It Appeared Mysterious-Lee

Sometime around Christmas, a package arrived without fanfare nor identifiable origin. It was a bright red box adorned with the famous signature and telltale sunglasses of pop culture icon Stan Lee.

Being a fan of the man (yes, in spite of his many flaws and almost embarrassing relentless assault of self-promotion), I tore into it right away.

The box contained items from the "Stan Lee Collection", a swath of knicknackery and apparel that was staggering in both range and whimsy:

A letter welcoming me to the association of "Friends and Fans of Stan", praising me for my judgment and insight.

A reprinted comic featuring The Inhumans (coming soon to Marvel TV) and a lithograph featuring The Man himself in a pose reminiscent of his most famous creation.

A trio of items featuring Stan's ubiquitous expression "Excelsior!", a pin, badge, and collectible coin (with a comic cel insert).

Then a ring (a really nice weighty one too), emblazoned with the selfsame exclamation, and a membership card, and an...ocarina? Of doom, apparently? Like I said, whimsical.

And a high quality notebook embossed with a caricature of Smilin' Stan, and possibly the oddest item, a set of shirt buttons, spelling out S T A N  L E E. Crazy! But cool nonetheless. There was also a cute figurine shaped like a soda can, but it went very quickly to my desk at work.

Oh, and maybe my favourite current tshirt:

I've approached those I thought most likely to have provided this windfall, but they have all professed ignorance (and in one case, a degree of jealousy).

If you are the benefactor in question and happen to be reading this, thank you very much! I really appreciate this strange assortment of items in honor of a major influence and creative legend.

One of my favourite little things in it is this passage in the welcome letter, outlining Stan's Code of Conduct:

Word to live by, right up there with "Face front, True Believer!"

Excelsior, indeed.