macbookpro stolen, new mini cant see time machine to migrate etc. tho the sparsebundle shows in disk utility

I tried the possible settings when i first booted. The machine just sat there, no spinning wheel, nada.

I tried migration, selecting restore from external disk (the last of 4 choices) Once again the mac just sat there.

I cant recall where another screen was located but you were prompted with "select a disk to restore from!" (! added for grrr). The selection box was square and no disks were listed. This may have been in time machine itself? (Vague, huh)

I also tried booting from recovery and discovered it ain't possible with different model macs.

I frankensteined all the required files using an open bundle from disk utilty (music, photos, etc over usb2 to manually restore as much as possible)

To add insult to injury, AMAZON.COM SOLD ME A USED MAC MINI so it is going back today for the new machine that I paid for. Apple informed me the serial number was registered to someone else. I really would prefer my original migration if possible with the new machine.

suggestions?