peekaygee73
Sith Lord
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2014
- Messages
- 1,032
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- 34
I only got one Star Wars Christmas present this year and, well, it's not really Star Wars at all.
My wife used to work in schools & nurseries from the mid 90s. Nurseries in particular would have toy boxes which looked exactly like the ones shown in the Toy Story films - full of toys which were beat-up, knackered, missing parts and generally only fit for a child with a really vivid imagination. The kids would use and abuse them, so bits would go missing or break really quickly.
We met in the late 90s, and after a suitable period of time I introduced her to my vintage collecting habit
This led to a discussion about an item in my collection which she'd seen regularly in toy boxes at nurseries and schools wherever she worked - from when she was training as a nursery nurse, right through to working as a supply nursery nurse and being placed in different schools. She'd been baffled by what this toy was meant to be, and ended up calling it 'the shoes'. What baffled her even more about it was 'the shoes' were connected and, despite having holes in the top, were impractical for putting on feet. She couldn't work out what it was supposed and got sick to death of seeing it in pretty much every nursery she worked at. Seeing it complete in my collection made her realise what it was, but didn't give her any further appreciation for what she thinks is a crap toy and still calls 'the shoes'. I disagree - I had this toy as a kid and loved it.
Fast forward to Christmas 2025 and she's talking about a fantastic Christmas present she's bought me. It was the last present I opened on Christmas day, and once I'd unwrapped it this is what greeted me.
It turns out she'd handmade this herself and, needless to say, she was creased up laughing as I opened it. I'm just disappointed there's nowhere to put the two pilots!
My wife used to work in schools & nurseries from the mid 90s. Nurseries in particular would have toy boxes which looked exactly like the ones shown in the Toy Story films - full of toys which were beat-up, knackered, missing parts and generally only fit for a child with a really vivid imagination. The kids would use and abuse them, so bits would go missing or break really quickly.
We met in the late 90s, and after a suitable period of time I introduced her to my vintage collecting habit
This led to a discussion about an item in my collection which she'd seen regularly in toy boxes at nurseries and schools wherever she worked - from when she was training as a nursery nurse, right through to working as a supply nursery nurse and being placed in different schools. She'd been baffled by what this toy was meant to be, and ended up calling it 'the shoes'. What baffled her even more about it was 'the shoes' were connected and, despite having holes in the top, were impractical for putting on feet. She couldn't work out what it was supposed and got sick to death of seeing it in pretty much every nursery she worked at. Seeing it complete in my collection made her realise what it was, but didn't give her any further appreciation for what she thinks is a crap toy and still calls 'the shoes'. I disagree - I had this toy as a kid and loved it.Fast forward to Christmas 2025 and she's talking about a fantastic Christmas present she's bought me. It was the last present I opened on Christmas day, and once I'd unwrapped it this is what greeted me.
It turns out she'd handmade this herself and, needless to say, she was creased up laughing as I opened it. I'm just disappointed there's nowhere to put the two pilots!
