Anaheim (CA) – My thumb is numb from taking hundreds of photos and I can't even feel my feet anymore.  But that doesn’t matter because I own the newest World of Warcraft expansion pack Wrath of the Lich King.  After interviewing the first people waiting in line at the Anaheim Electronic Fry’s store on Tuesday, I headed back Wednesday afternoon to capture the launch.

As night fell, the line wrapped around the back of the store and just before the doors opened at 11PM the line had come back into the parking lot, nearly completing a full circle.  John Fitch, the first guy in line we interviewed yesterday, seemed a bit weary after waiting some 39 hours for the expansion pack.  However, he willed himself on by giving interviews with the Los Angeles Times and local television stations.  He even led a group of people down to line chanting “Hello Kitty Island Adventure MMO!”

At around 9 PM, Blizzard employees handed out numbered wristbands to people in line and at 11 PM the doors opened.  Thousands of Collector’s Edition boxes along with the regular expansion packs were available.  After picking up the boxes, customers could have everything signed by more than 140 Blizzard artists and developers.

What’s amazing here is that you could have your merchandise signed by EVERY artist and developer and almost everyone took advantage of that opportunity.  From start to finish, this took approximately thirty minutes and the writing covered almost every square inch of the Collector’s Edition box.  The devs were troopers and continued signing everything until the wee hours of the morning.  In fact, I’m typing this article at 5:40 AM Pacific Time and I’ve received word that things are just finishing at the store.

Enjoy our 19 picture gallery of the launch and stay tuned for an extra special gallery, but first ….. I need sleep.

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