the vynsane asylum

We got back into town last night, and found we'd been infested by ants. They were going into the trash can and cat food. Unfortunately, with a baby and cats, I can't just spray them. We have some traps that we know wipe out entire colonies pretty quickly, but they hadn't gone in those areas. So we moved them, knowing they're a little on the old side, and figured I'd go to WM or Home Depot early this morning and get new ones if there wasn't a significant dropoff. (Last time we had ants, these traps wiped them out in about three hours.)

So, this morning around 5:45, I went to WM. (Here's an aside about why I don't go to WM much. I went in, walked over that whole fucking gigantonormous store, looking for insecticides in every spot that made sense. Finally, after almost ten minutes or so, I found the tiny section, which had only the POS traps that don't work worth shit, wedged in between cereal and dairy in their grocery section, of all places. WTF? I could've waited in the car in the Home Depot until they opened and saved myself a mile or so of walking.)

Anyhow, up until about 12-18 months ago, this rural Super Wal-Mart along the major route was the shiznit. I never feared missing a toy; often, I was the first to find anything. Then things changed. I would often see signs that new assortments had come in, but the good stuff was picked through. This was especially obvious with SW. Except for one occasion (when I found most of last year's Wave 5 being put on in the afternoon), I could see evidence of multiple cases being placed on shelves overnight, and everything worth having would be gone at an ungodly early hour. The WM exclusive comic packs never went to the shelves until they were clearanced... with all the Bail/Obi-Wan/Luke/Leia packs strangely missing. And other exclusives never appeared at all, despite a glowing history at this store. Clearly something was up.

This morning, I went to the toys first. I hardly ever bother with this WM anymore, but still force of habit sends me to the toys first. There was, of course, nothing. Well, six pegs bursting with GIJoes, but with all the choice figures gone. (Judging from the numbers, there should've been at least six Major Bludds.) Around 100-200 Star Wars figures, in three different places, going back to as far as Riekkan and as recent as TFU and the Fan Choice Legends wave... but with everything anyone might want gone.

Pretty typical, eh? So I look around for the traps. About 3-4 minutes later, I walk back by the toys. There are three employees, all with a scalper look to them. I think they're stocking, because they have so many toys in their hands. One is at Transformers, one at Star Wars, and one at Hot Wheels.

But then I overhear them talking about what toys are hot, and what to look for.

When the decent shit can't get to the shelves even in a mostly rural area that gets tons of shipment because of asshole scalper employees, I think the fun is officially gone.

i would've given them all karate kicks to the back of the knees.

that blows. Maybe we should take a trip out there and rob them in the parking lot one morning.

Is it possible to tell the managers? I doubt they'd look kindly on that sort of thing.

You ever looked for a manager in a Super Wal-Mart, especially at 6 in the morning?

Besides, I have a feeling that if he doesn't stop the greeters from sleeping (honest to God), he won't care about some scalpers.

Well, call him. It's worth a shot, and even if nothing comes of it, at least you can say you tried. One of the Targets near me apparently has started to crack down on the assholes who switch out older figures on new cards, so you might get lucky.

And if the manager won't do anything, contact the District manager.

I was at a Walmart recently and saw that someone swapped out a POTF2 TIE pilot and a Pilot Biggs in a comic 2 pack. The doors to the stock room happened to be nearby and a guy working in the toy section was walking through. I pointed out the switcheroo to him and it actually seemed like he cared. He thanked me 3 times.

The thing is, it doesn't matter if the guy you talk to cares or not.

When I was at TRU, I worked in the bikes. A guy who seemed a bit mentally challenged as well as a huge fan of Tailspin called me over to the action figure aisle. There were two figures that had apparently been opened on the floor, then stapled (or taped, I don't recall) back to the wrong cards, and this really bothered the man. (It seemed like he thought it was an insult to the one character that someone had not recognized he wasn't the other, who was apparently lame, or something. Yeah, there was a reason I brought up the fact he didn't seem like he was all there.)

So, I take them from him, and give them to the lady at the customer service desk (where all returns, repacks, etc, had to go). I told her exactly what the guy had told me, and said, "It looks like someone was in a hurry and just mixed them up when they re-packed them." She wrote it down and taped the note to one of the figures, then taped them together. The way TRU was then (and still may be), at the end of the day, someone processes any returns as well as anything that needs to be re-packed. So the two figures went in with all the other stuff to be packed.

The very next day, they were on the shelf again, exactly as they had been. So, two of the three employees who touched it wanted this incredibly simple problem fixed. The third was apparently really fucking lazy and couldn't be bothered to switch the damned figures (all of, what ten seconds, since the condition of the packaging was no longer an issue).

I doubt it's any different when people intentionally switch figures. There are probably employees who don't want to take the loss, no matter how small, and assume someone will buy it eventually.

Call me nuts, but isn't this sort of thing why they once had managers who actually were paid enough to give a shit handling returns? You don't have to be a Star Wars expert to see some of the ridiculous switches they pull. "Darth Vader isn't a golden robot, is he?"

It sucks, but when you're making $6.25, ya gotta hustle or starve. Time is the friend of every one who wants to get figures. I just get mine loose off ebay or when the toy show comes around. Although I will make a special trip to the store for the BMF.