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Letter to the editor

Heart on bicep may be just the right place

Atomic Tattoos & Piercing is giving incentives to customers who want to help the less fortunate have toys for the holiday season.

By JAY CRIDLIN
Published December 3, 2004

Twenty bucks won't buy you a heart, a butterfly or a strip of thorns around your biceps. But it could get you halfway there.

The lure of a $20 tattoo parlor gift certificate, then, might be enough to persuade tattoo lovers to participate in one of the area's more unusual holiday charity programs: Toys For Tats.

Atomic Tattoos & Piercing is promising a $20 gift certificate to one of its seven Tampa Bay-area parlors for anyone who brings in a new toy worth at least $5.

Atomic's tattoos cost a minimum of $40, so the gift certificate would only cover part of a purchase. But that didn't stop ink lovers from bringing in more than 200 toys valued at more than $1,000 last year.

"We have two boxes here and I imagine that both of them will be full by the 20th," said Laurie Montgomery, manager of the Atomic studio at 112 N Dale Mabry Highway. "Last year we had a really good turnout."

The gift certificate is also good for piercings.

The toys will be collected until Dec. 19, then delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program, which will distribute them to underprivileged children and families around the Tampa Bay area.

"I think it goes to show people that there are many different sides to something like tattooing," said Angelo Nales, a tattoo artist in Brandon. "There are tattoo studios that are reputable businesses and really do care about what goes on."

Nales said patrons have already started filling up his studio's donation box.

"All our regulars, when they bring toys, they just overdo it," he said. "They'll bring in $30 worth of toys, and we'll give them a $20 gift certificate. They feel good on their part, and we do as much as we can for them."

- Staff writer Jonathan Milton contributed to this report. Jay Cridlin can be reached at 661-2442 or cridlin@sptimes.com

Atomic Tattoos & Piercing's Toys For Tats program runs through Dec. 19. Drop off new toys worth at least $5 at the Atomic parlors at 112 N Dale Mabry Highway or 8238 W Waters Ave. Atomic also has studios in Brandon, North Tampa, Largo, Palm Harbor and St. Petersburg. For store locations or more information, visit www.atomictattoos.com or call 875-4440 or 884-4445.

[Last modified December 2, 2004, 13:11:08]