Gentle Friends,
You might have noticed the title of this thread is "The Saga of the Hocker Pavilion." I know I need to explain the thread title, so here goes...
The saga to which I refer began last August when my friend, Norm of Memphis Toy Soldiers, called me on the phone to tell me he had recently acquired a very nice Hocker collection. As we talked, he indicated the collection he purchased contained an item he thought might interest me. Of course, I was all ears. And, naturally, I had to ask him to identify for me the item of interest.
Now, before I go further with my discussion, I should tell you when Norm makes such a statement to me, I already know I am interested. He knows my interests well and, before he ever places a call to me, he knows without a doubt I will be tempted beyond belief by what he has for sale. The limitation I face, of course, is budget. Sometimes I hope I already have in my collection the item he has for sale just so I can breathe a sigh of relief and tell him I am not in the market for his item. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, it seldom happens that I have the item he wishes to sell.
Okay, so what did he have? Norm knows I collect Mr. Hocker's Imperial Durbar series. The item Norm had acquired was Mr. Hocker's set #128, the Imperial Durbar Pavilion. My jaw dropped and my knees almost buckled. You see, there are very, very few of these pavilions in existence. In fact, the last time I checked with Mr. Hocker (September 2012), I was told only a total of 16 had ever been made. And, due to the difficulty of making them, he was not likely to make more.
With terrific anxiety in my voice, I inquired regarding the purchase price. Norm was great and he offered the pavilion to me at a very competitive price. With display purposes in mind, I asked Norm to provide me with some measurements. He carefully measured the pavilion and I quickly realized I could just fit it into one of my curios. After making certain I had a place to display it, it took me about, oh, an instant, to say, "WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO SEND MY CHECK?"
We agreed to make our transaction at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show in late September. He would bring the pavilion and I would bring my checkbook. Well, actually, my wife, the Good and Fair Lady Diane, brought "our" checkbook as she had agreed the pavilion would be my Christmas present. Can you guess who I first sought after arriving at the show hotel? You guessed it, it was Norm! I found Norm immediately and inspected the pavilion. It was perfect! The deal was sealed and the Good Lady Diane wrote the check. Before I had even begun to engage in the room trading, the show was already a success for me.
Now, you must remember the pavilion was to be my Christmas present and I had agreed not to view it, touch it , or otherwise "mess" with it until Christmas. I was actually instructed to hide it and to forget it existed in order for it to be a surprise for my Christmas. Of course, I totally carried out all these instructions to the letter. However, there was one thing that remained,...
I never agreed to forget or put away the pavilion dimensions Norm had provided me! Armed with the measurements, but having "forgotten" the pavilion existed, I "wondered" to what the measusrements applied. Obviously, if the dimensions were written on a piece of paper on my desk, they had to have some significant toy soldier meaning, even thought "I had no idea" what they meant.
Since I had the measurements, I thought I should take a second look at how this mystery item might fit into my existing curios. Whatever the item might be, it would be a very close fit to be displayed in my curio. And, then something very interesting happened...
My birthday occurs in November and the Good Lady Diane asked what I might want for my birthday. I mumbled something about wanting a new curio that might accommodate some larger items. Of course, I knew the mere mention of an additional curio was risking life and limb, but I took the chance anyway. Much to my surprise, Lady Diane suggested I log on to the website of our favorite furniture store. The store we enjoy is the Nebraska Furniture Mart in Kansas City. This particular store is incredibly huge and it is filled with all sorts of quality furniture for very, very competitive prices. From past experience, I was quite aware they had a very large selection of curio cabinets. As I browsed the listings of the curio cabinets, I found one that was almost exactly what I wanted. It would fit nicely in my display room, it would blend with existing furniture, and it was slightly wider and slightly deeper than my other cabinets. And, to top it off, the day I found it was Cyber Monday and it was seriously discounted for only that one day. Further, since it was Cyber Monday, it could be delivered to my home at no additional charge. Usually, the delivery charge for such a large item form Kansas City to our home in Emporia would be in the neighborhood of $90.00, Well, I ordered the cabinet for my birthday present in spite of not knowing what I might place in it. However, at this point, all I had to do was wait until Christamas to discover if the measurements I found on my desk really had any toy soldier significance.
Finally, Christmas arrived and "much to my surprise," I discovered a Hocker Imperial Durbar Pavilion under the Christmas tree. And, with a joyful heart, I realized I had luckily, but accidentally, purchased a curio cabinet that would accommodate the piece! But, little did I know this was just the beginning of my recent Hocker Toy Soldier Saga, a saga I will continue in my next post.
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
You might have noticed the title of this thread is "The Saga of the Hocker Pavilion." I know I need to explain the thread title, so here goes...
The saga to which I refer began last August when my friend, Norm of Memphis Toy Soldiers, called me on the phone to tell me he had recently acquired a very nice Hocker collection. As we talked, he indicated the collection he purchased contained an item he thought might interest me. Of course, I was all ears. And, naturally, I had to ask him to identify for me the item of interest.
Now, before I go further with my discussion, I should tell you when Norm makes such a statement to me, I already know I am interested. He knows my interests well and, before he ever places a call to me, he knows without a doubt I will be tempted beyond belief by what he has for sale. The limitation I face, of course, is budget. Sometimes I hope I already have in my collection the item he has for sale just so I can breathe a sigh of relief and tell him I am not in the market for his item. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view, it seldom happens that I have the item he wishes to sell.
Okay, so what did he have? Norm knows I collect Mr. Hocker's Imperial Durbar series. The item Norm had acquired was Mr. Hocker's set #128, the Imperial Durbar Pavilion. My jaw dropped and my knees almost buckled. You see, there are very, very few of these pavilions in existence. In fact, the last time I checked with Mr. Hocker (September 2012), I was told only a total of 16 had ever been made. And, due to the difficulty of making them, he was not likely to make more.
With terrific anxiety in my voice, I inquired regarding the purchase price. Norm was great and he offered the pavilion to me at a very competitive price. With display purposes in mind, I asked Norm to provide me with some measurements. He carefully measured the pavilion and I quickly realized I could just fit it into one of my curios. After making certain I had a place to display it, it took me about, oh, an instant, to say, "WHERE DO YOU WANT ME TO SEND MY CHECK?"
We agreed to make our transaction at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show in late September. He would bring the pavilion and I would bring my checkbook. Well, actually, my wife, the Good and Fair Lady Diane, brought "our" checkbook as she had agreed the pavilion would be my Christmas present. Can you guess who I first sought after arriving at the show hotel? You guessed it, it was Norm! I found Norm immediately and inspected the pavilion. It was perfect! The deal was sealed and the Good Lady Diane wrote the check. Before I had even begun to engage in the room trading, the show was already a success for me.
Now, you must remember the pavilion was to be my Christmas present and I had agreed not to view it, touch it , or otherwise "mess" with it until Christmas. I was actually instructed to hide it and to forget it existed in order for it to be a surprise for my Christmas. Of course, I totally carried out all these instructions to the letter. However, there was one thing that remained,...
I never agreed to forget or put away the pavilion dimensions Norm had provided me! Armed with the measurements, but having "forgotten" the pavilion existed, I "wondered" to what the measusrements applied. Obviously, if the dimensions were written on a piece of paper on my desk, they had to have some significant toy soldier meaning, even thought "I had no idea" what they meant.
Since I had the measurements, I thought I should take a second look at how this mystery item might fit into my existing curios. Whatever the item might be, it would be a very close fit to be displayed in my curio. And, then something very interesting happened...
My birthday occurs in November and the Good Lady Diane asked what I might want for my birthday. I mumbled something about wanting a new curio that might accommodate some larger items. Of course, I knew the mere mention of an additional curio was risking life and limb, but I took the chance anyway. Much to my surprise, Lady Diane suggested I log on to the website of our favorite furniture store. The store we enjoy is the Nebraska Furniture Mart in Kansas City. This particular store is incredibly huge and it is filled with all sorts of quality furniture for very, very competitive prices. From past experience, I was quite aware they had a very large selection of curio cabinets. As I browsed the listings of the curio cabinets, I found one that was almost exactly what I wanted. It would fit nicely in my display room, it would blend with existing furniture, and it was slightly wider and slightly deeper than my other cabinets. And, to top it off, the day I found it was Cyber Monday and it was seriously discounted for only that one day. Further, since it was Cyber Monday, it could be delivered to my home at no additional charge. Usually, the delivery charge for such a large item form Kansas City to our home in Emporia would be in the neighborhood of $90.00, Well, I ordered the cabinet for my birthday present in spite of not knowing what I might place in it. However, at this point, all I had to do was wait until Christamas to discover if the measurements I found on my desk really had any toy soldier significance.
Finally, Christmas arrived and "much to my surprise," I discovered a Hocker Imperial Durbar Pavilion under the Christmas tree. And, with a joyful heart, I realized I had luckily, but accidentally, purchased a curio cabinet that would accommodate the piece! But, little did I know this was just the beginning of my recent Hocker Toy Soldier Saga, a saga I will continue in my next post.
Warmest personal regards,
Pat
