I'm not able to see your pictures. Anyone else having this problem?

Yes I can't see the pictures either but that was a fun read.

Try it now guys. I updated the images and put them all on photobucket. Wondering if it works now? Let me know.

Thank you I can see the awesome pics now!

Glad you can see them. Thanks for reading and looking!

that's awesome. I would have gone but there was no way I would survive that weather last night. I just got over a bad cold and didn't want to get sick again.

Well, it always warms my heart to see people willing to stand in a line for something other than Harry Potter, Twilight, or the next iSomething

Thanks for sharing

awesome

I was there as well, got in line around 4:19 pm. Wasn't that cold but I did just start eating food I bought. Snow flurries began maybe a few minutes after. It started feeling very cold sometime after 4:30pm

Some of the first few people in line lined up around 2pm (maybe some earlier) as this kid (said he was xth in line so one of the first and already had a wristband) kept walking up/down the line to see where his friends were and eventually 4 were a bit in front of me (one guy was there and more joined in, no idea why they didn't all just go up front so people wouldn't have to hear their obnoxious conversations). Some girl in a bad zelda cosplay (friends with this kid and the group in front of me) kept walking up/down the line on the street side of the sidewalk, sometimes in the street. She kept screaming and cursing about how cold it was and she told her friends in front of me that she almost felt bad for where they were in line and all the people at the end. The "couple" (not a couple though they seem like one) in front of me kept saying "it'd be worth [standing in the cold for the event]". One of the guys in that friend group in front of me started telling his lifestory to them, about some girl he was with nearly 10 yr ago just had a baby and he wished it was his. He then sensed their disbelief, took out his phone and showed them a picture of him and that girl from 2-3 yr ago when they reconnected. He then pulled up her FB and showed them with her newborn baby.

Color wristbands were given out around 5:30 pm. Yellow meant you wanted LE. Green regular. There was a blue as well but not sure what that was. Of course a bunch of people walking by asked what people were in line for. Some people assumed some Nintendo game (guess they at least knew it was Nintendo related). Tourists and old ladies kept looking like we were all crazy. A group of friends walked by and one said "I can't say anything as I did the same shit for Starcraft II". One guy talking on his cell phone stopped and demandly asked someone behind me what we were doing. She told him, he paused and then got back to his cell and his NY pace. A guy in a car stopped and pulled the window down and asked what was going on at Nintendo. When someone told him he was like "Allll righht!" in an excited tone . As I was waiting right outside, two pretty ladies asked what this was for and when I and people behind me told them they acted overly excited and thought it was "very cool".

Before I got inside, an older middle-aged lady ran up to me and asked how many books they had, what 'they' told ' (Nintendo?) told me, if there was enough for "everyone" etc. I told her I didn't know and tried to ignore this crazy. She than ran across the street and went into the driver's side of her car.*** (See *** for follow up!)

Not sure when I got inside (maybe 6:30) but according to my receipt I purchased the le at 6:58 pm. I think people didn't get in until around 6:15pm as the employees were taking too long to set things up. I can't believe the amount of people that showed up and did not buy a book (even the regular despite being cheaper online). The "couple" in front of me had yellow bands but ended up buying regulars. The girl behind me got a green band despite telling me on line that she ordered on Amazon. I don't think she bought any book as she wasn't behind me anymore when I got on the checkout line. The shelf layout was cool as it resembled the display in OoT and future 3d Zelda games.

There were three kinds of Hawaiian punch, I guess energy drinks are reserved for fps series. Wish they had water. The cupcakes were those small little circle types that I often see in the windows of overpriced small startup/hipster/blog bakeries around the city. The lady claimed they were all vanilla when I asked for a chocolate looking one and she just gave me an all white one . The Zelda display was cool but some of the items were beat up (do not recall seeing a gb that may have been in Desert Storm). There were some Japanese items and a few European only releases as well. I think an European GBA SP was even signed by Miyamoto! Apparently this was not an official display as I heard a worker say the items belonged to several employees - no wonder there was a Player's Choice Soul Calibur II!

I only saw two vendors: 15bitgamer and Fangamer (which were NOT allowed to sell, only advertise).

The 15bitgamer people seemed a bit rude so I didn't bother asking if that was Beedle from WW near that weird Deku tree drawing. They were giving out little magnets that resembled the N64 buttons used to play Ocarina notes. If some icon matched one on a chart, you could win a set of magnets. They also had shirts but didn't look that great.

The Fangamer people were cool and I chatted with them a bit. They were giving out some pins and if it was a triforce you could pick out a non-shirt prize. Two people in front of me won. I did not. I asked if one of their shirts was of the Wind Fish which the shorter guy replied it's inspired by it (fanart needs to steer away from trademarks!). The other guy joked it's based on a true story and I corrected him by saying dream.

I saw a few people open up their artbooks including one guy opening up his LE instore .

I didn't see any Nintendo reps aside from store employees. I heard that "famous" website people were there but they may have shown up later as I left around 7:30. All in all it was an okay event. I just wanted to get a LE for my collection. Got that and a cold now


***
I saw a friend walk up the line a bit before 6pm. We chatted a bit and he went to the back of the line as he realized people would be mad that if he skipped to half way in. I later talked to him on the phone while I was inside and he was still outside about how some lady was grilling me about the inventory numbers and that she was likely a reseller. She had to have people waiting in line for her. Her car was parked between two service security cars. Her car looked like the type/size that vendors at flea markets have. When I checked on ebay, I saw a powerseller with the LE up with several watermarked photos. Seller had a lot of "rare" gaming stuff marked up a bit above what I think is market value. Seller's location was in CT. I then recalled that lady's car had a bluish license plate (not NY/NJ) so I googled CT plates. Sure enough CT plates are blue so it's likely this was that lady's ebay account.

Good post, and yes, your descriptions were pretty accurate from what I experienced as well. Was it worth it to the average Joe? Nah, but the event definitely had this atmosphere about it. I really enjoyed that. Glad I was apart of it and super glad I got my LE book. If you don't have one on preorder and you didn't get one at the event, goooood luck. You'll never get a copy unless you buy it on ebay for tons of money. Supply and demand is a b**ch!