Extraordinary Merry Christmas part 2: My Most Wanted List!

Thank you for coming back to The Chatterbox Blog! It’s nice to be writing again. This season has been ridiculously busy! Add in a case of strep throat and you’re booked solid!

Today, I’m resuming my Christmas postings with my Holiday Most Wanted List! To provide some background on myself, I like to collect various items. Most of these items are toys and decorations, but I find myself really wanting these things… for a really low price (maybe one or two of my readers has these items and would love to part ways with them for a reasonable price or free?) Starting with number 5…

5) Major Award Leg Lamp From “A Christmas Story”

“Do you know what this is? This… is… a Lamp!”

Growing up, A Christmas Story has always been a staple in our Christmas celebrations so naturally, the “Major Award” is as much of an icon to me as a stocking or a wreath.

A little under 10 years ago, a company started reproducing the leg lamps and marketing them for Christmas to coincide the opening of A Christmas Story House and Museum. If you’re interested, check out achristmasstoryhouse.com for the info. It’s located in Cleveland, Ohio and is the house where the majority of the outside scenes were shot (biggest part of the movie was shot on a soundstage in Canada). I’ll be posting this week on my many visits to A Christmas Story House. The deluxe versions of these come with their own Fragggeeelay crate (HIS END UP, of course) for storing if you decide not to leave it up all year round.

Just because it is number 5 on my list, doesn’t mean it’s not important… they are just more common to come by than the other items.

 

4) The Grinch’s “I ❤ Christmas” Sweater

“PUT HIM IN THE CHAIR OF CHEER!!!”

I’ve seen some pretty good customized ones online, but I don’t believe this was ever mass-produced. If anybody really knows me, then you should know that I have an odd fascination with ugly Christmas sweaters. I can’t explain why, but I think it adds to the joy of the season when you wear something as silly as this. I may attempt to recreate my own in the off-season, but this is definitely on my radar. It’s ugly, yet stylish (if that makes any sense). I don’t care so much if it lights up (it’ll be harder to wash that way), but everything else I want. If by chance one of my readers would be able to recreate one of these for me, I’ll be forever grateful!

 

 

3) Animated Bing Crosby “White Christmas” Doll

“We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny freaking Kaye.”

Yeah, White Christmas is what Clark is referring to during one of his many tantrums.

Over the years, I’ve always loved Bing Crosby’s Christmas albums. Growing up, I remember hearing White Christmas on the radio almost everyday from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I happened to catch it on one of the old movie channels (they usually play alot of Elvis’ movies) and have been watching it yearly ever since!

This is probably the cheapest item on my list. I’ve seen it on ebay where people are asking $20 to $40 for. It’s not really a bad price, but you never know how the thing works.  Some of the arms wear out and stop working… an easy fix, but not something you want to pay $40 for when you can possibly find these at an auction or flea market. I’m patiently waiting for this one.

 

 

 

 

 

2) Turbo Man Action Figure/Doll from “Jingle All The Way”

“It’s Tuurbotime!”

This has become one of my favorite Christmas movies over the years for a number of reasons. The first reason is Arnold’s broken english. It’s hard to imagine him as a family man in this and then when he tells Phil Hartman’s character to “POOOT DAT COOOKIE DOWWN… NOW!” it definitely gives off a sense of Kindergarten Cop “It’s nod a tooma!” The second reason is Phil Hartman! He was such a funny guy and he didn’t have to do a whole lot to be funny. It makes me very sad that he’s no longer with us. Lastly, the madness of it all. I’m a black friday faithful who braves the crowds and knows how chaotic it can be, so I have an appreciation for the amplified version of the crowds are in the shopping scenes. Sinbad’s character pepper sprayed somebody… DID ANYBODY HEAR IN THE NEWS WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR? It blows my mind!

I just happened to have some time on my hands and did a search to see if I could find one of the actual movie props from this movie and I found out that Tiger actually manufactured these in 1996. People are trying to squeeze a couple hundred bucks out of these and they’re not going to get it from me. Someday I will own one and will have to go on the search for Booster and Dementor.

 

 

1) Airblown Inflatable Sam The Snowman (Burl Ives Snowman from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer CBS special)

This little gem came out I believe as one of the original or 2nd year inflatables before the fad really caught on and every generic company started producing them. These were $49.99 when they originally came out and were only available once! At the time, I didn’t have my own home and really nowhere to put it, so I passed. They never released it again. I don’t know if it’s an issue with Burl Ives’ estate or what, but there hasn’t been one since.

To me, this is the absolute best representation of a specific character (besides maybe Mickey and Spongebob) that has been made. The Bumble has gigantic Bumble Boobies, Rudolph has thunder thighs, and The Grinch is the new cartoon styling which is terrible! I’m impressed with the detail on this one. It comes complete with raised eyebrows and facial hair. Each year that I don’t own this, it makes me sad. Maybe next year, I will bite the bullet and purchase through ebay ($200-$300). Even if they do re-release Sam The Snowman, it will not be the same as the original one… mark my words.

 

Honorable Mention…

 

 

Christmas With The California Raisins (CD or Vinyl Album)

I remember my parents buying this cassette at a Kmart back when I was very little. I don’t even think I was in school yet, that’s how little I was. My brothers and I listened to this non-stop long past Christmas. I’m not sure what happened to the cassette, but the last time I remember seeing it, it looked thoroughly used. I found the CD once in stores and bought it! However my oldest brother was the only one with a CD player at the time, so it was either given to him as a gift or was picked up for him and I was paid back for it. Regardless, I don’t own the actual album. I believe the CD is now out of print. I have a copy of it, but would still purchase the album in a heartbeat (buy your Music, kids!). I also think it would be cool to own the vinyl album of this. I think if I were to ever obtain this, I would purchase other Christmas albums and frame them to display at Christmas… albums like Elvis Christmas, Bing Crosby White Christmas, etc. that would look pretty slick on display like that.

So there you have it! These are the items I would love to have and am still on the hunt for. If you know of anybody that has these and would be willing to part ways with them, I would be forever grateful!

Coming up in 2012, I will be continuing with The Chatterbox Blog, but I will be doing an all new blog featuring Toys and Merchandise from Yesterday, Today, and Tomrrow! Be on the lookout and if you have any items you want me to cover, please feel free to contact me through twitter @Chatterbox4REAL or you can e-mail me at brad.mcquillen@yahoo.com! This has been an incredibly long blog, but fun. Enjoy!

 

Save Room 4 Love,

Brad (The Chatterbox)