It's that time of the year again. It's July and I really don't want to start thinking about Christmas, but Hallmark forces me to do so.
While my ornament purchases haven't been what they have in years past (due to the quality and size of their ornaments), I still am drawn into the feeding frenzy of the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Premiere Event.
This year, there were two "limited quantities" I had to have:
Ursula and the
First Order Stormtrooper. Here are their pictures:
I know what the crowds are like for this event, so I got myself up early and headed to the Mall of America. Sadly, they have been closing a lot of the brick-and-mortar Hallmark stores, so we only have four left in the Twin Cities.
Around 7:30 AM CDT, I arrived at Hallmark and no one was to be found.
My choice was to wait in line here or to go back to Tim Horton's and grab a coffee. I did that. I should have just stood in line for coffee when I passed it. When I got back to Hallmark, I was 4th in line now. There were three people ahead of me. Not a big deal since I figured they would have enough of what I needed. (Note: Look over my left shoulder in the picture above, and you can see on the third shelf down a row of Ursula ornaments.)
Since the store didn't open until 9:00 AM, I kept to myself and played on my phone. I could hear the conversation of the people ahead me. As I figured, they were "Scalper Scum". These are the crooks who buy up all the limited quantities of anything and sell it on eBay for a profit. I saw this all the time with our Walt Disney Classics Collection pieces.
The woman was instructing her daughter and husband which ornaments to grab when the doors opened. I knew I'd be safe with Ursula, but I couldn't see the Stormtrooper, and that's the one she was trying to get extras of. I always try and get an extra Star Wars one myself, but that's because my nephew has almost all of the Star Wars ones, so I want to give an ornament to someone who will appreciate it instead of someone who will be turning a profit. Capitalism is alive and well in America. I did notice the husband was reading a book I already read. If they grabbed too many Stormtroopers, I decided I'd tell him how the book ends, and it's part of a series, so he wouldn't be happy.
The doors opened, and I was lucky to be able to get the ornaments which I needed. Lucky for the guy, I didn't have to spoil his book. After the Mall of America, I had to go to another Hallmark which is closer to where I live and that's where I had turned in my Dream List. That's Hallmarks way of letting them know which ornaments you want, even though the quantities are already determined.
The nice lady got my bag with ornaments I had pre-ordered on my Dream List. She then informed me that sadly the had run out of Luke Skywalker. While it wasn't a limited quantities ornament, it had proven to be popular. I was a little disappointed. After I left, I noticed I didn't get Princess Leia, either. Double bummer.
When I got home, I went to the Hallmark website and saw I could still order Luke, so he'll be shipped to me. As for Leia, thankfully she's in the batch of ornaments that come out on October 7, 2017. I know she will sell out for sure. Here are their pictures:
To view the entire 2017 Hallmark Dreambook,
click here.
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