outnumbered

Yikes! I've never seen anything like that! I get the best parking space around at 4 am, LOL. If I go to other stores after that, I just assume I'm going to have to park on the outskirts of the lot and walk...I don't mind. I can't imagine fighting like that for a parking space when you KNOW you're shopping on the most crowded shopping day of the year.

Yeah, I think video games is just about the worst hobby dh could have...his stupid games (a) take him away from the family and ( cost a fortune! But he's deployed now so he can play all he likes. :) Hopefully he's enjoying not having anyone mad at him for doing so.

Toys mainly, and then once I've gotten what I can for my kids, I move on to other relatives, so clothes/jewelry/electronics/whatever they're into.

Right now TRU/amazon.com has a deal on the books: buy 1, get one free. There may be a deal on the Leap Pad itself on BF but I don't think you'll find a better deal on the books. And--welcome! :)

And I should add--thanks for clueing me in that they redesigned it, LOL. I had no idea. My 4 y/o got it a few years ago for Christmas and now it's my 23-month-old's favorite toy...but the screen was always kinda dark and now it's gotten yellowed and you can barely see anything through it. Looks like the new version has fixed that issue. I need to replace it for her.

Toys R Us has it online for $34.99 and it says it's in stock: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000096MDR/qid=1129294549/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-8187447-7299850 Don't know what the price is in the store.

YES! Isn't it great! I can't WAIT for them to open. No more driving to Hopkinsville. No more freaking 9.5% sales tax at the one on 41A. WOOHOO. It's opening this month...I think possibly next weekend!

I think you should get it while you can...saving a few dollars on it isn't worth the worry and stress of wondering if you'll get it at all. Last year I went through hell trying to get the Laugh & Learn house for my DD...I had a coupon for it plus a TRU gift card and TRU was out of it for like a month. I was calling down there every time they got a shipment to see if they had it. I did finally get it, and for the right price...but ugh. I'd skip all that if I had to do it over again.

Yeah...I don't remember TRU ever price-matching. And I don't really care. I've never really been a price-matcher. I just go to whoever has the lowest price.

I usually decorate around the beginning of December. Everything is down by December 30 because my oldest son's birthday is Dec 31 and I want only birthday stuff up for him, so that he's not sharing his bday with Christmas.

I've gone alone and sometimes the people around me are talkative but usually not. I will politely chat in line with someone if they talk to me, but usually I just bring something to read or do.

Yep! I have my 3 kids and two nephews to buy Christmas gifts for. Then one nephew and my oldest child have birthdays the week after Christmas. So I'm buying up the toy store too LOL. Those "early bird" specials are what saves Christmas around here.

Yep, Brian's going to be 6 on New Year's Eve. Christopher turns 4 today. His birthday is all screwy. Out here, the cutoff is Oct 1, so he misses the cutoff. They won't let him in pre-K this year. He has to wait till next year, when he's 4 at the start of school but he'll turn 5 right after. But back home--if we are there--the cutoff is Dec 2, so he'd be able to go to Kindergarten when he was 4-almost-5. So depending on how long it takes us to move home, I may be sending a 17-year-old off to college, or I may have an 18-year-old high school senior writing his own absence notes.

Older kids, maybe, but my kids haven't asked for anything like that. They are still all about the toys! (They turn 2, 4, and 6 this fall/winter)

Welcome! Thanks for posting this info so soon! Looking forward to whatever other items you learn of in the days/weeks ahead. :)

...of course, the reason for it is sad (Katrina): http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/11/toys.cutback.ap/index.html (there is more to the story in the link)

I got our prelit tree after Christmas one year. It was only about $50 for a nice 7.5-foot tree.

LOL I am usually back home by 8 am. I know what I want, and I am in and out of stores quickly.

I've never done more than throw on some clothes in the dark...don't want to wake the kids up by showering, drying hair, etc. at 3 am. This year I am doing any "bright and early" shopping online. If there is anything I have to buy in person, I'll do that later in the day, freshly showered, with the kids along.

No...I think the original poster is assuming they will have deals similar to last year's.

You can only imagine how much of that goes on here with my 3 kids. The "fun" lasts year-round as they fish paper towel rolls out of the trash to do it with too.

Have you seen the Magnetix line of toys? http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001KU8RE/qid=1129061924/sr=1-7/ref=sr_1_7/103-8187447-7299850?v=glance&s=imaginariumhttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001KU8RO/qid=1129061924/sr=1-9/ref=sr_1_9/103-8187447-7299850?v=glance&s=imaginarium Those look interesting.

Oooooh, and look at this: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007YDEFW/ I think I just found a birthday present for Brian.

My oldest (6 in Dec) is very into action figures and anything that goes with them. He has this Spiderman dressup set with a mask and hands that make sounds that he likes. R/C cars are a big hit with him too. And he found a Lego Bionicle in the closet I just cleaned out that entertained him for much longer than I expected. He also found my old cell phone, LOL, that I had when he was a baby...he begged and begged to keep it and has been walking around with it in his pocket for days. I thought he was long past the days of pretending to talk on the phone, but he says this is different because it's "real."

Yes, many stores will have their deals online, and there will be a section here for online deals to make it easy to find them. As for shipping, almost all stores will have free shipping if you spend "x" amount of money...the amount will vary from one store to another.