New Contest: FAO exclusive Harry Potter doll

[wildriverrun_1]

CONTEST FOR A LIMITED EDITION HARRY POTTER DOLL BY ROBERT TONNER
Ends December 13th at midnight EST
Hello from Joanna! For those that don't know me, I am an original member that has not posted much recently!


This has been an interesting year for me. I have had unexpected kindess (Marc at AlterEgo, Bob at Fireside, JS, and Lasher) extended to me and had to dig pretty deep to find forgiveness in my own heart. Christmas is always my favorite season and this year in particular is special. My daughter is home from a year abroad in Italy, I escaped finacial ruin by the hair of my chiny chin chin, and have lost a parent. Lots of reflection and soul searching. So... I have decided to sponsor a Holiday Contest. DO NOT REPLY THANK YOU NOTES or INQUIRES ON THIS THREAD! This thread is for contest entries only! If you want to reach me, you can email me at jmorri@montana.com.

The challenge is simple:
Post a holiday story on this thread for all to read. It can be true, made up, personal, folk tale, or borrowed from another's experience. The theme should fall into one of the following categories: Forgiveness, Thankfulness, Giving/Sharing, or enlightenment. The only criteria is that it is uplifting and of resonable length. PLEASE POST IT HERE ON THIS THREAD FOR ALL TO READ! If you pick a story that is written by someone else, just credit the author! I doubt Dickens will mind and he probably doesn't need a Harry Potter doll anyway. My hope is that we share our "stories" much in the same way folks would around a holiday table.

I am going to inlist a few close friends to help me choose the winner, but essentially I will have the deciding vote. All enteries must be submitted by December 13th at Midnight EST.

THE PRIZE??? you ask???

Robert Tonner's Harry Potter doll, a FAO exclusive, LE 300.

http://www.fao.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=5028&categoryId=393&parentCategoryId=259

http://www.roberttonner.com/harrypotter.htm


For those of you who know me, you know that dolls are my first passion. This is a beautiful doll in a very small exclusive edition. I will ship to the winner by December 19th. I will pay all shipping fees, regardless of whether it is interntional or domestic (USPS priority domestic, express mail International).

If you have questions, email me directly:
jmorri@montana.com

Thanks for the friendship, support and passion!

Joanna

[Darklord Dave]

This is a really rare item that sold out pretty fast. Any Potter fans should definitely enter this contest.

[don_of_the_dead]

2 Christmas ago my wife bought me a present she was SURE I'd never guess, now the fun part of this story is my wife is evil, not rule the world evil, but she has the mutant ability to guess a gift i'm even THINKING about buying her. Several years back I had used ninja like skill and found a used Sega Dreamcast and the games Hydro thunder and Crazy Taxi, 2 arcade games she spent enough money on at the bar to probably buy us a 2nd car. I put the whole thing on hold and just told her the city I had to drive to that night, she guessed that city had a video game store and siad "You aren't getting me a Dreamcast are you?" the utter shock and look on my face gave it away. She laughed.

Ok, back to her "You'll never guess my present I got you!"
I knew what it was, perhaps had she wrapped it in a bigger box she might have had a chance, but oh no, it was revenge time.

I knew it was a R. Lee Ermey Talking Motivational action figure from Sideshow.

Time for the set up
"Honey, whats this one?" I held up the wrapped gift
"I'm not telling you, it wouldn't be a suprise!" she'd say
I did this for a few days and always get the same answer with an added "You'll never guess it so stop trying"

Time to spring the trap.
Shes baking cookies in the kitchen I walk in with a confused look on my face.
"What's the matter honey?" she asks
"Its the oddest thing, that package I keep teasing you about?"
"Yeah?" she said not looking up from the cookies.
"It just talked"
She just about dropped the baking sheet full of cookies and couldn't have had more of a shoked look if I had just rode into the kitchen naked on a unicorn.

I smile, and walk away without a word. Winna and NEW Champion!:banana

Now she stops trying to guess her presents.

Merry Christmas!

[Collector Freak]

This is a really rare item that sold out pretty fast. Any Potter fans should definitely enter this contest.



The FAO in NY has a few shelves lined with 'em. :peace :wacky :rolleyes: :cool: :naughty

[don_of_the_dead]

Upon reading the rules I just ralized my story had none of those themes so here is another one, One I haven't shared with anyone outside my family in years. Its sappy and some people will say its BS but I really don't care

I was just out of high school, just starting to get back into toys, the big thing for Christmas was Power Rangers, this was the time where they were selling for sometimes $100+ dollars, I was on a toy run at my local K-Mart near my house and ran into a woman who was looking in the action figure aisle looking confused.
"Excuse me" she said "Where would I find a Power Ranger?" I sort of chuckled and told her about the high demand and the outragous prices people were paying for them. She looked disappointed she told me how her daughter was a nurse at a childrens hospital and a little boy had flown up to MN for a bone marrow transplant and she was helping her daughter look for a toy for him to keep his mind off all the horrible things going on in his life. He wanted a Power Ranger.
Now as luck would have it a friend of mine worked at Toys R Us and just a few days earlier she had gotten me a Transforming Green Power Ranger, you squeezed its legs and the head went from Human to Ranger. I still hadn't opened it, it was sittng in my room at home.
"Wait here, I'll be back in 5 minutes" I told her.
I raced home, grabbed the Power Ranger, and raced back.
The woman was standing outside waiting.
I handed her the Power Ranger and also some Power Ranger cards I had.
"How much do I owe you?" she asked
"You just tell that little fella to hang in there" I told her and I walked back to my car and left.
I went home and told my parents about it and thought that was the end of it.
About a week later my mother called me into the living room, in the local paper on the opinions page was a letter it was titled:
Local Teen Does Good
The woman I had given the Power Ranger to had written into the paper and told the story of our encounter and how when the little boy had gotten the Power Ranger it was the happiest they had seen him, how her kept it with him during treatments and even selpt with it, and how the nurses were giving out the Power Ranger cards to kids for being brave during tests. At the end of her letter she asked if anyone knew who I was to please contact her as she wanted to thank me.
My mother called the woman and that day she came by my house with a Red Power Ranger/ Motorcycle 2 pack she held it out to me and told me it was to replace the one I had given her.
I told her there were kids at that hospital who needed the toy much more than a 19 year old toy collector and told her if she really wanted to repay me she'd take it to the hospital and give it to another sick kid.

Up until a few years ago I still had the clipping from the newspaper, I kept it as a reminder that for all the toys I buy every year that toys are for children and they should always take priority over me buying a cool action figure and sticking it on my wall. I have since lost the clipping during a move, but I still think about that kid, is he alive? Hows he doing? I kick myself for not keeping in contact with the woman, but in my world, he got better, and now is your typical happy child, not tests, no treatments, no pain, just toys and candy and fun.

[Mutant Enemy]

There is one Christmas from my childhood that will always stand out in my memory, I was 6 or 7 years old at the time. I grew up in a middle class/working class family. My Dad worked in a factory building tires, and my Mom was a nurse. My Dad was layed off of work at the begining of December and money was tight. I remember thinking how cool it was to have my Dad home to play with me when I got home from school. (Its funny how you don't see the big picture when you are a kid.) It was a few days before Christmas when my parents sat us down and told us that they didn't think Santa Clause was going to be able to find our house this year. They made up some story of how we were expecting a huge snow storm and they were pretty sure Santa wouldn't be able to make it through. I remember being heartbroken, and telling my parents that Rudolph would help him find our house! They told me it was going to be really bad and they weren't sure he could. So a few days passed and it was Christmas morning. I went out into the living room with my sisters to see if Santa made it to our house. There was nothing there but our tree. I remember sitting and crying with my sisters not understanding how Santa could let us down like this, It didn't look like it snowed that much, after all he is Santa Clause. After a while my parents decided we should go outside and play in the snow, and build a snow man. We all got bundled up and opened the door to go outside and there was a big box sitting on the front step. My parents opened it up, and my Mom started crying. My Dad turned around and told us that Santa did make it through. He must have been too tired to climb down the chimney so he left our presents on the porch. We brought it in and opened our gifts. We all got a couple gifts each. (I got some Return of the Jedi Figures) That Christmas was a great Christmas, and one of my happiest memories from my childhood.

I was shopping at Toys-R-Us the other day buying some gifts for my nieces and nephews. I went through the checkout and was walking out the doors with my bags when I saw a box sitting there with the toys for tots label on the front. I walked to my car thinking about where I needed to go next and who I still needed to buy for etc. I got in my car and just sat there a few minutes thinking. Seeing that toys for tots box made me think of that Christmas when I was a kid. I got out of my car went back in the store and grabbed a cart. I proceeded to fill the cart with Barbies and Star Wars Figures. I went back to the checkout and the lady made some comment that I must have alot of kids to buy for. I said yea I do. I walked up to the Toys for tots box and put the bags of barbies and SW figures in. It really made me feel great. I hope what I bought will make some kids as happy as I was on that Christmas when i was a kid.

[zeiss]

I think this is a wonderful contest and am glad that I found it in time to be apart of it. Christmas tales act as a showcase for the best humanity has to offer. The positive effects of these stories inevitably seem to linger on long after the holidays have passed. For my entry, I will tell a true tale that is very personal to me.

This story began 5 years ago…

There was this girl named Melissa who was pitied by many. This pity came from many things including Melissa’s lack of money, education, and a compassionate family. By many people’s standards she was a hopeless case. When talked about by others, the words “It is such a shame” followed by some description of Melissa’s circumstances usually amounted to the way Melissa was referred.

By chance, I met Melissa and we quickly became good friends. On the surface, it seemed as though I had everything Melissa lacked. Money, education, and family were not issues for me. I seemed to have all I needed in those categories. Because I thought I had everything important that Melissa seemed to be short of, I felt pity for her. It was in part this pity that drove me to go all out for her one Christmas. I decorated my apartment, planned to cook dinner, and ordered a present for her from the internet.

Things did not work out as I had planned. I could not find someone to help me move a tree into my apartment, the food I cooked turned out to be a disaster, and the present I ordered did not arrive in time for Christmas. In my frustration, I naively exclaimed to Melissa, “but I know you don’t have much while I have everything! I just wanted to do something special for you!” I remember the look on her face very clearly. She gave a knowing sympathetic smile and what she said next I will never forget…

Melissa said, “Matt, I know that people feel pity towards me and I understand why. Perhaps it is possible to find happiness through tons of money, a decent education, and a caring family with a happy past. It may be possible to obtain happiness through those means but I will tell you that those things are not necessary. We all face our own challenges. Our own trials. The journey I take is different from yours and different from anyone else’s. What causes sadness for one person may not bring sadness for another. What is meant to bring happiness for one person may not be meant to bring happiness to another. Just because I do not have the things that other people cherish does not mean that I can not find my own contentment.”

Melissa’s words hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized how much of a fool I was to pity her. She was happy and she understood what I previously couldn’t fathom. In the end, it was her who had given me the gift. The gift to see happiness beyond what we traditionally think. A gift that gains meaning each and every year as it constantly challenges me to find happiness from my own perspective.

As the years have gone by, it is now I who is pitied by many. I no longer have the disposable income I once had. While my family is still caring and compassionate, they are now far away. However, just because I lack the things I once possessed does not mean that I am any less happy. Because of Melissa’s gift, I have slowly come to understand how to find my own personal happiness, separate from the things I have always cherished. On that Christmas 5 years ago, I set out to help what I ignorantly considered to be a poor unfortunate soul. The funny thing is that though I wanted to give her something special, in the end it was her who gave me a gift I had previously not possessed. A present that I have continually cherished these last five years.

I think about Melissa’s words often and especially so during the holidays. It was truly a gift that keeps on giving. Even now, I can’t predict the ultimate effect it will have on my life but I know it will be great. This story may have begun five years ago, but its ending is nowhere in sight.

[William Shatners Toupee]

My wife works in a Doctor’s office as the manager of the site, and some of the regular patients she sees so often they become like family to her. On one Christmas in particular, a favorite patient of hers had been just been diagnosed with cancer. Her son had died in a car accident the year before, and her husband was gone. My wife knew how dark the holidays were for her, and that she was religious. The patient just didn’t understand how life could be so hard, and how God could do this to her. She said she was angry at God and that she didn’t feel she had the strength to carry on with this anymore.

My wife understood how she felt that way, and told her about when her own mother told had died of breast cancer several years before and what her aunt had told her.

She had said: “Think of God as a King. And as a great king, he lets man choose his own path. Our lives are full of obstacles, and God watches how we navigate the obstacle course from his throne, as we struggle through all of our difficulties trying to get to him.

Some people get to an obstacle and just give up, standing defeated in it’s shadow.
Others get to an obstacle so big, they may fight and STILL lose, even though they gave it their all. Even if they asked God for help and he gave it, some obstacles are too big to defeat.

Then along the side of the obstacle course there walks those that skirt around the obstacles facing none of the challenges, but they still reach the end. They’ll bows before the Lord and say “Take me Lord!” and her Aunt said to her “who would you choose”?

It’s been four years since then, and that patient beat her cancer. The most treasured item my wife has from all of her site’s patients is a Christmas card from that patient thanking her for all of their conversations the year she got a clean bill of health. Sometimes the point is that you DO fight.

[Josette]

Last Christmas I was living in a house in the south. My parents and I had just moved there in the early summer of 2004. It was a decision that we all agreed on, but I quickly realized I had made the wrong decision for all the wrong reasons. Last year I felt this strong urge to escape. I had lived in the same town all of my life, and I was at a point where I didn’t know where I was going, what I was doing, or what I cared about. I felt that I could start over in a new place - go to school there, meet new friends. I didn’t think too much about it, I just went with my parents, using the idea of starting over as an excuse to flee from my problems.

By Christmas of last year, I knew had made a mistake. I missed my friends, I missed the life I ran away from. I took them for granted and didn’t realize what I had until I had tossed it aside. I had a friend here that often called me, wanting to do things with me. Sometimes I didn’t feel like doing anything and felt irritated when she called because she often had something to complain about. Being down there, hundreds of miles away, I looked forward to her calls and found myself wishing that I could spend time with her, wishing that we could do the simple things we used to do, like go to the movies or to her favorite store.

My mother and I came home for Christmas last year, and ended up being snowed inside of my grandmother’s house for days. We’d had many plans, and some of them were ruined because of the weather. But while I was disappointed, I was content because I was home and around family that I hadn’t seen for several months. Since it was a holiday, only the main roads were cleared off. I remember my aunt, mother and I were outside shoveling snow out of the driveway with shovels, freezing to death and pulling muscles so that we could get out of the house for a while. Before I had moved away, I would’ve complained and been angry, and would’ve taken it out on one of them. Instead, I found myself laughing about it and smiling while my grandma shook her head as she watched us from the window. I saw that friend that I mentioned above and enjoyed just being with her. Instead of feeling frustrated when she complained I listened and gave her advice.

We returned home this year, and this will be our first Christmas back. I already enjoyed Thanksgiving with the family. It was simple, but we got to sit and talk, which was something we haven’t done in a long, long time. I’m closer to my friend now because I appreciate her a lot more. When she calls me and I can go, I go out with her and we have fun. She comes over weekly to watch our favorite show together. I appreciate the little things that I had so carelessly ignored when I made that decision to move away from my home. I’m a better person because of that experience, and it’s made this holiday season much more bright.

[Darklord Dave]

Joanna is having trouble posting and asked me to announce the winner - congratulations Mutant Enemy!

You are the proud owner of the Harry Potter exclusive!

Email me dstephan@sideshowcollectors.com your shipping details so I can forward them on to Joanna. Congratulations!

[lcummins]

Congrats ME! and a Merry Christmas for your selfless act. I hope Santa brings you a special present this year!

[creecher]

Good one Mr Enemy. That is one great prize you have won.

Thanks for a really different contest Joanna, and a really different prize. I would never have known about these items, but for your generosity. I really enjoyed reading the posted entries, thanks everyone.

[Mutant Enemy]

Thanks Joanna, this contest was a very nice thing for you to do.
I will look forward to seeing this awesome Harry Potter figure in person. Thank you again very much!

Merry Christmas!

[Josette]

Congrats! :)