Midnight maddness: one year later. Post your stories of that wonderful night!

Well, I didn't see anything like this on here, Well, Tell us all about what you did on April 23, 2002 @ 12:01 am.


April 22, I was playing basketball, I got pushed going for a rebound. I came down on my ankle and tore ligaments in my ankle, this was @ 6:30pm.I had my friend Nick drive me to wal-mart. I arrived @ 9pm, on crutches, trying to push a cart. They were playing the AOTC Cd While we were in line, which helped alot.
April 23, They finally let us in to the isle! I threw the crutches out of the way and went to work! LOl, got my Yoda and everything!, Thank god for pain killers! I spent $568.79. I still have the recipet. Lol, then I went to a diferent wal-Mart and spent about $50.00 more. I got home @ 4:30 am and a very memorable night.

 

Sadly none of the stores in my area did Midnight Madness openings for AOTC, but for TPM my local TRU had a huge display set up complete with local news crews, Stormtroopers walking around, punch and a very funky looking blue Star Wars cake that I wasn't brave enough to eat..

 

Well let's see I got to Wal-Mart at 11:30 so that I could get in line. I was the line. At 11:40 I was helping the Wal-Mart lady put the figures on the pegs as I astounded her with stories of my obsession with Star Wars. At 11:55 I filled my buggy up and checked out.

 

At the TRU I went they had 12 carts with every figure that the had for the first 12 people in line. Which I was one of. So later that night with my cart in hand some guy tried to take my Dexter which was in high demand. So I told him to get his hands off my stuff.

 

Nothing was open at midnight for ATOC, but my fiance and i were at Walmart at 6:00am the next morning. it was her first time in that experiance. I scoped out the joint the night before to see where the figs might be displayed. Well it panned out. there was about 30 of us in line and everyone grabbed carts. It was a mad rush to the toy section, but the funny thing is, every single person went down the aile that normally has action figures, butthe SW stuff wwas actually a few ailes down in the front. She just laughed, because we had about 2 minutes of picking and choosing figures until everyone figured it out. what a great morning, outsmarting all of them. we loaded up our cart with anything we were interested in and left while everyone was tearing and pulling. We went to the garden area and sorted our loot and got everything we wanted. Cant wait to do the same for III.

 

We got to Wal-Mart at 10:00 at sat in front of the empty shelves till 11:15.

Then a friend called for the other Super Wal-Mart across town and said everything was set up and they where waiting until midnight to let the free for all begin.

So we ran of to that Wal-Mart. At 11:55 I got down on the floor and put my left hand over a Dooku and my right hand over a Yoda. And at midnight I ran with them.

 

Unfortunately thanks to Wal-Mart the 23rd was something of a disappointing affair for me.

I had called ahead to a suburban Wal-Mart Supercenter to make sure that they would have the shelves stocked (or be in the process of stocking them). They had told me that they would, and I spent the evening talking with the 15 year old brother of the girl I was living with at the time about what toys we both planned to buy. He'd sort of become like a little brother to me, and I was excited about sharing the experience with him. At about 11:30 we left, arriving at Wal-Mart around 11:45.

What follows is a bit from my online journal about that night...

"We arrive at Wal-Mart and my pace begins to quicken, heading across the store on a direct line to the toy section. We pull around the corner with anticipation.

Only to find an empty half row of shelves, with not even a single box on the ground waiting to be stocked.

A query of an employee or two sheds no light on when they plan on stocking, or if they ever do. The slips of paper on the empty shelves teasingly show how the new display is to be laid out. Across the aisle older Star Wars toys sit, as if they were taunting us."

...We went back to my apartment to regroup and eventually found a Wal-Mart that was working on stocking the shelves.

Once we got there all they had ready was a partially stocked shelf, with just cases of the Tusken/Shaak Ti assortment on the pegs and nothing else. A few minutes later we came across a stack of cases on the floor and (after making sure it was okay) opened them all ourselves. It was fun, but quickly I began to realize that something seemed to be missing.

By the end of the night I had only 18 of the 27 initial figures. Several case assortments were missing and no one at Wal-Mart seemed to know if/when they were going to bring them out. April 24th unfortunately found me flying out of town on business with a full schedule, so I was unable to hunt and pick up where I left off. Once I was back I picked up the rest, but couldn't find Dexter anywhere. It wouldn't be until May 9th that I'd stumble across him, finishing up the beginings of my Saga collection.

 

No stores here did midnight madness. So I went to the nearest Wal-Mart at about 8 in the morning and picked up all but 5 of the inital figures. It was pretty cool since I was the only one there and the workers stocking the figures were talkative and cool. I picked up Taun We and Hangar Duel Anakin the next day I believe and then Shaak Ti and whatever other one I was missing but I couldn't find Dooku until a few days before the movie came out. Hardly ever saw him.

It was a pretty cool experience. I always love walking into a store and seeing a bunch of new figures and that's what this was. Also remember getting the last Yoda and Boba they had.

 

Man, has it been a year already! Jeez. I was second in line (my friend was first) at the TRU in Monrovia. We got there early afternoon. The line didn't start growing until after dinner time. There were some cool people in line behind us, except for the punks right behind us. They let 12 of their friends cut in line just before Midnight, and they were all acting like fools. A fight almost broke out!!
12:01am came, and the doors flew open. I rushed the action figures while my friend got a cart. I just pulled whatever I could off the racks, and we sorted things out later. Funny thing was, I didn't get ANY of the "hard to find" figs like Zam Wessel, Count Dooku (I know, hard to believe they were Hard to Find at one point), Yoda, and the Clone Trooper. But I did pick up most of the figs that were released. I also picked up the Jedi Starfighter, and Slave One toys, along with a few Lego sets and an Anakin Lightsaber. It was a fun evening. One funny thing I remember was when a bunch of us were peering into the store, watching the employees set up. They were dumping cases upon cases of figs into those kiddie wading pools. I mean, they were just recklessly dumping them in there. Everyone just started shouting "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

Can't wait for 2005!!

 

I'm not sure if my wal-mart had midnite madness or not but I went there the night of the 23rd and it didn't look like anything much had been taken yet. ( because there's not a huge demand at my wal-mart)

 

It's been a year? Wow! Anyways, here is my April 23rd story. I was working that night and the 3rd shift from 12 to 8 came in early to let me go to Midnight Madness at my local Wal-Mart. I got there about 11:55 and was the only one there so I immediately went to the Toy Section and picked up the 12inch Anakin and the 12inch Obi-Wan as well as the two copies of the soundtrack. I went to check-out and they said that the Episode II stuff wasn't on sale till next day at 8am. I was mad! I came back the next day at 8 and got my stuff but boy was I mad that I couldn't have it till 8 the next day.

 

None of the stores in my town did midnight madness, so I pressured my dad to take me to TRU right as it opened in the morning, but he didn't wanna. He did pick me up right after school and brought me to TRU, where right by the entrance, there was a huge smorgasbord of untouched AOTC merchandise! Got nearly all the Basic figs available there, plus Annie's speeder. Think I spent about 150 bucks, I had been saving up for months!

 

there wasnt really a midnight thing here but I think they opended up TRU at 6 AM and did it that way. I didnt go because work but my friend did and he got a few things. Of course all the scalpers were out and probably knew what was going to be hard to get and what was going to be a peg warmer.

Does anyone know how to find out which figures are going to be hard to get and which ones are easy to get so I can try and pick out the ones that will be tougher to find next time?

 

TRU Midnight Madness Opening April 2002 TRU Jersey city, NJ Me & my buddy were 1st on line

This was a Much Crazier More Out of Control Night than May 99! People would Run & Dive every time new boxes were brought out Lots of people fell on they're asses

Everyone was searching wildly for Dooku, Yoda & Luminara mostly
I had a Luminara I found early on (I really like her, She was Great in The Approaching Storm) and I was waiting in this Somewhat quiet area where a few clerks would slowly open New boxes. I sat there & talked to this guy who wanted Luminara Sooo bad! And I wanted Yoda Sooo Bad!
So we talked & Waited & Waited & got Excited everytime they opened a new box, No Yoda, No Luminara
So I go to the TRU Bathroom And notice a few boxes in that aisle that have Collection2 on them! Meaning Yoda! So I know it's only a matter of time!
So I come out, Tell my Collecting compatriot, And we wait & wait, Nothing!
So I tell him I'm going to go by my friend for a minute & I'll be right back. I'm not with my friend that long... I start waliking back And my new friend (Luminara Fan) Signals subtly to me to Hurry Up!! They just opened a Yoda case!!! So I sneakily Run Over and Thanks to him I got a Yoda! I was Soooo Happy!!!
Unfortunately he never got a Luminara, So.... I gave him Mine! Yup, I Gave him mine as a gift of appreciation for his help, felt Great!


Earlier while me & my friend were standing on line with at least 90 other SW Fans and because the store is in Jersey city (About 30 seconds from the Lincoln Tunnel) the cops came by to protect us. When they got there one of the Cops is like... " What are you here for ? Star Trek toys ?" And I don't think he was kidding!

And of course we All Yell "Star Wars!!!!" So then the cops laugh and they park in the corner of the TRU lot with another Cop car. So after a little bit The Other cop car stops by our line on his way out and says... "Star Wars huh, Cool, May the Force be with you" and he left! He also smirked like he was a Fan & said he'd made Fun of the 1st cop
It was very Funny

BTW, Here's a thread on interesting & funny SW collecting stories There are several Midnight Madness stories including mine

SW Tales From The JC Collecting Forum

 

I was just wondering the other day whether or not someone would post a thread commemorating the passing of a year since AOTC Midnight Madness.

Well at this time last year, I didn't have a car. I was lucky enough to have convinced my dad to take me and my little brother to the Wal-Mart Supercenter. We got there around 11:45 pm or so, and there were about ten other people...far more than I had expected. A man was stocking the shelves on both sides of an aisle and wouldn't let anyone in until 12:01 am. So me and my brother waited around until we could go in while my dad was standing around reading a sports magazine. And as 12:01 am rolled around, we rushed in. People were fiercely attacking the action figures. My target figures were Count Dooku, Yoda, Hangar Duel Anakin Skywalker, and Dexter Jettster (its funny now to think that Dexter was really a sought after figure at one point). I was fortunate enough to find Anakin and Dexter, but neither of the other two. Soon after, I would realize that no one would find Dooku, Royal Guard, Taun We, or Luminara Undulie. My little brother, on the other hand, found Yoda. He bought him, as well as Nikto Jedi Knight and Geonosian Warrior. As we were getting in line to pay, this cart came up behind us. It was a guy and I girl who I had recognized from the grand opening of a Toys R Us in another near by town. Their cart was full of SW action figures....and I mean full! I was like, 'Well I wish I had that kind of money'. Of course, I was just 17 so I couldn't do all that much about it.

The next morning my mother took me to Target before school. I was the first to the Star Wars area, which was much smaller than that of Wal-Mart. Two local collector men soon followed. I was also surprised that Target had none of the figures that Wal-Mart had. I ended up buying Captain Typho, Tusken Raider Female, and I can't remember who the last one was. After school, I swung by and saw that even more figures had been put out, but I was too late for the good stuff.

The night that my father took me and my little brother to Wal-Mart's Midnight Madness will be a night that I will never forget. I'm looking forward to Midnight Madness in 2005.

 

Midnight Madness was awesome! It was my first fanforce chapter event. I wore my Jedi robes and we had several stormtroopers, a biker scout, a Lando, and a young Obi-wan Jedi there. I had a table set up in front of TRU and had drinks and snacks available for those standing in line. I gave away free Star Wars keychains to everyone who signed up to join the San Diego Star Wars Society. While waiting in line we were interviewed by 5 seperate news stations here in San Diego. Our group was let into TRU 1 hour before midnight and we got to pick what we wanted before everyone else in line was because we were "working" the event... acting as security and helping to pass out the figures to everyone else... as another member of my group said, "It was like playing God." Below is a video of our midnight madness event. I'm the only female Jedi who says, "I buy two of everything." There are also some still pictures of the event below.

Midnight Madness Video

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LOl, Thanks PhantomMenace. I'm good at remembering stuff like that. Besides, I was on Crutches for the only time in my life. LOl, so it was fun.

 

I don't have a midnight maddness story to share with you guys. I had to wait until 7am for my local Wal*Mart to open. Then I rushed in and spend $239 in 32 minutes.

 

I didn't attend any Midnight Madness events here. Not even sure if they had them.

I hate to admit, but I didn't even go look at figures until about a week later.

 

I got a free 'Action Figure Archive' book!

And my grandchildren got $250 worth of toys.