My magical journey into the world of Coraline

10:25 AM on 11.27.2008   |   Rio McCarthy

Yesterday was a very magical day, one that I never saw coming, but was definitely insanely happy with. As I woke up and checked the mail from the post office box, there was a notice for a package that was too large for my mailbox. After going to collect my mail, there was an absolutely huge box waiting for me. I wasn't expecting any packages, so I just couldn't figure out what it could be. The giant brown box had no return address to be found, so I became even more curious.

When I got it to the house I opened it up to find a giant handmade chest. "What... is this?" I asked myself as I got the papers off of the top. I had absolutely no clue what it could possibly be, and for some reason I all of a sudden got concerned, and all I could think was "WHAT IF SOMEONE MAILED ME A HEAD?!" I just shook my head laughing at myself thinking "It's not 1995, stupid. You've watched Se7en too many times."

What I found inside was one of the most exciting things I have ever received. Hit the jump to find out what it was!

After finally getting the wooden chest out of the box I saw the yellow painted "C" on the front of it. I really had a familiar feeling about the whole thing, but I just couldn't place what it was. The chest itself actually measures 19 inches wide, 14 inches deep, and 9 inches tall, so it's relatively good sized.

I lifted open the lid and what stared me in the face was a paper wrapped set of photos, something wrapped in newspaper, a key and a couple of cards. As soon as I saw the photos it quickly came back to me why this chest looked familiar, it was from Neil Gaiman's Coraline! I was extremely thrilled to hear that there was going to be a film done of this book, as not only did I love reading the book, but I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman's work. I couldn't believe this was suddenly in my possession.

At that point I saw the note with a piece from the story. I looked at the newspaper wrapped item and immediately got a smile upon my face.

There she was, just as described, here lies Coraline's doll. Everything was there, even down to the crazy buttoneyes. She's actually pretty large as well and is almost 11 inches tall. I'm not 100% for sure, but it actually looks to be the model they used in the movie, or at least it's a very close replica.

There was also a key that had a password on it. If you go to coraline.com you can put in the password "BUTTONEYES" and you'll be able to view a video they have put together on the site called "Let's Meet the Cast of Coraline." It shows a lot of the models they've used in the stop-motion film. The final piece of the amazing package was the topping on the cake though.

Inside the wax sealed envelope that was attached to the top inside of the chest was a letter. The letter, as above, basically stated that they had been keeping an eye on us here at Tomopop and decided to allow me to be a part of the strangers of great websites to receive this amazing promotional piece. They also said that this box was especially packaged for me, so now I'm quite curious to see who ends up with the other 49 boxes and what ends up inside them.

I can definitely say I feel very honored being blessed with this awesome piece. I absolutely love the story of Coraline and already couldn't wait to see the movie, now I'm even more excited! I want to send a heartfelt thank you to everyone on the Coraline Team, as you can't even begin to imagine how happy receiving this today has made me. I wish everyone on the team the best and I can't wait to see pictures of all those other mysterious boxes out there!