Yard Sale Finds #17 – I Guess I was Wrong. And a Preview of What’s Next

I had honestly thought that I had seen the last of this year’s yard sales when I made my last post.  I was wrong!  There were only a few that crossed my path, but they did yield a handful of video games for my collection.

What you see above ran me $3.40.  I know you’re probably thinking, “Where the hell did 40 cents come from?!”.   Here’s the deal…

I ran across Paper Mario first.  The asking price was $1.50, which is a great deal.  I had a lone single, and 40 cents in my pocket(I didn’t want to break a bigger bill because I was a dime short).  The lady running the sale said, “close enough.”, and I was on my way.

The Mickey Mouse SNES game is one I’ve never played before, and was a no-brainer at $1.  Pokemon Blue from Gameboy was also a great deal at $1.  I could probably seel it for way more money than I paid for it, but I actually enjoy playing the Gameboy Pokemon games(when Pokemon Yellow was released back in ’98-’99, it was the reason I bought a Gameboy Color).  So, a pretty small haul, but some nice additions(and all for Nintendo cystems, no less!).

And here’s a hint of what’s coming up next.

Yard Sale Finds #15

I had high expectations for yard sales for the past couple of weeks.  And while I have found some things, there hasn’t been much that has interested me.  On top of that, some people are asking for too much for a lot of things.  This past weekend, I found a handful of things.  The weekend before, I hardly found anything.  So I lumped both weekends together, to make a more robust post.

First we’ll start with some reading material.

I am nowhere near as into wresting as I was back in the day.  I stopped watching somwhere back in 2002.  It seemed like it was more of a soap opera more than anything else.  I liked to watch it for the matches, and it seems like there’s too much dialogue, and plots to actually give you that consistantly.  But Hulk Hogan has been a favorite of mine since I was like 5 years old.  And from what I’ve read in the past, wresting biographies are a decent read.  This book has a cover price of $26!  But I got it for 25 cents.  So even if it’s horrible, I won’t be kicking myself for buying it.  The Guiness Book of World Records, is a bit dated since it’s the 2004 edition(not to mention it’s the paperback).  But it’s always a good book to flip though, making it perfect bathroom reading.  And for 25 cents, it was hard to resist.

Everything above set me back $3.75.  The Game Cube games were a mere $1 each.  Which was refreshing, because you have people these days, trying to sell the crappiest PS2 games for $5 or more.  The same people were also selling Wii games for $3 each(these people had great prices for everything), but there wasn’t anything I was interested in.  Bloodsport was still in the factory shrinkwrap, and was sold to me for $1.50.  I bought it at “The World’s Biggest Yard Sale”(it really wasn’t), from a seller who had probably more than 1000 DVDs(some brand new, and some used).  I didn’t stick around for too long to check everything out, as people were all up on this great deal.  The Pee-Wee’s Playhouse tape was 25 cents at a sale we stopped at later in the day.  It’s one of the original VHS releases from 1988.  The funny thing is that I found a brand new VCR head cleaner(still sealed with the FYE price tag in tact), which comes in handy, since I do have a small collection of VHS tapes.

Pretty much the only toys I saw were either newer toys from properties that were from somwhere in the last 10 years, or they were of the fast food variety.  So it was slim pickin’s.

Although her nose seems to be chewed off, there was no way I could turn down this Cheetarah figure for 50 cents.  She was my last fing of the day, and I almost didn’t see her!  I’m happy if I could find figures from the eighties, as they are getting harder and harder to find in the wild.  My old-school Thundercats collection is lacking, so I’ll take what I can find.  And lastly, I found a Micro Machine for 25 cents.  Unlike my last yard sale post, this one is an official Micro Machine by Galoob.  I checked on that before I inquired about it.  I probably still would have bought it even if it “wasn’t the real thing!”.

And that’s it.  I did pick up a few new things that I plan on reviewing this week.  I know I was MIA in July for the most part, but I would like to rectify that.  I have the urge to write more, and I have some stuff that I want to write about(a winning combination).

Bazooka

Howdy everyone!  I needed to take a bit of a hiatus from blogging but I’m back now!  It’s been a little dry in regards to toys, but I do have some stuff that I can make(at least little) posts for.

I went to a few yard sales in the past week or so, but I only obtained one new item!  And it was this guy.

Bazooka was in a bag with a bunch of other G.I. Joes, some of which were broken.  The bag said that they were $3.50 each, but the guy selling them said that he would give me a deal for all of them.  The only others that I noticed were another Bazooka, and a Gung-Ho who was just barely hanging on by his o-ring.  There were others, but I wasn’t familiar with them.  So, I decided against buying them all, and just took the single figure.  The paint is good, and the joints are as tight as the day he was purchased.  Not a homerun, but a decent addition for $2.00.

Yard Sale Finds #11, and…

It seems like that time of the year is upon us.  The time when the weather’s warm, and you need any excuse not to be in the house.  It’s late spring, and it is now, yard sale season.

There were quite a few sales in my surrounding area.  But I didn’t find a whole lot that caught my interest.  I did find some neat stuff though.

First is this freebie.

This was unmarked at one seller’s table.  And when I inquired about the price, she told me I could have it for nothing!

Another angle.

I’m not sure when this promotion ran at McDonald’s, but the last copyright date on the glass is 1965.  Anybody know?

There were tons of vhs and dvd’s available, but they were either horribly overpriced(and some in pretty rough shape), or they just weren’t very desirable.  That being said, I did manage to find a few that peaked my interest.

I am a New York Rangers fan, and these dvds peaked my curiosity, as I’ve never seen anything like these.   One is a random Rangers game from 2009 against the Washington Capitals.  And the second is a National Hockey League “Rule Enforcement” dvd for the 2008-2009 season.  I’ll try to find out some further info on these.

The vhs tape is The Trolls and the Christmas Express.  From what is depicted on the case, this movie seems very familiar.  The animation is unique, and I’d love this to be another holiday movie I can watch during the season.  For 25 cents, there wasn’t much risk.

And video games.

(not pictured : The Genesis controller that I got for free.)

Typically, I wouldn’t buy a carrying case for a handheld system, unless it’s one for the old-school Game Boys.  But, the case that I keep all of my Game Boy games in, it getting crowded and I could use the room.  I can use the case to primarily house my original Game Boy games, while the carrying case can hold the “SP” itself, as well as many games as I can fit.  50 cents well spent!

I went to the sales with my buddy Mike, and like me, he collects NES games(although not on the same scale as I do).  At the first sale we hit, I found the 2 games pictured, in a spot he had just looked at.  He couldn’t believe that he passed right by them.  They’re nothing special, but a great find at $1 a piece.  I have never learned how to play Othello, but it’s a great addition, nonetheless.  The other cart is Flying Dragon : The Secret Scroll(it says this on the top part of the label, while the face says it’s The Secret Scroll : Flying Dragon.).  I have never played this one either, but I have never come across it before, so I hope it’s decent.

Also, Lilo & Stitch for PS1.  I don’t know if the game itself is any good, but a PS1 game for 50 cents is hard to leave behind.  🙂

Now, as you can see, I didn’t find any toys!  That’s the bad news.  The good news, is that I did get all of my Ebay purchases in the mail.  So we’ll take a look at one of those.

G1 Cosmos!!  Cosmos has long been my favorite of the little Transformers.  How could you not love a transforming U.F.O.?  His alt mode is a very classic looking flying saucer.  He cost me a total of $7, but $4.50 of that was for shipping.  But he also came with his Tech Specs, so that’s not too bad.  It’s always nice when I get the opportunity to add another G1 figure to my collection.

I did get a few other things.  The other items are all MISB.  My question is…should I do individual posts?  Or, do I showcase them in a single post?  There a re a total of 3 items.  But 2 of them are related, and have to be written about together.  So, I’ll let you guys choose.  If I don’t get any votes, I’ll see how I want to go about this.

Yard Sale Finds #10 and Other Recent Acquisitions

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday(if you have it off).  A big part of my area was hit pretty hard with tropical storm Irene and it’s pretty hard to swallow.  Many people, including my wife’s grandmother, have had their homes severely damaged or completely lost.  But everyone is working together and trying to rebuild our communities.  All I would like to ask of those who read here, is to keep those who were affected in your thoughts.

The yard sale finds we’ll be looking at today are from last Saturday, the day before Irene hit.  But we’ll also take a look at some other acquisitions that were not procured at yard sales.

First up.

The Best of Unsolved Mysteries is a “best of” from the days when Robert Stack hosted the show.  I won this brand new on Ebay for less than $10(including shipping)  While the most recent incarnation of the show with Dennis Farina is a pretty good show, it didn’t have the eerieness of the original series.  I think Robert Stack’s voice and the way he presented the stories had something to do with it.  I was intrigued with this show when I was younger.  The stories would scare the shit out of me, but I couldn’t stop watching.  I’ve watched about half so far, and I think, being that we are now entering the spooky Halloween season, this will be a perfect fit on a chilly fall evening.

Now some yard sale finds.

If you have read any of my previous “Yard Sale Finds” posts, you will know that I am a fan of old children’s books.  I typically gravitate to books I remember from my childhood.  And these are going to be books that I will read to my kids(we don’t have any yet, but we’re trying).  The hard cover Winnie the Pooh book is from a series of many that we had growing up.  I now have5 of them(3 Ducktales, and Peter Pan).  And who doesn’t remember The Berenstain Bears?  These were great books that taught us life lessons, and right from wrong.  Mercer Mayer’s artwork has always stood out to me, and I’ll always recognize them among any books.  And you can’t go wrong at 25 cents.  I got all three books for 1 dollar(the Disney book was 50 cents).

This is an awesome movie!  The disc looks like it’s never been removed from the case, and on top of that, it was only 50 cents!  Chevy Chase, John Candy, Dan Aykroyd.  What’s not to like?!  If you haven’t seen this, check it out if you get the chance.  It’s funny, weird and entertaining.

All 3 of these glasses/cups were in a “free” bin at a church rummage sale.  When I was a kid we had a bunch of those Giants glasses, which is why I got this one, even though I’m a Packers fan.  The Kermit one is a Welch’s jelly jar, but make no mistake, these were marketed as collectible cups.  The product itself was in the premium.  And the Masters of the Universe cup is from a 1985 Burger King promotion.  I can’t tell you much more about it because we primarily went to McDonald’s when we wanted fast food.  They’re all great, and I have my wife to thank for finding them.

At the same rummage sale they had a tub full of toys, and you could stuff as many as you could in a big Ziploc bag for a dollar. What a great deal!!

First, on the left is Raphael from Jim Lee’s TMNT line.  Jim Lee is an amazing artist, and I like his take on the Turtles.  I have never come across these before, and now I can say these are pretty cool figures.  These are bigger than the typical Playmates Turtle figures, and has different articulation than the classic ones.  Next to him is Rat King from the original series(he was released in 1989).  I already have Rat King, but this one has very little wear, which makes it’s condition better than the one I have.  Then we have Mike the Sewer Surfer from 1990.  I love the little details they put on this figure(as well as others, including Rat King).  And lastly is Pizza Tossin’ Raphael(stamped 1993, released in 1994).  The only other time I’ve seen these, I ended up buying them.  I don’t think they’re rare or anything, but they’re quite different from the other TMNT figures produced around the same time.  Now I just need to find Pizza Tossin’ Michaelangelo, and I’ll have all four!

And that’s not all I was able to stuff into the bag!

First we have a 2009 Plankton Burger King toy.  It’s nothing special, but it was still in it’s box, and I like the styling(and I watch Spongebob too…so what?).  Next to Plankton is a Domino figure from the 1995  X-Men/X-Force line.  X-Force was a hot title when it first came out in 1991, and Domino was one of my favorite characters in that series.  Next to Domino is a little Batgirl figure from 1993.  There are no other markings I can find to tell where it came from.  Still pretty cool nonetheless.  Then there’s one of my favorite finds!  “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase from Hasbro’s 1991 WWF line.  These figures were very cool.  All of them had an action that would imitate some wrestling move.  Lifting Ted’s arm will bring his right foot up, and releasing it would send it stomping down(and this one’s still works).  And lastly is a The Corps figure from 1992.  I didn’t know what it was when I found it, but I was drawn to it’s neon green coloring.  Further research tells me that this is Shark(version 1), from 1992.

We’re not done yet.

Each of these games cost me only 1 dollar each!  Non of them have their instruction manuals, but the games are in great condition, which is what matters most.  Out of the three, I’ve only played Metroid Prime.  Starfox Adventures should be fun, even though I don’t think it revolves around flying.  But instead of Metal Arms:Glitch in the System being in it’s case, there was this.

The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Edition!  This disc contains the original Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link(The Legend of Zelda II), Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask.  It also contains a 20 minute demo of The Wind Waker, as well as a couple of videos.  This wasn’t for sale in stores.  The only way you could get was if you bought a specially bundled Gamecube which came with the game.  Or, you could have gotten it through a special promotion from Nintendo Power.  The disc alone usually sells for $25.00+, but I already own a complete copy.  But I had a friend who was interested, so we made a trade.

Here’s what I traded it for.

This is an original Nintendo storage chest from the days of the NES.  Shortly before I took these photos, I ended up breaking a part of the bottom drawer(I guess I was a little too rough).  The top drawer can house 2 NES controllers as well as a Zapper.

I love how the spaces for the cords, is labeled chords.  Could this be a case of what is considered Engrish?  This is just one of those things that makes the history of Nintendo’s first console interesting.

The bottom drawer can house 28 NES cartridges.

I decided to put all of my games with manuals, as well as some of my favorite games in that drawer.  It’s a nice piece, and it opened up some room on my NES book case.

I got these bendable, plush California Raisins from a thrift store called Richie Rich’s.  I may have mentioned this place before, I don’t really remember.  Originally, I only wanted the one with the sunglasses.  He was marked at 2 dollars, but it was a half-price day!  So I gladly paid a buck for him.  Richie knows me, so he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.  He said I could take the rest of them for an additional 50 cents!  I only had 46 cents worth of change in my pocket, and he said that would work(he just wanted to get rid of them).  One of the females is missing the decal on the lips, but it was basically free.  Anybody interested in taking off of my hands?

Here’s a hint of what’s up next.

Anyone fancy a guess?

Yard Sale Finds #7

Howdy!  I know it’s been a while.

This weekend was great for me on the yard sale front.  I got some good deals on some really cool stuff.  There are a few items that you will not see today because they are going to get their own separate posts in the coming days.  One of the items we’ll see in it’s own post, should not have survived this long(I was stoked to find this, you’ll see it tomorrow).  Almost all of my finds were toys(yay!), and I paid the price I had in my head every time.

I was quite surprised at the volume of children’s books people were selling.  And even more surprised at how many were of interest to me.

With the exception of the Calvin and Hobbes(50 cents), each book cost me ten cents.  The Masters of the Universe book is the only one with writing in and on it.  The Voltron book made me laugh because all of the pictures within it appear to be screen caps of a specific episode.  The little pink heart was my first find of the day in a “free” pile.  The Matchbox vehicle was thrown in with 4 books to make an even 50 cents(one of my nephews will end up with it).  The TMNT vhs was found at a mini flea market that was being run at a couple of lockers at a storage facility.  I purchased the video because it has one thing the dvd doesn’t have.  The Pizza Hut commercial.  Yes, that Pizza Hut commercial.  Plus it was only a buck, and one of the first finds of the day.  I did find something else at that storage facility that I have wanted since I was a kid, but we’ll see that in a few days(any guesses?).

Our next item was found at the same sale I found the Calvin and Hobbes book.

A bubble light night light!  When I was growing up, these were my favorite lights on our Christmas tree.  For years I have been searching for strands of these lights(I know I could find them on Ebay for probably a lot more than I’d be willing to pay), with no luck.  I would’ve paid up to 3 dollars for this, but got it for a quarter.  It looks great and will hold me over until I can find a strand of these beauties.

Bring on the toys!

These guys were found in a old “collector’s” sale.  By collector, I mean that he collected older stuff.  From old advertising pieces to vintage glassware to records.  The box I found these two in, had them selling for 3 bucks each.  Even Raphael from TMNT, who had a broken arm was going for 3 dollars!  If there’s anything I have learned from American Pickers(moreso with Frank), it’s bundling.  I ended up getting these 2 guys and a secret item for 3 dollars!  Stinkor’s scent gimmick is very faint, but maybe finding a replacement chest plate will rectify that?  I’m really surprised I found Buzz-Off with his wings intact.  I remember regularly removing his wings back in the day.  The joints are pretty good on both figures and their action works as well.

And lastly….

Darth Vader was found before everyone else.  I couldn’t seem to find any trademark or copyright stampings, so I’m not sure of his origin(anyone know?).  I figured the dollar they were asking for him was reasonable.  He’s twice the size of the regular figures, and he he has a cloth cape.  A cloth cape!  The other seven guys we’re found at a single sale for a buck a piece!  The lady wanted 2 dollars each, but we made a deal of a dollar each if I bought them all(I remembered from last time).  Greedo is stamped 1995 so I know he’s not one of the classic figures(and he looks extremely faded).  All of the others are stamped with either a 70s or 80s copyright.  I was across the lawn when I spotted these guys.  From there I only could see Chewbacca and Admiral Ackbar.  Only when I got to the table did I see that there were a total of seven figures.  The lady selling them was talking them up, telling me what she was seeing them sell for on Ebay.  I explained to her that I collect old-school toys and she made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

So how do you think I fared this weekend?  I have other posts lined up for this week that I hope to put up starting tomorrow.  I’m actually a little excited about the things I plan on writing about this week.  And you know how it is around this place…it could be anything.

Yard Sale Finds #5

The yard sale season is finally upon us.  This is when others’  “junk” becomes our treasure.  In the coming months, bordering towns/villages, will hold village wide garage/yard sales on the weekends.  It’s not every weekend, but only one village wide garage sale will be on any given weekend.  This weekend was the town of Esperance’s village wide sale.

I found a bunch of stuff, but came home with very little in the toy department.  I spent around five dollars for everything you will see here today.

It was an overcast day yesterday, but still warm enough to be outside in a t-shirt.  I woke up at 7:30am(on a day I could sleep in), but I didn’t head out until about 10:45am.  This was probably the reason that I didn’t get a lot of cool toys.  It could also be that I have been hitting the annual sale in Esperance for the last 4 years!  There’s only so many old-school toys in a single location, but I’m with the same train of thought as The New York Lottery….”Hey, you never know.”

I came across some really great deals on books.  I came home with six really cool books, which cost me a grand total of just .95 cents!  And the books came from 3 different sellers!  Here’s the first 4 I found yesterday morning.

From 1979, we have Mercer Mayer’s “Little Monster’s Alphabet Book”.  I remember thinking that the little monster on the cover was a cool looking character when I was a kid.  While this book came out the year I was born, I remember liking this Little Monster series in my early years.  Then we have Sesame Street’s “The Little Red Hen”.  This came out in 1983.  I don’t remember this specific book, but the Sesame Street books that came out in this period were great books for their target demographic(the best Sesame Street book is “The Monster at the End of this Book”, in case you wanted to know).  Lastly we have “Like, MAD” and “Fighting MAD”, from 1960 and 1961 respectively.  These came out many years before my time, but if you’re a fan of MAD, your a fan of their complete works.  Don Martin is my favorite of all MAD artists, and you can see some of his early work within these pages.  It’s not exactly the work I remember from the 80’s, but it’s cool to see some of his early work, as it was kind of rough(but you would still know it was his work).

And here are the other 2 books that I purchased.

From 1963, we have 2 books from the LIFE Nature Library.  The first is a book called The Sea.  I have had a fascination with animals since I can remember.  My obsessions when I was a kid(besides toys and cartoons), were animals, dinosaurs and outer space.  I still retain interest in all of those categories, and the sea is a great place to find some of the weirdest life forms on earth.  Secondly we have The Forest.  While not as cool as sea animals, this is very informative for the life that lives in the world’s forests.  A damn good deal at .25 cents a piece!

In a rare event, I actually found a couple of video games at such a price, that it wasn’t necessary to haggle!

At one dollar per game, I thought it was a hell of a deal!  Spawn The Eternal is from 1997, The Die Hard Trilogy is from 1996.  I haven’t played the Spawn game, but I remember playing the Die Hard Trilogy on the PS1, as well as the arcade version.  Despite being hard as hell at times, The Die Hard Trilogy is a blast to play.

If you’ve read some of my other yard sale posts, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for old-school cups and glasses.  And this weekend proved to provide a nice assortment of vintage drink receptacles.

The Far Side mug will now be my mug of choice when I’m drinking coffee.  I think everyone can relate to this.  Where I live, there are plenty of dairy farms, so I see my fair share of cows.  I’m pretty sure that when 99% of people drive by and they see a cow, they let out an audible “Moo”.  This mug depicts the reversal of roles, and I find that hilarious!  In the middle is a McDonald’s “Mac Tonight” collector’s cup from 1987.  I don’t know why we haven’t seen more of Mac, but I will enjoy drinking out of this cup.  And on the right, is a McDonald’s Garfield collector’s glass from 1978.  I now have 4 of these(3 different, with 1 duplicate).  I love Garfield, and if you don’t, you have no soul.

Let’s wrap this up!

From 1995, it’s a “BK Kids Club Cooler”.  I can only remember Kid Vid and Jaws.  Research tells me that this “Snaps”.  Kid Vid is obviously the chaser.  If any male my age says that Kid Vid was not their favorite, they’re a dirty liar!  Totally worth the dime the seller was asking.  That little wizard guy appears to be hand made, and there’s no date of any tell tale markings of being a production piece, so I’m guessing it was made by a student or in a craft class.  Two quarters was all it took to make it mine!  The black tray is a Discover card check tray(?).  It is shrink wrapped and does not appeared to be used.  I got this from the same seller who sold me the Snaps Cooler, for .10 cents as well.  For a nickel, my wife found that neat little Pepsi Cola truck.  While I have nothing against Coke, and I drink it from time to time, I come from a Pepsi family.  Now, I finally have one of these cool Dark Knight figures found in boxes of various General Mills cereals back in 2008(this is the one with the uppercut action).  The hunt was fun, and I made out okay, so I can’t complain.  I love to go garage saling, as it’s a defining activity of my summer.  And you can bet we’ll see more as the weather gets warmer.