The Hunt is ON

I do usually enjoy the thrill of the chase when it comes to Christmas gifts. A few years ago when B@rbie was one of 12 dancing princesses that the girlies completely loved (it is a great movie for girlies) I had a blast hunting down all 12 dolls. I searched every store for almost a month and was still short Ashlyn. Three of the 12 were next to impossible to find. I was so lucky to get two of them, but I was still one short. I ended up connecting with a woman on one of the mommy chat boards I was then active on that worked as a stocker in a toy store for extra seasonal money. She volunteered to look as she unpacked the boxes for me. That dear woman found the impossibly hard to find doll, bought it for me and then I paid her and she shipped it in time for Christmas. That same doll was so in demand that it was selling for $80+ on eB@y- and she knew it and still picked it up for me for $12.99.

I haven't been that crazy since, but it's still fun to search for the perfect gift I know they will love. This year I thought I had it easy. Their lists are very vague, so I have picked the specifics. It was supposed to be easy. None of the craziness this year... or so I thought.

The girlies have become enthralled with Playmobil. My brother had a bunch of boy sets (cowboys and Indians mainly) that they play with when we visit Nana and Grandpa's house. So they requested Playmobil. Back in October at conference time it was suggested that we engage Pip in more non fiction reading. After a library trip to the non-fiction section, she decided to learn all about ancient Egypt. I loved learning about Egypt as a child, and my mom had saved tons of neat books she had purchased for me and my brothers over the years. So how cool was it to discover that Playmobil made an ancient Egypt collection!! I looked at it in stores a few times. Read reviews on line (glowing- the best set ever made). That would be the big gift from the big guy, if you know what I mean. Ready to make the purchase back in mid November, I was shocked to find it sold out, everywhere. I have been on the waiting list (first in line- Whoo Hoo) for the Pyramid set at a local specialty toy store. They ordered 4 back in late October. I got on the list right before Thanksgiving. If they get one in, it's mine (oops- the girlies) but they have no idea if their order will be filled. I was able to get a few of the side sets (the Sphinx and the Pharaoh's temple, an extra Pharaoh and an Egyptian family) from playmobil dot com before they all sold out too. I'm on email alert directly from the company and I was hopeful for a moment. This morning I awoke to an email from overnight that they were back in stock and available for direct order. I logged in and added to my cart for a few seconds before it was again back ordered. Darn!! Still hopeful that the store will get it in for me before Christmas.







I can't wait for years of fun, should we be able to get our hands on the darn thing. At least I'm not hunting for one of those impossible to find hamsters that are all the rage.

Anything you are searching for???