More Macy’s madness, part 9: The end, for now

After two days at Macy’s, I ended up with 29 new penguin ornaments, 19 one day and 10 the next, I think. That’s a lot of penguins.

Flat clear body filled with snow, dangling orange feet and white pipe cleaner scarf

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0868

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Price: $6.48 (originally $12)

More Macy’s madness, part 8: More blue

If I hadn’t gone back to Macy’s on that second day, I would have missed out on this excellent blue penguin. I can’t believe I didn’t see it on the first trip to Macy’s, but I’m really glad I found it when I went back for the other penguins.

Light blue glass penguin with gifts, red scarf with gold dots

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0866

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $7.02 (originally $13)

More Macy’s madness, part 7: Overnight overload

The penguin at the top is another ornament I found on Day 1 at Macy’s, and I thought I had another one-of-a-kind. When I went back the next day I found the two glass ornaments I wanted and the missing reindeer Lollysticks penguin But there was more. It turns out that I either missed an entire section of ornaments the first day, or the busy elves at Macy’s put up a whole new section overnight. As you can see, I found plenty more ornaments that matched this style. I really like the one with the snowflake halo floating over its head.

Glass, sparkly ball body with multicolored knit scarf and red glittery earmuffs

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0847

Size: 4.25 inches tall

Price: $6.80 (originally $13)

Clear starry glass body filled with sequins with multi-colored knit scarf and green earmuffs with red band

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0862

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $6.48 (originally $10)

Scarf with multicolored triangles, red hat with purple trim and gold snowflakes

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0867

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Price: $5.94 (originally $11)

Plastic snowflake halo

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0870

Price: $5.12 (originally $9.50)

Skater on a snowflake with multicolored scarf, red earmuffs

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0871

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $5.13 (originally $9.50)

Stuffed plush penguin with white snowflake tutu and multicolored scarf

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0872

Size: 7 inches tall

Price: $7.02 (originally $12)

Snow globe on light blue ice base with dancer in pink tutu and red and gold scarf

Acquired: November 20, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0869

Size: 2.75 inches tall

Price: $7.02 (originally $13)

More Macy’s madness, part 6: Going back for more

I got myself in trouble when I saw some glass ornaments that looked familiar. Instead of buying duplicates, I took phone photos of them to check against my blog pics. Sure enough, I had some of the penguins already, but there were a couple that I didn’t have. I wasn’t sure it was worth going to back to Macy’s to get them, but I also decided to look on line to find our more about these Lollysticks ornaments from Department 56. There are glass and wood versions of these penguins and they come in sets of various sizes, and it turned out I was missing the small penguin on a reindeer “pony stick.” That was enough to justify going back to Macy’s to look for the missing penguin. Little did I know.

Two reindeer and one pull cart Department 56 Lollysticks penguins

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0844 0845 0846

Size: 3, 4 and 4.5 inches tall

Price: $10.50 each ($2 off)

Department 56 Lollysticks with orange and green leaf hats

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0849 0850

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $13 (originally $15)

Two medium-sized Department 56 Lollysticks

No cart, no reindeer

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0855 0856

Size: 3.3 inches tall

Price: $7.50 each (originally $8.50)

Four mini Department 56 Lollysticks, one pulling a cart

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0857 0858 0859 0860

Size: 1.75 to 2.25 inches tall

Price: 2 at $6 each and 2 at $7 each (two marked off $1, but not the others)

Little reindeer rider

Acquired: November 20, 2010, Macy’s Herald Swuare, New York

Number: 0865

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $7 

More Macy’s madness, part 5: Radko redux

I felt lucky to get away from Macy’s with just one Christopher Radko ornament. Even with a 10 percent discount, the Radko’s make up a big chunk of the total bill at checkout. This ornament has a big, gold CR signature on the back. I’ve never noticed that on the other Radkos. Its either a new feature or I haven’t been paying attention.

Christopher “Radko Floatin’ Friends” with North Pole sign on an ice floe

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0861

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Price: $44 (originally $49) 

More Macy’s madness, part 4: Living large

Martha Stewart showed up at Macy’s last year with this stylish silver penguin. I think this is my second Martha Stewart ornament. The other one came from Kmart.

Martha Stewart Collection silver frosted glass penguin

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0854

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $3.51 (originally $6.50)

More Macy’s madness, part 3: Jingle all the way

I think I’ll be able to put together a musical tree next year. It seems like I have enough jingle bell ornaments to fill a tree of their own, but I know it’s probably my imagination. I wanted to do a music themed penguin tree last year, but too many of the musical ornaments went to the blue tree or to the winter sports tree at the Trolley Museum, like this on did.

Skier on a big white jingle bell

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0851

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: $5.39 (originally $10) 

More Macy’s madness, part 2: Singular sensations

As soon as I arrived at Macy’s Holiday Lane, I grabbed a hand basket and began working the room. The fun part about shopping for ornaments at Macy’s is that there are ornaments on the trees, ornaments on the walls, ornaments stacked on tables and counters, ornaments spilling out of baskets under the trees. Everywhere you look you see nothing but Christmas ornaments. At other Christmas shops, all the penguins are usually in one corner, but at Macy’s, they are spread around. It’s kind of like the way I had a blue tree, a glass tree and a wood tree at home, plus stuffed penguins in the windows. The trees have themes at Macy’s, and penguins can pop up anywhere, sometimes in matching sets or groups, but often as singular standouts like this dressed up dude with some serious stockings.

Stubby penguin with red striped top hat, springy wings and dangling, striped legs

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0853

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $4.96 (originally $9)

More Macy’s madness, part 1: Day one

I guess I should just stay away from Macy’s. They tend to go overboard at Christmas, and they really like the penguin. I’ve had several Macy’s shopping sprees over the years where I take home 20 or more penguin ornaments at once. Last year was about the worst, not because it was more penguins than ever before (which it was), but because the madness lasted two days. It began innocently enough with typically excellent ornaments like this one.

Color-changing, lightup snow globe with clay dough body on top

Acquired: November 19, 2011, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0848

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $5.39 (originally $10)

Cirque du penguin

I could probably fill a small tree with circus clown penguin ornaments. What? Penguins aren’t funny enough without putting them in big shoes and funny hats? Here are a bunch of comical penguins I bought on a trip to the mall. Some came from Macy’s and others came from Penney’s. That was two Christmases ago. Wait ‘til you see what theses two stores did to me last year. (That’s a few months away.)

Clown-like penguin with green coat and purple hat sitting on a big blue ice cube

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0725

Size: 5.75 inches tall

Price: $8.50

Flying penguin with butterfly wings and purple pants

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0726

Size: 3.5 inches long

Price: $8.50

Rocketeer wearing red helmet with white stars

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0727

Size: 3.5 inches long

Price: $8.50

Falling or jumping penguin in a yellow raincoat with a splash

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0728

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $8.50

Red Santa hat and coat with papoose

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0729

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price: $8.50

Mini red Santa hat and coat with papoose

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0730

Size: 2 inches tall

Price: $8.50

Red jingle bell body, green boots and coat with rainbow-striped top hat and legs, wearing big red bow and holding peppermint candy

Acquired: November 19, 2009, JC Penney, Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0731

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Price: $4.99 (originally $9.99)

Same as No. 731, but no jingle bell body and holding candy cane

Acquired: November 19, 2009, JC Penney, Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0732

Size: 5.25 inches tall

Price: $3.99 (originally $7.99)

Penguin in red and green striped ring with wire hands and blue and white bead legs

Acquired: November 19, 2009, JC Penney, Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0734

Size: 6 inches tall

Price: $4.99 (originally $9.99)

Look, Mom! No feet!

Here are two very different ornaments that I bought the same day on my early Christmas shopping trip to Allentown, Pa. One thing they have in common is that they have no feet. It’s not like the feet came off like at least one other penguin in my collection. They never had any. The Christopher Radko ornament is supposed to look like a baby’s roly-poly toy, usually in the form of a clown, that was popular in the mid 20^th century. The penguin in the second picture resembles ornament No. 680 posted a couple of weeks ago, but they aren’t made of the same material, and if you look closely you can see several differences in the details.

Christopher Radko “Penny Roll” roly-poly Santa

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s, Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0722

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $50

Penguin with no legs holding green bag

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s, Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0724

Size: 3.5 inches tall

Price:$7

Doubling up

The holiday season got off to an early start a couple of years ago when I had to take my laptop to the Apple Store for service. While I was at the mall I decided to see what was up at the department stores. It was mid November, but the Christmas department was all set up at Macy’s, where I found a number of ornaments, including the fat penguin with tinsel earmuffs, a candy cane in each wing and dangling orange feet. It’s kind of funny that exactly one year later, I bought the same ornament at another Macy’s.

Roly-poly penguin with tinsel earmuffs holding two candy canes with dangling orange feet

Acquired: November 19, 2009, Macy’s, Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall, Pa.

Number: 0723

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $7

Acquired: November 19, 2010, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0852

Price: $4.86 discounted (originally $9)

Kind of the same

Both of these penguins were for sale at Macy’s when I stopped in a few days ago, but I didn’t buy them because I felt like I already had them. It turns out I did have the top one holding an envelope, but not the one with the small tree, so I was half right. Actually I was sort of right about the one with the tree, because I do have a half-size version which I posted in August. Now I wonder if there’s a small version of the one with the envelope.

Glass ornament holding envelope

Acquired: November 16, 2008, Fountains of Wayne, New Jersey

Number: 0568

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $7.99 (15 percent off)

Medium glass ornament with little tree

Acquired: November 20, 2010, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0864

Size: 4.5 inches tall
Price: : $7.56 (originally $14)

Stand clear!

Here come some fast-moving penguins, two on skis, one on a sled, and you’ve got to be on the lookout because these three see-through penguins might be hard to spot  as they rush downhill.

Clear acrylic skiers and sledder with silver highlights

Acquired: November 19, 2007, Macy’s Seminole Town Center, Sanford , Fla.

Number: 0408 0409 0410

Size: 2.25 to 2.75 inches tall

Price: $4.20 each (originally $7)

Snow globes

I like these two ornaments featuring a loving penguin couple and a family of three inside clear snow-filled and snow-covered globes. They look fragile, but the globes are plastic, not glass, which means I don’t have to worry too much about breaking them.

Two plastic globes with loving penguins and penguin family

Acquired: Nov. 19, 2007, Macy’s Seminole Town Center, Sanford, Fla.

Number: 0406 0407

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $6 (originally $10)

A pair o' peppermint penguins

Sometimes I have a feeling that I might be buying a duplicate ornament, sometimes not. And it doesn’t matter if the two are a week apart or, like these two penguins, a year apart. It’s just impossible for my aging brain to keep track of all 800 plus penguins. One reason I started the blog was to give me access to the collection wherever I might be. We’ll see how it goes as we get closer and closer to Christmas.

Two glass penguins with Santa hats and peppermint-striped scarves

Acquired: November 19, 2007, Macy’s Seminole Town Center, Sanford, Fla.

November 16, 2008, Fountains of Wayne, N.J.

Number: 0405 0569

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $6 (40 percent off); $7.99 (15 percent off)

Red hat and a candy cane

I went along for the ride with a group of relatives who were shopping for practical things like shoes and television sets. I slipped away here and there as we made our way around the mall and came home with a handful of ornaments, including this nice glass penguin from Macy’s that was on sale.

Acquired: Nov. 19, 2007, Macy’s Seminole Town Center, Sanford, Fla.

Number: 0404

Size: 3 inches tall

Price: $3.60 (originally $6)

What’s in a name?

It would be impossible for me to say which of my hundreds of penguin ornaments is my favorite, but I can say that this one has the best name: The Emperor’s New Threads. Not all of the ornaments have names, but most of the Christopher Radko penguins come with descriptive titles. I have to say that this ornament would be near the top if I ever made a list of my favorites. It’s also the last of the 26 ornaments I bought when I went for a just a look at Macy’s after I missed my train one evening.

The Emperor’s New Threads by Christopher Radko

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0342

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $48

Bearing gifts

Carrying that tall stack of presents looks like it might be a real workout for such a small penguin, but he seems to have everything under control.

Pretty Precarious by Christopher Radko

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0341

Size: 6 inches tall

Price: $48

Belly boarding

Looks like a whole new sport, where you find a friendly polar bear and then convince him to let you ride on his belly down a snowy slope. Looks like both are having a lot of fun — lmost as much fun as I had browsing around Macy’s Holiday Square department filling baskets with fantastic penguin ornaments like this one.

Luxury Luge by Christopher Radko, penguin riding on a polar bear’s belly

Acquired: November 28, 2006, Macy’s Herald Square, New York

Number: 0340

Size: 4 inches tall, 5 inches long

Price: $52