I was able to get in the room and got a yellow soldier. That makes me happy because last year I couldn't get into any of the trade rooms for a yellow soldier!
I understand the issue with the lines. It took forever to get in line and it seemed like I would never succeed. Then I sat in line forever, wondering if the room would still be open by the time I got in. Based on that, I wouldn't recommend making the line any longer. My guess is, making the line longer would allow more people to get in line when the event started but the real problem is the time involved with a trade. Once the line is full, no matter what the length, there will be little chance of snagging the next spot that opens up.
The yard sale idea is great and I love the way the rare items were hidden in the room. I'd hate to see that aspect of it go away. However, there are some things that could make a yard sale open to more people.
I'd like to see a yard sale event with multiple host rooms open and at the same time. Those would still be difficult to get into but more slots would open up so it seems like we would have a slightly better chance of getting into a room. The host rooms could have the rarest items available but hidden among the other items just like last night's yard sale. I strongly believe that most of the fun was searching the room to see what was in there!
I'd suggest also having some rooms open at the same time where you paid your 50 credits (or whatever) to get a specific item that would automatically be added to your inventory. This could be used for some rare items like the host pins and prizes. There could be for example, a green candy cane room, a wreath pin room and stuff like that. If they wanted to use this method for some rarer items, they could have you walk into a room where you have to choose an item and then enter a teleporter to the room that is giving out that item.
Then, I would suggest putting some real specials in the VMK shops. That would be more like a sidewalk sale than a yard sale but it's the sale idea I'm after. I would suggest marking down as many items as possible plus bringing back some old favorites that aren't necessarily rare. For example, sell the spooky trees , green tiki mats and items like that which aren't especially rare but aren't available in the shops any more.
Now, to top things off, there could possibly be some quick "blue light" kinds of specials. Suddenly a game wide message pops up and says something like, "For the next hour, black candles will be available at Shrunken Ned's for 5,000 credits." Granted I'd love to see cheaper prices than that but what I'm thinking of is just giving us the opportunity to buy something rare for a very short time.
The key to all of this would be to manage your credits and buy wisely. With surprise specials, something like the red space suit or inferno might possibly become available for sale but for a huge amount of credits.
I'm all excited just thinking about the possibilities!