Why I Oughta...

Day Three of the Menards Lemax Christmas Village reveal.  First was the Draft Bros Home Brewing Supplies store . Then yesterday was the Elf Workshop .  Today comes Nora's Christmas Boutique.  Nora's is part of Caddington Village which is a Victorian Era town.    If you search [ Caddington ] here on the blog, you'll see a series of structures that I've featured over the years.  It seems that Menards sells a lot of the Caddington Village line every year.  Above you'll see the building in the Menards Village setting.  Below is the box - with the price of $39.99.  (11% back, of course!) As you guys know, Mantleburg isn't adding anything to the town, but the Economic Development Commissioner can't help but listening to the presentations from the merchants who are looking to move into town. In terms of villages, you can get lost over on the /villages page at Lemax's site .  Sure, I've flirted with Vail Village or Spookytown or even the Carniva

I've mentioned in all of the recent Lemax Christmas Village posts that Mantleburg isn't annexing any new structures into town this year and with the recent election of a slate of Libertarian candidates taking on new leadership roles in town, they've even moved to de-annex some existing portions of Mantleburg and just focus the town's operations on the seasonal train. This year, I've covered a handful of Lemax Christmas Village buildings that are part of the Menards holiday setup including: 1. Draft Brothers Craft Brewing Supplies Store from the Harvest Crossing Collection. 2. The Elf Workshop from Santa's Wonderland Village. 3. Nora's Christmas Boutique from the Caddington Village Collection. 4. The Round-up animated carnival ride from the Carnival Village Collection. The one in the post today is interesting because it *is* potentially train-related.  And that's why, despite their anti-growth/anti-government leanings the new Mayor and

Another day, another Lemax lighted building.  This time, it is a new release from 2016 called the Village Wine & Beer Garden.  This is part of Lemax's Caddington Village , which they seem to have rolled out tons of new buildings for this season. None of which are destined for Mantleburg .  Sad face.  (kinda)

Huzzah, huzzah!  The new Lemax Christmas Village structures are up at Menards.  And that means that the fine folks running the government at Mantleburg are on the prowl for some fresh, new annexations.  With the local residents not happy about their property taxes, the Mayor is on the lookout for some new businesses that can both add and diversify its tax base.   This place - the Vintage Grind Coffee Company - seems to fit the bill.  With what appears to be a small retail operation out front and clearly a significant wholesale business, this place would offer both the benefits of sales tax and also some employment opportunities for Mantleburg's residents.  That is, unless all that fancy-schmancy automation you see in the image above has eliminated all the jobs?   I'm certain that the Village Board and the Mayor will decide soon enough if there's room in Mantleburg for an outfit like this.   If you find yourself in Menards, you can find the Vintage Grind Coffee

We might even be able to consider this one 'vintage' when it comes to Lemax at Menards.  From the Caddington Village Collection comes this Big Ben Pub .  And I'm thinking because it *is* four years old, that's part of the reason for the pricing at $29.99.  That's $10+ cheaper than most of the other Lemax buildings Menards is selling these days. And, no, Mantleburg isn't big enough these days for both a tavern and a pub.

Another day, another Lemax Christmas Village building. This one is from the Carnival Village and is called The Round Up.  It is pretty neat.  Lemax lists it as being released in 2012 on their site , but this is the first time I've seen it at Menards.  Quick refresher for this year's Menards Christmas Village buildings: 1.  Draft Brothers Craft Brewing Supplies Store  from the Harvest Crossing Collection 2.  The Elf Workshop from Santa's Wonderland Village. 3.  Nora's Christmas Boutique from the Caddington Village Collection.  Now comes the first carnival-focused, animated, musical structure here on the blog.  This isn't the first one we've bought or come across, but the first one on the blog.  And it is pretty neat. Called The Round Up Village Carnival Ride - priced at $89.99 -   it is described by Menards thusly : The Round Up is an absolute blast! This spinning carnival ride puts gravity to the test as a southern-sounding cowboy announcer tell

New this year at Menard's is this animated Popcorn factory from Lemax.  You can see a lot of the movement in the image above, but there's also music.  If you want to see it, check out the video below at the bottom of the post.  This one, too, is from the Caddington Village collection. When he goes with his family to the Country House for burgers, the Mayor of Mantleburg is more of a peanuts in the shell guy, not a popcorn guy.  So...unless the developer is going to grease his palm, I'm guessing this one is going to be a tough sell for Mantleburg.  What...with its garishness and bright lights, it seems like it might be out of place amongst the other existing structures?

Look who is coming along for the ride with the new Bells & Whistles Christmas Decor building from Lemax at Menards this year?  That's right...Santa Claus himself!  That might sway the Mayor of Mantleburg, I would think?  This one is also part of the Caddington Village collection like the past few days that included the Vintage Grind Coffee Company and The Dog House .  Mantleburg is already such a seasonal town, it would seem to be a logical fit to have a Christmas decorations-specific store in town, right?  Boost the local economy when it is thriving?  They only get visitors during the holiday season and they've resisted the whole "spookytown" transformation over the years.  This one seems like slam dunk for annexation, but maybe once the sale prices come to Menards... Or...we actually set up Mantleburg for the first time in three years.  One or the other.

Pets are big business, right?  Maybe Mantleburg should serve those families who have pups around the house?  Could be a good source of sales tax revenues, but are there enough dogs in town to support the annexation?   Just like the Vintage Grind Coffee Company from yesterday , the Dog House is part of the Caddington Village collection.  

Another day, another Lemax Christmas village building.  This time it is the Corner Barber Shop, which just like the piano bar from yesterday is new this year . Mantleburg could totally use a barber shop.  Alas, it isn't in the cards. Both the barber shop and the piano bar are part of the Caddington Village collection that also features quite a few 'new in 2016' structures .

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?