I’m very hesitant to come out and say this but yes I have a complete set of the latest Hello Kitty fairy tales collection from McDonalds including the much coveted limited edition Singing Bones.
It’s no secret that I’m a Hello Kitty fan. In fact, I’m still trying to convert my daughter to share this little passion but to no avail as she stubbornly prefers Thomas the Tank Engine. Odd, I know. Anyway, when I knew that the Hello Kitty fairy tales series was launching in McDonald’s, I told my hubby that I would love to have it. And for Alexis, that was his golden ticket to eat McDonalds since I’ve been reminding him to watch his fast food diet.
As expected, the effort to get my hands on the Hello Kitty plushies proved harder and harder as the weeks went by. And it didn’t help that there were people who were purchasing them to sell them at exorbitant prices online. Try $200 a Hello Kitty. And so it happened, I missed my frog price by week 3 because, by the time it was Thursday evening, they were all sold out! I was bummed about not being able to complete my collection but the following week, Alexis went to queue up at McDonalds at 1am and managed to buy two ugly ducklings after a one hour wait. Alexis was of course praised to the skies for being so sweet to bother to queue for me.
And went it finally came down to the last, limited edition, singing bones Hello Kitty, I didn’t have any high hopes of getting her since the queues would be pretty crazy, Alexis texted me while I was still at work at 9:30pm and told me he’s going to check out the queues. And true enough, queues have started to form. Thankfully, he didn’t queue in vain and presented me the last Hello Kitty when he finally returned home at 2am!
And by the next day, actually, before it was even midnight, there were already reports of rowdy behaviors where people were seen verbally abusing the McDonalds staff at some outlets where the police had to be called in. It sounded so ridiculous and reflected so poorly of us as a society. Slowly, my facebook and Twitter feeds were flooded with comments calling people who queued for the Hello Kitty lame with no life. So here I am, a genuine Hello Kitty fan, wondering what would happen if no one paid those silly prices for them? After all, it’s all a game of demand and supply. And like Alexis said, these people would have expected a queue for it so why can’t they just queue for it? At the end of the, the whole hoo ha was because these people were trying to milk it for money. After all, Hello Kitty merchandise can be bought from so many places, why are these people who are never once interested in Hello Kitty all queuing for it now?
As for me, I hope Alexis don’t get slammed for this and gets called a fool. But if he did, he would only have been guilty for being a fool for me, a fool for love 🙂
Tagged: Hello Kitty
Hehe I rather my hb be home with me than out till 2am for a kitty. :p
Well said, Susan! I couldn’t understand why someone would queue for so long for it, but your blog post made it clear that love can’t be understood logically. 🙂
And as much as I condemn the cowards who were rude to staff and other people, I don’t think any of us can judge those who dutifully queued to get something that brought them joy. They certainly aren’t “lame” just because they enjoy something different! Logical people would argue running around in circles as fast as you can for no reason except to tire yourself out makes little sense but, for some reason, as a society, we value that. Weird.
Haha, Chirpy Bird, his absence makes the heart fonder especially when he returned with my favorite hello kitty 🙂
Renuka, haha you know what? That’s what Sophie said to me too, “Wow, mummy you have the full set. I know you are very happy.” and I am indeed 🙂
thanks for writing this. and i just want to say… i am glad your little girl likes tank engines! hehe
Haha, why you say that Sarah? Then she would be as looney as mummy?
no la! i meant… it is always so refreshing to see kids break out of the gender moulds society has set for what they should play with, what they should wear… hehe
So sweet of your husband!
Yes, I am so touched he would still do that for me 🙂
The same people who slam the HK-queuers may also be the ones who Q overnight to get placement in kindergartens or the latest gaming console… so i think it is a matter that value is in the eye of the beholder. It is sad to see people become mean-spirited though.
Well, I don’t blame them since I also thought people who queued for Tim Ho Wan were crazy. Haha. I their case it was for food and my case for a toy. Both brought us joy in different ways 🙂
As for me, my beloved has an old set from the past derived with many hours of effort … sadly, it is gathering dust. It really did not seem a such good idea this time round to desperately and with collosal effort to pair it with another set to co-gather dust. As they say one (wo)man’s meat is another’s poison. I do give credit to Alexis for his unquestionable devotion. lolol
Alexis is getting praised to the skies with his sweet gesture towards me.
i foresee your husband getting mountains of praises through this post, because what he did was super sweet! queuing for your loved one is one thing, queuing to milk the money out of those who really want it, is another.
if your husband’s actions are seen as lame by others, it may just be the sour grapes talking!
and i agree with Sandra, “it is a matter that value is in the eye of the beholder”. i can list SO MANY other things people here would go queue up and may end in a fight over , with some of the most famous ones being the h&m opening, hdb flats, to see their idols and anything free! hahahaha.
Haha, that’s why there are reports over why Singaporeans have a thing for queuing.
You are right Mabel that Alexis is getting lots of praises with what he did. But he deserves them, don’t you think 🙂
Hey, congrats on getting the edition. I wanted so much but I never got it. Becoz I never went to queue for it. 🙂
Reports tend to slam those who got it and those who got it are simply not into Hello Kitty. From what I think, Mac should start thinking of a way to sell Hello Kitties to fans and not going to this extent where people skipped sleep or work just to get the Hello Kitties. In Japan, it’s not like that. The demand will always be met. If no, they may want to think of getting it for those disappointed fans….just my 5 cents of worth.
super awwww at your last line, ‘a fool for love’ 😉