MarkRaby

But that doesn't explain why only in central Ohio, only the doorbusters and only at Best Buy are they different on BF than the rest of the country. -Mark-

That 30" widescreen HDTV from Insignia at BBY also caught my attention. I'd like to hear what some of our resident technology experts think of that model. -Mark-

Well, it's good to know I'm at least stuck in the back of your mind somewhere... There are 3 Best Buys that would be logistically reasonable for me to go to on BF, and for the past 2 years, all 3 have had that dumb gift card deal instead of the doorbusters (in 2003, it wasn't even instantly -- you had to send away to get the gift cards!! Meaning that not only did we NOT get the doorbusters, but the "special" they replaced it with was absolutely useless for Christmas, since it took like 8 weeks for me to get my gift card). And yet, it's still madness at Best Buy. I wonder how many people waiting in line at 2 AM there know that they're really not getting good deals at all compared to the rest of the country... -Mark-

Of course! How could you forget that it was me? And yet again, I'm excited about some of those doorbusters but will probably be shut out of them again..... -Mark-

Am I the only one who thinks that 30" widescreen HDTV for $400 is a great deal? -Mark-

Yeah, eBay gets crazier with this every year. There were even some auctions for "information about how to get unlimited Best Buy Bucks", which is essentially just the official rules that everyone has access to. No "loser" emoticon necessary. There are only like a handful of people who actually know about this. But now you're on the inside loop for next year -Mark-

Why thank you very much. There's actually kind of a cult following with this game and sending away for free game pieces like I did, so I'm not the only one who did it, and I'm not the most prolific one either (I've heard of one guy sending in upwards of 10,000 requests), but I am one of the few who discovered this on my own when McDonald's first did it back in 2003. Hopefully you guys can get in on this next year, provided they continue to do the game with BB Bucks. -Mark-

Oh, I ran the gamut of envelope mistakes -- writing on the envelope while it was upside-down, writing McDonald's instead of my own name, and of course the sloppy, almost illegible handwriting that occurs when you just write out the same thing hundreds of times in a row. Yeah, my family is pretty much in awe as well. I tried to get them to invest in it as well but they all did not think it was worth it (and now are coaxing me to let them use some of my Bucks ). I've been sending away for game pieces for these McDonald's games for many years now, actually. For example, when they had a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire promotion (where you were also guaranteed a prize with each game piece, if you got the right answer, which you could just look up on the internet), I sent in for a couple dozen pieces. But I've never done it to this volume before. And of course the best part is that I've actually been able to use them! In 2003 (first year they had BB Bucks), I had all kinds of problems with Best Buy, such as them making up limits and accusing me of being a McDonald's employee/thief, but they've gotten their act together now and they are very nice and professional about accepting them. I just wish there were more things with which I could get a 2x return on my money. -Mark-

I've read that some people here are planning on just hitting one store (i.e. pricematching all other stores, or they only care for one store). But with me, it's like a marathon thing. I've got to hit as many stores as I can, so I've gone from 5 AM to 2 PM before, and I know some people have me beat. For the poll, do include any time that you spend waiting for the store to open. -Mark-

Actually, here's something crazy -- since the rules do actually say "no mechanically reproduced requests", I was not sure if printing, labels, etc, counted as "mechanically reproduced", so I handwrote all 675 of my requests. I sent them out in chunks (i.e. a couple hundred one day, then a couple hundred a couple days later) so what I would do is just address envelopes while watching TV or listening to music. It became a favorite hobby of mine for a couple weeks -Mark-

I have more presents already bought for my family now than I ever had before Thanksgiving in years past, and I don't know if I can keep them secret for so long! I was kind of toying with the idea of giving mom/dad/bro/sister each one small present (like, really small) on Thanksgiving to kind of enhance the holiday spirit and give me a chance to release some of my already-mouting anxiety. What do you think? Has anyone actually ever done this before? -Mark-

May I just refer you to a very special part of the Official Rules of the McDonald's Monopoly game : "To request a Game Piece without buying something at McDonald's...mail a self-addressed stamped envelope with sufficient postage to [the promotion headquarters]...Participants may submit as many Game Piece requests as they desire...One (1) Game Piece and One (1) Chance Piece [with a Best Buy Buck] will be mailed in response to each request" So, for 74¢, I was guaranteed at least a $1 BB Buck, with a 1 in 3 chance of a $3 BB Buck, and the chance to win even bigger prizes. So, I sent in about 675 requests, about 30% of them were $3 BB Bucks, I won more McDonald's food than I care to eat for the rest of my life and my next three generations down the line, and many prizes from the online game. So that's well over $1,000 in BB Bucks, and about $120 in prizes that are actually useful to me, all for about $500 in postage/envelopes. I've been doing this since they started this game in 2003 (when they really only had $1 BB Bucks). In addition to my guaranteed profit each time, I've also won a $50 Best Buy gift card and a $50 cash prize throughout the years. It's really one of the high points of my year! -Mark-

One big $300+ thing -- a Roomba Scheduler!! (As a Christmas present for my mom). It'll be the biggest Christmas present I think anyone in our family has ever gotten since we got our first computer in 1994. And yeah, it is quite YMMV on the BB Bucks. I've made several purchases with them so far (just small, $36 - $145 purchases) and have never had a problem. In fact, they've been unbelievably nice to me every time. So I hope you have a similar experience when you redeem yours. -Mark-

And again, I stress the beauty of working from home (see sig) -Mark-

Actually, I don't think it will be as bad as some might imagine, at least for me. I just used $300 in BB Bucks tonight and the cashier didn't even bat an eye. I was in and out of Best Buy in less than 15 minutes. Of course, the wait itself will be much longer on BF, but if the cashier is as efficient and professional as the one I had tonight, I don't think it'll be a problem for me. Last year, when I did the same thing, it was a bit of a hassle, as the cashier had to recount the BB Bucks multiple times, get a manager, and then the system went offline as soon as he was getting ready to print the form for me to sign (which actually ended up working in my favor b/c the manager said to just not worry about the form). -Mark-

Bro and I live about 5 - 7 minutes away from CompUSA, so we will definitely be hitting it right at, or a little before, midnight. Then we're planning on going through the 24-hour drive-thru at the McDonald's in the same shopping center, and then heading to our first "real" stop on BF, which will get us there hours before they actually open, which will be earlier than we've ever been. Anyone else planning on doing the same? -Mark-

I really would like to, but my brother, who is always the one who drives, really wants to get the free $10 Sears gift card. So I'm either going to have to take our family van (which would mess up things since we'd probably go to the same stores for the rest of the day), or he could just drop me off at Best Buy while he goes to Sears (but that could be a hassle if I finish before he does). -Mark-

Hmm...now I have to decide what I want to get with my $300 in BBB that I've set aside for BF. -Mark-

The few...the proud...the male BF fanatics! -Mark-

Wow....ad says that the deals start 11:59 PM Thursday and end 12:00 AM Friday. That could be the shortest window of time for any deal I've ever seen -Mark-

It's a package deal made by Nintendo. All retailers who carry Gamecubes will have that offer. -Mark-

LOL. What a fun story -Mark-

Hey, did I give you permission to change my vote? I was talking to Ross. (j/k of course) -Mark-

lol. Chose the wrong option for myself. Ross, when and if you read this, can you change my vote (1 - 3) to 4 - 6. Thanks. -Mark-

2001 was the first year for me....although, I was only 15 and could not drive yet, so the earliest I could get my mom up was around 11:00 and the only deal I was able to walk away with was one of the $5 M&M radios from Radio Shack. Did significantly more the next year, when bro and I could both drive, but 2001 paved the path for my Black Friday career -Mark-