Holy mother of god I remember this
I've been in a Pokemon mood the entire day today, trying to get back my old team I used back during first gen. So imagine my delight when I decided to roam endlessly around the internet after all of that and stumble upon this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58990564@N05/5416677750/
This image alone brings back memories. In fact, seeing that sheet reminds me I still have the Mewtwo, Charmander, Mew and Pikachu from that sheet. But what is it exactly, you may wonder? Allow me to let this quote from IGN explain:
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"For those of you who have caught 'em all but are still desperate to add to that collection, November 26th is your day. That's the day Mew, Pokémon #151, comes to Toys "R" Us all across the country.
As many Pokémaniacs know, Mew is the most rare Pokémon of them all. There is no possible way to catch him or trade for him in either Pokémon Red, Blue, or Yellow cartridges. The only way to snag this critter, up until now, was to be a Nintendo Power contest winner snag him at a special Pokémon event.
Finally, Mew is available to the masses. However, Pokémon trainers will have to be on their toes if they want to catch Mew. Here's how to be a part of this event:
Have your Gameboy and a Pokémon Gameboy cartridge ready on November26th.
Be the one of the first 1,500 customers at any Toys "R" Us store, and you will receive a special 'Peel & Win' sticker card.
Peel off the Mew sticker.
If the words "Caught Me!" appear under the sticker, you have won Mew, and a Toys "R" Us employee will upload a Mew Pokémon into your own Pokémon cartridge (be it Red, Blue, or Yellow).
Two hundred Mews will be given away at each Toys "R" Us location, so you have about a one-in-seven chance of snagging one.
See your local Toys "R" Us for more details and legal mumbo-jumbo, and while you're at it, scope out your city for an underpopulated Toys "R" Us store for the best chance to catch Mew. This will be a tough hunt, but a Master Trainers should be up to the challenge. Good luck!
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Yeah, look at the date of that contest a bit closely.
November 26th. IE Black Friday.
It still confuses me why Nintendo thought it was a good idea to do an event this big on the biggest shopping day of the year, but I knew NOTHING of the day in question when this event was announced. I was 14 at the time, so the only thing that was in my mind was trying to win this one contest so I can say I have Mew legitly. Without codes. Without hacking. So of course I'd ask my great granny to take me to Toys R Us on that morning to try my luck. And being the silly person I was, when we got there, I assumed everyone was there for that one contest.
Yeah, I was stupid, shaddup :P
I don't remember much else besides the huge rush of people trying to get stuff for Christmas, but I just remember heading straight to the register to get that sticker sheet you see above.
And... despite putting up with chilly temperatures to try my luck, I came back empty handed =/
Still though, it was one of the more memoriable times of my early Pokemon days.
I got more interesting Pokemon stories than just that, btw. I'll probably share another one sometime soon :P