I can see Toralei wavin' goodbye...

Current Mood : Relaxed

Well, last night was interesting ! We had another of the ‘major pieces’ we needed for the new place fall into our laps – a new-to-us sofa ! It’s light brown corduroy, in decent shape, just needs a cleaning and some support added under the cushions, where it’s pretty saggy. But it’s in good shape, and will work for us ! Best part is that it was another curbside find, so it was free. And we got it before it poured down rain all night. Dearest Son was so enamored, he slept on it – on top of a quilt – last night. I can’t help but think we’re moving at the right time, since the Garpartment gets pretty hot, mostly ‘cause the crappy underpowered air conditioner doesn’t work very well. FIL was always monitoring the door between the house and the Garage / Garpartment, and got really upset when it was slightly ajar. Now, if we can just find a good vacuum cleaner and maybe a couple of bookcases between now and next month…

But before that, we decided to run up to our new place, see how noisy it gets on spring/summer weekend nights. Not too bad. There was a small party on the second floor, but we could barely hear it from the parking lot. Depending on what music they like, we could probably hear it inside, but that’s why we all got new headphones ! I’m feeling better and better about things !

So I laughed when we went to the FormerTown Mal-Wart, and got to prowl the Monster High section. They had most of what ours did, just fewer – a Jackson, a Cupid, two Neferas, three Rochelles, one Abbey, and just the one Operetta outfit – with one exception. They had *tons* of Create A Monster sets ! Oh, crud. If they had what I wanted, it’d be soooo hard to walk away from it, and I didn’t think I could…

Luckily, the six packages of CAM sets were the old ones. And not the old ones reissued, nope. These were first-run one-torso sets. What a relief. I mean, I just *got* two new dolls, I’d like to keep my acquisitions down to one or less a month, Mattel ! Of course, I’ve already blown that for 2012 – with Cupid, greyscale Frankie, Rochelle, Jackson, Skull Shores Lagoona and Ghoulia,  and Operetta, I’m already up to July !

Made me wonder, though. With the ‘old’ sets being reissued with two torsos, are the old one-chest sets even gonna sell ? Possibly to non-collectors, I’d think. Or folks who like to have the ‘older first run’ versions. I’m kinda hoping for markdowns, ‘cause I would love some cheap shoes for a change ! (grin)

I also wondered about my own dolls. When had I bought each – and what year did I buy the most ? How many have I given away or put aside for trades ? So today I did a new nose count. In 2010, the year they were first released, I snagged 13 dolls in about six months. And I kept every last one. In 2011, I bought 20 dolls, but have since given away or traded eight, so I only kept 12, a good ‘one a month’ average. But with the shelves getting crowded and the fun just not stopping from Mattel, this year I’ve already bought seven dolls and kept ‘em all. And this doesn’t even count the beds, clothes, and other misc. like ComicCon bags and Valentine’s Day cards. Heck, there’s a little $5. Stationery set right now at Mal-Wart that I want. But I really need to slow down on the dolls…at least until I find that two-guys Create A Monster set !

You know, I whine a lot about Mattel’s distribution, especially last year. But when you can say that, at one point, you had 40 dolls, all bought within two years, and almost all of them were original from the first run, you can’t really say “I can never find anything at my stores !!1!” with a straight face. Most of us eventually find what we want, we just don’t get it as soon as a fortunate few. Of course, all of us want all the goodies at once, so it ends up breeding frustration and a little jealousy. I confess, when I saw Tabitha’s CAM guys lookin’ good in her Flickr Photostream, I was a little jealous. But I know I’ll have mine soon, without driving across half the state, paying too much to scalpers, or annoying sales clerks for a month. Even if I do, it’s my choice to act like a nut, and in no way Mattel’s fault. In the meanwhile, I got stuff to sew, other dolls to play with in three other sizes, and a pretty good life to enjoy. So there’s no point driving m’self crazy over it.

Too bad it took me two years to figure that out, huh ? (grin)