The Quest for Elsa

Three weeks ago I had a “clever” idea for my girls’ Easter baskets. Since they are obsessed with the movie “Frozen”, I thought it would cute to give them each a basket with a “Frozen” doll in it. My older daughter would get Elsa, of course, and my younger, Anna. Oh what a great Easter morning we would have as they squealed with excitement over their new dolls. The Easter Bunny would be the hero and we would all live happily ever after, just like Elsa and Anna.

anna4Or, this would happen. I would be shopping at Target and notice one Anna doll left. I would pick it up (on sale, of course), and just go to another store and pick up Elsa. No biggie. Well, I must have been under a rock because not only could I not find Elsa at Target, I couldn’t find her anywhere. Not one freakin’ Elsa doll. It wasn’t just Elsa who melted off the shelf. All the “Frozen” areas looked like a bomb exploded. There was hardly any merchandise to be had. So, I did what anyone would do these days, I posted my frustrations on Facebook. To my surprise other mothers were experiencing the same thing and told me there are no dolls ANYWHERE!elsa2

I certainly couldn’t give one daughter a basket with an Anna doll and not give another basket with Elsa. It’s like listening to Bon Jovi without Jon or going to a Maroon 5 concert without seeing Adam Levine. It just doesn’t cut it. So my next logical step was to search the land where dreams come true, if you are willing to pay the price. I’m talking about eBay of course. Well, let me tell you, Elsa and friends are selling for some big bucks. If you don’t mind melting down your wallet, you can have any doll you want. I just wanted Elsa.

Luckily, I found one with a starting bid of $19.99. Not bad, I thought, only a few bucks above retail. With only a couple of hours left, I thought I had a good chance. As the time got closer, I started to bid. As fast as I could put in a price, I was getting outbid! I found myself running on adrenaline. Did I really want the doll or did I just want to win the bid? Anyway, when the price got to $40.oo, I had to stop. I couldn’t morally allow myself to pay that much for a doll. So, I moved on to another one that only had seventeen minutes left on the bid. Bids were only at twenty dollars. I went back and forth, sweating it out for sixteen minutes and forty five seconds.

In the last fifteen seconds, I put out a $28.00 bid and won! I couldn’t believe it. Knowing now that these dolls are going for big bucks, I think I got a pretty good deal paying only about twelve dollars above retail.

Elsa arrived a few days ago in perfect shape. Brand, spanking new! I can’t wait to wrap her up. Excuse me, the Easter Bunny can’t wait to wrap her up. I can’t wait to see my daughters’ faces Easter morning.

I know so many moms who are still hunting for Elsa and friends. Apparently, Disney just can’t keep up with demand. There are even buying limits at some stores. So, unless you want to go broke, you may have to “let it go.”