Well, today I revisited 3 stores I went to when this first broke mid-week last week. At the first store I had gotten in on the deal no problem back then and I found a few more things (Hot Wheels Beat That, Power Rangers Super Legends, and Family Guy). I didn't see any of the recent conversions so I asked if they had done them yet and they said they did. They checked and said 2 SW:FU were converted last night but they must have sold. Apparently a Mercs 2 was still in stock but I didn't see it. The guy went back there and found it hiding amongst the 360 games. That is seriously, like, the first time ever a clerk at any store has gone to find something that I couldn't and actually found it (every other time it was just missing). So kudos to him for that

. But as for the SW:FU, damn, that game has been impossible to find. There is definitely someone else out there snagging these things as soon as they come available (and only missed that Mercs 2, probably, because it was in the wrong place).
Then I hit up one of the 2 stores on that side of town that had the movie deal mixed up with the game deal last time I went. At the first one they had said last week that I had to rent 2 "full price" things to buy the games. Then another CAG told me via PM he went there the very next day and convinced them otherwise - he actually had them call the DM to clear it up and then they sold him everything good

. Well, today I found a few he missed (Kung-Fu Panda, LSW II, DAH 2) plus I also asked about the conversions and they hadn't done them yet. Unfortunately it was just a single Mercs 2, but I got it nonetheless which made the trip there worthwhile.
Then I decided while I was out I might as well go to the next store just 5 miles from there. This store pulled the whole rent 2 plus only $12.99 and under thing on me before and they were LOADED with good Gamecube stuff. Well, guess what, surprise, surprise, all of that was gone. They STILL didn't want to honor the $3.99 deal (I assume another clerk had, though, or those games would still be there) even though they had signs up. She said I had to read the fine print. Well, I invited her over to do so with me and sure enough there isn't any (except the PS2/GC/Xbox and "limited to retail quantities" thing). She caved and said she would scan the code (which she had to dig out of a booklet) and see what happened.
This is where it gets strange. She said it worked on Mercenaries 2, Hot Wheels Beat That, Need for Speed Pro Street, and GTA San Andreas (found my first actual PH copy - yay!) but NOT on .hack G.U. or Street Fighter Anthology. WTF? She scanned it a couple of times on those as well. I didn't really pay that much attention to the original sale price of most of those but I'm fairly sure Mercs 2 would have been the most expensive so it wasn't a pricing issue (and certainly didn't limit it to $12.99 and under since I'm not sure any were that cheap). Anyway, that is a strange thing to keep an eye on. Like all the other receipts, the coupon promo says "XBOS, PS2, CUBE $3.99" (yes, "XBOS" :lol

so she definitely scanned the right thing. It was just odd...
Also, got my second (and final) bad GTA:SA traded in. I thought I was out of luck when only the male manager was in the store I went to, but he took it without hesitation (I had removed the cover). However, it does appear he entered it as the PS2 version (despite me putting it in a green case) so I ended up with significantly less than I would have otherwise ($10.85 vs $16.45). But, after having it shot down at 4 other stores I was fully prepared to return it to HWV for $3.99 tomorrow if it didn't work out tonight. So while the CAG in me seethes a bit that he screwed that up, I'll get over it. He didn't nail me for any refurb fees despite the crappy condition of a few of the games so I guess we can call it even

. I was in a rush before the Mall closed so I left most of the stickers intact which is usually something I'm very careful about. I tried to get most of the Hollywood logo off but left the bar codes along the side. Of course, the GS dudes tried to scan those whenever it was a case without a normal bar code :lol:. So, yeah, it is best to remove that stuff if you have the time (or just replace the cases if you have extras).
All told I got 3 Mercs 2 and 3 Lego Batman traded in (went to 3 GS stores - no pushing of the limits for me) so if they drop tomorrow, so be it. I ended up finding another Mercs 2 afterwards. As a backup, it gets $12 at Blockbuster (as does LBM).
I've been using all the Gamecrazy credit I had on gift cards for this sale. I brought 3 with me tonight that all had just little bits left on them. When it was all said and done, I ended up with just $2.10 left in portable GC credit (though I have some more on a store account). I even put back a Starfox Assault because I just couldn't fathom spending real money unless it was an excellent ratio...