2014 Urban Safari Hunting Hauls (Garage Sale, Thrift Stores, Craigs, Rummage...)

[SentientApe]

On the first Saturday of April, my wife and I hit several antique stores in the area of South Beloit, IL. This is an extremely excellent destination, as there are two antique malls and a smaller antique store all within a half-mile of each other; there are a number of other desirable stores within short driving distance.

According to memory and the receipts I have on hand, I picked up a Chauffer Badge (I collect these) and my wife picked up a child's set of golf clubs, as well as a few other items. But the things that I can share in photos include a Space:1999 lunch box...





... a green enamelware mug (I use these in WWII Soviet reenacting)...



...a loose Steve Scout --



... books on "Antique Household Gadgets" and on "Stage Magic"...



.. .and I try to never pass up antique bicycle tools in good working order, including this antique bicycle wrench --



Primarily for the purpose of posting photos to Facebook, I took pictures of various items of interest, including ...a 1964 Beatles magazine --



... a boxed Sonny Bono --



... an incredibly awesome double-beverage dispenser (the ultimate party device?) --



... and a boxed set of "Miracle on 34th Street" action figures. This was where I first learned of this set of 9" action figures, but there was no way I was going to pay $50 for it. There is another long story, but one of those Santas is now in my collection --



I still have "Buyer's Remorse" that I did not grab up the Dick Tracy Copmobile, but the price was just too high for the amount of wear and number of missing / damaged parts --



But -- tell me that this is not the single most incredibly awesome thing you have ever seen -- someone actually made a lawnmower bicycle --



At the end of the day, we were able to drive to and arrive at the "Antiques on State Street" antique mall in Rockford, Illinois, before they closed. This is where I picked up my biggest score of the day: both a Mego carrying case and a Mego Hall of Justice playset --



I was not terribly surprised, when exiting the antique mall, to see a pristine antique car in the parking lot. Clearly, someone likes antiques --





The next day (Sunday), we again attended the Kane County Flea Market, where I picked up a bunch of action figures, including a Marx "Black Bart" missing his left forefinger, a couple 3.5" Mego Star Trek: TMP figures, a Star Wars "Hologram Yoda" and Sandtrooper, and several Madam Alexander action figures which I need for a couple custom figure projects --



I also picked up a box of various 12" action figure accessories. There were a few G.I. Joe items, but the majority were items from the Steve Scout line, including partial components from several of the adventure packs. My biggest surprise is that only the previous day I had found a Steve Scout figure and, prior to a month earlier, I don't believe I had ever before seen this line of action figures --

[SentientApe]

If I continue to review 2014 in reverse chronological order, the next two events were both at the same location, so I will combine them into one story...

Roughly a half-hour from where we live is a weekly auction, held every Wednesday evening starting at 5:30 PM. I must admit this can be a hit-or-miss event: there are often hidden gems in this auction, but there is also an incredibly large amount of pure junk. The auction is broken down into three segments. Before the actual auction is "New Merchandise"; this is bulk lots of new items, such as paper towels, rubber gloves or candy (probably from abandoned storage lockers?). The main part of the auction is what you would expect, and that's where all the good stuff is to be found. The third and final part of the auction ("The Back Wall"), however, is somewhat interesting, and I will mention that in a little bit...

The following are some of the items we obtained during the first of the two Wednesdays; most of these photos are from the online preview gallery...

My wife got an antique baby buggy...



... a really nice table...



... and some thermoses...



We also picked up a really nice antique wind-up toy tin trombone player, intended as a gift for a trombone-playing friend --



I won several coins, including an 1862 penny --



I also was back-up bidder on a lot choice, getting one of a pair of California Highway Patrol Motorcycle helmets --



I also won a stack of photographs. The online gallery preview only revealed an autographed Jonathan Frakes photo...



...But there was SO much more! Among other things, the lot had SEVERAL celebrity autographs...



...as well as a rare set of four Bozo's Circus photos!



After the main part of each week's auction is essentially a whole other auction... The back wall of the facility is covered with shelves; each week these are fillled with hundreds of boxes of miscellany. Bin and bins of toys, or CDs, or paperwork, or record albums, or random electronics... and there are always a few boxes filled with Playboy magazines, as well as a box or two of porn on VHS or 8mm (again, I assume these are leftovers from Storage Locker auctions). If you elect to stay to "The Back Wall," you cannot check out until after all bidding is complete, so you must commit to (or bail on) that last couple of hours, which also includes waiting in a long line to check out while they tally all the purchases made from the wall. High bidder gets their choice of ANYTHING on the wall; regular bidding continues, round after round, until a certain point ($5?), at which point there is a new round of bidding where the high bidder takes EVERYTHING remaining... which is either a great deal or terrible burden (I hope you like porn!).

From the back wall, my wife scored a box of miscellaneous silverplate...



...and I got a box filled with old telephones (most of which I sold at our garage sale for a net profit) --




The FOLLOWING week, we again attended the same Wednesday evening auction.

I appear to have taken/saved fewer photographs from this auction (and I know we picked up many more items), but my wife scored an absolutely beautiful four-panel hand-carved room screen (neither words nor photos do this thing justice; it is truly spectacular, and we have seen similar items of an inferior quality selling for more than double what we paid) --



She also picked up a wonderful iron wagon wheel --



Among the things I obtained was a large box of assorted action figures. During the auction, I emptied one of the baggies on the floor (to post a photo inquiry on Facebook), revealing a batch of Gundam figures --



... After sorting through everything at home, that box yielded up a large number of Star Wars action figures...



... Heroclix figures ...



... as well as some extra pieces which, when all reassembled, produced this collection of Gundam figures --

[Earth 2 Chris]

Wow, your G'Nort costume is spot-on. Fantastic work!

Cool that your wife met Jackson. He's a heckuva nice guy!

Chris

[SentientApe]

The weekend of April 26-27, I was faced with a dilemma. I had no less than six different activities/events to choose from. However, the two frontrunners were C2E2 (The Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) and the [B]Chicago Toy Show.[B] Was it an option to attend both, by doing one on Saturday and one on Sunday? Yes. So that was the plan.

Joining me at C2E2 were my daughter and her boyfriend (the three of us went in costume), as well as my son and his girlfriend (street clothes).

I repeated my Green Lantern G'nort, a costume I actually debuted at C2E2 three years earlier --





I again got my photo taken with Kevin Maguire, the artist who originally created G'nort --



The convention was populated (as usual) by hundreds of people wearing amazing costumes. Without too much further diversion from the original intent of this topic, I must acknowledge the two costumes that utterly impressed me beyond all others: the couple who went as the incredibly topical Game of Thrones' "Brienne and the bear" --



And the diminutive guy who went as an extremely realistic and utterly disturbing "Chucky"--



My adventures during C2E2 are not exactly relevant to this discussion, but I did pick up a couple items, including a Mego Montgomery Scott and a custom Mego Green Lantern Kilowog --



As I have no additional purchases to share from C2E2, let's move on to Sunday, shall we?...

As the semi-annual Chicago Toy Show is held on the Kane County Fairgrounds -- the same location as the monthly flea market we almost always attend -- this was a no-brainer.

I could fill this Topic with hundreds, if not thousands, of photos of the incredible toys and other collectibles we saw, but I was too busy shopping. Two non-purchases of which I took photos include a baggie of random Major Matt Mason figures --



...and a Mego Tricorder --



Having spent "more than enough" money at C2E2, I was actually rather thrifty with my spending at the Toy Show. I walked away with: a G.I. Joe Space Capsule from its original owner; a really fine, albeit barefoot, Mego Alan Verdon figure; a Bulwinkle "Soaky"; some 1935 $1 silver certificates (in the photo, the plastic protector also contains the loose sticker from the space capsule); a close-to-Mego-size toy horse; a "Retro-action" John Stewart; a repop MOC Potsie; a loose Mego Tin Man missing some armor; a loose Mego "Aqua-Ponch"; a loose Mego Joker; a loose 9" Star Trek: TNG Data; and several Planet of the Apes television show collector's cards.



Whereas my wife was hesitant in attending something billed "only" as a toy show, she was pleasantly surprised to see a large number of non-toy collectibles, not to mention some wonderful old metal trucks and other things that she actively collects.

...However, her biggest thrill had to be meeting Jackson Bostwick: the original Captain Marvel from the "Shazam!" television series. I was surprised to see her so excited to meet (who I learned to be was) one of her childhood idols. This was enlightening, as she eschews the idea of comic cons or other celebrity-based conventions and repeatedly denies being star-struck at meeting people who are "only" actors. She was actually trembling with excitement when they posed for this photo --



And, of course, she got his autograph--



Now, if only I had handy a MOC Mego "Shazam" to have him autograph...

[shazam7208]

Some great finds...congrats!

[SentientApe]

The first weekend of May, we attended three flea markets -- two on Saturday and one on Sunday.

On Saturday was the Kane County flea market, a monthly event I mentioned earlier. On Sunday, we first went to the Palatine Indoor Flea Market, and then zipped over to Wolff's flea market (which I also previously mentioned).

On Saturday I ran across this treasure-trove --



... Yes, that is (most of) a McDonaldland playset, along with six McDonaldland figures. This is something I had never before seen for sale in person (so, not counting online), and for some reason I felt I had to have it. I didn't even get fries with that order --



I also picked up a nice "Space: 1999" kids' book.





The following morning, we tasked ourselves to answer this overly ambitious question: Can we hit two flea markets in a single day? The answer: Yes, especially if one sucks.

The first place we went is the "Indoor Flea Market" in Palatine, IL. Not impressed. We have seen similar places: a large facility with individual "stalls" in which various vendors put stuff up for sale. Sadly, most of these items are garage sale crap, unsold NOS (New Old Stock), random commercial products, makeup, cell phone accessories, etc. A few booths had some collectibles, but one was locked up by the vendor who was "somewhere around here; he must've walked away" the entire time we were there, and a couple booths of choice antiques that had no prices -- upon enquiring, we discovered her prices were unrealistic.

But... there was one vendor whose booth was filled with old toys. He also had several Mego figures and accessories, and I plan to return if ONLY to deal with this ONE guy again. From him I purchased a Mego Tarzan; I also picked up a toy horse from one of the garage sale vendors.



We literally got out of the place as fast as we could.

A few miles away was Wolff's flea market, where we fared better. Among other items, my wife picked up an enormous wicker chaise lounge, which barely fit in my car(!). I picked up a variety of toys, including...

... a G.I. Joe firefighter and rescue dog --



... a 1:9 scale motorcycle --



... a 9" cowl-less Batman --



... and, as a cherry on top of the day, an "AT-AT" Imperial Walker, for less than you will ever reasonably guess --

[SentientApe]

Really enjoyed these photos, I though I might see a REAL garden gnome at any minute.

They are elusive and camera-shy.

Still trying to get a photo of the jackalope. And if you think I am kidding, you would be wrong. But you will all just have to wait for the photo for us to have that conversation.

[TomStrong]

Really enjoyed these photos, I though I might see a REAL garden gnome at any minute.

[SentientApe]

SentientApe, what do you do with your stuff?

Some of these items are purchased to decorate our yard/gardens... Some soon-to-be garden decorations are stored in our backyard shed...

In continuation (and illustration) of the above exchange, please permit me to take you all on a very brief tour (highlights only!) of our yard...

My wife's oft-repeated aphorism has become a running joke between the two of us: "Anything can become a planter." It is my nature to automatically challenge any claim stated as an "absolute," but on our various adventures I have personally witnessed a heavier weight of evidence proving this statement, rather than that disproving it. We long ago stopped doubting that "Anything can become a lamp," and perhaps the proverbial back-breaking straw for that statement was the pay telephone lamp, a photo of which I posted in an earlier comment.

Just last week, my wife was the sole bidder at an auction on a large porcelain Italian cat statue. I have learned to keep my mouth shut when she gets stuff like this but, perhaps reading my mind, she told me: "This will fit next to the birdbath on the side of the house." Actually, I admit it looks rather whimsical there.



During the Spring, Summer and Autumn months, our back door is framed by potted annuals. Between the plants my wife usually peppers a number of random items acquired at auctions or flea markets or antique stores. She is always tweaking the arrangement of these things, but here is how it looks now. The three-bird-house is something I found at auction. From various she locations she acquired the toy stove (on the primitive bench), the large birdhouse (also on the primitive bench, mostly hidden by flowers from this angle), the primitive bench itself, the bunny planter and the large white metal plant stand... possibly some of the plat pots, as well --



This next photo represents items found during three separate trips: A small child's bicycle, a children's-sized bench and a rabbit statue --



This summer marks the backyard-debut of an antique folding washstand, which has been stored in the back of the garage since we picked it up at a flea market last year. With the addition of two washtubs purchased at the local hardware store, my wife turned this into an impressive planter. Also visible in the photo is a beautiful wrought iron bed "headboard;" at present, this is only leaning up against the fence, but this will be soon secured by the means of buried posts as a free-standing structure elsewhere in the yard --



Please understnad that I would prefer to post an "after" photo of our shed (i.e., after I have finished refurbishment of the faux door), as it is presently in a state of transition. However, I am not afraid to show you the somewhat disappointing appearance it has at present. The shed itself was professionally installed, and over the past few years has naturally became a focal point for additional gardening and decoration. I believe there are items from at least seven separate antiquing forays in this photos -- the 1950s bicycle has had its saddle replaced and, with the addition of a coconut-fiber "nest," its basket serves as a planter. We found a number of unique short iron garden fence sections in a flea market, and they were perfect for creating a border around the shed garden. The small rabbit sculpture is something my wife picked up. In the background can be seen an old park bench and a wagon ... the "CAUTION" tape encircles an as-yet-unfilled hole from which I pulled out a dead tree with my bare hands!

...But the real story here is the fake door... That is an old screen door we found at an antique store. I removed the screen, backed the frame with textured veneer and painted the whole thing red. An antique door knob and lockplate, as well as a door hook (for hanging seasonal wreaths) completed the image. However, the indoor veneer was only intended as a temporary fix and has not fared well over two winters outside. This is a project I hope to finish within several days, using the barn wood posted in an earlier photo; this will be revisited later...



Our prairie garden brings me no shortage of joy and happiness, with its rich self-sustaining variety of native northern Illinois plants. Within its confines are nested a number of impressive antiques, including an old water pump and the rare two-wheeled cultivator (see earlier post) that we recently acquired from my uncle's Ohio barn --



Elsewhere in our prairie garden my wife has stashed an old truck radiator grill, which we are planning to mount (hang) on the fence instead of sitting in the dirt. The other item in the photo are a couple items that were earlier hanging from the fence, but are just now waiting for a new home --




...That's not even the entire backyard, and there are two more sides of the house not shown in these photos. But I think that's more than enough for now.

[SentientApe]

Despite a most interesting weekend (Civil War reenactment for me; an INCREDIBLE auction for my wife), I'm going to continue moving backwards in time.

Back in May (the weekend before the Pecatonica event), we attended a "hay wagon" auction on Saturday, after which we hit a couple antique stores in the area. On Sunday, we attended another flea market. For whatever reason, I seem to have taken very few photos of the items we found. Maybe I got nothing worth photographing?

Anyway...

The Saturday two-ring* hay wagon auction was a new experience for us. Inside a large warehouse were rows of parallel-parked hay wagons (eight or nine, if I recall correctly). Each wagon was covered with hundreds of items; most of the items were loosely organized by type (paper ephemera on one wagon; tablecloths, blankets, quilts and linens on another; jars, old tin canisters, dishware and large advertising items on another; toys on another...), with the addition of large furniture items lined up on one wall, and pottery / crocks in another corner; larger items (doors, barn wood; farm implements; bicycles; lawn mowers; boats) were lined up outside..

One at a time, the hay wagons were maneuvered to the front area of the main room, from where the auctioneer would auction off each item (or lot, or "choice" in certain cases) until the wagon was empty. The empty wagon would then be pushed off to the side, and the next wagon pulled to the front. The crockery and furniture were auctioned off, in turn, in breaks between various wagons.

The frightening thing was when we learned that virtually all the items in this incredibly enormous auction had come from the estate of a single couple who had spent a lifetime of collecting. "We need to be careful, or someday this will be us," said my wife. Actually, this was not nearly as horrifying as when we learned that this was less than half of the items, as they were still trying to pull things out of the house. To this, my wife turned to me, speechless, but with a look of sheer terror in her eyes.

*Within this Topic Thread, I have used the term "ring" more than once in regards to auctions, and this may not be self-explanatory. A two-ring auction (as this was) means that there are two simultaneous auctioneers selling off items at the same time. This can be problematic if you are interested (for instance) in some of the toys being sold off one of the hay wagons as well as the bicycles that are being sold outside. If you attend the auction with a partner, this dilemma can be managed, but if you are alone, you must keep very close track of what you want versus what is being sold where and when, otherwise you can be out of luck and/or need to choose between priorities.

After searching through endless piles of garbage, I spotted on the toy wagon two Mego figures, which changed my mood for the day: a barefoot Richie Cunningham wearing an unexplained extra layer, and a single-Batman-booted Arthur Fonzarelli who had acquired an extra vest and TWO(!?) pairs of pants. I can only assume it had been cold?



We were there for hours, and even decided to leave before the last two hay wagons were brought forward. We bid on some amazing items (old candy dispensers, advertising signs, etc.) but there were some deep-pocket collectors who were snapping up many of the choicest items. I recall my wife got some stuff, although I cannot now recall what... other than a really cool antique "Flappy Farmer" pull toy --



But the toy wagon is when I asserted myself, pushing to the front of the crowd so I could put my best-honed bidding talents to the test. From that wagon, I scored a pair of antique toy typewriters --



I won the bid for a lot of three items: the two aforementioned Megos and a Smokey the Bear doll for $15. There was only one bidding against me so, after I won, I approached her to confirm what I thought: she was only interested in Smokey. I sold it to her for $5 cash (1/3 the lot of three), so Fonzie, Richie, bat-boot and extra clothing cost me only $10, which made me very happy. Off the same wagon, I picked up a small doll suitcase and, when I shuttled one batch of items to the car, I snapped this photo:



I recall that I also obtained a small toy safe, but I am wracking my brain trying to recall what else I packed into the car during that auction -- or even where we went later that day -- but it now eludes me. There is a strong probability it will come to me when I stop trying so hard to remember; in that case, I will come back and edit in additional photos.

I feel compelled to share this additional anecdote from the auction... At one point, I was aware of a man who had successfully won two consecutive lots of umbrellas. He was a slightly portly man with a somewhat prominent nose. I really thought no more about it until a little later, while I sat on the side on one of the (now) empty hay wagons, and he waddled past, carrying his armfuls of umbrellas. He waddled. I strongly suspect there will soon be a bird- or fish-related crime to be committed in Gotham City...



The next day (Sunday) was Mother's Day, and my Mom accepted our invitation to join us in attending a flea market. That was when I realized how fast my wife and I are able to scan booths and make the rapid decisions to linger and browse or move along to conserve our time. We work quite well, both together (as a compliment to each other's scanning abilities, and in helping talk the other person into or out of a purchase) and apart (we have different "want" lists, are able to spot things for each other, and can easily "divide and conquer" various booths). But we discovered that adding any additional people to our effective "group of two" grinds our abilities to a halt! It was nonetheless a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

At the flea market, I picked up some old currency (including some old coins and a few 1935 $1 silver certificates) and a variety of other items. I also picked up a few loose Mego figures, but was disappointed when I opened the MOC Space 1999 Bergman, only to discover he apparently come with "Some Assembly Required" --



However, when I pointed out a Mego Tin Man and lamented about having once purchased, but lost, one of these so many years ago, my mother said: "Oh, is that yours? I have that at home in my curio cabinet!" A long-lost toy found! ADDENDUM: My mother returned to me my old 1970s Mego Tin Man last week, when we took her out to dinner to celebrate her birthday.

An incredibly awesome (but ridiculously over-priced) item seen at the flea market was an all-terrain bicycle --


NOTE: There is a strong possibility that this post will be edited when I recall (and take photos) of additional items obtained during this weekend...

[SentientApe]

SentientApe, what do you do with your stuff? You must have a huge storage space, even if you resell the stuff, you buy at such a fast clip! Just wondering, and also are you guys teachers? You got a lot of envious free time for garage sailing, ha! Cheers

Some of these items are purchased to decorate our yard/gardens; my wife also has a rotation of decorations for the front porch. Admittedly, however, we are running out of space. Some soon-to-be garden decorations are stored in our backyard shed; there are items stashed behind our cars in the garage; several recent acquisitions are hanging on the garage walls; one of the kids' bedrooms is being used temporarily as a storage area while the basement is being reconfigured; the majority is being stored in the basement. Sadly, a basement flood in 2013 created a lot of damage, and resulted in an emergency re-organization that has still not been completely corrected. We are in serious need of some display cabinets to showcase our proudest collections -- much of that will be accomplished when we convert one of the bedrooms into an office space.

Regarding our non-existant "envious free time," virtually all our auction hunting and flea marketing is done on Saturdays and Sundays. There is a local auction held every Wednesday night, beginning at 5:30 PM. Once in a while, scheduled vacation time (or a holiday) frees up an additional "weekend day" for a longer road trip.

[mikeMc6]

SentientApe, what do you do with your stuff?
You must have a huge storage space, even if you resell the stuff, you buy at such a fast clip!
Just wondering, and also are you guys teachers? You got a lot of envious free time for garage sailing, ha!
Cheers

[4NDR01D]

A couple of really cool thrift shop finds for me in the last week or so.

I found a sealed bag of "Chinasaurs", These are a nickname given to these little monsters that were mixed in with little plastic dinosaurs from the 70's. http://flickeflu.com/groups/1938933@N22/interesting
it has a $1.69 sticker from a Zody's department store thats been out of business since 1986 so they areent any newer than that. They also dont have a UPC so I figure mid 70's

On the same trip I found an 16" "Krokodil Gena" character figure made of blow molded type plastic. He's a character from a russian stop motion childrens show from the early 70's called "Cheburashka". if you've never heard of it do yourself a favour and watch some. Beautifully made show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAjppe3wQJU

Tonight I found a complete and mostly unpunched Magic Realm game from the 70's by Avalon Hill. I just thought the box was cool, but looks like it's pretty collectable so I'll probably have to sell it. Also scored two Jimmy Squarefoot Monster in my Pocket figures. Ive blabbed about these before, super rare shreddies cereal premiums etc.

[SentientApe]

I have no time to post an update now... I have to go clear the car out from last night's auction so my wife and I can get out of here for another day of antiquing.

Seriously. I guess we really are hardcore.

I need to bookmark this day so that at the end of reviewing 2014 in reverse chronology, I can come back to this point and pick up from last night's auction. Later!

[SentientApe]

Where was this bike found? The reason I ask, it looks purple and gold (LSU Tigers colors) and LSU has a high school on campus called UHS (University High School).



BTW, pretty wife!!!!

That bicycle (and the post office window shown earlier) were found in an antique store in Lodi, Ohio. The colors on the bicycle are green and gold -- that picture was taken on my phone, and the lighting was extremely dim inside the store, so the resolution is lousy. I seem to recall that the wheel rim was wood (extremely rare and collectible), but it does not appear so in the photo, so I may now be mistaken. I have absolutely no additional information about the bike; it may well have been moved far from U.H.S., but I suspect its original home is much closer than Louisiana.

Yeah -- my wife is a doll. Or, looks like one.... actually, I had to do THIS --



...yes, that is a Peggy Bundy; the funny thing is that the figure's clothing and jewelry already closely resemble items my wife wears, and required no modifications to compliment the "auto-biocustom" figure of me.