complain loud enough and write complaint letters, you can get anything you want!

(Visions of the US anthem play behind patriotic Bunny...)

So, I asked my youthful employee if I would get my toys. And he told me "no". I looked at his name tag - Emmanuel, it was. I told him that I was informed that I would get the figurines if I had reserved the game. He protested and told me that, after the fact, he could not give the toys to everyone who reserved. I smiled and told him that it would be a shame to have to mention that I was falsely promised these figurines to the coporate office.

And, as soon as I said that, a Lugia and Ho-oh figurine magically migrated to my bag!

(ears droop, national anthem hits a few sour notes) Yes, I realize that it's not the workers fault for the store policy. I worked retail before. But there's a way to handle it and a way not to handle it. Saying to an eight year that there was "No Lugia for you!" falls under the latter.


Now, if you'll excuse me, Lugia is about to make a surprise attack on the Baka no Fune(but Zoro & Sanji will be safe, I promise!), and Ho-oh just might not be able to stop it in time....