It is time to start thinking about Christmas!

I have put up some great lenses over at Squidoo for you to check out for some great Christmas Ideas. If you are looking for some Disney stuff go over to Have a Very Disney Christmas and check out some of the great ideas for a Very Disney Christmas. How about Christmas Stockings? Have you thought about what you would put some of those little things into? How about a nice big stocking at Unique Christmas Stocking. Of course this is the classic animated movie Nightmare Before Christmas. We have a great selection of unique gifts for those unique people for Christmas at Fun Cool Collectibles. Check us out for all of your Christmas Shopping!

Are You looking for Unique Christmas Stockings for Unique Gifts

Every Christmas morning, we would get up out of bed and run down to look at all of the cool christmas gifts, look at the decorations on the tree, and then grab our unique personalized christmas stockings and rummage through them. We would always have little Disney toys, candy, socks, and other little Christmas stocking stuffers.  I have had a Christmas Stocking since I can remember. There are  some unique and unusual stockings around these days. Our oldest son has an emmense Christmas stocking or should I say Christmas sack. The other two teenagers have large stockings, but now where near the size of our oldest! Of course our two cats have their own stockings as well - but they are small Christmas Stockings.

Have you ever thought  about where this Stocking came from? It seems that most countries lay claim to this tradition, but most experts claim that the Dutch came up with this custom almost 400 years ago.  Children placed their shoes next to hearth on December 5, the night mostly associated with St Nicholas. The children would fill their shoes with  straw for the white horse that was carrying the gifts and for the food for St Nicholas. Stockings, pillows, or commercial Santa sacks would replace the wooden shoes in Britian, Europe, America and the rest of the world in the 20th Century. 

Most of us can remember how exciting it was for us to go through our stocking for food, small gifts and other knick knacks. My father was Irish so we always got some funny stuff in our stockings. We were lucky enough that we weren't bad enough to get a lump of coal.  

 At Fun Cool Collectibles we have several different Christmas Stockings

• 16" Trick Fairy Stocking



• The 15" Stewie World Domination Christmas stocking



• 16" Tinkerbell Christmas Stocking



• 6"Nightmare before Christmas Sally Christmas Stocking



• 6" Nightmare before Christmas Jack Christmas Stocking

Only twenty days till Halloween!

Ok, I am really boring, but I will be the host of our Halloween party as Killer Rabbit! I have been working hard on my costume - I have the rabbit ears from a large bunny I got for my girlfriend. I have the heads from dolls to tie to my belt, the bunny fluffy tail. Check out the costumes here

Wow, barely a month till Halloween!

Hello, it is only 45 days til Halloween, and the kids are already planning their Halloween party! We have watched the Nightmare Before Christmas 5 times already - and it will probably be played on a daily basis just before Halloween. I will be wearing my favorite new killer bunny outfit (the old one was thrown away when I moved)! I spent a lot of time on my other killer bunny outfit, because it was the talk of the subway when I went to the halloween party! It is actually my favorite time of the year! It beats Christmas all to H! I actually don't get into the Christmas Holiday until January 2 when all of the pressure is off! I am drawing lots of Halloween Art Cards over the next few weeks! We are selling lots of Nightmare Before Christmas stuff! Get it before it is all gone!

Alice in Wonderland (1951) Walt Disney

I watched this movie for the first time since I was a child. It was a great movie - it actually followed the book quite closely. It showed a truly creative side of Walt Disney movies. I truly enjoyed this movie, this is hard to say for many of the Disney movies that have followed as good old fashioned family entertainment. It showed the true imagaination of children - and to a large extent the darker capabilities of fascination that children love in their stories. The meeting of the Queen of Hearts is one of the best scenes that Disney every produces.

Did you know that Nightmare Before Christmas was a poem?

Nightmare Before Christmas original poem

It was late one fall in Halloweenland,
and the air had quite a chill.
Against the moon a skeleton sat,
alone upon a hill.
He was tall and thin with a bat bow tie;
Jack Skellington was his name.
He was tired and bored in Halloweenland

"I'm sick of the scaring, the terror, the fright.
I'm tired of being something that goes bump in the night.
I'm bored with leering my horrible glances,
And my feet hurt from dancing those skeleton dances.
I don't like graveyards, and I need something new.
There must be more to life than just yelling,
'Boo!'"

Then out from a grave, with a curl and a twist,
Came a whimpering, whining, spectral mist.
It was a little ghost dog, with a faint little bark,
And a jack-o'-lantern nose that glowed in the dark.
It was Jack's dog, Zero, the best friend he had,
But Jack hardly noticed, which made Zero sad.

All that night and through the next day,
Jack wandered and walked.
He was filled with dismay.
Then deep in the forest, just before night,
Jack came upon an amazing sight.
Not twenty feet from the spot where he stood
Were three massive doorways carved in wood.
He stood before them, completely in awe,
His gaze transfixed by one special door.
Entranced and excited, with a slight sense of worry,
Jack opened the door to a white, windy flurry.

Jack didn't know it, but he'd fallen down
In the middle of a place called Christmas Town!
Immersed in the light, Jack was no longer haunted.
He had finally found the feeling he wanted.
And so that his friends wouldn't think him a liar,
He took the present filled stockings that hung by the fire.
He took candy and toys that were stacked on the shelves
And a picture of Santa with all of his elves.
He took lights and ornaments and the star from the tree,
And from the Christmas Town sign, he took the big letter C.

He picked up everything that sparkled or glowed.
He even picked up a handful of snow.
He grabbed it all, and without being seen,
He took it all back to Halloween.

Back in Halloween a group of Jack's peers
Stared in amazement at his Christmas souvenires.
For this wondrous vision none were prepared.
Most were excited, though a few were quite scared!

For the next few days, while it lightninged and thundered,
Jack sat alone and obsessively wondered.
"Why is it they get to spread laughter and cheer
While we stalk the graveyards, spreading panic and fear?
Well, I could be Santa, and I could spread cheer!
Why does he get to do it year after year?"
Outraged by injustice, Jack thought and he thought.
Then he got an idea. "Yes. . .yes. . .why not!"

In Christmas Town, Santa was making some toys
When through the din he heard a soft noise.
He answered the door, and to his surprise,
He saw weird little creatures in strange disguise.
They were altogether ugly and rather petite.
As they opened their sacks, they yelled, "Trick or treat!"
Then a confused Santa was shoved into a sack
And taken to Halloween to see mastermind Jack.

In Halloween everyone gathered once more,
For they'd never seen a Santa before
And as they cautiously gazed at this strange old man,
Jack related to Santa his masterful plan:
"My dear Mr. Claus, I think it's a crime
That you've got to be Santa all of the time!
But now I will give presents, and I will spread cheer.
We're changing places I'm Santa this year.
It is I who will say Merry Christmas to you!
So you may lie in my coffin, creak doors, and yell, 'Boo!'
And please, Mr. Claus, don't think ill of my plan.
For I'll do the best Santa job that I can."

And though Jack and his friends thought they'd do a good job,
Their idea of Christmas was still quite macabre.
They were packed up and ready on Christmas Eve day
When Jack hitched his reindeer to his sleek coffin sleigh,
But on Christmas Eve as they were about to begin,
A Halloween fog slowly rolled in.
Jack said, "We can't leave; this fog's just too thick.
There will be no Christmas, and I can't be St. Nick."
Then a small glowing light pierced through the fog.
What could it be?. . .It was Zero, Jack's dog!

Jack said, "Zero, with your nose so bright,
Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

And to be so needed was Zero's great dream,
So he joyously flew to the head of the team.
And as the skeletal sleigh started its ghostly flight,
Jack cackled, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

'Twas the nightmare before Christmas, and all though the house,
Not a creature was peaceful, not even a mouse.
The stockings all hung by the chimney with care,
When opened that morning would cause quite a scare!
The children, all nestled so snug in their beds,
Would have nightmares of monsters and skeleton heads.
The moon that hung over the new-fallen snow
Cast an eerie pall over the city below,
And Santa Claus's laughter now sounded like groans,
And the jingling bells like chattering bones.
And what to their wondering eyes should appear,
But a coffin sleigh with skeleton deer.
And a skeletal driver so ugly and sick
They knew in a moment, this can't be St. Nick!
From house to house, with a true sense of joy,
Jack happily issued each present and toy.
From rooftop to rooftop he jumped and he skipped,
Leaving presents that seemed to be straight from a crypt!
Unaware that the world was in panic and fear,
Jack merrily spread his own brand of cheer.

He visited the house of Susie and Dave;
They got a Gumby and Pokey from the grave.
Then on to the home of little Jane Neeman;
She got a baby doll possessed by a demon.
A monstrous train with tentacle tracks,
A ghoulish puppet wielding an ax,
A man eating plant disguised as a wreath,
And a vampire teddy bear with very sharp teeth.

There were screams of terror, but Jack didn't hear it,
He was much too involved with his own Christmas spirit!
Jack finally looked down from his dark, starry frights
And saw the commotion, the noise, and the light.
"Why, they're celebrating, it looks like such fun!
They're thanking me for the good job that I've done."
But what he thought were fireworks meant as goodwill
Were bullets and missiles intended to kill.
Then amidst the barrage of artillery fire,
Jack urged Zero to go higher and higher.
And away they all flew like the storm of a thistle,
Until they were hit by a well guided missile.
And as they fell on the cemetery, way out of sight,
Was heard, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good
night."

Jack pulled himself up on a large stone cross,
And from there he reviewed his incredible loss.
"I thought I could be Santa, I had such belief"
Jack was confused and filled with great grief.
Not knowing where to turn, he looked toward the sky,
Then he slumped on the grave and he started to cry.
And as Zero and Jack lay crumpled on the ground,
They suddenly heard a familiar sound.

"My dear Jack," said Santa, "I applaud your intent.
I know wreaking such havoc was not what you meant.
And so you are sad and feeling quite blue,
But taking over Christmas was the wrong thing to do.
I hope you realize Halloween's the right place for you.
There's a lot more, Jack, that I'd like to say,
But now I must hurry, for it's almost Christmas day."
Then he jumped in his sleigh, and with a wink of an eye,
He said, "Merry Christmas," and he bid them good bye.

Back home, Jack was sad, but then, like a dream,
Santa brought Christmas to the land of Halloween.

the end
Poem copyright Tim Burton

It is the Nightmare Before Christmas Time

It is the Nightmare Before Christmas Time Our autistic son starts playing halloween music and sounds about this time of the year. Today we will be putting on the Nightmare Before Christmas Video, eating home made popcorn with garlic butter and parmesan cheese, I am salivating just thinking about it. This is one of the very few videos that everybody in the family enjoys! We have anime people, Hilary and Duff people, Horror and comedy people, and nobody watches other people's movies - but everybody will watch the Nightmare Before Christmas together! And I am the cook and everybody loves the popcorn - non of that packaged stuff for us! This is a true get together time for everybody! We start getting into the halloween spirit really early!
Actually, we start getting into the halloween spirit just a little early, because we have an online store Fun Cool Collectibles and we start to stock it's shelves a little early. I will be dedicating the next couple of posts to Nightmare Before Christmas. So, if you are a true fan of the nightmare before christmas movie, come over to this blog everyday to read my little posts about the movie and Burton, who is a really intriguing director. And oh visit our Fun Cool Collectibles Store

Courting International Customers

We sell internationally with great success. We sell over 40% to international customers. Many of our customers can not get the product - punk, Disney, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc in their countries or they have to pay horrendous prices, so they
purchase them from us. We also charge a reasonable price for shipping and handling.
So, go out there and court your international customer.

20+ Sales in the first month!

This is incredible. With our other stores we were lucky to get 1 sale in the first month! We might have gotten more sales Ecrater store., but we were sceptical, and we concentrated most of energies on selling at our Ebay store. During August we will be concentrating most of our time on our Ecrater store. . Why pay those horrendous Ebay fees . Ebay is concentrating most of their energies on courting large companies, has forgotten what made them big, us little guys!

Wow! We have finally opened a Web Store!

We have tried several different webstore setups - CRE, Yahoo and other stores, but nothing worked, but we found ecrater and holy smokes, we started selling stuff within a week! We are ecstatic! We have never had so much success! There is an incredible community over there, they really support each other. The owners of the site run a tight ship, they are really on the look out for scammers! The amazing thing is that it is free! A free store! No hosting charges! No setup charges! It is incredible!

Visit our store at Fun Cool Coolectibles