Saturday Gift Post--Ladybug Girl and Willie plush, Bristle Blocks, Smencils, Retro Pets magnets.

This past few few weeks involved a lot of restocking. I received a four box shipment of Melissa and Doug, and that reminded me I have to pull down a few more boxes of product that I bought earlier and was planning to stage. Oh, the best laid plans!

Sometimes the timing is right on backorders. We got in a few Ladybug Girl dolls while we still had the display up for Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow. That Ladybug sure has a lot of adventures. I already see four books scheduled for 2014, including one featuring her Halloween adventures. That's handy, as she is already in costume.

On the other hand, I forgot to tell Amie that I was bringing in the Whistle for Willie dog. Though we carry several other books from Ezra Jack Keats, we don't have that one. Now we have to decide, hardcover, paperback, or board book. Believe it or not, our experience is that folks will generally by the hardcover with the plush, not the paperback. We'll see how it goes.

Several other out of stock items came back in the last few weeks. We're loaded up on Smencils, for example. That order was placed in July, with the hope of a little back-to-school action, but now it's a stocking stuffer. 

One other item in the kid section that has been doing pretty well is Bristle Blocks. I don't have much room to display them, and I really like the plastic bucket format, as opposed to boxes. But one thing I've noticed is that folks have been trading up from the basic assortment to the jungle-themed one. Also pictured are some nice basic wooden blocks.

We still have some Folkmanis puppets to receive, but Anne just informed me that our tagging gun has gotten clogged and the finger puppets need some sort of price tag, as unlike the hand puppets, they don't come with one to just label. These things happen.

Also back in stock are the Schylling toy tops, magic wands, and some Peaceable Kingdom friendship bracelet kits. The first two have sold well for us in the past, and the bracelet is pretty much another variation on their sticker program. I also bought some assorted small sticker packs from Peaceable Kingdom, but our plexy display that I planned to put them in seems to be missing, alas.

On the adult side, we're still selling the Retro Pets dog magnets well, even after saying goodbye to super fan Halley. I think we've now brought in enough to get us through the holidays.  I'm a particular fan of Pugtato Chips, which we hadn't previously stocked. I'm not sure why we skipped them.