My quest to improve the Geek Tree this year continues. I have found what I think is the perfect size for the tree — 9 feet tall, and 40 inches in diameter. That makes for a narrow, slender tree that shouldn’t have huge footprint in the living room, but provides ample space for the various ornaments.
Unfortunately, finding this particular tree is proving to be difficult. Oh I’ve found a few trees that match those dimensions (or very near them) but they are all “pre-lit” trees, meaning that they come with lights already put on them. These lights (and presumably the premium for such a labor-saving innovation) push the price of the tree up to just over $200, which is a bit much. Unlit versions of this tree cost $100-$150, but while I’ve seen a floor model or two, none of them were for sale … and the places that had them weren’t planning on getting any more in.
So the search continues. I’m planning another visit to Wal-Mart, hoping that they will have added more trees now that we’re closer to Christmas, and — at Sue’s recommendation — I’ll be stopping by Target. I’m also searching online, but so far visits to Amazon have found nothing.
In other Geek Tree news, I picked up Hallmark’s Harry Potter ornament, which is very nicely sculpted and painted, far better than the Frodo ornament that’s out there, IMHO. I also found a collection of cheap, painted Spider-man ornaments at Lowe’s. They were part of a display of Marvel and DC ornaments. The larger of these ornaments stood about 6 inches and had paint jobs that were barely adequate for illustrating the sculpts (but what do you expect for $5?) There was, however, one box that had five smaller Spidey ornaments in it — two with the conventional red and blue Spidey, one with his black Secret Wars outfit, and sculpts of Dr. Octopus and Green Goblin. The paint job on these was better (or maybe less noticeably bad, since they were smaller) and I figured it was worth the $5 (particularly keeping in mind my quest to expand the Geek Tree’s genres beyond sci-fi).
I also found a cache of silver-tinged Star Wars micromachines in my desk drawer that Sue got me a few years back. I’m thinking that these would be good additions to the tree, but I have to figure out a way to attach them — they have no eye holes for hooks, so I think I may have to use Crazy Glue and fishing line. I’m not sure if they’ll find their way onto the tree this year, as they are fairly small, and I don’t want StarGirl to get her hands (or mouth) on them.