A Collectors Journey.
If only it was that easy. Find the chest, get the item. Building my Zelda collection may be one of the most gratifying things in life, but it is also the most challenging. From never finding Zelda merchandise in stores and being out bid on Ebay, finding rare Zelda treasures is never easy. But hope shines through every once and a while, and you happen to stumble on some amazing Zelda collectors stuff, whether it be a rare toy, standee display or giant poster, the goddesses shine down upon you and grant you the ability to achieve these treasures.
Listed below are stories of how I came to own some really awesome Zelda treasures. One story is pure luck, the second is nail biting anticipation and the third is humorous destruction by a friend. I hope you enjoy :)
The first item is a rare Burger King toy from 2002. This story isn't long, but it is filled with luck. I stumbled upon this treasure on Ebay, it was listed at a low price and had a couple of days left for the auction. As the final day approached, i placed my max bid of 9.98 and crossed my fingers. The seconds counted down and before i knew it, the auction had ended and i was the winner. With only 3 dollars for shipping, by the end i paid around 13$ for it, i was pretty stoked :) A while after, i returned to Ebay and saw another one up for sale, but this one had about 15 bids and was up to 40 dollars with days left on the auction. i thought to myself about how lucky I was to have won mine for only 10 bucks.
The next treasure is my favorite out of everything I own. It is a Legend og Zelda Twilight Princess GameStop standee. I remember the first time I saw it standing in the door way of a local GameStop. I stopped dead in my tracks and my heart melted, it was the most beautiful thing i had ever seen. I wish i had known that day, that if you ask a GameStop employee for a display piece or poster, they put your name on it and call you when you can come pick it up. That night was filled with dreams of me walking away with that standee, just picking it up and running for life. flash forward many years to me on Ebay (yes a lot of my zelda stuff comes from Ebay) I scroll through searching Zelda when suddenly i stop dead in my tracks again. I couldn't believe my eyes, there it was, the same standee i saw many years earlier, up for sale on Ebay. I drooled for a minute then told myself i could never afford it. I placed it on my watch list nayways and carried on. Keeping a close watch on it, as the days counted down, the price didn't seem to jump at all, i thought to myself, perhaps i have a chance. Knowing my tax return was only days away, i put my full attention on watching the minutes count down on the auction. with only a minute left, i placed what i thought would be my highest bid. I watched the seconds tick away without blinking, as the seconds got down to about 20 i raised my bid again in fear of being out bid. There was only mere seconds left, i just couldn't wait any longer, i sat there shaking and biting my nails as the seconds became fewer. As it got down to the last 5 I jumped for joy as there wewre no bids coming in, but with 3 seconds left, my phone notified me of another bid on the standee, my heart stopped dead and i heard my dreams shatter all over the floor. The auction had ended and my phone vibrated to let me know if i had won or not. I paused, took a deep breath and opened the e-mail. Before i knew i was uncontrollably jumping for joy and glee, i had won the standee and had become the happiest zelda fa- no, happiest person in the world.
It now sits propped up in my room and is my pride and joy. If there was ever a fire in my house, that's the first thing i am grabbing haha
It now sits propped up in my room and is my pride and joy. If there was ever a fire in my house, that's the first thing i am grabbing haha
The Acquisition Of The Skyward Sword Poster
(Told through the mouth of the person that acquired it)
It was late night at my local Walmart when I walked over to the electronics section. I was looking for last minute things to get my boyfriend when I naturally found myself gravitating toward the video game section. Certain Walmart's have different layouts, and my specific one has "cubicle" style demo stations for each system. To the left and right if the "cubicles" are advertisement posters. Very large in size, and printed on heavy duty mylar (like a thick plastic, not paper).
I'm a collector and I could not pass up what I saw. A giant, beautiful, shiny, poster for Skyward Sword. However it was behind glass and I could not get in. So I walked over to the electronics main counter to talk to an associate.
"Excuse me." I said.
The woman was facing the other way and was on her cell phone texting. She held a finger in the air as to say "one minute." I found this to be incredibly rude, but I waited anyways. She came over and greeted me Walmart style:
"What." She said.
"That poster in the glass display? I was wondering if I could place my name on it, and whenever you take it down, I can come pick it up. My boyfriend really likes the game and I wa-...."
"No. We don't do that." She interrupted. And went back on her phone.
"Can you call the manager over?" I asked nicely.
"No." She replied, still facing the other way.
"You don't have to be a bitch about it." I said in my best snide remark.
"WHAT?! I'm calling the manager!" She said.
Mission accomplished.
The manager walks over, friendly, until he sees her face and she explains the story. He then looks at me, clearly looking for my side, so I walked him over the the display and repeated the situation and pointed to what I wanted. He said "No, im sorry, those are vended, and we have no way of knowing when they get taken down, and we cannot save them. Have a good day." He walked away before I could say anything else. And I decided in that moment my boyfriend was worth the risk I was about to take, and plus, I really didn't want that bitch behind the counter to get any satisfaction.
I walked over to hardware, grabbed a hammer, and returned to electronics to bust open the glass display, and attempt to remove the Zelda poster. The girl at the counter didn't even notice (surprise surprise, she was on her phone) but the manager had noticed, and started to walk over. It was already rolled up by then, and i stood up as he entered the aisle, clearly looking for an explanation. The only words I could form were the following:
"You should really get that bitch behind the counter to clean this up."
And I walked out with a smile, and knowing they weren't even going to follow me. As soon as I got home, I knew the poster, and this story, would make my boyfriends Christmas, at least twice as good as it originally was going to be.
(Told through the mouth of the person that acquired it)
It was late night at my local Walmart when I walked over to the electronics section. I was looking for last minute things to get my boyfriend when I naturally found myself gravitating toward the video game section. Certain Walmart's have different layouts, and my specific one has "cubicle" style demo stations for each system. To the left and right if the "cubicles" are advertisement posters. Very large in size, and printed on heavy duty mylar (like a thick plastic, not paper).
I'm a collector and I could not pass up what I saw. A giant, beautiful, shiny, poster for Skyward Sword. However it was behind glass and I could not get in. So I walked over to the electronics main counter to talk to an associate.
"Excuse me." I said.
The woman was facing the other way and was on her cell phone texting. She held a finger in the air as to say "one minute." I found this to be incredibly rude, but I waited anyways. She came over and greeted me Walmart style:
"What." She said.
"That poster in the glass display? I was wondering if I could place my name on it, and whenever you take it down, I can come pick it up. My boyfriend really likes the game and I wa-...."
"No. We don't do that." She interrupted. And went back on her phone.
"Can you call the manager over?" I asked nicely.
"No." She replied, still facing the other way.
"You don't have to be a bitch about it." I said in my best snide remark.
"WHAT?! I'm calling the manager!" She said.
Mission accomplished.
The manager walks over, friendly, until he sees her face and she explains the story. He then looks at me, clearly looking for my side, so I walked him over the the display and repeated the situation and pointed to what I wanted. He said "No, im sorry, those are vended, and we have no way of knowing when they get taken down, and we cannot save them. Have a good day." He walked away before I could say anything else. And I decided in that moment my boyfriend was worth the risk I was about to take, and plus, I really didn't want that bitch behind the counter to get any satisfaction.
I walked over to hardware, grabbed a hammer, and returned to electronics to bust open the glass display, and attempt to remove the Zelda poster. The girl at the counter didn't even notice (surprise surprise, she was on her phone) but the manager had noticed, and started to walk over. It was already rolled up by then, and i stood up as he entered the aisle, clearly looking for an explanation. The only words I could form were the following:
"You should really get that bitch behind the counter to clean this up."
And I walked out with a smile, and knowing they weren't even going to follow me. As soon as I got home, I knew the poster, and this story, would make my boyfriends Christmas, at least twice as good as it originally was going to be.