[From the Mailbag] Gifts from the Golem

Back in November, I received a couple of promotional e-mails from Paizo. They were gearing up for what they called "the Great Golem Sale." (Hint: their logo, if you didn't know, is a golem. See?)

This sale was a chance, so they said, to make room in their warehouse by discounting their backstock: magazine back issues, board games, maps, books, accessories, even miniatures and plush figures. The sale was to run throughout November and would feature "over 900 gaming products...at up to a 90% discount!" The catch was that these items could not be combined with pre-orders, back orders, or subscription shipments if you wanted the discount.

So, I looked and looked. Nothing really grabbed my eye. Plus, with Christmas coming up, it was hard to devote much money in a month with no Paizo subscriptions to fund; all that discretionary money was going to go to Christmas.

Noble ideals, right?

Fast forward to November 30. One final look at the Sale List. Then I saw it. The Babylon 5 RPG Second Edition Handbook. Marked down from $49.95 to $3.00. $3.00! Being such a huge B-5 fan, and having already started to collect some Sci-Fi RPGs, I thought this was a perfect conjunction of planets. I confess, I picked up two copies: a reading copy, and another copy for...well, honestly, I'm hoping to run into a convention someday where the remaining cast members are present and I could get some signatures.

Whether you want to say that find primed the pump or that it burst the dam...either way, IT WAS ON.

I swept through Paizo's library of B-5 materials, adding them to my cart. Then I started on Pathfinder maps and found a couple that I really wanted. I moved from the maps, to the Pathfinder Chronicles and Modules. Somehow I'd missed all this stuff the first time I'd gone through the lists of merchandise. What the heck, I'll pull out my list of missing/loaned-and-never-returned Dragon Magazines; Lo! and Behold! They had a couple on my list. And then I found a miniature that I'd been watching for several years. Now it was on sale. Once the dust cleared and the ORDER button pressed, I was a bit embarrassed with myself. Although, I would have been much more embarrassed to have paid full price. I mean, really.

The wait began.

I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I had to call Paizo and ask about my order; I was told that they were filling orders as fast as they could. I received an e-mail telling me that one of the maps was out of stock. And I waited. And waited. Another call, another promise that they were filling the orders as fast as they could, that the response was much greater than they'd anticipated. Oh, and "by the way" my order was being held up because they were waiting to receive the miniature from the manufacturer. So I told them to cancel the mini from my order. And I waited. I finally contacted the head of Customer Service through the Paizo website; it was the weekend before Christmas and they were still filling pre-Thanksgiving Great Golem Sale orders.

Then on the 23rd, I received an e-mail telling me that my order had shipped. It's a good thing that nothing I ordered was a Christmas gift. Why? Because I received the order a week later, on the 30th. Still, even with all the hassle and waiting, it was still worth it. This was the haul I received for just over $50.00. (Shipping, of course, hit me in the shorts, but that's always the way, isn't it?) That's a mighty stack, ain't it? I really should have put a ruler up to the side of that stack for reference.

What's even more impressive is the sight you see when you spread it all out. My kids walked in while I was taking the picture; they hadn't seen the order out of the box yet. They all stopped and stared and then cheered.

I've got great kids. It made me grin. And feel a little proud. Like I'd done my job as a role-playing father.

And you remember the Inn I mentioned in the New Year's post? The map that inspired me, and that I used for the Inn, is here at the upper right-hand corner of the stack. It turns out that it's a page-size pull-out from a Dragon Magazine (apparently, although I don't remember seeing it in MY collection) and folds out. to be 17" x 22".

All in all, I'd say it turned out well. Even though the shipping process made me gripe, I'm going to chalk it up to a larger-than-expected sale and give them the benefit of the doubt. And hope it doesn't happen again. I'm certainly going to keep my eyes open for a re-run of the Great Golem Sale this year. And maybe plan on ordering just a bit earlier than the 30th.