You guys are going to laugh at me... But during the PS3 launch, I ended up sleeping outside twice for a PS3.
The first time it was one night. My was the manager at the store, and let me know that someone was already waiting outside for a PS3. This was Sunday at around 5:30PM. I ended up going with a friend at around 6:30PM, and was there over night till 8AM the next morning. I was 5th in line, and my friend was 6th.
Closer to the launch my friend called me to say that the store was short shipped. I had to have this system so I decided that I'd sleep outside again for one. I had another friend who missed out on the initial pre order so he was game. We ended up at a Future Shop in Oakville. That was actually two nights....
So that was not fun. We started hearing about people with tents, and sure enough, the Heartland location was already tent city. I called my friend and told him "drop whatever you're doing, because we are going NOW!" I didn't even grab everything I needed because we had to jet. My girlfriend (now wife) ended up bringing our sleeping bags and pillows the following morning.
We drove by two other FS and BB stores before settling on the Oakville location. There was only two people outside (when we arrived). By midnight there was already 10 people in line.
The first night wasn't bad...we had a system, we kept places in line for people while they ran to grab food, use the washroom.
The line swelled to about 25-30 deep (next day noon time) and there was only 8 60GB and 4 20GB models. I guess people figured out that you could sell them online for a ton of cash because the most random people were in line. There was even a trailer park family (YES FAMILY! Mother, and older kids) looking to score a system each. He was bold enough to prepare his joint on a small cutting board he pulled out of his backpack. Needless to say, they were escorted off of the property. The line thinned once they placed the allotment of systems on the front door.
There were random people trying to buy your spot in line. I was offered $1200 for my spot (Third in line). One guy even said "think about it, and here's my card". Yeah... He handed me his business card with the offer on it. I think he was part of a group who were running around the GTA, trying to scoop up as many systems as possible to sell online.
Later that evening I received a call from my friend saying that they ended up with more systems, and I was able to pick it up the following morning. SWEET! Except I was already invested in staying outside for 48 hours in the cold...
Anyways, there was a light dusting of snow that night, and it was COLD!... During that night, someone said they'd pay top dollar for a PS3. How much you say? $2800 for one...
Yeah, I handed it over to the guy later that morning (8AM) after he handed me the cash...
I then went to my friends EB Games, and picked up my original pre order. I also came across another one later that day (Sony store in the mall I was working at), that I ended up selling on eBay for $3700 US.
It's crazy to think that I did that, but to me it was worth it... I still remember my accounting teacher wishing me "good luck" when I had told him that I'd be missing class and I'll email this weeks work to him...
I'm too old for that now, I pre ordered a PS4 on Amazon, and a XBone on BB site. It's going to be nice having them show up to my front door, and I can stay warm.
I'm sure this post will me missed in the sea of FS/BB trade in talk, but this new system launch has me reminiscing over the last launch...
