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| freakin' collector nerds |
| 08.19.06 (12:11 pm) [edit] |
It's hard to believe it's almost Danny's birthday, but a week from Monday, my little manimal will turn four. I'm not ready for him to be a four-year-old, but I distinctly recall not being ready for him to be a three-year-old, and that turned out okay. Danny wants to have a Cars-themed birthday party at the water playground, which is fine by me. We're just having two families, because the other two I would have invited aren't available. Fine by me, again, because I really like the other two moms and we can have completely suburban-inappropriate conversation in between wrangling various boys. [Insert side comment here... last week, Orange and I debated whether it was weird that we pretty much only have blogger friends at this point. I mean, we have other friends (we're not complete losers, I don't think), but we seem to gravitate towards one another. My argument is that I met my husband online and we've managed to stick together for 11 years and three kids, so maybe meeting people online (for a certain kind of person) is actually an uber-intelligent way to connect. We're all more cerebral online, probably. Or not. Maybe we're just all freaks.] *very large ANYWAY....* So, Danny's Cars- themed party. I was able to get party favors, lollipops, etc. You can get Cars plates, cups, banners, balloons; you name the expensive disposable crap, and Disney/Pixar have licensed it. But the toys? Puh-lease. I've managed up until now to get Tow Mater and a Sally plus laughing toys. Tow Mater I found, untagged, at Target a month ago; since they had no more and couldn't scan anything, they sold it to me for $1.99. Deal. Sally was hiding at a Walgreens, for about $5. She's actually Danny's favorite (I think he's got a crush), so there ya go. Interestingly, he's not as interested in Lightning McQueen (though Jake likes him). Now, I dare you.... go online and just try to get your hands on Cars toys that are appropriate for a four-year-old. I was dying to get Danny this Mack Truck Playset that has been sold out everywhere. My mother-in-law actually wanted it to be from her, but most resellers were not only charging and arm and a leg, but tacking on insane shipping fees, too. I went on a massive phone and internet hunt this morning; no luck (really on any of the toys at all) at Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart (yes, I HATE them, but still), K-Mart, or Disney stores. The woman I spoke with from the Disney Store at Old Orchard was pretty disgusted, too... she said she can't count the number of frustrated parents and grandparents who have called or come in to get a Cars toy for their little one, and been shut out by the collector nerds. I Froogled the item and pretty much the only place it was available wsa on E-Bay. I did weaken and go to E-Bay last week to buy the Mater, Lightning McQueen, and Sally cars. I got all three from the same seller for under $20 including shipping, which I figured was fine. Today, I scanned the list of auctions and Buy It NOW!s for the best option. Sometimes the base price wasn't too bad, but the ending time was far enough off that you could tell it would cost a fortune. One of the items had only one bidder and was ending within the hour. The price was at $15.99; shipping was US Priority and maybe $6. So I bid... and kept the window open to monitor the bid. Sure enough, at three minutes left, the little fucker hiding in his mother's basement leaned over his Cocoa Puffs and Bud Lite to outbid me. "Oh, no, you didn't!" I exclaimed, and hopped back into the fray... upping his bid by $1.01. I refreshed almost hysterically until I finally saw the "YOU WON!" image. And PayPal'd my money before anything could happen. Now, I have that combo adrenaline rush and crash. I'm $34.10 poorer (though MIL wants to pay for it, so I guess we'll just pay for the other three cars), and hope that Danny's Cars obssession doesn't wear off before he gets to enjoy the toys. So little is just for him -- we do lots of sharing toys -- and I want him to have a cool, big-kid toy similar to some of the things Jacob's gotten in recent years. I've gone crazy to get some toy or book or whatever that I just knew would be perfect, only to see my kid "ho-hum" it. On the other hand, my insane need to purchase exactly the right gift has paid off, too... Jacob's unbirthday present when Danny turned one were a trio of tiny beanie cheetahs -- a few months after seeing the Wild Thornberrys Movie and becoming enamored of the baby cheetahs, he was still pretending to take them with him wherever he went. The baby cheetahs were a hit. I've ordered the birthday cake, and now just need to fill in a few party favors and wait until next week to make a keg of lemonade and buy a sandwich tray. We're getting close. Soon, the birthday party will be a memory and we'll be onto the next family drama. In the meantime, I'm going to get as many still-toddler snuggles as I can... and try to curb my resentment of the collector nerds. And to remember to buy up as many cheapo Pixar theme toys as I can, when the next big movie is released. |
posted by: almsthvn (reply)
post date: 08.21.06 (4:28 am)
Heh Heh!
and don't forget your nearby flea market!
posted by: Orange (reply)
post date: 08.21.06 (8:59 pm)
Our bedtime book tonight was a "nonfiction" book about Cars. (Oy.)
Technically, I'm still close to my friends from high school. But my favorite people with kids are blogger friends rather than neighborhood folks...
posted by: inkspector (reply)
post date: 08.22.06 (9:40 am)
I think it is sad that the collector's buy up everything then overcharge and the kids who save their money to buy something, can never make the purchase they want.
It is funny about internet Moms, they seem to make more connections on line than in their own neighborhoods. Much more convenient too, you can look a mess and no one sees you but you can usually always get your point across or learn something from someone else.
posted by: filmslum (reply)
post date: 10.26.06 (4:57 pm)
If it was collectors they probably wouldn't be reselling them on eBay. I think your rant is more properly directed at scalpers who buy up tons of toys they think will be popular and hard to get. Aren't most collectors into nostalgic toys of their youths though, like Star Wars or whatever? But yeah, it totally sucks when you can't find the one thing a kid is demanding. My little sister jumps back and forth between being in love with Barbies and princesses and Ninja Turtles and such, and she always wants something super specific, which I can never find. But she and my dad live in Michigan and I live in California. Maybe they have better selection back there?
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