Proof that I really am nuts.
Strange collectibles was the topic in yesterday’s Retro Ad Tuesday post, and I included a picture I had taken of one of the shelves a chunk of my critter collection sits on. In the comments section, Mental Mama offered to take a photo of her sciurine collection to compare, and I noted my total menagerie is actually much larger than what fits on that one shelf. So I got the whole gang together and set them up on my kitchen table this morning… and the group photo is what you see above! And I uploaded it at full size, so if you click on the picture, you can view it in all of its high resolution glory!
Since it is rude to show off my goods without sharing, I’ve included a brief introduction to each of the objects you see above, as well as this handy numbering guide…
#1, 4, and 11 are all gifts from my Mom, coming from various Bass Pro Shops. The tire swing squirrels hangs off my shelf just high enough for my cats not to be able to ambush him.
#2 is Snuggle Bear, a gift from my message board pal christie1111, who works at Unilever.. who at the time owned the Snuggle brand.
#3 is a squirrel adorned thermometer I bought at Mecca this past summer.
#5, 15, and 33 are squirrel themed cookie jars that were a present from my message board friend Sprots.
#6 is my boring Mecca lawn ornament I turned into MBRS via my shitty painting skills. I have two more identical blank squirrel ornaments I planned on painting as ES and Angel, but have never gotten around to doing.
#7 is my Scrat prize I won from one of the crane machines at work.
#8 was a gift from my sister Amy. He has a damaged tail tip due to my clumsiness.
#9 is a welcome sign squirrel I bought at Mecca last year.
#10 is a Xeko plush of a Sumatran flying squirrel, a gift from my message board friend Rafferbee, and the inspiration behind my character Winnie.
#12 is a cardinal Beanie Baby named Mac, a giveaway from a 1998 Cardinals game which I inherited from my Grandma earlier this year.
#13 needs no introduction… he is the magnificent Rainbow Donkey amigurumi figure made by Jennifer at Squirrel Picnic!
#14 is a squirrel dog chew toy I bought from Mecca about four years ago. He wears the Mardi Gras beads I got for making a token donation to some cause at a Cardinals game around that time.
#15 is Nuts the Squirrel, another Beanie Baby… this one shamelessly “stolen” from the massive collection my family had back in their heyday. The tag says his date of birth is January 21, 1996… January 21st just happens to be Squirrel Appreciation Day, and that didn’t get launched until 2001! How interesting!
#17 is a hanging squirrel ornament my message board friend Kiki bought for me from Pier 1.
#18 and 19 are obviously raccoons, who were actually my first love before squirrels. I got them from the Bass Pro Shop in Kansas City a couple years ago after I was a bit miffed they had no squirrels… or a skunk or possum figurine which I would covet. You will notice my group shot above is still skunk-free… that needs to be fixed, dammit!
#20-23 are four tiny little squirrel figurines my very good friend and inspiration Hottie bought from an estate sale and sent to me! That is also how the bone china ground squirrel figurine (#27) came into my possession! I love you, Hottie!
#24 is a squirrel shaped bowl Mecca was selling this Fall. Inside the bowl (#25) is my squirrel sticker I bought from Goldfish’s Redbubble store.
#26 is a Zhu Zhu Pet hamster that was a total impulse buy one morning as I was getting off work in December 2009 when these things were causing such a commotion, people were lining up as the store opened to buy them. That didn’t last long…
#28 is a Scrat toy from a Happy Meal given to me by my Mom a few years ago (yes, she will get a Happy Meal because she prefers small meals)… and this was the squirrel that started my collection!
#29 is a squirrel windup toy that was a present from my message board friend Holly, who was the inspiration behind everyone’s favorite possum Buster!
#30 and 32, of course, are my as-yet-unnamed Sponkies from gentlestitches! I hope to come up with an idea for a naming contest at some point…
#31 is the awesome Sparkleponeh I won from Alice, without whom there would be no Sponkies, and Rainbow Donkey would be awfully lonely.
#34 and 35 are twin candles in the shape of squirrels I just bought from Mecca a couple weeks ago. Who knew Mecca sold so much squirrel merchandise?
#36 is Mecca’s cheap version of a squirrel ornament, which I bought last year. He hangs out (literally) in my kitchen along with the Pier 1 squirrel.
#37 is a squirrel made out of what I think are some kind of dried out pine branches with bristles. I do know I got it from my message board friend Judy, without whom Evil Squirrel would not exist.
#38 is the possum dog chew toy I bought from Mecca earlier this year, and the only possum in my collection. That needs to be addressed as well…
#39 is a tiny little squirrel a message board friend I never had much contact with named Barb sent to me several years ago after she found it cleaning her house, thought of me, and got my address from one of the others. I was quite touched by this, and she is the inspiration behind the blue haired police dog lady who occasionally pops up in my comics.
#40 and 41 are squirrel salt and pepper shakers I picked up from Mecca at the same time I purchased the squirrel bowl.
#42 is a squirrel themed solar light my Mom found (at K-Mart maybe?) and gave me.
#43 is the shiny Buddha-like squirrel that had an unfortunate mishap on the way home from work when I bought him.
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Good graveh!
Nice Beatles reference, by the way and one hell of a collection! I collect Beatles stuph and retro ads, which cover most of my wall space in every room. 😀
Everyone needs a good, healthy fetish I say! 🙂
Thank you for sharing. I always had a soft spot for those big nuts with the little squirrels sitting on top of them (15&33). It seemed like in the 1960’s everyone had one in their home (usually filled with candy or nuts.)
Yes, squirrels are timeless! They will be worth a fortune in about 500 years!
I love your collection! Esp the Rainbow Donkey Sparkleponeh family. Awwwws.
They may be outnumbered by the squirrels, but the ponehs reign supreme!
Nice to meet y’all!
The pleasure is theirs! They are just as big attention hos as I am! 😉
What a menagerie! I love them all! Especially the one on the tire swing and of course the ponehs. Oh the happy family!
Ponehs and squirrels, living in harmony! It’s quite an extended family!
I would like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to EVERYONE.
LOL!!!
What nuts 😉 its a matter of time before you will have no room for yourself 🙂 Splendid collection. I love the guy on the tyre the best.
By the time I’m an old man, I will be wading knee deep in squirrel paraphernalia!
A wonderful collection! Shane was particularly impressed with the squirrel on the nut and I was pleased to see the sponkeys in such a “good paddock!” 🙂
They will always have lots of furry friends to play with!
I love your collection! I have dragons and superhero stuff (Mostly Batman – of course I have the 31″ tall Batman, duh) and teapots and thimbles and zombie stuff.
And books and ink wells. And, I’ll stop there. I may have a collecting problem …
You collect collections… =^..^=
I have stashes of all kinds of mini collections as well… welcome to Hoarders Anonymous! Nice to meet you… 😉
Whew, I was worried it may just be me with a billion little collections. (ok, the book collection is not so little – I literally could open a library 😉 )
I collect makeup… it’s seriously out of control. I think i may need professional help.
Maybe cosmetics art would be a nice way to dwindle down your collection!
Loving number 1! 😀
The tire swing squirrel seems to be the popular winner!
oh dear, whatever happened to the lovely crossstitch someone SLAVED over???
It is hanging up on the wall along with Telly Sevalas Squirrel and the squirrel clock Kiki bought me… and across the room from Beebs’ impressionistic squirrel and christie’s squirrel quilt. They are appreciated just as much as the gang up there, but they are a bit less mobile and poseable with groups…
Haha! Looks like a club that I should belong to.
I once saw a squirrel plush toy being displayed on an open window of a shop so that passerbys could see it. But to prevent it from being snatched, it was secured with a chain around the body. It looked kind of sad with that chain. A squirrel got to be free!
Oh, that would have looked awful! A squirrel should never be in chains, unless it is married of course….
This was a fun and sweet sharing of your collection! I love stuffed animals and have several robins in my collection, two stuffed, four books and about twenty porcelain and ceramic. This is my downsized collection from living in a house and moving to a one bedroom apt! Your title is a great one for this post!
Merry Christmas and hope Santa leaves a few little critters to add to your collection! Smiles, Robin
Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you as well, Robin!