Silence had once more descended on the Oxford toybox, leaving Woody alone with his thoughts. Thank heaven Jeffy had taken a break from bothering him, he sighed – although that probably only meant his former friend had once again teamed up with the Hammorama pig and they were now trying to find a way-in round the back. Good luck with that, Woody half-smiled. Security at his toybox – if precious little else – was working just fine.
For the first time in ages, he had allowed himself to think back to the beginning – to his glory days at the Henley toybox when he had once again confounded the sceptics and shown them a good old-fashioned cowboy could generate just as much love as any of those whizz-bang spaceships or those awful computers or those bizarre toys that look like one thing and then surprise everybody by turning into something else.
And then he had started turning up. Every time Woody had taken some downtime to practice his quick-draw or lasso routines, there was Spaceman – always whistling ‘You’ve got a friend in me’ and telling him how he was the best toy in all the world. Whose idea was it initially to set up a rival toybox? His own, Spaceman’s, some sort of synchronicity? It all seemed a lifetime ago …
But the certainty and the self-belief – his, Spaceman’s, theirs – had been intoxicating: they were going to generate more love than any toy had ever managed before. And they weren’t the only ones who thought so either – back at the start, people were tripping over themselves to play with him – Jeffy and the other cheerleaders, more little green people than anyone but Spaceman could have dreamt of, the toy catalogues …
Read Part 1 of Woody’s Christmas round-up here
Oh, those toy catalogues! In the early days they were queuing up to talk to him and Spaceman, vying with each other to ensure the most attractive offers, to put his details in their pages and slap his photo on their front covers. Yet there was really only one they cared about – only one any toy cared about – and that, of course, was the hallowed pages of the catalogue of the Bristol Toy Barn.
True, it did seem to be published with increasing regularity, which could be a little annoying, but when it came to raising the profile of a toy – even one as universally loved as Woody – these guys were second to none. And if you ever made it into the Bristol Toy Barn’s ‘List of Our Very Favourite Toys’ and thus into their actual store window? Well, then you were laughing all the way to the soft-play area.
Read Part 3 of Woody’s Christmas round-up here
Better still, Spaceman had no doubt it was going to happen for Woody. “It’s a done deal,” he would assure him – before quickly adding: “Not that there is ever any actual deal, of course, you understand – that would be entirely inappropriate.” And Woody had believed Spaceman because, well, when you’re the toy everyone wants to play with, why would the Bristol Toy Barn be any different?
Yes, again, there were a few spoilsports – like that toy-tester with the mean questions, who never seemed able to keep his shirt done up. “Who says ‘no’ to Woody?” he’d asked, with the clear implication Woody might grow too big for his cowboy boots. Well, he’d shown the mean toy-tester with his clever answer about how he had Sarge and the Bucket O Soldiers, with all their combat experience, to look after him.
Admittedly that hadn’t gone entirely to plan, what with it being engrained in Sarge and his men that you obey orders and follow the hierarchy – particularly when you’re dealing with the cowboy whose name is on the toybox. Sarge had been the first casualty and then the ones with the mine-detectors and all the others – even the soldiers shooting lying down – until, well, as Spaceman had put it: “We’re going to need a bigger bucket.”
Was that where it had started to go wrong, then? Were Sarge and the other soldiers to blame? Sure, they had warned him and Spaceman not to tinker with a tried-and-tested formula. Sure, they had begged him to keep the boring cowboy hat and the outdated little six-shooter. But had they physically restrained him? They had not, sulked Woody, and what is more, during the Lots-o-Patience Bear fiasco, they were nowhere to be seen.
To be continued …
You can read Part 1 of Woody’s Christmas round-up here and Part 3 of Woody’s Christmas round-up here
