Special Agent Oso - The James Bond of Cartoons...

...well, more or less. LOL!

If you have your Telly tuned to Playhouse Disney 24/7, then you'd know who this yellow fluff is. Special Agent Oso was created with James Bond in mind. He helps kids solve problems (in his case, in 3 special steps). This is RL's favorite cartoon. He can watch a single episode over and over again, and laugh at the same funny scenes (over and over). Yes, Oso is oh-so-special. And he endears himself to toddlers and preschool kids.

We noticed RL's fascination for this special agent of a bear early this year. He'd scream each time Oso's on and would watch intently. Eyes on the screen. That type of intent.

When we took K's PSP with us to Hong Kong in July, we had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse videos saved on the memory card and one Special Agent Oso episode. RL took to the episode like glue. And watched that single episode (The Girl Who Cheered Me) from start to finish, every single day, all day, all those 7 days we were there. And yes, laughed at that one part Oso fell on his tushy. Laughed out loud.

I've been scouting for the plush since. The Disney Store had it. Yes, had. It has since sold out. I have been writing to them for updates, but they aren't sure about stocks coming in time for the holidays.

And the toys aren't available here either. I've scoured the shelves of toy stores, both here and in Hong Kong, but no Oso. :( And I so wanted to surprise RL with some Oso stuff for his 22nd Month-day.

So, I did the next best thing. I went and had a few shirts made with Oso on it. This was no easy task, since the nearest mall to our place didn't have Transfer It! I went to 4 malls before I finally got to one that allowed personalization (transfer photos via usb) and had smaller shirts for kids. I finally got in touch with someone from Transfer It! at Ever Commonwealth, who confirmed they could help me with my project. So off we went, with the jpeg files saved on my trusty usb.

I'm glad I went to the Ever Commonwealth Branch because the guy who helped me was meticulous with his work! He had rulers and would really make sure the design was perfectly aligned (not too high, nor too low, in the middle, etc). Perfect! I hate crooked shirt designs (I'm kinda OC, too! LOL!). I can't say much about the girl manning the booth with the guy though, she was busy chatting with someone on Skype (but it looked legit, since the guy she was talking to was from Transfer It! Big R Fairview/Nova). Ok, ok, none of my biz. But it took a while before I got her attention.

After my designs got transfered to their PC, the girl resized and printed them on transfer paper. The guy then made sure the shirts were pressed and ready, and voila! RL's Oso shirts were made!

Needless to say, I had a happy and ecstatic little boy that evening.

But that was all part of the plan, more or less. :)