Yeah, I had a smimilar experience, where I proved my local status as King Geek.
Here's the deal: Walmart has a big display for these things that is shaped like an AT-AT. I saw them roll it out from the stockroom last night right after midnight. It was already pre-packed, but
only with the OT/PT sets, not the Complete Saga. These things were nowhere to be found out on the floor.
Come to find out, there were only 5 copies of the Complete Set behind the check-out desk. FIVE. I was 4th in line. Luckily no one is front of me bought multiples, so I got one.
Here's the best part: When I got up to pay for my copy, I asked them if that long cardboard box the copies were sitting on behind the counter contained the free poster that was supposed to be given away to the first 50 customers. Blank stare. "Posters?" They opened it and sure enough I got my big-ass lizard riding Fett poster. All 3 dudes in front of me walked away emptyhanded because their Geek-Fu was not as strong.
So yeah, you may have to ask for the free swag, and maybe even need help actually finding the Complete Saga set.
Now, on to the good stuff:
I was able to watch all 50 minutes of deleted OT scenes last night before passing out. They range from awesome to sucky, but overall worth the price of the set alone, IMHO.
The most interesting scene is the one with Biggs, in that it gives you an different sort of perspective on the Empire and why people are actually rebelling against it. He has a neat line about the Empire "nationalizing commerce in the inner systems" or something like that which I found pretty cool. That dude is not a great actor though, the whole scene plays out rather stiffly. And Carnie and Fixer are a couple of Jag-offs, for real.
I loved the extended Cantina scene, with Han and "Jenny" and the good old bloody flipper hand on the floor.
I also loved the cut Wampa scenes, although I agree that thing looked pretty unrealistic. The whole shtick about 3PO pulling the sign off one of the holding pens and jacking up an oblivious snowtrooper who wanders in after him is priceless.
Loved seeing the fate of Lobot, although that was a bit of a quickie.
Loved the lightsaber building scene, that was way cool. Ditto the sandstorm scene, Lando looks badass with his goggles.
REALLY loved the added interior shots of the Falcon during the Battle of Endor, where they actually show Rebel troopers manning the gunnery stations. This would have been a good one to keep in the final cut, IMO. It never made sense to me how Lando and Nien Nunb could be doing EVERYTHING from the cockpit by themselves in that battle.
Great little snippet of Han's reaction to the classic "You rebel scum" blast: "Scum?!?!"
Awesome scene with the Imperial officer telling Vader he is not allowed in to see the Emperor. That one almost gave me chills.
The pilot 1-on-1 sequences seemed hokey to me. The actors do not seem to have a good grasp of the dialogue. One of the women looks like she is about 75 years old. (The rebellion must have really been hurting for pilots) I did love the "Fried Calamari line" and something about "this is the last time I fly Lucas airlines"...LOL.
The only deleted scene that REALLY disappointed me was the death of General Veers. It's like not even a real filmed scene, sort of a cut-up with storyboards, animatics, etc. I was hoping for some kind of shot of Hobbie's snowspeeder actually hitting the At-At.
Ah well, it was fantastic nostalgia to watch that stuff, can't wait to tear into ANH tonight after the Clone Wars premier!
