May 3, 2009

Virgin Smegmastore Part 2

Update on the Virgin Store Closing Sale--the windows are now plastered with signs suggesting "UP TO 30% OFF." Upon closer inspection of the inventory, very little has changed since I was there 4 days ago. All CDs and DVDs are still only 20% off. Clothing and electronics are 10% off. I will now list the "amazing" items you can purchase for 30% less than the original prices:
  • Posters
  • Wallets
  • Cards
Who knew that they even sold posters, wallets, or cards? Not this guy. And while I do need a new wallet, I'm don't want one with The Misfits, The Ramones, or Pink Floyd plastered all over it. I especially resent the misleading premature rollout of the eleventeen billion 30% OFF signs when only .5% of the store actually reflects that discount, but hey, loopholes is loopholes.

I did come really close to purchasing a Best of Rocky Soundtrack that I hadn't seen before called The Rocky Story: The Original Soundtrack Songs From The Rocky Movies. It was $4 cheaper than the newer Best of Rocky Soundtrack called Rocky Balboa: The Best of Rocky and had several fewer songs, but still all the ones I'm looking for. Basically, it's the best corny/inspirational songs from Rocky IV and the best of I-III, without the crap from V or Rocky Balboa.

[update - I dig some digging on Amazon and discovered that the "Gonna Fly Now" versions on The Rocky Story are not the original film versions and are instead inferior reproductions by The Rocky Orchestra and not Bill Conti. I wonder if a knowledgeable Virgin employee would have pointed that out to me.]

Both of these CDs are still much cheaper on Amazon, even with the 20% off discount. For that reason, I will not be buying them from Virgin until these discounts genuinely go deeper. I actually considered hiding the discs I wanted in strange places at the store so my Virgin wishlist wouldn't end up getting snatched up by someone less anal than me about pricing. I do believe in fairness though, and decided against the scheme despite the store being packed and the inventory being noticeably chipped away at. From what I've read, the discounts will make a jump to 40%-60% off soon. At that point I'm positive that almost everything will disappear, leaving only the shelves themselves up for grabs. Most of the things I've got on my watch list were still high in supply. There's obviously no accounting for my taste.

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