Christmastime is here and I’ve got the Frosty the Snowman cocoa and mug to prove it!

I have to be honest, despite all the Halloween madness of the previous month, my mind was already drifting towards Christmas in October. Since November 1st, my brain has gone into overdrive thinking about Christmas. Just this week alone I went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform and then I bought their latest album Night Castle plus I picked up Rob Halford’s holiday offering Halford III – Winter Songs (yes, even the Metal God has a soft spot for Christmas).

Also, last month I picked up this:

Frosty the Snowman Cocoa & Mug Set!

Yes, it is amazing to look at and yes, it is available for the 2009 holiday season at the low, low price of $7.99. I was tempted to open this bad boy up last month and discuss it, but I didn’t want to ruin the Halloween groove. You have no idea how hard it was to resist, but November 1st starts the Christmas season as far as I’m concerned so now is as good as time as ever!

Obviously, the mug itself is the centerpiece of this cocoa set (and what a fine mug it is) but the true highpoint for me is the adorable spoon:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

Truer words have never been spoken, Frosty.

As for the cocoa itself, it’s actually really good. Some novelty cocoas are either too sweet or taste like all you did was heat up some water but this Frosty cocoa has a great dark chocolate taste with just a perfect hint of sweetness. It’s like drinking from a fondue pot of Hershey’s dark chocolate!

At $8, this is definitely worth picking up for fans of the old Frosty special and Rankin/Bass fans in general. It’s a great way to kick of the Christmas season and it’s my first cup of cocoa of the season as well!

Jingle bells, spooky tales

Well, I believe I did a similar post about this time last year, but it’s always nice to point out that HALLOWEEN candy has been trickling in at the ol’ store. Yes, I’d say our stock room is filling up quite nicely with your usual 15 lb bag assortments of bite size treats and All Hallow’s Eve trinkets.

Also, and this was a really a nice surprise because I didn’t expect it so soon– CHRISTMAS items are coming in too! Just a few boxes of stuffed toys, but it’s enough to keep up the Christmas spirit. Christmas in July, indeed!

I captured some pics on my cell phone for proof and to spread the joy and excitement, but apparently Verizon’s “PIX Place” upload site isn’t playing nice (or maybe I just don’t have that part of the service on my phone).

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all! I hope your day was as good as mine… and there’s still Christmas dinner to go for me!

Sorry about the blog being lifeless the last few days. I had at least one article in mind (Rankin Bass), but I didn’t have time to watch all the specials I needed to accurately rank them. There’s always next year!

As for the future of this blog, I’ve been lacking motivation… Since I now have SCANNER though, we can get down to some real retro goodness through the use of purty pictures instead of my ugly words. Watch out, Retroist!

Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland

In Frankenmuth, Michigan, there resides one of the most wonderful places on Earth: Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland!

Frankenmuth is a pretty interesting town, known as “Michigan’s Little Bavaria”. There are tons of buildings done up in a Bavarian style and lots of little shops that sell candy, sausage, cheese and all kinds of trinkets. There’s also a “world famous” restaurant called Zehnder’s, which is ALWAYS full, with people coming from all over for their chicken dinners. Personally, I prefer boneless chicken, but apparently I’m in the minority because this restaurant is HUGE (having a gift store/bakery/cafeteria as well) and the line to get into the actual restaurant is usually out the door.

Anyway, the crown jewel for Frankenmuth, in my opinion, is Bronner’s. Can you imagine: a store so large and so filled with Christmas items of all kinds that YOU NEED A MAP just to find your way around? I’m not kidding! Just check out the PDF file to view the map yourself. It’s the Christmas lover’s dream come true. The Christmas music is blasting at all hours and there’s ornaments, trees, lights, those overly expensive Christmas porcelain towns, all kinds of collectibles, mugs, toys, candy, and advent calendars. You don’t even have to buy anything, it’s a Christmas theme park,
essentially, but without the rides and WITH the greatest mascots of all
– Santa Claus, Rudolph, Frosty and the gang!

I think I could be completely happy the rest of my life by moving to Frankenmuth and getting a job at Bronner’s at a stockboy.

Although we hit up the Christmas Wonderland early this year (mid-September…) and it was a kind of a warm day, you can never really go wrong by spending an afternoon at Bronner’s. We caught quite a winter storm here in the past 24 hours, so I can only
imagine how great the place must loook from the outside right now with
the Christmas lights on display.

Here’s a few pics of interest I made my fiancee capture. I was more of the directory and she did the camera work, you see.

Can you believe this place is closed on Christmas ?! >=(

The Travelocity Gnome greets you!

Mmm… Tasty!!

Old school Mickey! It hangs from the ceiling in a section of the store which is kinda set up like Santa’s workshop.

Not the best picture, but yes, they sell Reese’s Christmas Trees ALL YEAR ROUND.

Another pic from the workshop.

Soak it all in. Every part of the store is this bright and busy.

Told ya.

Well that’s enough of that. Just thought I’d share a the wonder of Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland! Want to see the of the pictures we took? Well, go check’em out on Flickr (I made the account just for this)!

Heavy Metal & Christmas… What a team!

Not giving you enough of a Christmas fix? Well, although I am certainly smack dab in the middle of the Spirit of Christmas, admittedly, I haven’t been able to bring myself to do much blogging about it. My fingers ache at all the typing that would require. But hey, my buddy The Retroist has been doing a fine job covering Sears holiday catalogs from years goneby and don’t forget to check out the revamped Saturday Morning Central for even more Christmas coverage.

As for my own contributions? Well, you can check out a nice review of an album called We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year (which features rock legends such as Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Tommy Iommi, Lemmy, Joe Lynn Turner, Bruce Kulick… and more!) over at my music blog, Metal Excess. Excellent album (honest!) and if you’re a fan of heavy metal and Christmas, you’ll dig it.

I’ve got a few more ‘Christmas meets heavy metal’ albums planned for the rest of the month over there, so be sure to keep an eye out for’em.

As for this site, the Christmas crunch is on, and the posts will be coming shortly.