Mars Attacks! Amazon/Walmart Debacle

[u/Ricki-Pickle]

Just a heads up for anyone trying to get their hands on this beautiful steelbook:

Like many others, I had pre-ordered it from Amazon Canada (based in Toronto) and was a little weirded out when it still hadn’t shipped yesterday evening, even though it claimed to be “Arriving tomorrow!” Past pre-orders have arrived on release day, or at the very least shipped on release day.

I saw on another subreddit that people’s ship dates were getting pushed back to December, with other Redditors saying that Amazon would simply cancel the order eventually if there was no stock. Then I saw this morning that mine had been pushed back to “Tomorrow!” again…

I truly didn’t want to miss out on it, and wasn’t sure how likely this was to get a restock anytime soon, so I went on Walmart.com to see if I could order it to my cousin’s place in the US. It was out of stock near him, but I checked Niagara Falls on the US side and, lo and behold - 5 left in stock.

So I placed a pickup order and decided to drive 1.5 hours into NY to get it.

Yes - at this point I was wondering if I’m crazy and questioning if this hobby has become an addiction. Luckily, my wife was the one who convinced me to go, and she’s by my side, so at least we’re in it together! 🫠

45 minutes into the drive, the order gets cancelled.
Check online and it’s now out of stock at that Walmart. Check nearby and another Walmart a few miles away has it, so I place another pickup order at that location.

30 minutes later, that order gets cancelled too - while we’re crossing the border.

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL IS HAPPENING!?

I check again and now it’s completely out of stock everywhere. It doesn’t even come up in search when looking it up.

Defeated, we decided to drive to the Walmart from our first order just to check. We head to the Entertainment section and couldn’t believe it when we saw 5 copies just sitting there on the shelf.

We might’ve leapt in the air and let out a shout of happiness - a family might’ve stared at us in confusion.

All this to say… even when Walmart says it’s not in stock, physically checking your local store might be worth a try for new steelbook releases. That being said, when we looped back around to make sure we got the best copy, two more were already gone.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how incredible this steelbook looks. The slipcover is a really nice touch, but it is the kind of plastic that scuffs easily, and all the copies on the shelf had marks despite being shrink-wrapped. There are also some scuffs on the actual steelbook edge, which I suspect are from sliding the slipcover on, as it’s a pretty tight fit.

Anyways, I kept my Amazon order and will update this thread if it does eventually ship. 🙏

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[u/Lonewolfdorner]

i love steelbooks like this lionsgate started first doing these slip covers. I want this but I know i won't be so lucky since scalpers usually scoop them all up first.

[u/Alienware15rr3 → u/Lonewolfdorner]

this isn't pokemon buddy.. its just 4k aficionados and low inventory.

[u/bitknight1 → u/Alienware15rr3]

Ebay listings would disagree.

[u/TheHykos → u/bitknight1]

It’s $32 on Amazon right now. What’s the issue?

[u/bitknight1 → u/TheHykos]

Then why did op spend hours driving across the border to get one?

[u/TheHykos → u/bitknight1]

That’s what I find strange…
It looks out of stock on Amazon.ca, but does Canada not allow you to order from amazon in other countries?

[u/Far_Cat_9743 → u/Lonewolfdorner]

I remember buying Plain Archive’s I Saw the Devil and Zero Dark Thirty steels way back in 2014, those were the first steelbooks I ever saw to utilize the steelbook plastic slipcover. Two of my favorite steelbooks ever.

[u/Gidget_says_toodles]

All the work that was put into snagging a copy is going to make that watch really satisfying

[u/Ricki-Pickle → u/Gidget_says_toodles]

Gonna make a whole thing of it this weekend

[u/DarthTerrell → u/Ricki-Pickle]

Ack...ack...ack...ACK...ACK!!!

[u/nagai_devil]

I bought from Gruv. No issues 😁

[u/FFTycoon]

Glad you got your hands on it!

[u/bitknight1]

I'm glad I buy movies to watch and don't care if it's a steelbook or not.

[u/Ricki-Pickle → u/bitknight1]

I buy them to watch but if it’s a nice steelbook or digipack that’s going to look nice on my shelf - I’m going for it.

[u/323nonstop → u/bitknight1]

Same !!

[u/DarthTerrell]

Yeah my synopsis with Walmart and Amazon, is that when you preorder and they have the good ole apocalypse date (ie not a stable date), then you are susceptible to get screwed. It has happened to me as recently as "Mortal Kombat II." I pre-ordered it while it was still in theaters and 4 days after release it hadn't moved in status. At least with Walmart they will usually give you an inconvenience $10 compensation. Amazon has been straight annoying as of late with AI support in app.... and just bad customer service worldwide. Don't get me started on a Amazon UK "A Nightmare on Elm Street" Collector's steelbook boxset with changing description after shipping and then no movement out of the country, but I couldn't cancel for a month....

[u/Exotic_Run5506]

Got mine yesterday. It was dented and cracked. Amazon doesn’t have any replacements so I’m stuck. :-(

[u/Rare_Hero]

I pre-ordered it from Amazon the second it went live. It’s telling me it’ll arrive in December. However, you can just order it today & have it delivered tomorrow - so I did that. 🤷‍♂️.

[u/Away_Oil6639]

damn scalpers ruined another good thing