The strange saga of the Princess plushies
Apr. 18th, 2014 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archive(Disclaimer: Celestia and Cadance are two of my favorite characters, so even though I'd like to get one of each unique character released in plushie form, I don't think I'd go out of my way like I did here if it wasn't that I wanted these particular characters extremely bad.)
So when I got Rarity three weeks ago, I called Toys R Us to see if they had the Funrise Princess plushies. They didn't.
Last week, out of frustration and curiosity I tried again. I really shouldn't have, because my money was in transit to my account and not currently available. But I tried anyway, and learned that there was a white Pony with wings that was $29.99. That was totally the wrong price, so I didn't know if it was the one I wanted and they were mistaken on the price or if the price had gone up again (horrors!). I didn't do anything, knowing that was waaay too much.
But it kept bugging me, so later that day I called again to try to find out what had happened. This time the white one had vanished, but they had a pink one that was definitely Cadance and at the right price. I agreed to let her be put on hold when the girl offered and suggested she be held through Saturday, since I wasn't sure I could get in on Friday evening.
I had a two-fold problem: how to get there and how to pay. I didn't like to ask to borrow more money from Dad, which left asking to borrow from the friend I'd be asking to drive me there. I didn't like doing that, either, and Dad came along wanting me to practice the song I've been asked to sing in church this Sunday, so since I was still heavily debating what to do, I went ahead with that and didn't get anything accomplished that evening, plushie-wise.
Saturday I still didn't know what to do. Nothing got accomplished again and I had to call Sunday afternoon. I figured that they wouldn't have bothered to put Cadance back on the shelf since it was Sunday, and I was right: she was still on hold. I asked for her to be held through Monday. I tried to call my friend, but wasn't able to get her.
We have a sweet friend who usually sends us some money at holidays, so I started half-waiting for said money, hoping it would arrive and I could take my share to get Cadance. It didn't, and Monday also passed without anything getting done.
Tuesday, still no money, either arriving in my account or in the mail. I called Toys R Us again, explained that I was having some problems getting up there, and learned that a white Pony was being held along with the pink one. This time I got a better description and determined it was definitely Celestia, and at the right price.
That changed everything. Before that, I had half-decided that there was no hope and that I'd have to cancel the hold and hope to get Cadance another time. Cadance can be found online at around the same price Toys R Us is charging, but Celestia cannot. She's not even on Toys R Us's website. People charge $40 and $50 for her and it's just preposterous. So I definitely couldn't bear to let Celestia go. I decided I'd have to leave poor Cadance behind even though she'd been waiting for me and get Celestia.
I called my friend, got her that time, and she agreed that we could go get the Pony on Wednesday. I had tried to explain the problem of my money being in transit without outright asking for a loan, but we usually have a bad telephone connection, so I wasn't sure if she heard.
Well, it was embarrassing to call Toys R Us yet another time, but now that I had a way to get there it wasn't as mortifying to ask them to extend the hold one last time. I wanted to inspect both Ponies, even though I was sure I'd choose Celestia, so I asked for both Ponies to keep being held.
Mom had a bit of money she was able to give me, and Dad agreed to let me have the difference as a loan in order to get Celestia. They both know what a time I've had trying to find these girls since November. So, with both problems solved, I could relax.
The next day, I found out Toys R Us is running a free layaway deal and I decided I could put Cadance on layaway so I wouldn't have to let her go. So I determined that is what I would do. But when we got to the store and I saw both girls, my friend offered to loan me the money to get Cadance too! Squeeee.
So at last I have the Princess plushies safely at home, after they waited and waited on hold for me to come for five days. And my money will arrive next week and I can pay people back.
It was kind of a strange feeling to finally have such a long quest at its end. Currently, there are no more plushies for me to collect! But Luna will be out in June and I'm sure Funrise will be making more characters. I hope they make Lyra and Bon-Bon and Time Turner.
Wal-Mart actually did get Funrise's Trixie and Bubbles plushies right on time (it's a miracle!), and I have those girls now too. Trixie is an early Easter present.
I also thought of some other possible projects. I've been considering making Ginger and Lou dolls, using those cloth dolls from JoAnn's. I need to make a list of the materials I'd need for clothing and check Wal-Mart, since their fabric prices are better. I want to get stuff for both dolls at the same time, since I feel you can't have one without the other and I want to work on them concurrently so that they'll be together no matter what stage of completion they're at. ;)
The only problem with using the cloth dolls is that they're pre-stuffed to be around the same weight, and Lou is broader and heavyset while Ginger is very slight. But making the clothes and hair was enough of a horror for me when I did the Hamilton doll that I don't think I could bear sewing the entire plush from scratch, so either I'll have to try to put more stuffing in (which I don't want to do for fear of damaging the muslin doll) or else try to find one that is a bit plumper, since they all do seem to be a little bit individual.
And I want the Equestria Girls Trixie doll. Eee, I saw her for the first time at Toys R Us and I'm totally nuts about her. Trixie's blue-on-blue color scheme makes her just about my favorite Pony, aesthetically speaking. (Personality-wise, Twilight is my favorite.)
So when I got Rarity three weeks ago, I called Toys R Us to see if they had the Funrise Princess plushies. They didn't.
Last week, out of frustration and curiosity I tried again. I really shouldn't have, because my money was in transit to my account and not currently available. But I tried anyway, and learned that there was a white Pony with wings that was $29.99. That was totally the wrong price, so I didn't know if it was the one I wanted and they were mistaken on the price or if the price had gone up again (horrors!). I didn't do anything, knowing that was waaay too much.
But it kept bugging me, so later that day I called again to try to find out what had happened. This time the white one had vanished, but they had a pink one that was definitely Cadance and at the right price. I agreed to let her be put on hold when the girl offered and suggested she be held through Saturday, since I wasn't sure I could get in on Friday evening.
I had a two-fold problem: how to get there and how to pay. I didn't like to ask to borrow more money from Dad, which left asking to borrow from the friend I'd be asking to drive me there. I didn't like doing that, either, and Dad came along wanting me to practice the song I've been asked to sing in church this Sunday, so since I was still heavily debating what to do, I went ahead with that and didn't get anything accomplished that evening, plushie-wise.
Saturday I still didn't know what to do. Nothing got accomplished again and I had to call Sunday afternoon. I figured that they wouldn't have bothered to put Cadance back on the shelf since it was Sunday, and I was right: she was still on hold. I asked for her to be held through Monday. I tried to call my friend, but wasn't able to get her.
We have a sweet friend who usually sends us some money at holidays, so I started half-waiting for said money, hoping it would arrive and I could take my share to get Cadance. It didn't, and Monday also passed without anything getting done.
Tuesday, still no money, either arriving in my account or in the mail. I called Toys R Us again, explained that I was having some problems getting up there, and learned that a white Pony was being held along with the pink one. This time I got a better description and determined it was definitely Celestia, and at the right price.
That changed everything. Before that, I had half-decided that there was no hope and that I'd have to cancel the hold and hope to get Cadance another time. Cadance can be found online at around the same price Toys R Us is charging, but Celestia cannot. She's not even on Toys R Us's website. People charge $40 and $50 for her and it's just preposterous. So I definitely couldn't bear to let Celestia go. I decided I'd have to leave poor Cadance behind even though she'd been waiting for me and get Celestia.
I called my friend, got her that time, and she agreed that we could go get the Pony on Wednesday. I had tried to explain the problem of my money being in transit without outright asking for a loan, but we usually have a bad telephone connection, so I wasn't sure if she heard.
Well, it was embarrassing to call Toys R Us yet another time, but now that I had a way to get there it wasn't as mortifying to ask them to extend the hold one last time. I wanted to inspect both Ponies, even though I was sure I'd choose Celestia, so I asked for both Ponies to keep being held.
Mom had a bit of money she was able to give me, and Dad agreed to let me have the difference as a loan in order to get Celestia. They both know what a time I've had trying to find these girls since November. So, with both problems solved, I could relax.
The next day, I found out Toys R Us is running a free layaway deal and I decided I could put Cadance on layaway so I wouldn't have to let her go. So I determined that is what I would do. But when we got to the store and I saw both girls, my friend offered to loan me the money to get Cadance too! Squeeee.
So at last I have the Princess plushies safely at home, after they waited and waited on hold for me to come for five days. And my money will arrive next week and I can pay people back.
It was kind of a strange feeling to finally have such a long quest at its end. Currently, there are no more plushies for me to collect! But Luna will be out in June and I'm sure Funrise will be making more characters. I hope they make Lyra and Bon-Bon and Time Turner.
Wal-Mart actually did get Funrise's Trixie and Bubbles plushies right on time (it's a miracle!), and I have those girls now too. Trixie is an early Easter present.
I also thought of some other possible projects. I've been considering making Ginger and Lou dolls, using those cloth dolls from JoAnn's. I need to make a list of the materials I'd need for clothing and check Wal-Mart, since their fabric prices are better. I want to get stuff for both dolls at the same time, since I feel you can't have one without the other and I want to work on them concurrently so that they'll be together no matter what stage of completion they're at. ;)
The only problem with using the cloth dolls is that they're pre-stuffed to be around the same weight, and Lou is broader and heavyset while Ginger is very slight. But making the clothes and hair was enough of a horror for me when I did the Hamilton doll that I don't think I could bear sewing the entire plush from scratch, so either I'll have to try to put more stuffing in (which I don't want to do for fear of damaging the muslin doll) or else try to find one that is a bit plumper, since they all do seem to be a little bit individual.
And I want the Equestria Girls Trixie doll. Eee, I saw her for the first time at Toys R Us and I'm totally nuts about her. Trixie's blue-on-blue color scheme makes her just about my favorite Pony, aesthetically speaking. (Personality-wise, Twilight is my favorite.)
