Birthday Package From Heathersmoo: 2021

 Heathersmoo from Livejournal, a dedicated keychain collector if there ever was one, kindly sent me a package of keychain goodies for my December birthday. Thanks, Heather! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this post up. I had a lot more prep work to do for this Christmas season compared to last year, since members of my extended family reinstated their annual holiday get-togethers after putting them on hiatus for the past 2 years due to Covid-19. I'm still trying to catch up on all of the projects and other things that got pushed to the back burner during the Christmas rush. So without further ado, let's bring on the keychains.

 

I absolutely love this puffy, furry, greenish-blue teddy bear keychain. The head and limbs seem to be made from some sort of pleather or textured vinyl material that is stuffed, and the body is one of those faux fur pom-poms that were all the rage for purse accessories a while back. The color is unique and fun for a teddy bear, in a subdued shade that strikes just the right balance between a pale pastel and a vibrant jewel tone. However, my favorite part of the design has to be the facial printing. For some reason the face makes me think of Bearemy, the Build-a-Bear Workshop mascot. I doubt that that resemblance was intentional though. According to the product tag, this bear was "Distributed by Kalan LP".

 

I had a lot of trouble photographing the eyes on this dog head keychain, even though I deliberately placed a white backing sheet behind the black metal to better highlight the details. I think my issues were largely due to overcast weather reducing my lighting. While I don't know enough about dog breeds to say for certain what type of dog this keychain is modeled on, maybe someone reading this post can help to narrow it down for me.

Since this dinosaur is holding half of a heart with the word "Best" on it, I'm assuming that it was part of a 'best friends' keychain set, and that Heather has the matching half. The yellow and orange color scheme reminds me a lot of Cheesasaurus Rex, the 90s era mascot for Kraft Macaroni And Cheese. The raised markings on the back of this keychain identify it as another "Kalan" product, this one made in Bangladesh.

Even though it's the first guitar pick keychain in my collection, I've actually been intrigued by this keychain's concept for a while now. Also, I'm pretty sure I've mentioned here before how much 'brand nostalgia' I have for My Little Pony, even though I'm not all that invested in more recent iterations of the franchise. The fact that this keychain is my favorite color, purple, doesn't hurt either.

Lastly, this final keychain is shaped like a silhouette of the United States and patterned like an American flag. I tend to be drawn to country and state silhouette shaped keychains, although I have no idea why. Maybe I should try accumulating enough of these keychains to do some temporary map setups to photograph. That might make for an interesting future project.

There's also an advertisement on the back of this keychain for "Patriot On-Site Services Inc" in Ellenboro, North Carolina. However, I wasn't able to find additional information about the company. The web address listed on the keychain no longer seems to be valid, and online searches got me nowhere. Such is the transitory nature of cyberspace I guess. Internet based resources frequently disappear into the ether, unless we're talking about old social media posts that you actually want buried. Then they hang around forever.

I'd like to thank Heather once again for her gift. I appreciate her generosity in sharing some of her treasured keychains with me, since it's a known fact that once a keychain finds its way into her possession it rarely leaves. So thanks Heather, and I wish you good luck with your keychain hunting in the coming year.

Signed, Treesa

Birthday Surprise Box From Heathersmoo

 My first introduction to Heathersmoo was through her Keychain Of The Day posts on Livejournal. Before the internet, having a collection or interest that wasn't prominent in the mainstream could often feel like a solitary, or at worst an isolating, pursuit. When I first started collecting keychains in my childhood, it was easy for me to believe that I was the only person on the planet who did, judging by the way people reacted when they found out about my collection. I'm pretty sure I got some odd looks when I went flea marketing with my dad and he explained to sellers we bought keychains from that I collected them. And none of the adults in my life had ever heard of someone collecting keychains before, though they were willing to indulge my odd hobby and help me build my collection. When I showed off my keychains to my grade school peers as part of a class project, I'm fairly sure that they just added 'keychain collecting' to the long list of things about me that were strange. I was never one of the 'popular' kids to begin with, but collecting keychains just reinforced the idea that there was something off about me. Anyway, I was really happy when Basic Fun Inc. created a pop culture craze with their mini board game and classic toy keychains. Not only were the keychains cool, but knowing that there were other people in the world who also collected them made me feel like less of a weirdo.

The World Wide Web has made it much easier for people to connect with others who share their particular interests. Thanks to the internet, collectors who previously felt isolated have been able to form vast, global networks with other collectors. However, keychain collecting is such an obscure hobby that even online I had trouble finding anyone who shared my enthusiasm for keychains. So it was a real thrill for me to discover Heather's posts.

Heather and I have been corresponding by email off and on for quite a while now. We've also sent each other small packages from time to time. I've mentioned Heather here on the blog before, since I try to upload a post any time she sends me something for my collection. But I was especially touched by Heather's kindness when her most recent package arrived. Despite the fact that she had recently suffered a loss in her family, Heather still took the time to put together a gift box for my December birthday because she wanted me to have, as she put it, "a big birthday surprise". But that was only the beginning of Heather's thoughtfulness.

 Here's a photo of everything that was in the box. Heather took the time to individually wrap each small gift with My Little Pony wrapping paper. Being a child of the 80s, I had quite a collection of My Little Pony toys back in the day. So I do have a sense of nostalgia for the My Little Pony brand, even though I never got into the more recent iterations of the franchise.

Heather handmade this hemp macrame keychain and this knit Santa hat ornament just for me. The fact that Heather put in the time and effort to craft something by hand makes the gifts even more meaningful, in my opinion.

But to show you the full extent of Heather's thoughtfulness, let me tell you about the two keychains pictured above. In a previous blog post about my ancestry, I mentioned that I was looking for a keychain from Hungary to round out a sub-collection of keychains that I'd assembled to represent my mixed 'cultural heritage'. Well, Heather got one for me. I had also emailed Heather earlier that year to ask her if she had any extra Cypress Gardens keychains that she could float my way, since she lives in Florida and she's mentioned before that she holds on to her duplicate keychains. Heather didn't have any spares in her collection to send me, but she went to the trouble of going online and buying me one instead.

Heather also sent this BFF keychain from Claire's. Keychains like this are typically sold in pairs, and according to the note that Heather included in the package she kept the coordinating pink cat for her own collection. She also said that she considers us "keychain best buds", which to me really means a lot.

There were several other fun inclusions in the package as well, like this railroad museum sticker and keychain set.

I really like the architectural design on this Budapest keychain. The use of light in the composition is striking and gives the building an almost ethereal glow.

This Buzz Lightyear clip originally came with a McDonald's 'Happy Meal'. I'm glad I'm not the only one who still thinks about ordering kid's meals to get a particularly tempting premium. I am feeling a little divided over whether or not I should open this, since the bag is still sealed.

Last but not least is this Uzbekistan keychain, shaped like a boxing glove. I 'googled' Uzbekistan and boxing to try and figure out the connection, and apparently boxing is a very popular sport in that country, thanks to Uzbekistan's stellar participation in several of the Olympics.

Thank you so much Heather! You really went above and beyond with this 'birthday surprise', and I am blown away by your thoughtfulness.

Signed, Treesa