the townhouse part 2

i mentioned in an earlier post that i found jane’s favorite dollhouse at a goodwill. the dollhouse usually goes from $95 to $100. so I totally scored on a good deal. but the house is missing some parts. my quest continued.

the house was missing lights and a staircase. the ones that we played with never had lights, or never had batteries, and so jane was always curious about the light switches, but never saw how they looked. the stairs were a big deal though. she loves walking the little characters up and down those stairs. where would I find lights and stairs for this obscure dollhouse?

I contacted the manufacturer. they couldn’t give us stairs, but they gladly sent the lights FOR FREE. score! on to the stairs.

I contacted the manufacturer again.
they said no.
I went to one toy store and offered to buy the staircase for $20 off of their floor model.
they said no.
I tried to BUILD the stairs from a hobby kit.
it wasn’t going to work, but they look nice on her other doll house!

I went back to the goodwill that I originally found it at and asked if they had the stairs.

first they laughed at me, then

they said no.

I went to the flea market and looked through montains of old toys.

it wasn't there.
I contacted another toy store and offered to buy the staircase off of their floor model.
they said no.
“what if someone wanted to buy the floor model? it would be incomplete without stairs.” they said.
I went later and asked for a manager or owner, she was out to lunch.
today we went again.
there was a very kind worker who must have been in high school, who understood our cause.
he asked a manager.
they said no.
then he wanted to know what part I was looking for-
we showed him the stairs.
he went and looked in the back.
nothing.
then he said, “you know- no one ever sees this part when the house is on the shelf, I’m going to ask again.”
jane and I held our breath and waited.
he came back and said, “sure, you can have it.”
I was stunned. “how much?” I asked.
“you can just have it.” he said.
I could have welled up in tears.
I reached out my hand and shook his and said, “thank you so much.”
I handed it to jane and she jumped and shouted for joy.
so in the end, we got the lights, and the stairs, and the house, and it was all for only $5.99.
SCORE!