Checkmate Raincheck, Checkmate!

Many of you will recall my scenario with Translucent Blue Bash, which I have dubbed TBB for short.  I don't like the "show up early to a store Sunday morning, stand in line 2 hours, get in, and maybe land an item...and then possibly get back to your vehicle without having to fend of enraged lunatics" concept, so I just go with the flow.

As it was, "the flow" brought me to TRU about 20 minutes after the last TBB left the shelf.  Turns out my store had 12...but they were allocated 15 rainchecks.  Yeah, naturally I inquired about that and sure enough, I got one of the last rainchecks.

Instead of hearing, "We will call you when it comes in, should be 2 weeks max," I got this line, "We really don't know anything definitive aside from to check back in June since that is the estimated delivery date."

Wait...what?  June?  Keep in mind, this went down early April.  There was no guarantee you'd get your raincheck filled and two months wait time seemed a bit extreme.  Nonetheless, I held on to the little raincheck and despite ridicule, held on on to the hope it would get filled.

Well I ran into TRU early this month and was told they knew nothing.  I had an associate nice enough to run the ticket and they found a store with 12 on the floor.  Everyone in the immediate vicinity was all ears at this point...20 mins later and one manager making their way to the phone at a distant and mythical TRU branch and we all found there were none on hand.  I was told they would do their best to hold one for the raincheck when and if they ever came in...

This Sunday the TRU ad boasted the return of TBB.  I was thinking, "Sweet, I'll pick it up...I bet they must have decided to crank them out like LTH (Legendary Trigger Happy).  Come to find out, that is currently not the case.  I walked in, didn't see any, and was then told they sold the last TBB yesterday (who hasn't heard that one a million times with Skylanders, lol).

I brought up the raincheck and associate and boom...

The associate who said they would make sure to hold one for my raincheck did just that...Pretty cool.  That is going above and beyond the call of duty imo, but I sure appreciate it.



I don't know if TBB has seen his run (roughly 27 per store), or if in a few weeks everyone will trip over them like LTH.  I really hope it is the former as I'd like to see the real variants remain limited.

Fittingly I mentioned the prospect of having Translucent Red or Translucent Green Skylanders surface soon...Little did I know I would find Translucent Red Drill Sergeant (TRDS) in a Tweet while I had the video uploading to YouTube.  I have more info on that and the picture in the Weekly Update Blog Post.

That said, enjoy the video...TBB is really a deep, dark blue in person and looks great!

Here is the basic info from the video:

What: Translucent Blue Bash, TRU Exclusive
Where Did You Get It?: Toys'R'Us
How Much Was It?: $9.99 + Tax
How Many Were There?: None, I had a rain check from April
Should I Get A Blue Bash? If you find one, yes...otherwise, don't worry about it.
Is he Blue in the Game? No.
What is Special About TBB? TBB is a rare variant.  He starts out at Level 5 and with 2,100 cash.

I tried to give you the run down on TBB, and then wanted to stress to act quick if you have a rain check, or go ahead and hit the store if you haven't been.  I know many of you have completed your collection, or just lack a few and have given up on TRU...they are now worth checking out once more on the off chance you can land a TBB.

Like I say though, don't stress if you can't find one...I figure most people get them to sell them...and please, don't buy them from scalpers.  I don't have but 3 variants now, and I am getting by just fine without Silver Eruptor and Gold Drill Sergeant etc.  Treat them as special finds...if you waltz in a store and see one, get it and enjoy it.  Otherwise, just save the money.

For those of you with kids continuing on about the "Level 5 with 2100 Coins" bit, just tell them to take Bash through Quicksilver Vault...he should come out with a nice chunk of change and roughly Level 5...realistically  he should best both of those.

Good luck!