The man squinted as he watched the sun go down over the distant horizon. He turned away and trudged onward, with the fading light of the day at his back. The dead earth crunched under his feet. The cold crept slowly over the land as the sun took its last bow and disappeared behind the dusty curtains in the distance. The wind whipped through the desolate and decaying structures that dotted the land. The man adjusted his backpack and turned down a small path, in search of shelter from the cold and dark.
He chose the first place that looked like it had four walls keeping it standing. A place with a roof was a luxury out here. Its brittle door tenderly gave way and the man looked upon a ruined foyer, coated in grey dust. He carefully shut the door and barricaded the entryway. The rummaging ritual began as he went through every room in search of something– anything.
In the far corner, he came across another one of those big glass boxes. These were in almost every building, yet seemed to serve no purpose at all. Maybe they did something back then? He’d heard the stories, about how many of the useless metallic devices found all over the place were once supposed to harness some sort of invisible energy to do things that no one remembered. Energy that floated through the air and zipped through lines in the earth? It’s just a myth. There lots of strange stories about how things were before.
The man saw another small box– this one had a smaller piece of transparent glass or plastic on it. It was covered in buttons and levers that did absolutely nothing. Useless. Strewn about on the floor and in a container near the box were some of the most peculiar things the man had seen. Toys! There was a least a dozen small figures mounted on round bases. These weren’t like any other toys the man had seen before. They didn’t move or fight. What were these? And who are these creatures they depict?
A cartoon man wearing red. A strange green reptile. A pale woman making an odd pose. Some ugly yellow rodent. Several people holding swords. The man picked up a round creature wearing a mask. He was holding a sword and had menacing bat wings.
The Meta Knight Amiibo is exclusive to Best Buy in the United States. Just great. Now I’m going to have to be diligent if I want to get one. Or maybe not? I hope they will stock up on plenty, so we don’t get another situation like the Marth Amiibo. “February” isn’t a very specific release date… should I preorder? Yeah, probably.
My little sister Jana comes barreling up the stairs and tugs on my shirt. “Kristy!!!! Did you see the new Amiibo?!”
“Yes, they have Mega Man and Lucario!”
“What about Toon Link?” she practically shouts at me. “And don’t forget the Kirby characters! I want a Meta Knight!” Jana’s hysterical with excitement at this point. I mean, these figures are cool– but to a 7-year-old, they’re like the best thing ever.
I’m such an awesome big sister that I’m going to try to make her Amiibo dreams come true. “Maybe we can get a Meta Knight,” I tell her as I pat her on the head. “But now I have to get back to the dorm. See you in a couple weeks, okay?”
Crap. So apparently, the preorders for Meta Knight went up at Best Buy when I was in the middle of a long shift at work. I’m loading up the website and getting to the Amiibo page when I see the dreaded message: OUT OF STOCK. Not good. And it looks like some generous souls are offering to sell the preorders for this figure on eBay for almost four times the price. Sorry sis, I’m not spending $45 plus shipping on a Meta Knight I can get at the store.
Not a big deal. I’ll go to Best Buy on the day the Amiibo come into the store. But that never happens, because there isn’t a date. What was supposed to be a simple purchase becomes an ordeal that starts consuming my life. The new semester at school starts, and I spend lectures with a tab open on my laptop constantly checking up on Amiibo. Best Buy employees are posting dates, but not every store seems to be getting them all in at the same time. Finally, it sounds like February 20 is the day of reckoning.
It’s like I’m in some absurdist comedy. Who in their right mind would call out of work on a Friday morning to stand outside of a Best Buy at 7:30 AM in the cold winter air? That’s me. Jana had better give me some sort sister of the century award. When I get there, a guy is already standing outside the store playing on his 3DS.
“Are you lining up for a Meta Knight Amiibo??” he sharply asks me, as if I have discovered his dark secret.
“Yeah, I’m just trying to get one for my sister. Maybe I’ll get a Mega Man if they have any.”
The guy makes some sort of scoff. “They aren’t going to have many in stock.” And with that, his eyes turn back down. I’m glad he quits talking to me, because this dude is giving me a bad vibe.
10 AM. There’s three more people in line behind me. The doors open. I briskly make my way to the Amiibo section, past several employees who seem baffled about the line outside. The dude from before is in front of the Amiibo display. He turns around and I see not one, not two, but FIVE Meta Knight Amiibo figures in his clutches. He flashes me a look like a supervillain. I see no more Meta Knights. This guy.
Of course, everyone is furious. We start arguing and heckling this guy, who just keeps going on about how he picked up the figures first. Something inside me just snaps. I grab one of the Meta Knight figures with both hands and wrestle it away from him. “GIVE ME THE AMIIBO!”
I emerge victorious as I take the figure up front and pay for it. Turns out, Best Buy was only supposed to let each person get one Meta Knight. A few of the other people got figures after all. But why did I have to go through so much trouble to get this?
As I leave, the Amiibo bandit gives me a nasty look. “Why’d you make such a big deal of it! It’s just a little plastic figure! If everyone doesn’t get one, it’s not like the world will end!”
I knew this would be a psychotic experience, so I set myself to only purchase Toad. Mewtwo might force my hand though.
I had a dream last night I found the gold Mario. Siiiiiiiighhhh… I hate waking up to face reality.
Got mine this weekend. Walmart Canada got him later than we did, but shipped to Canada only. Having relatives from up north paid off. :)
So far I’ve been really lucky, having found every amiibo I tried to buy, including WFT, Shulk, and the Splatoon trio. It helps that I made the conscious decision to not buy every one I wanted, because that would have been too expensive. Well see I my luck holds up, because I’m going to want Ganondorf, Zero Suit Samus, Palutena, and Pittoo in the upcoming months.
“We’ll see if” that should read.