Comments on Tickle Me Elmo Leads to Near Homicide

Go to Can You Believe This? - Add a comment - Go to Tickle Me Elmo Leads to Near Homicide

Avant

Amazing. People are confounded by wars, but they break into a fight over an extra 2-minute wait. I had to detour on my way home from working with my daughter today. It was a country setting, right where I used to lived. Some sort of bike event---at rush hour, which was weird. They were in the middle of the road, so there was no getting around them.

I kept having these big SUVs swerving behind me and braking, and you could see the drivers were losing it. I was sure one would slam into me. I took an extra hour to get home.

posted by terpgirl30 on September 26, 2006 at 10:20 PM | link to this | reply

Yoda

You forgot the cheesehead Yoda owns.

posted by mikea18 on September 26, 2006 at 8:25 AM | link to this | reply

terpgirl

I remember once while working in Sam's, two guys got into a fist fight over cutting in line. It makes me laugh, but people are serious about this stuff.

posted by avant-garde on September 26, 2006 at 3:57 AM | link to this | reply

Passion

Tell me about it. I have been buying/selling antiques/collectibles for a number of years. I have the original Yoda model from The Return of the Jedi (not the new series). It has been part of my family. (I own more Yoda stuff than I care to admit to.) We dress it up for the holidays, put a football jersey on him during the season, garland for the holidays and even a lovely polish head wreath come spring.

Well, it was always understood with me that my Yoda stuff was my son's college fund. My childhood doll collection was to be my daughter's. So, I have belted the Yoda-sized, Yoda into my Mustang convertible twice to take him to the antique house to sell. My kids freaked, sobbed...I was getting rid of a family member.

Then I went to an auction, and was talking to a guy about the doll. The new series hadn't come out yet. I said I would wait until those last movies when the hype would be up again. He said, "Remember _____?" I had no idea who he was talking about. He shook his head and said, "Exactly!" She was a really big deal at some point, and worth collecting. Now no one but die hard fans have a clue who she is. The time had passed.

If you buy something like that, it has to be because you like it, not because you think it will go up in price. Think Pet Rock or Wacky Wall Walkers (which made the guy a million over a million by the way)...who could guess that.

Still, I HAD one of those Elmo's in MY HAND!!! And I thought $15 was too much for something so frivilous. Crap.

posted by terpgirl30 on September 25, 2006 at 7:35 PM | link to this | reply

If I thought for a moment that this new Elmo

Would bring the $500 bucks at Christmas time that the old one did that year they were so popular, I'd go out and invest everything in Elmo Dolls...but you just never know.

posted by Passionflower on September 25, 2006 at 6:55 PM | link to this | reply

terpgirl30

It's all about claiming the prize, no matter how ridiculous the prize really is. It reminds me of the space race to put the first man on the moon. Generally pointless.

posted by Talion on September 25, 2006 at 10:06 AM | link to this | reply

Sounds like an 'adult' toy to me.

posted by _dave_says_ack_ on September 25, 2006 at 5:19 AM | link to this | reply

Elmo is popular.

posted by charice on September 24, 2006 at 6:32 PM | link to this | reply

These are mostly new to me, Terpgirl, I don't have kids, so I missed most

of the craze. I liked Grover, too, though.

posted by Blanche. on September 24, 2006 at 2:47 PM | link to this | reply

Elmo always got on my nerves

but I like him a little now. I just liked the laugh he made (the doll). My daughter had a Grover doll that someone stole when she left it in a seat in a movie theater. She's 22, and it still sticks in her mind. I liked Grover. Elmo reminds me of that rip off cousin they always invent...like Scrappy Do instead of Scoobie Do.

posted by terpgirl30 on September 24, 2006 at 2:44 PM | link to this | reply

Terpgirl, can someone explain the fascination for Elmo or Beanie Babies?

I don't get it. They're stuffed animals! I remember an incident that made the news around Christmas a couple of years ago, there was a stampede in Walmart over some dumb toy. Somebody got run over by a Rascal, I think. Bizarre.

No, thank you. I'll collect something that has some real, inherent value to it, not a faddish trend, that'll die out as quickly as it hits. (And I won't be carrying firearms to strongarm someone out of it either).