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Pokémon Center to open in London
- Thread starter Bowser
- Start date
I have some time off at the end of the week so I was planning to go on Thursday, but if the queue's still like this - and if it's half-term, that's a possibility - then I'll give it a miss. I can still do some Christmas shopping while I'm at Westfield, so it won't be a wasted trip, but I'm not standing around for hours just to buy some bits of merchandise.
I got there at 9:15am is yesterday and was in the store around 2:00pm. It was one hell of a wait. Stick with it!
Was waiting since 8 yesterday and was in at 1030 (30 mins after the store opened) I don't get how you could be waiting that long.
consider yourself lucky... I got here 8:30am today and now it's 1:30pm I'm stilling queueing outside of the mall... Another 3-4hours maybe
I'm totally unfamiliar with the area but I'm a massive nerd, so I don't mind queing from an ungodly hour (I do it for gigs anyway...). Where abouts should I queue? I presume there's more than one entrance to the shopping centre? (Assuming I did something silly like get there at 6am)
If you get to the store first (1st floor near debeham) and you can just follow the queue. It goes down the lift first then turns around on the ground floor and eventually goes outside of the mall. There are multiple queueing zones outside too, and security staff everywhere to show you the way.
Thanks, was wondering what I should do if I get there before the center is open though :P
It might literally be faster to fly to Japan and go to one of the stores there, from the sound of things.
It wasn't too bad so I just assumed it'd fly by once it opened. Nope!
In and out in 15 minutes, due to waiting at the register. Smash and grab and snaps done with a vengeance. XD
People in front just taking waaaay too long. It was nuts.
Pokemon center opens at 10, but Westfield opens much earlier than that.. I heard there're people queueing outside of the Pokemon center as early as 7
Congrats! Were the shelves looking restocked or are things selling out?
We got in after 10 and half hours in the queue and thankfully most of merch were restocked so got what I wanted: London pikachu plush, London pikachu chillys bottle, charizard and etc. The only merch that's out of stocks were snorlax and waillord. Each customer can only buy 6 items at most and London pikachu stuff are limited to one per customer.
The group I was queueing with were very friendly, and made that 10-hour queueing almost bearable, we talked about different Pokemon games, made fun of ourselves for being stupid enough to stand in the rain for hours, and cheered whenever the queue moved an inch. We also played plenty of Pokemon go thanks to the boosted spawn rate near the mall and many of us got shiny too.
The security staff were also very accommodative and tried their best to keep the crowd happy and motivated.
At the end of the day, it's not a bad experience and I don't regret it at all, but probably not something I'll want to do again... At least I'll need some break..
For those willing to join the madness in the next few days, please make sure you arrive Westfield as early as possible (definitely not later than 10am, I arrived at 9:10am and had to queue for 10 hours) and bring some snacks with you and a battery bank as well... Or maybe a switch.. if there's any situation where you won't feel awkward playing the switch in the middle of a large crowd, this is one. I saw plenty switch, 3ds and even a couple ds today. :)
The group I was queueing with were very friendly, and made that 10-hour queueing almost bearable, we talked about different Pokemon games, made fun of ourselves for being stupid enough to stand in the rain for hours, and cheered whenever the queue moved an inch. We also played plenty of Pokemon go thanks to the boosted spawn rate near the mall and many of us got shiny too.
The security staff were also very accommodative and tried their best to keep the crowd happy and motivated.
At the end of the day, it's not a bad experience and I don't regret it at all, but probably not something I'll want to do again... At least I'll need some break..
For those willing to join the madness in the next few days, please make sure you arrive Westfield as early as possible (definitely not later than 10am, I arrived at 9:10am and had to queue for 10 hours) and bring some snacks with you and a battery bank as well... Or maybe a switch.. if there's any situation where you won't feel awkward playing the switch in the middle of a large crowd, this is one. I saw plenty switch, 3ds and even a couple ds today. :)
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By the time I got in, like 30% of the stock was gone, but they were refilling things like apparel and whatnot. I was primarily after the exclusive stuff and since it was one London item per person (like you couldn't get two London Pikachu's, not one out of the entire lineup) there wasn't too much worry for those disappearing. But if you're looking for a Wailord, you best be one of the first groups in line. They were all gone when I got in with loads of people still asking.
Anyway, here's my six item haul.
Really like the quality on the shirt and the tote bag. Fiancée digs it, so mission accomplished. ^^
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I've already been but been requested by a close friend with children in Japan to grab a Detective Pikachu plush - have looked online and the one in store is completely different. Anyone planning to go this weekend, would you mind lending a hand? Please DM - you'll be making a small 8 year old Japanese kid very happy.
Go to a game or amazon
Pokemon 97563 POKÉMON Detective Pikachu 8 INCH Plush https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07NJKYG1G/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Pp4QDbDDECRSF
That's good to hear, I'm mainly interested in the London City Pikachu stuff anyway.
Thats a different one, which is why I said so in my original post. The Detective Pikachus in store are Pokemon Centre specific.
If anybody goes during the week please let me know if the queue died down, want to take a friend but they're disabled so can't do multiple hours of queuing, gonna go in a couple of weeks otherwise.
Pretty sure there was a separate queuing system for people with disabilities.
EDIT: If your friend lets the guys at the entrance know, looks like they'll let you in.
Yeah I'm hoping to go in a couple of weeks and hope the ques are more of a first week opening issue than the whole time.
Need to know how the queues are today as I'm thinking of going Wednesday evening at like 6 as luckily it's open till 10pm
I dunno how people have the mental wherewithal to queue for that long. I would just turn into the most angry and unlikeable POS. There is literally nothing on this planet I am excited about enough to queue for more than probably 2 hours.
Friend of mine started queuing at 10 this morning, currently still at the "2-4 hours" mark
So overall it still takes 6-8 hours to get in
I believe they have a daily allowance for what can be sold to try and keep stock going throughout the timeframe
Hmm surely its better to honor those that have been queuing on the day for 4+ hours and announce when all stock is gone so people can then judge for themselves if they want to go knowing they can't get some items.
I know they restoked shelves yesterday (as someone wanting to go I've been following the hashtag on Twitter trying to figure out if there will ever be a day to go which won't involve an insane queue)
I read its still a 1-3 hour wait, its comic con this weekend as well so I don't expect it to be any less busy.
That's fine- it's the wait stretching on into the late afternoon that I'd have a problem with. If I can get it cracked out in the morning/early afternoon, that works for me.
Ok, I arrived just after eight and there is still a fairly big queue. Not sure if timings but I'd guess a few hours still.
I asked about in the queue, the people at the front have been here since last night (?!), but the people at the end of the "first" queue (maybe 100-200 people long) got here at 6.30am.
I'd say if you got there at around 7 you'd probably not be waiting too long. I'll update after I'm in to let you know how long it takes after arriving at 8am
I'd say if you got there at around 7 you'd probably not be waiting too long. I'll update after I'm in to let you know how long it takes after arriving at 8am
Keep your eyes peeled on Westfields Twitter, it'll inform you if they closed the queue or not.
This was from yesterday, queue closed around 4pm for reference.
(By the way, glad I figured out it's Westfield Shepherds Bush, was going to go to Westfield Stratford. That would have been a mistake.
Also apprarantly Nintendo aren't at London MCM this year? If you were hoping a Sword and Shield booth at MCM would drag people away from westfield... well that ain't happening.)
This was from yesterday, queue closed around 4pm for reference.
(By the way, glad I figured out it's Westfield Shepherds Bush, was going to go to Westfield Stratford. That would have been a mistake.
Also apprarantly Nintendo aren't at London MCM this year? If you were hoping a Sword and Shield booth at MCM would drag people away from westfield... well that ain't happening.)
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If you have to get there by 7 in the morning just to not have to wait too long in a queue I don't think I'll entertain the idea of going now. I'll only be able to go at a weekend(peak time train tickets are far too expensive for me to afford weekdays) and even then earliest I could possibly get there is about half 7 in the morning.
I'll be getting In shortly, arrived at 8am. That's approximately 5 hours queueing. It's still busy AF and the queue is still pretty much full.
EDIT: The last pikachu plushies sold out right as I got in the door at 1pm. If you want one of them, you'll need to get there before 8
(Restocking tomorrow apparently)
If you have the option, I'd hold off till next week or get there super early
EDIT: The last pikachu plushies sold out right as I got in the door at 1pm. If you want one of them, you'll need to get there before 8
(Restocking tomorrow apparently)
If you have the option, I'd hold off till next week or get there super early
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Store queue closed at 2pm today, earlier than yesterday.
...I'm not going to have any hope on friday with London MCM, am I?