As a toy collector, the holiday season gets to be quite a pain.

Your regular stomping grounds are overrun with "amateurs" that often leave the aisles a disaster area. The parking lots are filled to capacity (and beyond in the case of TRU). And God help you if you actually find something worthwhile to buy, because the checkout lines are simply crazy.

Do you have a cut off date where the you decide its just not worth the hassle? I'm usually good until around the 15th. The extra people are annoying, especially when the action figure aisle has two or three carts in it blocking access to the goods.

But by the 20th, you can't get me near a toy store or aisle. It's just too crazy.

Hell no, I pick up the pace this time of year! This is when Distribution Centers push and ship out the most product... I sneak into stockrooms, rip into cases... I'm TERRIBLE!

I don't generally have a cutoff date. But for the last 5-6 years there hasn't really been anything of note for the lines I collect (with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions), between Black Friday and New Years. This year has been anomalous. New stuff and great sales are seeming to pop up everywhere. If it continues this way through the month of December, and I have the financial means, I'll be one toy shopping fool all the way up to Christmas Eve!!

I go into the hunt with very low expectations during Xmas season.

I like how you called them "amateurs". Funny. Normally it's the "veterans" that are the obstacle.

Actually, this time of year is a good time if you dont mind the crowds. Some of the crap that's been on the pegs for sometime finally gets picked up, leaving room for better stuff!

I refuse to go into stores after Thanksgiving so I rarely ever buy anything. My Christmas shopping has been done for a while, I refuse to deal with the idiotic crowds, I just stay home.

Generally, I stop going on the "hunt" just about Black Friday.

Then, about a week before Christmas I'll start making the rounds to pick up those "early peeks" at Jan merchandise.

But, when I'm out and about shopping for gift items, if I am in a store with a toy section, I'll usually swing by for a quick cursory look.

Its not so much the "amateur" shoppers that bother me, as it is the absolutely clueless holiday hires. More often than not I end up redirecting customers towards the items they were looking for after a run in with an inept employee leaving me with no time for my own shopping.

Hmmm. I seem to be in the minority.

I guess I just really don't like crowds.

I'll admit most of my consternation comes from TRU visits. Walmart and Target aren't as bad because there's other parts of the store people wander off to. But TRU is all toys.

I hate the crowds and try to avoid it-- especially when Im caught up-- but the problem is when stores run low on stock near the end-- they usually put out the next year stuff early (especailly Star Wars Legos and TRU)

or I hear of something like Techno Vipers being found -- and I get sucked back in...since sometimes those year end waves never get seen again-- -- or surprise exclusives like the Jedi Heroes Target Pack...

I'm still on 'the hunt,' despite the extra aggravation. While the checkouts and maneuvering the aisle are a real pain (grandma or a clueless parent standing smack in the middle of an aisle, not moving and blocking my path drives me crazy!), I find it fun to sometimes play one of Santa's Elves to the clueless masses, whether it be explaining toys (this is JLU; that is DCUC), revealing what is out, or pointing them to when & where I recently saw an item (with a daughter that loves toys, this usually includes girl's toys too).

The worst part may be the driving -- people who are not in a rush, don't know where they are going and have probably lived in the area their whole lives, yet have no idea about the simple things of driving, like getting into the center lane to turn left, or get into the right lane if you are going to drive slow

If I get the chance, I like to go in the morning, or if I am out & about for some reason, late late to a 24 Hour Walmart. Morning holiday traffic has picked up this year, but I can still usually get in & out, albeit not as fast during the non-holiday part of the year. Since I am the main buyer of gifts for our kids, I almost have to be out and in the toy aisle. Poor me