Why I Oughta...

It seems like Menards Halloween has come back this year.  After a down year (at least it appeared to me to be 'down' and likely due to COVID + Supply Chain issues), it appeared that - on our visit this month - they had TONS of new stuff.  This post is going up in late August, but our visit was on Saturday, August 13th, so they had all of their stuff up mid-August.  I've covered this in the past - here's last year .  Below is a look at their Halloween village.  Of note, they've TOTALLY phased out all Lemax Village buildings and are now showing their own house brand of Pumpkin Hollow Halloween buildings and structures.  Menards always has a good set of holiday inflatables and this year they're showing a new (to me) Disney licensed Halloween inflatable featuring the three Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus (and soon... Hocus Pocus 2 ).  It is just five feet wide, but costs more than $100.  Dang that Disney license.   Menards is also selling...

The team at the Bolingbrook Menards has begun to transition away from Summer/camping/back-to-school in the seasonal section to the best part of the year:  early Halloween - which gives way to early Christmas.  That means they have inflatables, window clings, a small amount of generic "fall" stuff (you know...it says things like 'give thanks' and what-have-you) and their spooky village.   Here, below, you can see some of the inflatables they have this year.  They're also adding some non-inflatable "creatures".  Dragons and such that are meant for the front yard and have some motorized movements, but not inflatable.    This row of inflatables features just one licensed Halloween inflatable:  a Frankenstein Minion halloween inflatable.  The rest are Menards house-brand, something called "Pumpkin Hallow".  They have this skeleton popping out of a jack-o-lantern, the dragon (you can see part of him on the right) and something they call "...

Menards has seemingly gone BIG on Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas movie with Jack Skellington, Sally, Oogie Boogie and even Zero items across their line.  From inflatables to stuffed plush, the licensing deal that they've struck with Disney appears to be their signature character line this Fall.  In the photo above, you see three lighted pumpkins:  Sally, Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie all have a built-in LED light that lights up their interiors.  They're cute and I could see the Jack or Oogie Boogie one on the porch.  The Sally one is teal colored and I wonder if it might become part of the trend/used as an identifier of an allergy-free house that the whole movement that the 'Teal Pumpkin Project' has delivered in most neighborhoods.  Could be a nice shortcut for some folks? Below is another look at a different set of these same Nightmare Before Christmas characters, but instead of 12" to 16" versions, these are tiny ones - like the size...

Day three of the run of SpookyTown buildings from Menards this season is here.  First there was the Symphony of Screams bandshell .  Then the tabletop Halloween Gateway Countdown yesterday.  Today, is this Wasteland Pub building.  Just like those two, t he Wasteland Pub is new for 2019 and part of the Menards Spookytown setup. As I mentioned the past few days, Mantleburg isn't in a position to want or need any new annexations this season, so the Wasteland Pub is destined for other municipalities.  I posted back in 2016 about another Lemax Pub - the Big Ben Pub from Caddington Village .  A village like Mantleburg that is in distress can probably use a pub to have the community gather.  Alas, the Mayor hasn't been seen in months and there's nobody around to make those decisions.  Too bad, right? 

As I mentioned in yesterday's post about the haunted bandshell from Lemax's Spookytown , Menards has a bunch of new (to me, at least) items in the Halloween Village.  Again....to be clear:  there's been a revolution and the Mayor of Mantleburg has been thrown out and the locals have opted to be annexed by other Villages.  Mostly by the Village of Craigslist. This isn't quite a building and isn't quite a figure - in the Lemax world.  It is technically classified as a 'Tabletop Piece" in the Lemax site architecture.   And, I think that's justified.  Menards had this Gateway Countdown featured *inside* of their SpookyTown setup - you can see it below: So, it can make sense inside of a Halloween Village setup. But, I think it could also make sense on it's own. The little bin holds the extra numbers on the right and you have to go in and switch them out everyday.  Or the kids have to go in and switch them out everyday.   Which, in o...

We recently caught up with the Halloween stuff that Menards has out for the season.  A trip to Menards during the late Summer/early Fall wouldn't be complete without a look at the Lemax SpookyTown buildings that they have set up.  I've done this for the past few years starting in 2016 .  In 2017, I started to post some animated images of the Spookytown buildings that moved including this Ghostly Manor building .  And last year, I posted a few of the Lemax Spookytown buildings, too . I snapped a few photos of the most interesting structures in Spookytown and will post them in the next few days.  Today, let's start with the "Symphony of Screams" - which is new this year .   It has light, sound and movement that you can see below: The full product page can be found here on the Lemax site .  This is a cute bandshell.  The problem?  The fine folks at Mantleburg aren't annexing any property right now and in fact have shed some of t...

Yesterday, I posted the first in a series of Lemax Spooky Town buildings that Menards is showing this season.  Today, I'm sharing another non-animated Spooky Town building:  Monster Hunting Supplies.  This one is brand new for this year - as the listing shows a 2018 release date .  Their sign bills them as having "The best bait in town".  Cute, but alas, Mantleburg isn't going this direction according to the cryptic press release from the Mayor. Want to see all the Spooky Town structures from Lemax that I've posted about?  Check out the full Spooky Town archive .

Yesterday, I posted a photo of the three kids at the Bolingbrook Menards taking in the Lemax Spooky Town display .  As part of that display, I picked out a few structures that I'll post over the coming days here on the blog.  I started this tradition of posting photos of Spooky Town structures all the way back in 2012 when I posted this photo of this Tombstone Quarry .  In 2016, I did three posts on Spooky Town Lemax buildings and same in 2017.  The full archive of Spooky Town posts can be found here . This year, the display is noticeably small - at least at the Bolingbrook Menards and has this white sign that says "Halloween Village" on top of it.  There are a few animated structures and some neat little people.  I'll post some images and details of some of the buildings in the coming days.  But, today, we'll start with this one above:  the Black Cauldron Bootique.  You'll notice that it is *already* on sale at $10 off the normal price...

Marking the seasonal shift through the introduction of Halloween stuff at our local Menards.  And documenting it with a photo of the kids.  Here's all three of them:  The Babe, the Bird and the King of the Ball Tossers.  Halloween @ Menards photo of two of the kids - 2017 version . Halloween @ Menards photo of two of hte kids - 2016 version . Halloween @ Menards photo of just the Babe - 2015 version . Halloween @ Menards photo of the two girls - 2012 version . Halloween @ Menards photo of just the Babe  - 2011 version . *Blink* They've grown up so fast. 

It is no secret that I have a soft spot for two holiday-related items that are, umm, not super cool.  The first is Christmas Village structures .  Have you met Mantleburg ?  The other?  Holiday-themed inflatables .  Most recently, I've covered how we picked up this blinking eye owl Halloween inflatable .  And I've posted some photos and videos of other Christmas and Halloween inflatables at Menards over the years.  I even have a playlist on my YouTube Channel showing some of these Menards inflatables. The spark for this whole thing around inflatables can be traced back to this post in December of 2013 .  That's when I finally caved and bought our first inflatable .  You'll note that the Christmas of 2013 lines up with the Babe growing up and having some holiday-related awareness.  She and now her sister and brother have certainly influenced my purchase behavior. And, to be fair, I think Nat isn't sold on them.  Scratch tha...

Here's another 'new' structure from the Spooky Town collection out of Lemax that Menards is carrying this year.  I posted photos/details on the Ghostly Manor and the Grim Reaper's Department Store already here on the blog.  This one - Creepy Crawlies Pet Sitting - is priced much lower at $39.99 and isn't animated/doesn't move in any way.  But it is pretty cute anyway.  Lots of colors and a nice idea to add to Spooky Town. You know...Mantleburg doesn't have a pet sitter...  Maybe the Mayor of Mantleburg will convince the powers that be to annex this one?  Seems doubtful being a one-off, but if other Spooky Town structures join Mantleburg's city limits, I would think this one would follow.  But, that's all wishing/hoping for now.  The City Council isn't meeting for weeks and by then, perhaps these will be on sale at Menards?  *That* might weigh on the council's decision, right?

Just yesterday, I posted another photo of Menards Halloween setup with two of the kids and I've already covered a few of the Spooky Town structures .  But, there's a few things that we've bought already that have me giddy with Halloween excitement.  I'll share the bigger things in another post, but first, check out the newest inflatable to our crew: He blinks!?! Yeah.  And this one is definitely not a budget buster and there was just one box remaining on the shelves, so I *had* to buy it, right?  It remains to be seen where Nat will allow me to put up the inflatables at the #newoldfarmhouse.  In year's past, we've always kept most of our holiday-related freakiness (aka inflatables!) in the backyard.  This one is too cool to be hidden from the public, right? And, say what you want about Halloween Creep , but the fact that this was the last one of these things at Menards tells me that consumers are ok with Halloween stuff despite it being August.

Last week, I posted a photo of part of the Menards Halloween section , but it didn't include the kids.  Here's a post with a photo to correct that omission. That's The Bird's "scared face" she says.   And yes, that is a 10' tall pumpkin inflatable in the cart.  You have a good eye! Here's kids at Menards Halloween 2016 . Here they are in 2012 .

Last week, I showed off the first 2017 Lemax Spooky Town structures at Menards in their new Halloween display.   That one was animated and was called Ghostly Manor .  Today, I'm posting a few photos of another large structure called The Grim Reaper's Department Store.  This one is in stock at Menards and is listed for $69.99.  Mantleburg doesn't have a department store, but I'm not sure that the Mayor is going to annex this one, despite the uptick in sales tax revenues that would certainly come along with it. This particular structure doesn't move or isn't animated, but it does have it's own, original soundtrack (with announcements and noises and such) and it has some interesting lighting effects. Here's the video from the Lemax YouTube Channel, where you can see the lights and hear the sounds.

Just yesterday, I posted the first photo of the Menards Halloween setup .  I tagged it " Halloween Creep " and put it in that category on the blog here , but I don't think that concept has broken through in a similar way that it has with people talking about the concept of " Christmas Creep " in the media and online.  As I've talked about in the past, the topic of Christmas Villages and the associated world of holiday miniature villages isn't something that I'm particularly proud of, but it *is* something that totally fascinates me.  I mean...we *do* have a town called Mantleburg after all.  But, with the moves and temporary living situations/holidays at my in-laws place in Naperville, Mantleburg hasn't even made an appearance - let alone grow or annex new structures into the community. Historically, the Mayor of Mantleburg has always taken a stand against Spooky Town and said that he's drawing a line at the holiday of Christmas, so w...

This past weekend marked the turning of the Menards seasonal store inventory over from Summer/back-to-school to Halloween stuff.  And it is the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year!  I've chronicled this transition to Halloween in years past including 2016 here .   2015 here .  And 2012 is here . Now that we've moved to Downers Grove, we don't have a Menards super close any longer - but we have two (Bolingbrook and Glendale Heights) that are the same 15 or 20 minute drive away.  The photo I took above is from Bolingbrook - which is an older-style store.  But their Halloween section is pretty robust and goes well beyond this Halloween Village set-up from Lemax.  Blowmolds and inflatables?  They have a bunch of them including a blinking-eye owl that I have my eye on.   Our new neighbors are going to love the Inflatable City, aren't they?  In Elmhurst, Nat was totally fine with inflatables in the backyard, but drew the line...