Regular viewers of Webspresso are
familiar with Doris. She has a delightful gift of being able to write with whimsy and
humor! Sit back and enjoy this new treat from Doris - guaranteed to make you smile - and
not pucker!
 I have another little story about how my Boyds collection turned a frown upside
down. It all started with an auction on the internet. Now, I've had
some great luck in these auctions, and I have to admit they are just a little addicting to
me...Every once in a while I might get just a little carried away with my bids and in the
excitement of a hotly contested bidding session forget that this is hard earned money I'm
spending when I say to myself, "Well heck, it's only one more dollar" ... and
another and another...but, back to the story!
The item up for bid was an unidentified bear with a lemonade stand. Sometimes I
think I'm a little too smart for my own good. There was a picture and I quickly identified
Burl, a cutie I'd been watching for at a bargain price. There was no reserve and the
opening bid was low. I knew I was on to something. A mint condition bear I wanted for my
collection AND one of the cute little stands I'd heard about. I read the description
through several times and understood that the lemonade stand wasn't quite complete, but in
the picture, it looked pretty good. I could see the little signs and some lemons and a
cash register and a cup. The seller had a couple of other auctions listed, which he
described as bears sitting on "benches with writing on the backside". From
looking at those, I got the definite impression that he might not be too knowledgeable
about these Boyds bears and stands that he was selling and their values. Those
"benches" appeared to me to be other stands without any of their accessories. I
admit it! I thought I could take advantage of the situation and get a "real
deal"! A true find. A steal! What those Mobsters folks are always calling a "YA
YA". And this time, perhaps I was going to be the one doing the celebrating!!!!!
I placed my bid and I watched and I waited, getting more and more nervous as time
went slowly by. Hmmm, no one was outbidding me. The seller's other auctions were going up
and up. Oh dear, other people had caught on to the same fact that I had. Maybe they could
get a bear and a stand at a really low price. Would someone see the auction for
"my" Burl and the lemonade stand? Would I be outbid? But, no...the auction ended
with my high bid of $27.02. My, I'm a shrewd bidder. It was probably that 2 cents that
made everyone think I was too clever for them to try to take the auction away from me!
Burl and the lemonade stand were mine!!!! I sent off my money order and sat back to wait.
 Well...You know, my wise Dad used to say, "You get what you pay for."
He also tried to teach me that when you think you are getting the best of someone else and
get carried away by your greed, sometimes it comes back to hurt you in the end...Have you
guessed what I'm about to tell you next? I should have read that auction description just
a little more carefully! I'm not sure who was outsmarting whom when it said, "...bear
standing behind a lemonade stand that has a cup, some rocks and a cash register. The
pitcher is missing but easily fixed. An official Boyds accessory with tag." Now, mind
you, I've never actually seen an official Boyd's lemonade stand, but the picture on the
auction looked pretty complete . I knew that the "rocks" were actually lemons,
and I thought the signs were both there. I wasn't too sure about that "pitcher"
though. Well, perhaps it is supposed to be a pitcher and I can get a replacement sometime.
At $27.02 how could I go wrong! Here's how. It arrived with only one sign, one glass, and
no bird on top. And those "lemon/rocks" - only two instead of the original ten!
How did I all of a sudden know how many items were missing??? By then, I'd purchased
"Check 'N It III" and there are pictures of the stands. I was quite a bit
smarter with a good reference guide in hand! The missing "pitcher" should
actually be a bucket to hold the lemons. Well, I could live with all of that. After all,
it wasn't advertised as complete or mint and I had obviously had the opportunity to see
the picture on the auction page and I knew in advance it wasn't going to be perfect. I
remember well what my Dad used to teach us. According to his old adage...I probably
"got what I'd paid for". He'd have had several more wise sayings. Certainly he'd
have reminded me, "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is"!
Okay. I could live with all of that. But, here's what put that awful frown on my
face. Someone, somewhere along the line had glued the "lemon/ rocks", glass, and
cash register to the top of the stand. Big old globs of very strong glue. Unfortunately
not strong enough to hold the missing bucket (or pitcher!), but the huge yellow residue of
glue is still there on the top of the stand...forever and ever! I was so sad. It really
looked awful. Yes, it's just a silly little collectible accessory and our world is full of
real problems and heartbreaking events, but still I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I
was looking forward to a new cute way to display my Boyds, and I couldn't see any way that
I could salvage this with the paint missing where the glue had pulled away and the ugly
mess where some was still there. I just left it in the box and decided to forget about
using the item and remember the lesson I'd learned.
 Then, the other day a friend was over, and she
was commenting about the many different ways I have my collection displayed, so I got out
the stand to show her. She agreed that it was really too bad that someone had gotten glue
crazy with it. After she left, I was sitting there looking at it and thinking that there
must be some way I could do something!!! Aha, maybe I could find a small accessory at a
craft shop to fill in for the missing bucket and cover that glue goo spot. I decided to
take a look at my bears to see who might want to be part of a new vignette.
My eye was caught by a set of bears that I hadn't found exactly the perfect spot for
yet. I'd tried several different places and poses, but it still wasn't just right. I
really liked these newest little Baby Boyds from QVC, but hadn't figured out where I
wanted to put them. Hmmmm, their colors coordinate quite nicely with the colors of the
lemonade stand...Artie Finkmorton's beige is the perfect compliment to the dark paint and
light lettering. Izzy Wingnut is a rich brown and his teal blue bow is great with the blue
on the signs. The bluish grey color of Norton Flapjacket's body just ties everything
together so nicely. Best of all, they are the perfect size to all sit right on the counter
of my lemonade stand. I can pose them around the items which are glued on and Izzy's
bottom exactly covers that blob of glue!!!!
And you know, I think all of them just came to life when I arranged them in their cute
poses. Their little eyes seemed to get brighter and  they each took on a whole new personality. In my opinion,
they look wonderful - just like three little friends who might have spent all day building
the stand and now are relaxing and ready to sell lemonade - if they don't drink it all
themselves before any customers come by!
Every time I look at it now, it brings a smile to my face. I'm so pleased with my
great auction buy! The stand and the new Baby Boyds have become one of my favorite
displays of my entire Boyds collection. I'm reminded of one more of my Dad's sayings.
"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade". Happy Boyding, everyone. May you
have as much pleasure and fun with your collection as I'm having with mine.
~©1998
Doris Hoffman~ shelby@odyssey.net
Visit Doris' other pages on Webspresso - Doris Meets the Head Bean!
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