My work schedule always gets a little crazy around the holiday season due to people taking off. I usually work through the holidays to add a little bit more to the paycheck.
Even after the start of a new year, it still gets hectic and lots of overtime is dumped into my lap.
Once a day off or two comes around on my schedule, I use that time to catch up on sleep, DVR, and other random things around the house.
Thank goodness for sites like Brickseek and Gamestop for my Funko needs.
I know I talked about the idea of finding it in store by yourself and if you can get the same feeling if you buy the item online or use in-store pickup. I’m not a huge fan of the in-store pickup option, BUT I do like how Brickseek and Gamestop will show what stores near you have the item in stock.
I especially like Gamestop’s item-in-store lookup. I have a handful of Gamestops and a ThinkGeek store within a 5 mile radius so if there’s an item I’m looking for my collection, there’s options. And even though I use Brickseek, it sometimes isn’t accurate. In my experience, Gamestop is dead-on with their stock.
Take for example the new Street Fighter Hyper Blanka.
As a backstory, I grew up a Sega person. I heard of Street Fighter II, but only played it in arcades and never really got far. Ryu was my first go-to guy because I once saw a guy playing before me use the Hadouken and thought it was the coolest thing. I always wanted to play the game at home, but it was not on any Sega systems…
…until the day I heard Capcom was finally going to release it on the Sega Genesis, along with a six-button controller. It was like heaven to me.
To tie this all back in, I eventually tried out more characters and fell in love with Blanka. Him looking different and using the classic forward roll attack and electricity made him my guy. Eventually beating the game with him was a real early highlight in my teen years.
Thus, when I saw on Reddit that there was a ThinkGeek exclusive Hyper Blanka Pop!, I was all over that.
Last Wednesday before work, I looked up the Hyper Blanka on Gamestop and it was located at one of the Gamestops at the mall. I walked in and lo and behold, Blanka was staring at me right in the face.
And of course, right AFTER I got into work, I saw on Twitter that Funko announced a Walmart exclusive Green Blanka. And the Walmart near me is…not very good to say the least.
But as a Street Fighter fan and a completist, this is a “must-buy” for me.
If and once it appears online, the Ship-to-Store option may be in order.
Walmart, I’m coming for you in one form or another.
Matt Norris