I spent .75 cents today

[Marvelmania]

Jason's great find prompted me to share this. Earlier today I went to the UT vs UAB game and on the way home I stopped by a few yard sales. Here's what I grabbed. Wish it all had been Megos!

1968 Star Trek Lunchbox for .50 cents. I'd say it's in about C-6 shape missing the thermos and needing a bath. It was full and crayons so there's crayon marks inside but it all should clean up nicely. Anyone know how to get crayon marks out? I've heard WD-40 will do the trick.

http://megomuseum.com/mmgallery/files/1/9/trekbox.jpg

70's Hulk bath towel .25 cents. Not a big deal but I love to find any vintage superhero at a yard sale.

http://megomuseum.com/mmgallery/files/1/9/hulktowel.jpg

[Evel KMego]

Can't beat those kinda deals!!

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Cool find!

[Mikey]

Wow,
That lunchbox should easily net you $150.00 !!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps $250.00 on a good day.

SWEET !!!!!!!!!!

Don't submerge it in water.
Just clean it using a damp cloth and immediately dry each part when done.

DON'T use any chemicals to clean the outside litho.
Only use water (damp cloth) --- paper towels are fine.

The inside, you can try a tad of windex glass cleaner --- but don't spray it in the box.
Spray it on the cloth --- and don't get any on the outside litho.

The handle should come clean using an old toothbrush.

Lastly, remember.
Rust is forever once it's there.
Don't try to remove it.
You'll only make it worse.

[toys2cool]

best $.75 you ever spent huh? :grin:

[megoat]

DON'T use any chemicals to clean the outside litho.
Only use water (damp cloth) --- paper towels are fine.

.

I've used Goo Gone on lunchboxes and other tin/metal toys with NO PROBLEMS. So it may work to remove crayon. But always proceed with caution.

[HardyGirl]

Fantastic!

[miguet]

Nice find, congrats!

[ShadowAvenger]

Great finds, Tim. I stopped going to local garage sales about ten years ago since all they had were baby clothes. Now I find a few items at the local thrift stores.

[Hotfoot]

Man, Wonder what other stuff they had there? Great finds.

[mitchedwards]

Great toy karma

[Earth 2 Chris]

Whoa, that is a fantastic pick-up. You just don't hear about good finds like that in the wild anymore.

Not sure how it will work on metal, but Mr. Clean Magic eraser took 30-year old crayon marks of the door of my Mego Hall of Justice. You may want to try that.

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Great scores, Tim!

[Mikey]

Basically crayons are just wax, so I think a damp hot towel should remove them without any worry of using any chemicals.

Having the box spotless inside isn't really that big of a deal in lunchbox collecting anyway.

Rust inside is a much bigger deal then just some crayon marks.

I've sold boxes with permanent marker names written inside.

Most buyers will pay the same no matter what's written in the box.

[Marvelmania]

Thanks for the tips Mike. There's no rust inside the box but lots (and I mean lots) of crayon marks. I think they must have been in there for a long while. There are a couple of tiny dents in the dome area and there was a Grease movie sticker on the front over the ship but it peeled right off.
I got these at 2 separate yard sales and didn't find anything else but baby clothes and other crap. When i first picked the lunchbox up it felt so heavy I just knew the thermos was in there but when I opened it the smell of all of the crayons hit me. So I asked how much for the lunchbox and some old woman said 50 cents I thought cool! I asked if she had any other toys or old items but all they had was some plastic litle tikes trucks.
On the Hulk towel I was just about the leave the yard sale and saw a woman pick up some bed sheets and it was undeneath them. i saw the word Hulk and thought it was probably from the movie but whern I unfolded it and saw the pic I knew right away it was from the 70s. I also pcked up 8 Conan paperback books from 1984 for a couple of bucks. You just never know what you might find out there. Pure luck.

[Captain]

Cool stuff. Bet your having a good day bumping into stuff like this. Like TIK said, those Trek boxes are a goldmine. Just be glad it's only crayon your cleaning out of it, and not a 40 year old left behind lunch!

[SUP-Ronin]

Sweet find, for sure. That is my favorite look for the hulk. I think it's the hair.

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

Great lunchbox. . . and towel. . . .sweet pick ups indeed!

[Adam West]

That Star Trek box is a Holy Grail among box collectors and like Mike said, easily worth $100-$200 in C-6 condition. C-8's were selling for $400-$500 a few years ago when I was collecting boxes.

I have experimented with just about everything on boxes since I own close to 100 of them and know what works and what doesn't. There are some box collectors who are purists and won't buy it if there has been cleaning done to it. Others don't care and it doesn't seem to affect the value one way or the other.

Here is how I handled every single box that came into my collection once I figured out the best way to clean them.

1. Wash with warm soapy water to remove surface dirt and possibly the crayon markers. Just use a wet cloth, no soft scrub or abrasive cleaner or steel wool or anything like that.

2. Immediately dry it off completely with a soft dry towel. every nook and cranny.

3. If the crayon markers are still there use goo gone. Make sure it is the variety that is more of the orange peel oil and not the turpentine smelling stuff. Just use a q-tip at first to make sure it doesn't remove the paint. I have never ever had a problem with the non-turpentine variety, but make sure you re-wash those areas again and dry them.

4. I would take and old soft bristled toothbrush to clean the crud from the lunchbox handle using soapy water....again dry.

5. Rust is tricky. I have had some limited success getting corner rust off with various metal bristled brushes and a lot of patience. Personally, I don't think it's worth the effort because you have to do it gently and usually the rust won't come off completely. I use chrome polish on the latches and handles which will make it shine and remove some of the rust. Leave the rest of it alone. For rust inside the box, it's ok to use a little white rustoleum in spots to prevent from further rusting. Most collectors are not bothered by it as long as you use it sparingly (like an inside box corner).

6. Finally, I put a fresh coat of wax on the entire box inside and out. My favorite easy to find wax is Zymol, just apply it on like you would a car, let it dry, sprinkle a few drops of water on it and polish with a clean cloth.

Using these techniques, you might be able to get your box to a C-7.5 from its current 6. The wax will make it shine, present nicely and prevent further rust issues.