53 replies to this topic

[Gporter34]

We used to go to KMart first and their sale started at 8am. If we were there by 7am we were some of the first ones there. I love the freebies. I have so many of the JCPenney snowglobes, even if they don't have anything to get me there, after leaving WalMart, on my way to the next store, I stop there and all of the kids go in for their snowglobes. Ahhh, I miss the old days of bf shopping....

[LadyIzShy]

I remember the trouble with the Cabbage Patch kids. Some how I ended up with one. HOW my grandmother managed I will never ask..LOL.. My first year shopping BF was furby at WM.. WHAT a mad rush and I didn't even get one. After that I planned better and wiser. Gottadeal has helped me the last couple of years. PLEASE let them ads start coming out soon..

[heavenlyvalo]

I'm not kidding this really did happen! My first black friday shopping experience at age 8 was definately black for me. I realized my mom fights dirty. Expecially with her friends with her. She teamed up with Michelle's mom down the street at Walmart. Michelle was 6. No babysitter so here we go. First mom spotted a parking space over in another lane she wanted michelle's mom jumped out of the cars and stood in the space so no one could get until we got there. Some other people had someone with them who didn't actually need to buy anything so he opened the pallettes to see what was in it. Once what michelle's mom wanted was found my mom precceeded to rip the paper off so michelle's mom could get to it easily. As a result she couldn't get one. She never wanted one in the first place. Then michelle and I were put in a safe spot. Once my mom and her friend had what they wanted they went to the check out where this big lady wasn't paying attention so they broke line. Michelle's mom was all "you snooze you lose." So we get to the next store and its already open and mom can't get any Barbies that she wants so they are about to leave when she spots a woman with 6 in her cart. Michelle's mom destracts the woman by running up to her and asking if she had seen her daughter. Meanwhile mom takes 2 of her Barbies while she isn't looking. Michelle and I are totally confused cuz we had no idea we were lost. But it gave mom time to get what she wanted. This was the year that Holiday Barbie had a defect or something and everyone wanted one. Michelle found one but her mom already had one for her. So Michelle gave it to another little girl who wanted it. As the girl walked off to show her mom a woman came up and knocked the girl into a shelf to get the doll. She didn't get it. She broke that little girls arm for it. Her mom went off! I got to talk to a police officer! I thought I was big stuff! My mom works in a sewing factory and 3 years later that woman she took the Barbies from came to work for her. For weeks she kept saying she knew my mom from somewhere. Ofcourse mom wasn't going to tell her where and everyone knew because she had told them. One day the woman jumps up and yells, "I know who you are. You stole my Barbie. I had 6, one for all my grandkids. I was going to get them all the samething and you ruined it!!!" LOL Ofcourse everyone laughed cuz they knew it was true. Mom said she had never been so embarrassed. I've been hooked to Black Friday shopping since then. Michelle however will NOT go shopping on that day. Anybody got a good black friday story?

[Scanner420]

We caught my mom on the 6:oo news on BF buying a Cabbage Patch Kid for my sis. They did their usual BF report from TRU and zoomed inside on a customer paying for a CPK. Turns out..It was my mom. LOL!!!

[alimfp]

We caught my mom on the 6:oo news on BF buying a Cabbage Patch Kid for my sis. They did their usual BF report from TRU and zoomed inside on a customer paying for a CPK. Turns out..It was my mom. LOL!!!

OMG LMAO!

I remember going with my Mom in the mid-90's. It was so fun to come home with bruises.. and CHEAP SOCKS! (Fred Meyer shoppers will understand that one) LOL.

[timberlyn03]

Anyone remember the Norman Rockwell ornaments that JCPenneys used to give out before they started giving out the snow globes? I think I have everyone of them, and actually 2 of most of them. It always brings back memories every year when I decorate my tree. These ornaments were actually really nice ones with the year on the back of each one. I do miss them as I never really liked the snowglobes that much.

[heavenlyvalo]

I remember the trouble with the Cabbage Patch kids. Some how I ended up with one. HOW my grandmother managed I will never ask..LOL.. My first year shopping BF was furby at WM.. WHAT a mad rush and I didn't even get one. After that I planned better and wiser. Gottadeal has helped me the last couple of years. PLEASE let them ads start coming out soon..

My mother was one of those thrying to get a cabbage patch doll for my sister. She got one but 2 weeks later she went back to the store and found on with my sister's name so she had to take it back.

My sister has a carebear I always thought was actually a carbear. Turns out my mom made it from scratch cuz she couldn't get one that year and its all she kept asking for. She said my sister wrote Santa 7 times that year asking for one. I still can't believe she spent so much time making that stupid bear. But that my mom. Whatever it took. My sister still has it and it held up better than a real one.

[ajogg]

I remember the goodie bags, one year Target had a really good goodie bag and we made a trip there just for the bags. Thanks for starting this post I had forgotten all about that lol I'm going to have to ask my mom and she if see remembers? lol

I remember Target giving out goodie bags (free ornaments, coupons, etc.) as well. I think Raggedy Ann and Andy were the ornaments. This was the late `90's I believe. Black Friday was still crazy, but not like it is now.

[thaslick1]

I remember my mom and dad leaving me with my Granny on BF and then on Christmas telling me how they had to fight people just to get my power ranger transformer

[jhammar6]

Had a great year waiting for an electronic Pokedex for my kids back in 99. We went to the KB toys in the mall. While everyone was freezing outside we were comfortable in line in the mall.

[Melissa]

I'm not kidding this really did happen!

My first black friday shopping experience at age 8 was definately black for me. I realized my mom fights dirty. Expecially with her friends with her. She teamed up with Michelle's mom down the street at Walmart. Michelle was 6. No babysitter so here we go.

First mom spotted a parking space over in another lane she wanted michelle's mom jumped out of the cars and stood in the space so no one could get until we got there.

Some other people had someone with them who didn't actually need to buy anything so he opened the pallettes to see what was in it. Once what michelle's mom wanted was found my mom precceeded to rip the paper off so michelle's mom could get to it easily. As a result she couldn't get one. She never wanted one in the first place.

Then michelle and I were put in a safe spot. Once my mom and her friend had what they wanted they went to the check out where this big lady wasn't paying attention so they broke line. Michelle's mom was all "you snooze you lose."

So we get to the next store and its already open and mom can't get any Barbies that she wants so they are about to leave when she spots a woman with 6 in her cart. Michelle's mom destracts the woman by running up to her and asking if she had seen her daughter. Meanwhile mom takes 2 of her Barbies while she isn't looking. Michelle and I are totally confused cuz we had no idea we were lost. But it gave mom time to get what she wanted.

This was the year that Holiday Barbie had a defect or something and everyone wanted one. Michelle found one but her mom already had one for her. So Michelle gave it to another little girl who wanted it. As the girl walked off to show her mom a woman came up and knocked the girl into a shelf to get the doll. She didn't get it. She broke that little girls arm for it. Her mom went off! I got to talk to a police officer! I thought I was big stuff!

My mom works in a sewing factory and 3 years later that woman she took the Barbies from came to work for her. For weeks she kept saying she knew my mom from somewhere. Ofcourse mom wasn't going to tell her where and everyone knew because she had told them. One day the woman jumps up and yells, "I know who you are. You stole my Barbie. I had 6, one for all my grandkids. I was going to get them all the samething and you ruined it!!!" LOL Ofcourse everyone laughed cuz they knew it was true. Mom said she had never been so embarrassed.

I've been hooked to Black Friday shopping since then. Michelle however will NOT go shopping on that day.

Anybody got a good black friday story?

[4gr8girls]

Do you all remember when the Disney Store gave out different bean filled characters. We had collected Mickey, Pooh and I can't remember who else. Also, JCP did the Mickey snowglobes. Those were the days!

[lovebears65]

*wide eyed kid amazement* wow, and they didn't even have websites like this to tell them about all the deals back in the 80's did they grandpa?

WHY NO GRANDSON, THEY REALLY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE AN INTERNET IN 1980...BARELY EVEN COMPUTERS TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH.

Most of my memories of the 80s and 90s were at Toys r us since we had small children. I remember one year two ladies fighting over the Talking tonka truck. I had my safly stashed at the bottom of my cart:D

[orriee]

It was nice getting the freebies. I remember an Elmo cookie tin from Kmart 1 year. I have a couple of those snowglobes from JCPenneys. I got an ornament from Mervyns 1 year as well. Half the fun of BF back in the day was deciding which store had the best freebie!!

I still have that same Elmo cookie tin, lol

[elite2058]

Mine are of going to Kmart and bringing all my ads and my sister and I would PM what we would want and then sit in the dining area and recoup. We met the same clerk every year and she still remembers the names of our kids and that was over 10 yrs. ago. Love it still.

[MusicMama]

Disney bean bags, JCPenney snowglobes and -- Target Pokemon! The year that "yellow" came out, Target had a scratch-off for prizes. My now-14-year old daughter (then maybe 5or so) actually won a prize. Yes, everyone through the door that could walk got a scratch-off card, and hers was a winner. She was SO excited - I walked her up to the manager so she could turn in her ticket and she was allowed to pick from several things, ending up with a really nice Pokemon backpack - lasted a good couple of years and was the bag she carried her GameBoy and games in (including yellow). My little great-nephew also won a prize - he picked the same backpack, figuring that if his older cousin liked it, it had to be good. Then there was the year of the Furby. We stood in line at K-B Toys: my mom, my sister and her 2 daughters, me, my daughter in her stroller, and my other sister. We were inside the mall by 3:30 am, within the first 25 or so in line, and we got our tickets for 5 Furbys (my youngest sister didn't want one then - lucky I had purchased mine online from EBGames 2 months earlier and had one to sell her!) and got in the line to pick them up. We even got to pick out the colors! K-B was always pretty well organized, even if the lines routinely went way down the hall! They used to have great promotions if you spent a certain amount of money - we always pooled among the family and were able to get the good stuff like the GameBoys. Cabbage Patch kids - ah, the memories of the 'black market'. My sister and I went to every single KMart, ToysRUs and other store we could think of in a 30-mile radius for every rumored midnight delivery. Nada. Around here, the employees made out like bandits - and we ended up buying the must-have bald CPK from a KMart employee in her driveway! Those are good memories - and the reason that my daughter LOVES BF. She's got almost all of the snowglobes, even the Dalmations ones, and they are still part of our Christmas decorations. Getting the snowglobes became almost more fun than actual shopping! (gee, maybe that's why the stores don't do it?)

[iluvwalmart]

What a great thread. This thread brought back memories. I miss the old days of bf shopping. It seems now that as each year passes, it gets more & more dangerous, the stores are opening earlier, you have to line up earlier, etc. Too bad things cannot go back to the way they was.

[BubbleTea]

What a great thread. This thread brought back memories. I miss the old days of bf shopping. It seems now that as each year passes, it gets more & more dangerous, the stores are opening earlier, you have to line up earlier, etc.

Too bad things cannot go back to the way they was.

It's always like that. Every "older" generation looks back and remembers all the good things that happened in sepia tone while feeling sorry for the current generation for not experiencing what you've experienced. Most people consider the events during their generation as better than the rest.

[Tigger97498]

It was nice getting the freebies. I remember an Elmo cookie tin from Kmart 1 year. I have a couple of those snowglobes from JCPenneys. I got an ornament from Mervyns 1 year as well. Half the fun of BF back in the day was deciding which store had the best freebie!!

Oh I still have two of Winnie The Pooh snowglobes from JcPenneys! LOL

[Tigger97498]

Disney bean bags, JCPenney snowglobes and -- Target we ended up buying the must-have bald CPK from a KMart employee in her driveway!

I got the bald one too! LOL I carried that thing everywhere.

[Secret Squirrel]

I have to ask...does anyone remeber if there was "product frenzy" before Cabbage Patch dolls? I was plenty old enough, but it seemed like it was a "new" thing to see what went on in the news stories. I don't think I had seen anything like that before on the news, and it seemed like the newspeople hadn't either. Were there mob-scenes like this before CPK?

[gbr]

What about Power Rangers, or Teddy Ruskin that talking bear? Anyone remember Bradlees toy sale -50% off Lego Building Sets. We wait outside in the cold for 6AM, doors open and everyone run pushing the carts down to the toys. Mom's grabbing Lego Building sets... I've been doing Black Friday for 25 years, my husband calls me nuts, but just knowing i'm getting a bargain!

[ChiefIllinifan]

There was one of the BFs in the late 90s that was memorable. WM had 27 inch TVs for $99 and ours put a stack of them on the first corner just passed the carts. I saw about 6 little old ladies run in and dump one of those TVs catty corner into a cart and then take off for the other things they wanted. The problem was the TVs totally blocked their view and they were running into other shoppers left and right! That same year, Office Depot had one of the Pokemon games cheap...I think it was Blue. Nobody was there. In and out in 5 minutes. Then I went back to Best Buy and got Yellow and Red and stood in the checkout line for an hour.

[cherie_g]

Many of the stores here gave away, as recently as last year, $10.00 gift certificates. So far it looks like NONE this year. Was great to get the free scratchie cards for % off and have the $10 to boot. Used to me much more fun-spirited, now is more of a who is cutting who in line. It is a little sad to see the change over time.